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Research in Other Countries => United States of America => Topic started by: Bourgeoisie on Tuesday 12 February 19 16:35 GMT (UK)
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Hello. I was hoping someone could help with some research I'm attempting to go on for my family tree. Since my father never knew his father, I'd figure we try and research his mother's side. I was told by my great grandmother that we had native american blood in our family going back several generations ago on my father's mother's side. From what I could only find and from what was told to me was that 4th great grandmother Emma Johnson was supposedly half Cherokee Indian and born in about 1855 Georgia. She married John Johnson who was born about 1850 in Georgia as well.
They had a daughter named Anna L. Johnson who was born April in 1876 and died March 5th, 1960. She married Elijah Livingston who was born Dec 1855 in South Carolina and died March 19th 1919. That's all the information I have at the moment, simply going off of what my family has been told and what I could put together off of a few census records. I would like to try and see if I can find out more about Emma and John if there's any details to be found.
Thank you :)
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I'm not sure I'll be able to help but someone else might.
Do you know where Anna L Johnson was born? Have you found Emma and John on censuses? If so where and when? How old were they, where born, where parents born, children in household, etc.
If you have links to a free site like familysearch.org, even better.
Do you know when and where Emma and John died?
A lot of American families have a story that they are part native American but they aren't, so don't be surprised if it is not true in your case. But at least you are starting in Georgia, which I think was the Cherokee home base before being forced to move west.
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I'm not sure I'll be able to help but someone else might.
Do you know where Anna L Johnson was born? Have you found Emma and John on censuses? If so where and when? How old were they, where born, where parents born, children in household, etc.
If you have links to a free site like familysearch.org, even better.
Do you know when and where Emma and John died?
A lot of American families have a story that they are part native American but they aren't, so don't be surprised if it is not true in your case. But at least you are starting in Georgia, which I think was the Cherokee home base before being forced to move west.
Hi there. Thanks for replying back.
Here is a census I found on the familysearch website you mentioned. Matches the one I found so I think they're the same? Although the father's name is James, but John could be a middle name / other name. It says they're in Jefferson County, Georgia when she was 4 years old, so probably the same area?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YYY-KNF?cc=1417683
I don't know where they died unfortunately but the census said she had two siblings named William and James.
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With a common name like Johnson, it's easy to get misled and follow a family with similar names, so I would recommend getting as much information as possible about more recent generations before moving backwards. Do you have Anna's death record, marriage record, or an obituary? Did Anna have any known siblings? Is Johnson believed to be Emma's maiden name?
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Did the family pass down the name of the slaveholder family that John Johnson or his wife Emma were slaves to?
There are tons of John Johnsons in Georgia in 1870 and familysearch's index doesn't include the county, so I didn't start through them. Also, a lot of black families didn't get counted in 1870, from what I've read.
There is a marriage in Jefferson Co in 1898 of a John Johnson and Emma Williams. It's a very long shot, but maybe they legalized their union when the opportunity arose.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXJ6-FQ6
I found Annie and Elijah (indexed as Eliza) in 1900
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3F1-8R4
and Elijah alone in 1910
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLKH-TR2
but I think you must have those.
Find this book: Tony Burroughs' Black Roots, A Beginners Guide To Tracing The African American Family. My library had it and it was invaluable for suggestions of sources back to 1865.
If you should happen to know the slaveowner's name, then you should read what this researcher has to say in this blog post. Her family was from Virginia, but the resource she mentions covers all the slave states. I just ran across this yesterday working on another thread:
https://www.reclaimingkin.com/southern-plantations/
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the resource she mentions covers all the slave states. I just ran across this yesterday working on another thread:
https://www.reclaimingkin.com/southern-plantations/
P.S. I found the indexes for some of the states on line, but not for Georgia. But maybe you can search better or longer than I did for it.
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There is a marriage in Jefferson Co in 1898 of a John Johnson and Emma Williams. It's a very long shot, but maybe they legalized their union when the opportunity arose.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXJ6-FQ6
Google the minister's name and look in the censuses for his race and church, etc. then google the church for where it was. Maybe it will match some information that has been passed down.
Oral history is your friend. Church records, cemeteries, funeral homes, etc. - see that book for the whole list.
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one last thing - the Cherokee heritage story usually runs in white families to explain a darker skinned tendency or individual, and in black families to explain lighter skin. Chances are much much higher that a mixed tone came from relations between slave owners and slaves.
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I think this may be Anna in 1910, recorded as Annie Levington in Waycross, Georgia
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RNR-QFF?i=23&cc=1727033
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I think this is Anna in 1920. This gives some other surnames to work with because she was living with a brother-in-law named Harper Ligon? and his wife Linda [Anna's sister?] and a cousin [of Ligon] named Stella Hines.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R6X-DWG?i=26&cc=1488411
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I think this may be Anna in 1910, recorded as Annie Levington in Waycross, Georgia
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RNR-QFF?i=23&cc=1727033
Oh! that's actually Livingston! Thank you for that find. I'm going to try and backtrack and see if I can find that reverend's name, JB Bolwery? and see if there's anymore records of that.
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It's probably a long shot, but there was a Harper Ligon in South Carolina in the 1870s who was involved in founding the Silver Spring Baptist Church as an offshoot of the Abel Baptist Church in Clemson. Maybe he could have been the father of the Harper Ligon in the 1920 census.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/sc/pickens/cemeteries/p047.txt
I'm not having any luck tracing Harper Ligon. Maybe Harper was his middle name.
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It's probably a long shot, but there was a Harper Ligon in South Carolina in the 1870s who was involved in founding the Silver Spring Baptist Church as an offshoot of the Abel Baptist Church in Clemson. Maybe he could have been the father of the Harper Ligon in the 1920 census.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/sc/pickens/cemeteries/p047.txt
I'm not having any luck tracing Harper Ligon. Maybe Harper was his middle name.
That's rather interesting, even if its a long shot.
Maybe there could be some correlation between the two? Kind of like a branch of the family you think? From what I was seeing is that maybe there were some different variations of spelling that may go off of given how rough the cursive can be on some of these things.
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"Anna L. Johnson who was born April in 1876 and died March 5th, 1960."
Do you know where she died? Was she the Anna Livingston who was in Newark, NJ in 1930 and 1940?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R8N-YCG?i=21&cc=1810731
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99M-945R?i=10&cc=2000219
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"Anna L. Johnson who was born April in 1876 and died March 5th, 1960."
Do you know where she died? Was she the Anna Livingston who was in Newark, NJ in 1930 and 1940?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R8N-YCG?i=21&cc=1810731
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99M-945R?i=10&cc=2000219
Actually, that may make some sense! I know most of the family resides from Jersey / Pennsylvania so it's a strong possibility that she may have traveled up in her later years to work. I'd say the 1940 is the closest as I had her in the 1930s with her son Will in Georgia Some of her children moved to Centeral Pennsylvania and Mid Jersey and ended up dying there, so I'd say it's her!
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I've been looking for her death but no luck, so far. A death certificate could clarify her date of birth and possibly her exact birthplace and her mother's surname.
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I've been looking for her death but no luck, so far. A death certificate could clarify her date of birth and possibly her exact birthplace and her mother's surname.
Yeah, that could be a very long shot in the dark. I had just heard about that death date, but no one has the certificate so it could be up in the air. Appreciate the effort though! Still garnered some clues, so that's good at least :)