Connecting JOHNSONs of Bahamas + Sierra Leone to Ghana

[brigidmac]

Bear with me on this one as I'm dealing with 2 countries I know little about .

I'm trying to work out  connection between

1 Willie Johnson
b 1911 Androas Island Nassau Bahamas
He changed his surname to LIGHTBOURN after arrival in Miami Florida USA  1916

2) merchant seaman Jacob JOHNSON b 1887 Sierra Leone d 1954 Wales
Father named on marriage  Joseph Johnson ship chandler deceased before 1926

There is a distant  DNA match and there are many connections to Ghana

Including surnames of lodger in Wales top DNA matches with African ethnicities
& Some surnames from trees
 which are typically Ghanaian

Have some possible relatives to add to Willie's tree who also came from Nassau Bahamas + lived nearby on 1935 + 1940
Census

Including Thomas L JOHNSON b 1879 a gardener who gives mother's name as Sarah  back  in Bahamas on arrival in  USA

Any theories about era s the Ghanaian s might have moved to Sierra Leone or Bahamas would be appreciated

The link to Ghana is probably from 1850 s

[brigidmac]

This is a link to some information about Willie lightbourne and his daughter Pearline
 (1 distant  DNA match is to her son)

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=871943.0
 

[brigidmac]

Information about Jacob Johnson from collaboration with someone who researches people of African origins in Wales and some information from  a daughter

Jacob JOHNSON
was a sailor .his surname might have been taken from the missionaries

He had relatives who live in Ghana which is probably his country of origin tho records say Sierra Leone.
# GHANA connection could be at this level for him apparently it was easier to join merchant navy from Sierra Leone than Ghana in early 1900s

Jacob won medals in WW1 but may have been in ships from 1905 

His ethnicity  would have been about 80%Benin + Togo  20% ivory coast
 * which is typically for Ghanaians

ADDED Link to topic about his family in Wales

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=871114.msg7424882#msg7424882

Married Violet Price in 1924
Father Joseph  Johnson deceased ship chandler

14  children were registered to them including
Violet Rose b 1927
Edwin Jacob 1929-1931
John w 1930-1930
Denis R 1931-1934

Jennie Barbara 1934- 2012 #
 Kenneth B 1935- 2001
Beatrice died as baby 1838
 Yvonne Lorraine Gladys B 1940 d2011
Roy 1941 died as baby
Margaret 1947 died as baby

I know  names of 2 living .born 1936 + 1942

Jennie was fostered or  brought up by neighbouring  families
after the death  of 5th baby

Jacob died  + is buried in Newport 1954

& Violet  married  polish national Milovan Bogicevic

In 1939 there was a lodger GDEMAH who may have been related to Jacob ( # could even be a close relative if JOHNSON is an angliscised version )He had a brother in London which is where this lodger was in the 1960s

[brigidmac]

I'm looking at  history of Bahamas to see when Ghanaians are likely to have settled there

Willie Johnson lightbourne s grandmother born 1876 is recorded as from *Bahamas but may not have been born there

# on ship records family members recorded as African as opposed to Creole

* Edit :  some Bahamas records are available
On ancestry .family search and national archives
Links in following post

Bahamas became part of British colones1717 from.spain probably irrelevant

Slaves finally freed 1834 could be linked

Not found any event where workers were needed

Then need to find why many people emigrated from Barbados to USA between 1906 and 1918

[oldohiohome]

Then need to find why many people emigrated from Barbados to USA between 1906 and 1918

from: http://www.inmotionaame.org/print.cfm@migration=10.html
look for the heading "Leaving the Caribbean"
"The significant growth of the Caribbean community in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century is easily explained by the increasing economic hardship and disenchantment in the British West Indies and the simultaneous expansion of the U.S. economy with its relatively high wages and growing employment opportunities. "
4 paragraphs more explaining what was going wrong in the Caribbean at the time.

I found that page easier to read, but there is a version with images on the same site. The link to the information there is http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm@migration=10&topic=3.html

The footer of the site includes: Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library.

[brigidmac]

thans old ohio youre a star

grass is always greener may have gone wrong

it looks as tho the conditions they went to werent very good they were living in shacks in 1935 +1940 with several people mostly labourers laundresses + dish washers

+ Possibly subject to more racism than in Bahamas

[brigidmac]

I've just found Bahamas record jof slave registers from 1834
Susan may Johnson of the island of New Providence
Is "returning" 2 slaves
Phillips age 20 years and 7 months and John age 1 year 5 months b1833
Both creole
Apparently that Means returning to liberty

I've been given these links by helpful folk in chatroom

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/slavery-or-slave-owners/

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1129/

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~brbwgw/RefCenter.htm

[brigidmac]

Looking into the DNA mutual matches closer
Willie JOHNSON LIGHTBOURNE s son

May be related to Jacob JOHNSON s grandson thru a white Cornish slaveowner from paternal side rather than thru JOHNSONs

Tho they both likely have 1  Ghanaian grandfather .

Looks like Wille had a white grandfather or great grandfather  mix of English Welsh Irish  + Germanic ( total of 18 ,%)
Screen shot of Jacob Johnson s grandsons ethnicity compared to Willie's son
The Benin Togo & ivory coast are Ghana indicators

[brigidmac]

Lots more ship records and documents has been found about Willie lightbourne s grandmother and her husband's family

See link on reply 1 to post on other topic board

So they were definitely in the Bahamas from 1850s