Hannah Johnson Vestal’s
Paternal Lines: Johnston/Johnson, Durham, and Smoot
Johnston / Johnsons
Johnson is the 2nd
most common surname after Smith (I feel like spelling Smith as South since the
reverse happens so often), and I am here to confirm that there were tons of Johnstons,
Johnsons, and Johnstones (all pronounced the same) in the American colonies to
confuse and confound researchers. There was a clan from Scotland, some who came with the Pennsylvania Quakers, and some who might have come to Jamestown just after
the horrors of the “The Starving Time.” And all named John or James or John
James—what a lack of imagination was shown in naming compared to our days! I
have sifted for days, and I am ready to start with the James Johnston who makes
the most sense to me, but you could find online trees with others playing his
role to be sure.
I was provided a copy of the Elmo Johnson's genealogical book Long Lost Cuzzins by the Union County Historical Society in Tennessee. He starts with the Scottish Johnsons, but I am not sure he was right about that or a few other things. Again I have been swayed by the DNA testing in our group.
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| Isle of Wight County St. Luke's Parish Church |
James Johnston (1662-1747) 7xggf We have 11 DNA
matches where the common ancestor between our trees and the matches’ trees is
James Johnson and/or Mary Johnson, James’ wife
James was born in Currowaugh
(named for a swamp) Isle of Wight county, one of the Virginia Colony’s original
1634 shires or counties, situated on the James River across and eastward from
Jamestown. There is no agreement on his parents, but the birth date is
consistent across numerous trees. He married another Johnson, Mary Johnson, in
1692 and who might have been some degree of kin. They had ten children. His
1747 will is recorded in the Isle of
Wight County Records, 1634-1951, Bk 2. It was interesting to me that after
he stated what legacy he wanted to provide someone, he ended each with “and no
more.” In it he leaves his wife a slave to serve during her remaining lifetime,
and half the tobacco (which was used like currency at the time) from his farm.
He also left her three cows, the feather bed, and two sheets, some basins, two
iron pots, one plate, one porringer, two rugs---and no more. Most of the land
went to his son Benjamin.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, our 36th President, [and for us in the Hill Country, local boy done well] descended from James Johnston as well, according to materials provided me by the Union County, Tennessee Historical Society.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, our 36th President, [and for us in the Hill Country, local boy done well] descended from James Johnston as well, according to materials provided me by the Union County, Tennessee Historical Society.
Mary Johnson (1674-after 1747) 7xggm
Mary, wife of James
Johnston, was the daughter of Robert
Johnson (1643-1733) 8xggf and Katherine
Allen (1643-1693) 8xggm born in Isle of Wight County. There is a millennium
file on Ancestry for this family.
James Captain Johnston/Johnson (1692-1785)
6xggf We have 8 DNA matches where the common ancestor
between our trees and the matches’ trees is James Johnston & Catherine
Durham.
James was born in Isle of
Wight County, Virginia, in 1692. There is a Millenium File and also record in
the U.S. and International Marriage
Records, 1560-1900 database on Ancestry. John is also listed in the Early Virginia Census Index from Isle of
Wight County in 1782 where he is designated as Captain Johnson. Since this was
the time of the American Revolution, it seems likely that James was a soldier
in the Revolutionary War, and in fact there is record of a James Johnston in
the U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls,
1775-1783, but with so many James Johnsons/Johnstons, it would take further
research to prove that. He married Catherine Durham [see Durhams below] in
1742, likely his second marriage. They had five sons. He died in 1785 in
Brunswick County, Virginia. The will mentions land in Brunswick and Lunenburg
Counties.
George Presley Johnson (1760-1841) 5xggf We have 6 DNA matches where the common ancestor between
our trees and the matches’ trees is George Presley Johnson and Elizabeth Jane
Durham.
George was born in 1760 in
Brunswick County, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Jane Durham. It appears that
Elizabeth was the niece of George’s mother, making them cousins. As someone
long ago suggested, sometimes the family tree doesn’t fork. She apparently
married George’s brother Edmund after George’s death. [More on the Durhams
below.] George was a fife and drummer in the Revolutionary War and there are
good records in the U.S. Revolutionary
War Rolls, 1775-1783 for that. Records obtained by Elmo Johnson, author of Long Lost Cuzzins, show him in musters
for Morristown, NJ, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, White Plains, and Middlebrook. The
fife and drummer was very important in the time of the Revolutionary War,
expected not only to know many tunes but responsible for setting up the daily
routine of rising, meals, and bedtime; in times of battle he would set the pace
of the march and communicate orders from the commander. It is most likely that
George died in Virginia, but at least one researcher gave his death in Roane
County, Tennessee.
George Johnson (1775-1852) 4xggf We have one DNA match where the common ancestor between
our trees and the match’s tree is George Johnson and Nancy Buckner.
George was born to George
Presley Johnson and Elizabeth Jane Durham in 1775. He married Nancy Buckner in
1805. He fought in the War of 1812; there is a record of a pension application
for his widow indicating he served under Captain Gibbs in the Tennessee
Militia. The family had moved to Tennessee at least by 1808 when daughter
Hannah was born in Knox County. In the 1840 census George is shown Knox County,
Tennessee, with seven people in the household. In 1850, when the census began
to name family members, he is shown with wife Nancy, and three children, again
in Knox County, Tennessee. He died and is buried in Maynardville, Union County,
Tennessee.
Hannah Johnson (1810-1889) 3xggm We have 18 DNA matches where the common ancestor between
our trees and the matches’ trees is Hannah Johnson and Jay Vestal.
Hannah was born in
Tennessee around 1810. There is an AGBI entry
for her. Her marriage to Jay Vestal is recorded in Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 and the record itself from
Greene County, Tennessee can be viewed on Ancestry.com with membership. She and
Jay Vestal moved to Washington County, Virginia by 1830 when their first child
was born. Jay Vestal died in 1848 after ten children were born, including
Priscilla Adeline Vestal, wife of C.E. South’s father, Clark Albert South.
Hannah lived in Washington County until her death in 1889. She is buried in the
Zion Methodist Cemetery near Abingdon, Virginia, with her daughter Priscilla
who died many years before her mother. In the 1850 census she is head of
household with eight children. By the 1860 census, only one child remained at
home. I could not locate an 1870 census for Hannah. In the 1880 census she was employed as a
seamstress and headed a household that included her widowed daughter Dorcas
Widener and her grandson Samuel Widener. In the Vestal section covered earlier,
there is a picture of the Vestal cabin where Jay and Hannah Johnson Vestal
lived.
This is a family page from the Vestal Bible showing Jay
Vestal’s death and Hannah’s birth date.
Resources
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Johnston-594 Tree with a copy of James Johnston’s
will.
http://longlostcuzzins.yolasite.com/johnson-lineage-in-america.php website with a copy of Elmo Johnson's book without its 1999 addendum.
Johnson, Elmo. Long Lost Cuzzins. Knoxville: Union
County Historical Society.
The Durhams
Northern Neck of
Virginia
North Farnham Church, reconstructed
Thomas Henry Durham (1661?- 1715) 8xggf
There is dispute about the
birth and parentage of Thomas Henry Durham. Some believe that he was born and
lived his whole life in Farnham, Richmond County, Virginia. Although evidence
exists that he was not the son of Bermuda interim governor Thomas Durham
(1604-1653), since that son Thomas was living in Bermuda and involved in legal
affairs after it is believed that the Farnham Thomas Durham was in Virginia,
other researchers make a thin case that the Durhams were seafarers and could have
sailed between Virginia and Bermuda many times. There is also some suggestion
made that Thomas might have been part of an extensive line of Durhams in
Maryland and Stafford County, Virginia, with two sons Samuel Durham and John
Durham.
At any rate, we know that
Thomas Durham is to be found in Richmond County, Virginia, in an area known as
Farnham Parish, by at least 1685, the year of his marriage to Dorothy Smoot.
Richmond was one of four counties considered to be the Northern Neck of the
Virginia Colony, between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, and across the
Chesapeake from Maryland, and it has nothing to do with the city of Richmond. It
is possible that he was born before 1661, perhaps about 1649, based on the fact
that he was exempted from paying levies by the court in 1699 “by reason of his
great age.” Since it was so common for fathers and sons to have the same first name,
that record might have referred to an earlier Thomas. Thomas and most others
who lived in Richmond County planted tobacco for a living. Thomas and Dorothy’s daughter Mary Durham was
born in 1686, their son John Thomas Durham in 1690, as recorded in the North
Farnham Parish records, and at least two other children are also recorded in
parish records. Both Thomas and Dorothy died in Farnham. Thomas’ will was written
in 1711 and proved in 1715 in Richmond County. Dorothy remarried to Jeremiah
Greenham, a gentleman who had been involved in the neighborhood for many years.
Thomas Durham Jr. (1690-1734) 7xggf We have 17 DNA matches in our group of six cousins where the
common ancestors between our trees and the matches’ trees is Thomas Durham and
his wife Mary Smoot.
Thomas Durham Jr. was the
eldest son of Thomas Henry Durham and Dorothy Smoot. He was born and spent his
life in Farnham, Richmond County, Virginia. He was a tobacco planter like his
father. He married Mary Smoot, a cousin of some degree, in 1710 as recorded in Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia,
1649-1800. His 1734 will provided for
his step-father, Jeremiah Greenham, to occupy the land left to his mother by
his father during Greenham’s lifetime as well as the typical bequests to his
wife and children. Thomas and Mary had thirteen children.
George Durham (1720-1767) 6xggf We have 23 DNA
matches in our group of six cousins where the common ancestors between our
trees and the matches’ trees is George Durham and Winifred Lindsey.
Several of Thomas’ and
Mary’s children have their birth place given as Brunswick County, Virginia,
rather than Richmond County. It was not uncommon for planters to move on as the
land played out, but the perplexing part is that both parents’ place of death is
given back in Farnham in Richmond County. Perhaps they went in their dotage to
live with their oldest son Joseph back on the land in Farnham. George was born
in St. Andrews Parish, Brunswick County, on the North Carolina border, in 1720.
He married Winifred Lindsey in 1745. George has a land patent in Brunswick County,
Virginia, for 182 acres on Evans Creek. George’s 1766 will names Winifred as
executor and leaves his land to his three sons. His daughters are to inherit
his goods after the death of their mother.
Catherine Durham (1720-1765) 6xggm As stated above, we have 8 DNA matches where the common
ancestors are James Johnson and Catherine Durham between our trees and the
matches’ trees.
Catherine appears to be a
twin of George Durham, both born in 1720 to John Thomas Durham and Mary Smoot.
She married James Johnson in 1742. Their son, George Presley Johnson, married Catherine’s
niece, Elizabeth Jane Durham.
Elizabeth Jane Durham (1760-1841) 5xggm There are 19 DNA matches in our group of six where the
common ancestors between our trees and the matches’ trees is Elizabeth Jane
Durham and George Presley Johnson.
Elizabeth Jane Durham was
the daughter of George Durham and Winifred Lindsey. She was born in St. Andrews
Parish, Brunswick County, Virginia, in 1760 and married George Presley Johnson.
She died in Roane County, Tennessee in 1841.
The Smoots
William Smoot or Smute (1596-1670) 9xggf
Immigrant ancestor from Holland or England or Scotland
It is not clear if William
was born in Holland, England or Scotland, but his birth date can be placed from
later statements about his age to have been in 1596. He was apprenticed to a
boatwright. Smute, a member of the Boatwright Guild in London, agreed in 1633
to perform fifty days of labor in Virginia for a settler named Burbage. Smute
was likely finding life in England more difficult after Charles I came to the
throne and began heavier taxation of the common man, so he settled in Virginia
himself. He was granted 400 acres in York County, Virginia, on the north side
of the Charles River for the transportation of eight settlers, believed to be
his family and servants from England. He and some indentured servants constructed
many boats for the settlers there. He fought against the Chickahominy and
Pamunky Indians, earning 600 pounds of tobacco, the common currency at the time,
for his service in 1644. In 1646 he assigned his Virginia land and moved to
Maryland. As a businessman William was in court on matters of both debts and the
collection of debts, leaving records of these transactions. He married Grace
Wood, a widow, before 1646. In 1647 William was granted a patent for 300 acres near
the mouth of Herring Creek on the Potomac River. He later moved westward to
land on the Wicomico River. He had several other land grants. He signed an
important petition in 1650 called “Stone’s Declaration” wherein some influential
Maryland Protestants declared to the King that they had “all fitting and
convenient freedom and liberty in the exercise of our religion” under the Calvert’s
Catholic government in Maryland. This petition was thought necessary because
some Puritans were trying to assert otherwise. William’s acquisition of land
kept growing, and as his children and step-children began to come of age, he
assigned them various portions. He was seen as an expert on watercraft and was
called upon to appraise them in court matters. His wife Grace died in 1666, and
William died without a will.
William Smoot Jr. (1634?-1716)
8xggf
William Smoot Jr. was likely
born in Virginia before his father departed for Maryland. He is recorded in Farnham
Parish in Richmond County as witness of the sale of a cow. In 1681 he purchased
land and in 1684 he and his wife Jane sold some land together. William and Jane
Batten Smoot had three daughters recorded in Richmond County, Mary b.1693 married
to Thomas Durham Jr., son of Thomas and Dorothy Smoot Durham, and twins
Elizabeth and Anne, b.1698.
Elizabeth Grady of
Richmond County willed to Mary Smoot, daughter of William Smoot, her entire
landed estate with instructions for its distribution should Mary die without children
to William. The will, dated 1693, was not proved until 1702 by Thomas Durham,
Mary’s husband, and a Richard Draper.
In 1700 William Smoot conveyed
60 acres for love and affection to Thomas Durham’s wife Dorothy Smoot. Jane Smoot
waived her dower rights in this transaction. In 1707 he gave more acreage to
both Thomas and Dorothy, and interestingly, a Mary Gilbert deeded the Durhams 50
acres adjoining the land from Smoot.
William Smoot’s will was
written in 1715 and proved in 1716. It granted Jane use of all lands and
properties during her life, and then to his son-in-law and grandchildren. Thomas
Durham died before the land was divided, so in 1739 a committee was formed to
petition the estate for three Durham grandchildren.
Dorothy and Mary Smoot
Some researchers suggest
that Dorothy Smoot was not the daughter of the immigrant William Smoot, but
perhaps his niece. I did not think there was much to their argument, but you can find a lot of material on that. Thomas Durham Junior apparently married his cousin Mary
Smoot, but that was not that uncommon at the time.
There was a bit of a
scandal in 1708 when Thomas Durham Sr. brought an indentured servant, Anne
Kelly, to court for having a child out of wedlock. Indentured servants were not
allowed to marry while indentured, so the child would be illegitimate. Anne
would not name the father and was jailed. In a rather bold move, Dorothy Smoot
Durham the same day went to court in person, unusual in any case, for women
usually sent a man to court to act for them, and she paid Anne’s fine. Ten
months later Anne Kelly is back in court again with another child, but on that
occasion she tells the court the children belong to Thomas Durham Jr. Neither of these
children was recognized as Durham’s in later documents or records.
The blog author Roberta
Estes brought me out of my deed-reading fog a bit to point out how unusual it
was for Dorothy Smoot Durham to have been deeded land in her own right which
would have meant that her husband would not have had any right to sell or
otherwise control that portion of land. Another interesting thing concerning
Dorothy is that she gave a deposition in 1704 about a deceased neighbor James
Gilbert who had written a will leaving his estate to a John Mills. Dorothy
testified that she had heard old Gilbert express regret for that more than once, but he never changed the will formally. In 1707 when the
estate was settled, Gilbert’s wife Mary deeded the Durhams 50 acres.
Resources
Some Ancestry.com
resources used for this section include Virginia,
Marriages of the Northern Neck of Virginia, 1649-1800; Family Data Collections,
Wills of Brunswick County, Virginia, Book 3; U.S. and International Marriage
Records, 1560-1900.
https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/o/r/Tim-Morton-tx/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-1426.html
Informative tree about the Durhams.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3ADurham~%20%2Bbatch_number%3AC505381
Records of the North Farnham Parish for the Durhams.
https://dna-explained.com/2017/05/20/thomas-durham-before-1649-1715-a-governors-son-52-ancestors-161/ Interesting
blog poster with several posts relevant to Durhams, links below.
http://www.durhamheritage.com/ThomasDURHAM-DorothySMOOT/b34884.html#P34884
Good source of Durham basic information with good documentation.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3ADurham~%20%2Bbatch_number%3AC505381
Family Search records for Durhams in Farnham Parish.
https://books.google.com/books?id=-LNlQSQ3nOwC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=elizabeth+grady+AND+durham&source=bl&ots=ej8bIg5Lw1&sig=ACfU3U0D-df9V2fuBWBoM2FdoENzNhWj-w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjn3_-Z0evhAhUKWqwKHa4TDWYQ6AEwHXoECBoQAQ#v=onepage&q=elizabeth%20grady%20AND%20durham&f=false
Online version of Wills of Richmond
County, Virginia, 1699-1800. Edited by Robert Headley. Published by Genealogical
Publishing, 1983.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x004083267;view=1up;seq=27
Online version of The Smoots of Maryland
and Virginia, a genealogical history of William Smute by Harry Newman,
published in 1936. Good source on the Smoots, well researched and documentd for
its time.
https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I002857&tree=Tree1
This tree has a great deal of documentation and land records about the Smoot
family.
https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=thamm&id=I11272
A rootsweb site about William Smoot with a lot of reference material.
http://interwovenlives.com/william-smoot/
A blog entry about William Smoot the immigrant.
Next post will cover Hannah Johnson's maternal lines, the Buckners, Coxes, Fergusons,et.al.
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