Name: Elijah Johnson
   Born: 22 Aug 181184 144 
  Place: Fayette Co., PA
   Died: 14 Apr 188984 144 
  Place: Caldwell Twp, Appanoose Co IA
 Buried: 
  Place: Zoar Cemetery, Exline, Appanoose County, Iowa
Y-Haplo: R1b-BY91591
Married: 6 Nov 1832
  Place: Probably Fayette County, Pennsylvania84 144 

Elijah Johnson
"Genealogy & History of
The Johnson Family in America"³

The genetic information gleaned from a descendant's Y chromosome tell us that Elijah's closest Y-DNA relatives were Neils, that his paternal lineage was Irish and a descendant of Naill of the Nine Hostages. (See genetic details below.) And I've recently learned that Johnson is the English version of the Gaelic name McShane, also known descendants of the same Naill. These facts have not yet led us to Elijah's father but likely will in the future.

Elijah and Anna's youngest son was named Phineas Porter Johnson. This is notable because a Phineas Porter is found in Fayette county PA (Elijah's birth place) as early as 1799 with his appearance on the tax list for Dunbar township. Like Elijah, three of Phineas's children (Phineas Jr, John and Mrs Sarah McFarland) moved to Belmont county Ohio and eventually to Appanoose county Iowa (c1855) where Elijah died in 1889. An article written by Bert Porter (1880-1957) published in 1946, refers to Elijah as "uncle." It's evident, however, that he was known as Uncle Elijah Johnson by the community. This, for instance, comes from The Centerville Journal, 2 June 1886: "Uncle Elijah Johnson, an old resident of Caldwell township, but who has been in Illinois during the winter, has moved his residence back to Exline." Nonetheless, it needs to be noted that the Porter and Johnson families were living near one another c1800-c1840 in Fayette county PA, c1840s-1855 in Belmont county OH, and then in Appanoose county IA during the remainder of the 19th century.

The following is from Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County Pennsylvania. The Maryland origin for the Porter family is noteworthy because, according to the 1880 census, Elijah's mother was born in Maryland.

Phineas Porter is recorded as being overseer of the poor of Dunbar township in 1803...[He] was born in Maryland. He was a tanner. He came to Fayette county about the year 1800 and established a tannery in Dunbar township.¹

From the 1799 tax list of Dunbar township, Fayette County, PA:²

Horses Cattle Acres Mager Foster 1 2 - William Johnston 1 2 100 Isaac Johnston 1 1 - Elijah Johnston - - - Jacob Lowry - 1 - Benjamin Lowry - - - Phineas Porter, tanner 4 4 150 James Paull, 2 slaves 5 6 450 Joshua Porter, schoolmaster - 1 Jonathan Paul, blacksmith - - -

From Cincinnati Memories 1875-1875, undated:

The following is from Lewis Wood, a long-time resident of Cincinnati and vicinity, having been born in Pleasant township.

I was born in a log house, March 9, 1859, in Pleasant township, about six miles south of Centerville. My parents came to Centerville from Powhatan Point, Belmont County, Ohio, in 1854, by steam boat to Alexandria, near Keokuk, thence by wagons. The Porters, McFarlands, Johnsons, Monroes, Hendershots, and Marings came from Ohio about the same time and vicinity.

Obituaries

According to a 1978 certified copy of Elijah's death certificate, he died of diabetes. It gives the date of his death as 13 April 1889. However, all three known obituaries, as well as his tombstone, state that he died on the 14th.

This obituary is as found inDescendants of Elijah H. Johnson by Stephanie Ernst.

Appanoose Iowegian - April 18, 1889
Volume 7, #4

Elijah Johnson of Caldwell Twp. died at the home of his daughter-in-law on Sunday morning. We have not the particulars but understand his death was the result of old age and a general breaking down of the system. Mr. Johnson was an old settler of this county and a man highly respected by all who knew him.

We have been acquainted with him for over 20 years and have never heard aught but good spoken of him in that length of time. He leaves a large family of children and grandchildren to mourn his loss.

Appanoose county researcher, Jo Porter, informed me the following obituary was published on 8 May 1889 in either the Centerville Journal or the Centerville Citizen.

Died, near Exline, April 14th, 1889, Mr Elijah Johnson, aged 77 years, 7 months and 22 days. Mr Johnson was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, August 22d, 1811, and was married to Annie J Foster Nov. 6th, 1832. He removed to Belmont county, Ohio, soon after his marriage, where he remained until 1855, when he removed to Caldwell township, this county, where he has resided ever since. His wife died Feb 18th, 1879. There was born to them nine children, of whom six are living, and who were with him during his last illness, and rendered all the attention that was possible to give to a loving father. Mr Johnson was one of the best and most favorably known men in the community in which he lived. He was converted when he was 22 years old, and lived a consistent member of the M E Church, always contributing freely of his means, time and talent in support of the church of his choice. His home was always the home of the minister, and all who knew Uncle Elijah Johnson unite in saying that truly another patriarch is gone, but will not be forgotten by those who lived under his influence and christian example. He never hesitated in saying that he was ready and willing to go at the call of his Master. He will be missed by all who knew him.

This obituary, written by K P Morrison, appeared on 15 May 1889, the name of the newspaper not noted.

Elija Johnson was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, August 22nd, 1811, and was married to Anna J Foster, November 6th, 1832. Embraced religion in the twenty-second year of his age at a camp meeting near Connelsville, Pennsylvania. Moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1842, settling in Belmont county, remained there until 1855, when he came to Iowa and settled in Caldwell township, Appanoose county. He died near Exline, in great peace, April 14th 1889. Father Johnson during his long life was an active worker in the M E church, the church of his choice. Father and Mother Johnson were loved and respected by all who knew them; there home was always a home for the itinerant preacher; they were devoted christians and he will be sadly missed by the church and the community, as was Mother Johnson who preceded him to the land of rest. "They rest from their labors and are followed by their works."

Father Johnson leaves four sons, two daughters, and relatives and a host of friends to mourn; but their loss is his eternal gain. Funeral services were conducted by the writer at Zaor Chapel. May the consolations of religion sustain the heavenward ones.

K P Morrison

Phineas Porter Obituaries

Elijah's old friend, if not a relative, died two years earlier. Apparently, he was born on July 5, 1809.

PORTER- Phineas Porter died July 9, 1887, at his home near Centerville, aged 78 years and four days.

Funeral services were conducted at his late residence by Rev J A Bartlett on Sunday, July 10th. The elders of the Presbyterian church of Centerville and others from the society were present, beside a large gathering of friends and neighbors. Mr. Porter was born July 5, 1809 in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He united with the Presbyterian church when about 25 years of age, and soon after was elected a ruling elder in the Laurel Hill church in his own town. He was united in marriage with Hannah Baker (should be Bunker) in the year 1844, and removed soon after to Belmont county, Ohio. He was an active worker throughout all the years succeeding, til infirmity claimed him, in both church and Sabbath school. Mr Porter moved to Appanoose county in 1855, continuing faithful to all his church obligations, and being elected a ruling elder in the Centerville church in 1856, served in that capacity till age and infirmity rendered it impossible. He died in great peace. He leaves an infirm wife to mourn his loss and three children, all of whom were present at his funeral.

From the Centerville Journal or Centerville Citizen; date not known

OBITUARY

Died in Vermilion township, July 8th, Phineas Porter, aged 78 years and four days. Mr Porter was born in Fayette county PA., removed to Belmont county Ohio, and finally in 1855 removed to Centerville where he has since resided; at the age of 20 years he united with the Presbyterian Church was made an Elder in the Laurel Hill Church of his own town and in 1856 he became an Elder in the Centerville Presbyterian Church. Three children survive him beside the faithful wife of his long pilgrimage now inform and patiently awaiting the Makers summons. Mr. Porter died in great peace. The funeral services were conducted by Rev. Bartlett and was largely attended.

Appanoose Iowegian; 14 Jul 1887

Family

Elijah Johnson and Anna Jane Foster had the following children. See "Descendants of Elijah H Johnson" for additional information.

John Foster Johnson	1833-1835	John was born 24 Oct 1833, probably Pennsylvania.
William Paul Johnson	1836-1880	Born 27 Apr 1836 in Fayette county PA and m1 Minerva Maring m2 Louisa Maring. He died 2 Jun 1880 in Exline, Appanoose county, Iowa
Wesley Phillip Johnson	1839-1917	Married Susan Isabel Fisk. Find A Grave Memorial# 44840236.
Mary Elizabeth Johnson	1842-1906	She was born 13 May 1842, Belmont co Ohio and died in Exline 28 June 1906. Married William Armstrong Caster. They had nine children.
Alfred J Johnson	1844-1904	Born 4 Jan 1844, Belmont county, Ohio. Married Margaret Amelia Lowry. Alfred and his wife are living in Caldwell Twp, Appanoose co IA on the 1900 census.
Thomas Irvin Johnson	1847-1909	Born in Ohio. Married Rebecca C Eikleberry. Thomas and his family are living in Caldwell Twp, Appanoose co IA on the 1900 census.
George Washington Johnson	1850-1862	Born in Ohio.
Phineas Porter Johnson	1852-1927	Born 11 June 1852 in Belmont co Ohio. Married Della Rosetta Yarnell in Wayne co IA. He died 25 Apr 1927 in Sedgwick Co KS. He's found on the 1900 (Butler co), 1910 and 1920 KS census as Phinehas P Johnson. This was obviously his preferred spelling for his first name. According to the 1900 census they had 9 children, 6 living. See Find A Grave memorial #15934874.
Virtue Waters Johnson	1854-1935	Born in Belmont co OH. She m1 John William Benefiel, m2 William Beer. See Find A Grave Memorial #21662342.

Left: Mary Elizabeth, Back: Thomas Irvin,
Right: Wesley Phillip, Front: Virtue Waters.

The gentleman on the right is identified elsewhere as Phineas Porter Johnson but he looks like Wesley Phillip Johnson. (Compare the hairline, the part in the hair, the beard and the top of the ear, which points slightly away from the head. It's obvious, too, that this man was one of the older children, not one of the younger, as was Phineas.)

The identity of Elijah's parents have not been forthcoming in the written record, but the genetic record may one day providing some indication about to the family Elijah was born into. To that end, I'm tracking Elijah's patrilineal descendants.

Census Records

1800

Two Johnsons (although there were a lot of Johnstons) and one Foster are listed on the 1800 census for Fayette county, Pennsylvania.¹³⁵

                                   |Free White Males   |Free White Females
                                   |    10  16  26     |    10  16  26    
        HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD          |to  to  to  to  45 |to  to  to  to  45
PG#  LN#  LAST NAME   FIRST NAME   |10  16  26  45  up |10  16  26  45  up
==========================================================================
561  14   JOHNSON     Humphrey       1   .   .   .   1   4   3   .   1   .
594  22   FOSTER      John           2   .   .   1   .   2   .   .   1   .
597  12   JOHNSON     William        .   .   1   .   .   1   .   1   .   .

John Foster and William Johnson were living in Springhill Township. Humphrey Johnson was living in Luzerne Township. (It's worth noting that Elijah's eldest known son was named John Foster Johnson and the next son was named William.)

Four Johnstons are found enumerated on the 1800 census for Dunbar township. Phineas Porter is found in page 517.

1800 > PENNSYLVANIA > FAYETTE > DUNBAR TWP Series: M32 Roll: 38 Page: 514 Jesse Johnston 00100 00100 Ephraim Johnston 10010 10100 William Johnston 01201 00201 Elija Johnston 12101 31001

1810

The 1810 census for Fayette county has 16 Johnsons and 15 Johnstons, including an Elijah Johnson in Dunbar township. Phineas Porter is found on page 217.

1810 > PENNSYLVANIA > FAYETTE > DUNBAR TWP Series: M252 Roll: 54 Page: 219 Elijah Johnson 00201 01001 Ruth Brown 11000 00010

Of course, I'm anxious to discover whether Ruth Brown is the same Ruth Johnson living with Elijah on the 1850 census.

1820

William Foster, Phineus Porter and Elijah Johnson Sr are found on the same page in 1820. William and Elijah were presumably 26-45. Elijah is shown with no male children. Phineus is shown with four, but he was known to have three sons (John 1800, Moses 1807, Phineas 1819).

1820 > PENNSYLVANIA > FAYETTE Series: M33 Roll: 103 Page: 135 p135 Henry Ferry 000100 10100 Dunbar twp William Foster 410010 22110 These four names are in order, one after the other... Elijah Johnson Sen 000010 10100 John Norris 010110 00111 James Paul 000111 10101 Phineus Porter 120101 10101 p159 John F Foster 100010 00200 Georges twp p189 Thomas Foster 200010 30010 German twp John Foster 010010 10010 James Cosgray 210010 00100 Charles Foster 200100 01100 p190 Elespay Foster 100000 11101

1830

There are 32 Johnson/Johnstons in 1830 Fayette county, including this man. He would have been between 20-29, of the right age to have been Elijah's older brother. In fact, Wesley's descendants place his birth in 1808 and that he is estimated to have married in 1828. This might be the right man. His trail needs to be followed.

1830 > PENNSYLVANIA > FAYETTE > FRANKLIN Series: M19 Roll: 162 Page: 192 Westley Johnston 10001-10001

Despite the appearance of Elijah (Sr?) on the previous census records, he doesn't appear on the 1830. Might he have died?

The only Johnson left in Dunbar township is Tobias, about Westley's age:

1830 > PENNSYLVANIA > FAYETTE > DUNBAR Series: M19 Roll: 162 Page: 202 Tobias Johnston 10001-000001

1840

Johnson is, of course, a difficult name to research. It would probably be meaningless, for instance, to list all Johnsons from the 1840 Belmont County, Ohio census. I need to be very specific in the research. To that end, Elijah was living in Mead township in that year (series M704, roll 378):

                         Males         Females
   28 Christian Johnson  0002000000000 000120010010
   29 Margaret Johnson   0102100000000 020001000000
   31 Martin Johnson     1100010000000 110001000000
   33 Elijah Johnson     2000100000000 000010000000
   33 Thomas Johnson     2220001000000 100101000000

Thomas is the eldest male Johnson found in the township. It may be significant that he's listed only two entries below Elijah. Since Elijah's son Wesley was born Oct 19, 1839 in Pennsylvania, it's a pretty safe bet that Elijah had just recently emigrated. However, there was already a Thomas Johnston in Mead township by the 1820 census (page 290). He may have been of a Scots-Irish family that later gained some prominence in Belmont county. This is a Thomas Johnston, age 50 and born in Pennsylvania, on the 1850 census of Meade, Belmont, Pennsylvania. He'd been in Ohio for at least twenty years.

It's correct that Elijah and Anna would have had two living sons and no daughters in 1840. This is certainly them. The other near certainty about this record is that the parents of neither were residing with them.

1850

The 1850 census for York twp, Belmont county, OH (series M432, roll 661, page 50) lists the following household. Could the 85 year-old, Ruth Johnson, have been Elijah's mother?

      Elija Johnson 37 m Farmer Penn
      Ann     "     37 f        Penn
      Ruth    "     85 f        Virginia
      William "     14 m        Penn
      Westley "     10 m        Penn
      Mary    "      8 f        O
      Alfred  "      6 m        O
      Thomas  "      3 m        O
      George  "   5/12 m        O

We find the Phineous Porter [Jr] family on the previous page. There are McFarlands living on either side of Elijah. Following his family is Joseph McFarland and his wife Sarah, sister of Phineas Porter Jr.

"Elizah" Johnson appears on the 1860 census in Caldwell township, Appanoose county, IA, page 685 and on the 1870 census, same place, as "Elisha Johnson", page 373.

Elijah is found living with his son, Thomas, in Appanoose county, Iowa in 1880.¹³⁴ His father is listed as being born in Pennsylvania and his mother listed as being born in Maryland. (Note, however, that there is a Ruth Johnson, born ca 1765 in Virginia, living with Elijah in 1850. A forty-eight year difference between the two could make her Elijah's grandmother.)¹³⁶

Virtue Waters Johnson

This quilt was made by Elijah and Anna Jane Johnson's daughter, Virtue Waters Johnson Benefiel Beer. The image is found at http://www.quiltindex.org/basicdisplay.php?kid=49-7E-8EF. Apparently, it was made by 1900.

Minnesota Quilt Project/Minnesota Quilters, Inc.

Other Elijah Johnsons

There was an Elijah Johnson on the 1860 mortality schedule for Fayette County. He died in June 1860 at the age of 68. He was born in Pennsylvania, a laborer, and died of liver disease. It's estimated he was born c1792.

Another Elijah Johnson was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania on 17 May 1843 (Findagrave.com says 18 May 1842; BiilionsGraves says 18 Mar 1842) and died 23 Nov 1911 in Dunbar, aged 68. His death certificate says he was the son of Elijah Johnson and Elizabeth Dawson, both born in PA. In all likelihood, this is the 17 year-old Elijah Johnson on the 1860 census living in the household of Elizabeth Johnson, 67. His sister, Catherine is living with them. It doesn't stretch the imagination too far to consider that Elizabeth is Elizabeth Dawson, wife of the Elijah Johnson who had just died. However, that family is listed on the census as being born in Virginia. On the 1900 census, Elijah is listed with his own family, including wife, Annetta, and sons Albert B Johnson (20) and Chester G Johnson (12). Both of his parents are listed as being born in Pennsylvania. His pension records state that his widow was Rachel A Johnson.⁴ An uncited source on the internet says that her maiden name was Krepps.

I'm unable to find this family on the 1850 census.

The question is, of course, Is the elder Johnson the same Elijah Johnson often listed for Dunbar? It's possible, however, that the family came to Fayette from elsewhere at a later date.

Y-DNA

UPDATE: The tester has upgraded to the Big Y, which looks at up to 15 million markers on the Y chromosome. He has a marker called R1b-BY91591. It constitutes a subclade of haplogroup R1b-A5388. This makes him a descendant of the half-mythical Naill of the Nine Hostages through his son Eógan mac Néill. My work on this has brought the invitation as a co-admin of Cenél nEógain Y-DNA Project. I have my own page at the R1b-A5388 Y-DNA Project.

OLD: In the summer of 2019, a patrilineal descendant of Elijah's tested his Y chromosome. Of nearly 500 matches, only one Johnson is listed. The scarcity of the name among his haplotype suggests it came into the genetic lineage at a comparatively recent date. Still, virtually all the matches have Scottish names. Elijah's paternal forebears likely came from Scotland or Ireland. I'm tracking the descendants of Wesley Johnson (1808-1837), also of Fayette County, in hopes that a male descendant will step forward with a Y-DNA test. If the tester matches, then Elijah and Wesley were likely brothers.

The same Johnson cousin has recently upgraded to a product called Y-111. It has reduced the matches from hundreds to a handful. The closest matches have the names Neel and Gilmore. We should not draw too much from that yet, though. More testing needs to be done. But these families have tested for the Big Y, which looks at up to 15 million positions on the Y-DNA. From this we can gather that Elijah could be of the haplogroup R1b-A5386. If that's true, then we've narrowed possible matches further. That haplogroup, though, may be several hundred years old.

But there's more. Fellow Johnson researcher, Sue Warren, noted that some Neals (etc) had changed their name to Johnson after the American Revolution. These Neals, she had read, are descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages. I checked. Indeed, Elijah's first 25 markers are a perfect match! They are referred to as the Irish Modal Haplotype (IMH) and belong to an estimated 17% of the population of Northwest Ireland.

This doesn't prove descent from Niall, of course. He is, after all, a semi-mythical figure. But it does show us the population from which Elijah likely came and that might well help us determine whether his ancestors, only a few generations removed, were Neals. More to come.

4. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-XW9T-X5?i=477&cc=1832324