Category Archives: The Johnson Family

Descendants of the Johnson Family

Willard Green Johnson Robinson

Willard RobinsonWillard Green Johnson Robinson (January 19, 1920 – November 6, 2013) was born in Edgecombe County to the late Mamie Johnson and Lou Green. Her aunt, Mary Jane Johnson, raised her. She was reared in Edgecombe County, North Carolina on the Joe Mills farm near Friendship Church.

Willard attended the Friendship School, which was located behind the church. When she stopped going to school, Willard worked on the farm and also did domestic work. She earned twenty-five cents a day doing day work on the farm at that time. That was not plenty of money.

At an early age, she accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and joined the Friendship Baptist Church, where she remained a member until she left Rocky Mount, North Carolina. When her Aunt Mary Jane became sick Willard took good care of her. Her cousins, Jesse Sr., Thomas and John Hinton assisted in caring for Mary Jane Johnson.

Willard met Johnnie Frank Robinson at a Holiness church, where they were attending. Johnny Frank was born December 19, 1919 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina and he served in the Army. They got married in 1939 in Tarboro, North Carolina in the courthouse. Mary Jane Johnson continued to live with Frank and Willard until she died in 1940.

In 1949 Willard and Frank moved to Winston Salem, North Carolina. He was a member of Saint Phillips Moravian Church in Winston Salem, NC over thirty-years. He did handy work at the church. Frank’s hobbies were restoring antiques and deep-sea fishing. Willard and Frank were married for thirteen years, before their daughter Zenobia Robinson Coker was born. Frank died of diabetes complications in 1988.

Today at the age of 81 Willard does domestic work two days a week, and work in her garden and enjoys cooking. Willard is a devoted member of Saint Phillips Moravian Church and is involved in many of the church’s organizations. Willard and her husband Johnnie Frank were married for 49 years at the time of his death. Willard passed away November 6, 2013.

Ida Johnson

Ida Johnson was born in Edgecombe County to Benjamin Sr. and Mary Jane Taylor Johnson. She met and married Allen (last name unknown), and they didn’t have any children. Ida was the youngest of the Johnson children.

When Ida moved from her parent’s home, she moved to South Rocky Mount, NC. She did domestic work for a living. Ida was a loving and kind person, and her nieces enjoyed visiting with her at her home. Ida was the first of the Johnson children to die. She died on December 31, 1935, and was buried in the By George Cemetery. Her husband Allen preceded her in death

Maggie Johnson Monroe

Maggie Johnson Monroe

Maggie Johnson Monroe

Maggie Johnson Monroe  (July 29, 1905 – 1986) was born in Edgecombe County to Benjamin Sr. and Mary Jane Johnson. Maggie met and married Willie Monroe, who was born April 15, 1906. To this union nine children were born. They were Authalus, Dorothy Lee, Mary Jane, Willa Jean, Doretha, William, Samuel Lee and Helen Monroe. Maggie was a member of Friendship Baptist Church, where she served on the Mother’s Board.

When Maggie’s baby son, Samuel Lee, died from a car accident, it took Maggie many years to recover from his death. Samuel was driving when a storm developed. He had one of his nephews (Richard Batts) in the car. He was on his way to pick his mother up from fishing when he hit the bridge rail, killing him instantly and injuring Richard. Samuel was sixteen years of age when he died in 1955.

Maggie and Willie Monroe lived on the Powell Farm in Edgecombe County where they farmed. Her husband, Willie, died first and Maggie died in a nursing home in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. They were buried in Unity Cemetery in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Benjamin (BJ) Johnson, Jr.

Benjamin Johnson, Jr.

Benjamin Johnson, Jr.

Benjamin (BJ) Johnson, Jr. (April 18, 1900 – November 14, 1989) was born in Edgecombe County to  Benjamin Sr. and Mary Jane Taylor Johnson. Benjamin Johnson, Jr. attended the schools in Edgecombe County. He had four children and two stepdaughters.

BJ and Mary Newton had three children. They were Rosa Lee, Frank and Ethel.

BJ fathered another daughter, Flossie by Dicy Newton.

Benjamin (BJ) Jr. met and married Gertrude Mears and they had no children. They lived in Rocky Mount at 708 Holly Street. BJ worked on the farm where he was paid by the day.

He stopped working on the farm when he was hired at the Planters Cotton Mill Factory on Cokey Road in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.   BJ died at the Convalescent Nursing Home in Enfield, North Carolina on November 14, 1989.

Gertrude Mears Johnson was born in August 1903 in Manning, South Carolina to the late Henry and Lizzie Mears. She was married to the late Mayer Simon. They had two children, Bertha Holland and Elizabeth Ann Watson. Gertrude was an active member of the Morning Star Church of Christ for forty-three years until her health failed. She sang in the Senior Choir and was a charter member of the Rising Union Club. Gertrude died at Beverly Health Care Nursing Home in Tarboro, North Carolina on Thursday May 10, 1984. Gertrude was eighty-one years old when she died.

BJ and Gertrude were buried in the Unity Cemetery in Rocky Mount.

 

 

 

Mattie Lula Johnson Hinton

Mattie Lula Johnson Hinton (1901 – December 15, 1953) was born 1901 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina to Benjamin Sr. and Mary Jane Johnson. Mattie Lula met and married Octavia Hinton and to this union six children were born. They were Josephine, Roxie, Jesse, Elizabeth (Doll), John and Thomas Hinton. She was a member of Cedar Creek Church in Nash County.

Mattie and Octavia Hinton were living on a farm when they separated. Mattie Lula moved to a three-room apartment on Park Avenue in Rocky Mount where she was struggling to the pay the rent. Octavia and Lula went back together and tried to make their marriage work. They moved to Port Island farm on 64 Highway, where they were paid by the day. Octavia and Mattie worked on the farm for a year.

Octavia bought Mattie Lula everything that she wanted if he could afford it. When she wanted a sewing machine, he surprised her and bought it for her. He also bought her outfits with matching shoes and hats. Mattie still wanted her own money, and the problems continued. She felt if she worked, she should have her own money. Her thinking was well before women’s liberation (smile). In those days the husband gave the wife what he thought was an adequate allowance.

Mattie Lula’s mother, Mary Jane Johnson, intervened about the separation. She had warned her daughter that she should stay with her husband, but Mattie Lula didn’t listen and got a divorce anyway. Mattie Lula faced difficult times after the divorce. She couldn’t take care of her children. After Lula and Octavia divorced, some of their children went to live with various relatives.

Jesse, Sr. (Hut) went to live with his Aunt Maggie and her family. Roxie went with to live with her cousin, Mae Linda, and Octavis Battle in Battleboro, NC. Elizabeth (Doll) went to live with her father Octavia Hinton when he married Alice Farmer, where she stayed until she was grown. Josephine, John and Thomas (Tom) stayed with their mother, Mattie Lula.

Mattie Lula moved to Dunbar in Battlesboro, where she did day work on a farm. She eventually left the farm and moved to Rocky Mount, NC on Matthew Street. She was employed at Lee’s Factory until her death. Mattie Lula Johnson was a young woman when she died December 15, 1953 at the age of 52. She died from low blood pressure. Mattie was buried in Unity Cemetery, Rocky Mount NC. Mattie loved her grandchildren.

Nettie Johnson Edmond

Nettie Johnson

Nettie Johnson

Nettie Johnson Edmond (January 15, 1898 – October 30, 1989) was born January 15, 1898 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina to Benjamin Sr. and Mary Jane Johnson. She met and married Henry Edmond who was born in Tarboro, NC and to this union five children were born. They were Morris Rematha, Morris (Cat), Nathaniel (Butler), Forest (Pig) and Ladella Edmond. Nettie and Henry lived on a farm called “California” on Leggett Road.

Nettie and her husband Henry separated when their children were small. Henry remarried and had children by his second wife. Nettie never remarried, but she had one son Eugene (Tube) by Ed Williams.

Nettie and her children worked on Bullock and Claude Damson farms. She eventually left the farm and moved to South Rocky Mount. Nettie later moved to Matthew Street where she stayed many years before moving to Ann Street in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She was employed at Lee’s Tobacco Factory until she retired.

Nettie and her sister Mattie Lula Johnson were born less than a year apart. They both liked to drink their coffee black and strong. Her hobbies were going to the movies and watching television.

When Nettie’s health failed she was transferred to the Prosian Nursing Home in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She died October 30, 1989 at Community Hospital. Nettie and her husband Henry Edmond were interred in the Unity Cemetery in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson (1895-March 8, 1949) was born in 1895 to the late Benjamin Sr. and Mary Jane Johnson in Edgecombe County. Sam continued to live with his mother, Mary Jane Johnson, and Willard Robinson after his brothers and sisters had left home. When he left home, he lived on Tarboro Highway for a while, and then moved to South Rocky Mount, NC. He was employed at Planter Cotton Mill Factory on Coker Road, and he also worked for the Railroad until he retired. Samuel worked hard and saved his money. When he died, he willed his life savings to his siblings.

Samuel was never married. He was engaged to get married, but his mother Mary Jane intervened. She did not approve of his fiancée, and Samuel never forgave his mother.

When Sam became ill he went to live with his sister, Daisy, where he remained until his death. Sam was fifty-four years old when he died from yellow jaundice on March 8, 1949.

Samuel was buried in the family plot at Unity Cemetery in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Carrie Ellen Johnson Peyton

Carrie-Ellen-Johnson-PeytonCarrie Ellen Johnson Peyton (September 19, 1888 – May 16, 1969) was born in Edgecombe County to Benjamin and Mary Jane Johnson. She was the second eldest of nine sisters and brothers.

Carrie met and married Walter Peyton and to this union one daughter was born, Carrie Mae Peyton.

Carrie and Walter lived in Nash County where they farmed. When Walter died, Carrie and her daughter did day work on the farm for a short time.

Carrie Johnson Peyton died from a stroke on May 16, 1969 at the age of 81. She and her husband, Walter, were buried in Unity Cemetery in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

June Johnson

June Johnson was born in 1884 to the late Benjamin Sr. and Mary Jane Johnson in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. June met and married Nanny (last name unknown), and they did not have any children. They lived near Rocky Mount, North Carolina where they sharecropped on the Powell Farm. June also worked in a factory in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. When June died, his wife left Rocky Mount to live with her relatives in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

June’s hobby was riding his bicycle. He was sixty years old when he died June 10, 1944.

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