Johnsons, Greshams finally start falling into place

There is nothing that will put you on a genealogy "high" like breaking down a "brick wall" or finally being able to unravel a family mystery.

More than a year ago, I wrote about my Johnson family members and how they were becoming more difficult to put together than Smiths or Joneses.

They still are, but, after more than a year of wondering questioning, and collecting bits of information, I finally bit the bullet last weekend and told myself it was time to figure this thing out ... or at least give it a good try.

Patience has never been one of my greatest virtues but I realized that was what it was going to take. So, working backwards, step by step, analyzing details and dates, thinking, pondering, going over censuses page by page, I finally have a start on Hester Fowler Johnson. And that was one of my biggest problems ... I didn't know it, but she was actually Hester Fowler Gresham Johnson.

And, once again, much to my surprise, I found a high school friend in the family tree when I started bringing the line to the present.

Beginning with the best evidence I had, family estate settlement papers from 1868 which gave her name as Hester Fowler Johnson and her husband as James Johnson, I found James and Hester in the 1870 Gwinnett County census with a bunch of kids. Feeling really smug at my find, I entered them into my computer program. Then I found them in the Johnson Cemetery in Gwinnett County, names and dates matched, and I stopped there, satisfied that I had found the family of my Hester. She was born Nov. 15, 1824 and died Sept. 28, 1898. Everything fit with her parents ages and estimated marriage date.

Then, last weekend, I went a little farther and found them in the 1880 Gwinnett census, only this time the kids were all gone except for one daughter, Nancy Gresham, given as a stepdaughter to James.

Huh? Gresham? Stepdaughter? Wait a minute here.

There was also a step-grandson, "Pleatus" Gresham (probably supposed to be "Pleasant") but Nancy was listed as unmarried. Uh oh. Problems. Who were these Gresham folks? The only way they could be step-relatives is if Hester was married previously to a Gresham. My smug smile went away quickly. My task was not finished.

So I went back to the 1840 Gwinnett census and found her father, Nathan Fowler, and, guess what? Right next door was an Edward Gresham and his wife, both age 20-30, with one child under five years of age. Oh, dear me. How careless I had been.

A check of the 1850 census confirmed it ... Edward Gresham, wife Hester, and a son William D., age 10. There were more children ... James H., age 9; George W., age 3; and Edward H., age 2. I also added Nancy since she was born in 1852, after this census was taken. I also now had an estimated marriage date of 1839 for Hester and Edward. She was only 15. (Ouch.)

In the same 1850 census, just a few doors away, were James and Lucinda Johnson and their young family. Things were starting to make sense.

I searched the entire 1860 Gwinnett census but couldn't find either couple. I need to go back and check again, or, they could have been missed. That sometimes happened.

But I had another clue, a note someone had sent me regarding a scorched piece of Nathan Fowler's estate (the record of which burned along with the Gwinnett County Courthouse), which linked Hester "Grisham" and Nathan Fowler on Jan, 1, 1860. So she was still a Gresham at that time. I now knew that she married James between 1860-1868.

Then I went to the Internet, specifically to the Rootsweb family trees, to see if anyone had put this family online. And there they were.

The problem was, the people who had done the tree were working from the Gresham perspective and had Hester married to Edward Gresham, but no connection to James Johnson or Nathan Fowler, Hester's father. I was working from the Fowler perspective and didn't know about Edward Gresham and had no parents for him. This is why it is so important to link up with others researching your family and share information.

According to the Rootsweb tree (and I am still working on confirmation), James Johnson was the son of Joel and Matilda Johnson of Gwinnett County. (Joel and Matilda were living next door to Hester Fowler's brother, John Fowler, in 1850.)

James Johnson's first wife was Lucinda Gresham who died in 1860. Her parents are not given. Lucinda's death date is given as 1860 and she is buried in the Johnson cemetery.

Edward Gresham, Hester's first husband, was said to be the son of Micajah Gresham and Rachel Dalrymple. There is not a definite death date on Edward since he is said to be buried in the Fowler-Gresham Cemetery in Gwinnett County. This cemetery has been paved over and a subdivision built on top of it. This is the same place Nathan and Elizabeth Fowler are said to be buried. So, the family ties are there somewhere.

I have changed my family tree and put the correct children with the correct parents, but I am far from done. However, I feel I have at least cracked the barrier and am on the right track.

And the high school friend who descends from these Greshams? I hope my cousin Margie is reading this, because it is no other than Euchee Harp Skinner Jr. (known to those of us who knew and loved him as "Bubba"), son of Nell Katherine Cole Skinner, grandson of Ellen Eliza Gresham Cole, and GGG grandson of Micajah Gresham, father of my Edward. Bubba passed away several years ago, but I think he lived in Peachtree City and taught at Fayette County High School for a short time. He also tutored through the Sylvan Learning Center.

Another "Well-I'll-be-darned" connection.

Made any recent breakthroughs with your ancestors? Did they live in the Atlanta area? I'd love to hear about them. Send stories to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others. She will willingly share research information on her own family lines, including collateral and allied lines.)

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