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Note: H15
Note: Jonathan Johnson was born (1790-1800) probably about 1791 in Lancaster County, South Carolina and died on November 11, 1830, shortly after executing his Will on November 7, 1830. The Will was proved and admitted to probate in the Circuit Court in Cape Girardeau County on November 16, 1830. The executors nominated in the Will were William Wilkinson and John Sheppard. Jonathan Johnson married Mary Sheppard, the daughter of John Hartwell Sheppard and Nancy Wicker, natives of North Carolina. John Hartwell Sheppard was born June 16, 1765 in Anson County, North Carolina, the son of William Sheppard and Jemima Johnson. Jemima Johnson married William Sheppard about 1764 and they lived in Anson County, North Carolina. Jemima Johnson is probably the daughter of Lewis Johnson and Eliza Unknown, born about 1749 in King William County, Virginia. Jonathan Johnson engaged in a variety of agricultural pursuits, including the raising of livestock such as horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep. Field crops for market primarily consisted of corn and wheat. Orchard crops included apples and peaches and the bulk of the fruit appears to have been dried. Other crops included cotton, oats, hay cabbages, potatoes, and onions, and there is a supply of equipment to tap sugar trees for making syrup or a maple liqueur. Sugar was a very expensive commodity and usually kept under lock and key. Based on the volume of whiskey that is found in the Johnson estates they must have been collecting sap to make sugar for alcoholic liqueurs and to spike the corn mash when distilling whiskey. Hunting game and trapping was also a pursuit and the assets of his estate included a supply of deerskins for making clothes. He must have been an accomplished carpenter as he had an extensive collection of woodworking tools including a brace and bit, miter box, and a variety of saws, hammers, joiners, squares, and box planes. The inventory also included shoe making tools, candle molds, a spinning wheel, ginned cotton, wool, flax, silk, thread, and numerous lots of clothing which suggests that articles of clothing were being produced for sale. The life style was to raise practically everything that goes on the family table, sustain the animals through the winter, and what was necessary for making clothes. The ability to be self-sufficient was the keystone for success on the frontier and the enterprise of David Johnson and his extended family members is clearly illustrated. Guardianship proceedings for the minor children are included in the records created by the Circuit Court, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. The guardianships include Wiley Johnson and Mary Johnson with William Wilkinson appointed as their guardian; Jonathan Johnson with John Sheppard appointed as his guardian, and Willy Elmey Johnson with J. N. Bennett appointed as her guardian. John Sheppard, Jr. was the uncle of the children born to Jonathan and Mary Sheppard Johnson by virtue of the fact that he was Mary’s brother. William Wilkinson was also an uncle as he married Mary’s older sister Jemima Sheppard on April 5, 1810 in Cape Girardeau County. James N. Bennett was also an uncle by virtue of his marriage to Sarah Sheppard, a younger sister of Mary Sheppard Johnson. This was Sarah’s 2nd marriage; her 1st marriage was to a Baker. Notes from a manuscript © 2007 All rights reserved.
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