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Note: H51
Note: His wife is believed to be Dovy Spiva, born 1800-1810 in North Carolina and one of the daughters of Jonas and Bethany [Ledbetter] Spiva. Jonas Spiva was born about 1750 in North Carolina and was the son of Jonas Spiva born in Rowan County, North Carolina, about 1720. Prior to relocating to Madison County, Missouri, Jonas and Bethany Spiva lived in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and that was probably the birth place of their daughter Dovy. Ransom and Dovy Spiva must have married about 1826 prior to Jonas Spiva writing his Will and about two years prior to the birth of their first child. The Will of Jonas Spiva was executed on February 7, 1828, and proved in Madison County, Missouri, during the November Term in 1828 for the Circuit Court. His daughter Dovy Johnson is named as a beneficiary. It is noteworthy that their daughter Maria Louisa Johnson and her husband Charles Wakefield named one of their daughters Dovie and without doubt she is named in remembrance of Dovy Spiva Johnson. John Flannery married Nancy Spiva, a sister of Dovy (Spiva) Johnson, on October 15, 1827, and by 1830 they had moved to Jackson County, Arkansas. Several years later Ransom and Dovy followed them, along with Ransoms brother Constant Johnson and his family, as Ransom Johnson and a C. Johnson are on the tax lists in Jackson County, Arkansas by 1836. Ransom Johnson was a farmer and after moving to Jackson County, Arkansas, he settled in the vicinity of Cypress Creek. Isaac Flannery, a relative of Ransom Johnson by virtue of his marriage to Dovy Spiva, was appointed in January of 1837 to serve as overseer of the road from the Ransom Johnson farm to Cypress Creek. In April of 1838 Ransom Johnson was appointed to replace Isaac Flannery as overseer of the road from his farm to the crossing of Cypress Creek and later in the year as overseer of the road from the farm of Elijah Wilkinson to the toll bridge on Cache River. In 1839 he was commissioned with Alexander Robinson and Nathan Barnes to view and survey a new road from Elizabeth to cross Cache River and to intersect the road to Batesville (in present day Independence County). By May of 1845 Ransom Johnson is deceased and his wife Dovy had predeceased him plus at least one of their children. He was still living on January 5, 1844, when he loaned money evidenced by a promissory note that was due on demand or one day thereafter on January 6, 1844. This note, along with others, was inventoried as an asset during the administration of his estate in Madison County, Missouri. Other notes that were assets of the estate included a promissory note owed by Nancy Johnson, a widow enumerated as a head of household in 1840 in Jackson County, Arkansas, and a promissory note signed by John Breckenridge also of Jackson County, Arkansas. John Breckenridge was a relative of Nancy Johnson’s second husband, James Breckenridge Sr., a former resident of Missouri who served as a Justice of the Peace in Wayne County. Missouri. Nancy Johnson is the widow of Constant Johnson and thus the sister-in-law of Ransom Johnson. Family members traveled to Arkansas and returned to Madison County, Missouri, with the children, their extremely sick or injured father, and all their belongings. Ransom died in Madison County, Missouri, shortly after returning with all his children and on June 11, 1845, a certified inventory of the personal property of Ransom Johnson was filed in the Circuit Court for Jackson County, Arkansas, which listed the property that had been found and marshaled in Jackson County, Arkansas, by the administrator, Davis Johnson. In Madison County, Missouri, guardianships were established for the children and they were brought up in the homes of their uncles and cousins. Ransom Johnson and Dovy Spiva had five children who survived their parents and are documented in the Estate of Ransom Johnson and the accompanying guardianships that were established for them in the Circuit Court for Madison County, Fredericktown, Missouri. Sarah Johnson born about 1828 William Riley Johnson born about 1830-1835 Unknown daughter Johnson born about 1835-1840 and died young Wilson Marion Johnson born about 1835-1840 Joseph C. Johnson born about 1839 Maria Louisa Johnson born about 1842 Notes from a manuscript © 2007 All rights reserved
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