John Johnson, Ancient Planter

Not the same as John Johnson, of Northumberland County

John Johnson, Ancient Planter (c1590-before Feb 1638/9), parents unknown, married Ann (not Goche).

Children

• 1. Ann Johnson (1620) married about 1636 Edward Travis (died after 1682)
• 2. John Johnson, Jr. (1623-after 1659) married unknown

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Buried in Travis Cemetery, Jamestown, Virginia.

Occupation: Yeoman (small farmer or freeholder)

Property: Abt 1620, Received a grant of 100 acres (15 acres near the eastern end of Jamestown Island and 85 acres at Jockey Neck, west of Archer's Hope (now College) Creek.

Will: If he left a will, it would have perished in the fire that destroyed the State House about 1655.

Notes: The Johnson family is one of the first families to come to America. John is listed in the Complete Book of Emigrants. He may be the same John Johnson listed in Early Child Immigrants to VA who came in 1618. [In the early years of the 17th century, it seems that there were a number of vagrant children roaming the streets of London. It has been suggested that some were orphaned by the plague, while others came from families too large to support them. The Virginia Company, ever hungry for colonists, requested that some of these children should be gathered into groups and sent to Virginia as so-called apprentices, to be given land and freedom on reaching maturity. A natural collection center for the children seemed to be Bridewell Royal Hospital; and so, with the consent of the Lord May of London, and of the Corporation, who paid the expenses, the children were gathered for the voyage on several different occasions.] It may be possible that John married Anne ? as soon as he arrived in Virginia and they may have started their family. They lived in the Greater Wiccomicco Parish, Nurthumberland Co., Virginia.

John is one of those persons referred to as an "Ancient Planter," the term applied to those persons who arrived in Virginia before 1616, remained for a period of three years, paid their passage, and survived the massacre of 1622; they received the first patents of land in the new world as authorized by Sir Thomas Dale in 1618 for their personal adventure.

"John was living in Virginia by 1616 and when the census was taken in 1623, he was established at Jamestown with his wife and two children, whose names are given in the muster in 1624 and 1625, his first person divident, where of 15 acres is situated on the east the Backe River etc. and 85 acres are upon a small branch of Archer's Hope Creek, parting the same from the main devdt of Ensign William Spencer. Upon the back of said land fee rent 1 shilling for every 50 acres.

Note: the former patent granted by Sir George Yeardly is to be accounted void. On 16 Aug 1624, John was ordered to repair the late dwelling house of Ensign Wm Spencer on James City Island and make good the fences about the ground according to an agreement entered into by the two men." John was party to a suit over a sow in 1629.

http://jliptrap.us/gen/johnson.htm

John Johnson, born about 1590, earned the title of 'Yeoman and Ancient Planter' by arriving in Virginia before 1616, remaining for at least three years, surviving the massacre of 22 March 1622, and receiving patents of land from the Virginia Company under their rules issued in November, 1618. The rules provided that those who came to Virginia at the Company's expense would be provided 100 acres of land after serving the Company for seven years, at an annual rent of one shilling per 50 acres. John was granted land under this provision by Gov. George Yeardley between 10 Apr 1619 and 18 Nov 1621, though the exact date is unknown. But this dates his arrival in Virginia between 1612 and 1614 He lived on 15 acres on Back River in the northeast portion of Jamestown Island and raised crops, probably including tobacco, on 85 acres on Archer's Hope Creek, in the area called Jockey's Neck, (now site of the Williamsburg Winery) and 50 acres west of College Creek. He may have been related to Sir Robert Johnson who visited the Virginia Colony in 1619. His wife Ann may have been one of the "maids" imported in 1619. She died about 1653. John, with wife and two "infans" are listed as "living in Jams iland" 16 Feb 1623/4 in John C Hotten's Original Lists of Persons of Quality...1600-1700. London, 1874, page 178. The muster of residents of James City taken 24 Jan 1624/5 lists John, his wife Ann, daughter Ann, age 4, and his son John, age 1. They apparently voyaged back to England in the mid-1630's, since his heirs were granted 450 acres in Upper Chippokes, Surry County, on 25 Jan 1637/8, for re-importing his family of four and bringing five servants, Walter Travis, Nich. Cosones, Walter Johnson, Dorothy Barnett, and Katherine Dowse. What relation these five people may have been is not known at this time. But John apparently died soon after their return, as Edward Travis repatented the 900 acres 25 Feb 1638/9 in the names of "Edward Travis and John Johnson, sonn of John Johnson dec'd." Ann apparently died about 1658, before John (Jr) sold the 15-acre home site to Edward Travis in 1659.

Wife (Married approximately 1619)

• Ann (not Goche)

Children

• 1. Ann Johnson (1620) married about 1636 Edward Travis (died after 1682)
  • 11. Edward Travis, Jr (c1637-12 Nov 1700) married Elizabeth Champion (?) .
• 2. John Johnson, Jr. (1623-after 1659) .

Some sources list additional children, but only Edward Travis and John Johnson, Jr, were granted . land 25 Jan 1637/8, as the heirs of John Johnson Sr.

· This John Johnson was NOT the son of John Johnson and Hannah Throckmorton. . · This John Johnson was NOT the John Johnson who married Ann Gooch (Goche). .
· There is NO EVIDENCE that this John Johnson was related to the Johnstone Family of Annandale, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. .
· There is NO EVIDENCE that this John Johnson was related to Alderman Robert Johnson of London, shareholder in The Virginia Company in 1617, and therefore descended from the Johnston Family of Aberdeen, Scotland..

For discussion, see http://jliptrap.us/gen/johnsonx.htm

Extract

This was NOT the John Johnson who married Ann Gooch (Goche). There was a John Johnson who married an Ann Gooch 20 Jul 1635 in Bixley, Norfolk, England. This was apparently the John Johnson who lived in Northumberland County, Virginia, by May 1653, when he was exempted from taxes due to being lame from injuries received "in the last massacre." His son Jeffrey was given land in 1663 by his uncle Jeffrey Goche, provided he cared for his parents John and Ann Johnson. John Johnson of Jamestown died before February 1638/9 when his land was repatented in the names of his only heirs, John Johnson and Edward Travis, so he was not in Northumberland in 1653. And his son John Johnson Jr was only 12 in 1635 when John Johnson, later of Northumberland, married Ann Goche. And if he had married at age 12 in Norfolk, The Travis/Johnson land claim in 1638 would have included another 50 acres for her importation.

References

• GEDCOM Note https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/GSHV-LLN
• “Not this John Johnson” http://jliptrap.us/gen/johnsonx.htm
• “Johnson” http://jliptrap.us/gen/johnson.htm cites
  • The Allen Family of Surry County … . by William Carrell, in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol.50, 2006
  • The Johnsons and Johnstons of Corrowaugh in Isle of Wight County, 1979, by Eddis Johnson
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Johnson-3741 cites
  • 1. Johnson, John - A4306; living in 1629, Jamestowne Island: 1624 (Landowner); (Ancient Planter). < Jamestowne Society >
  • 2. Jester, Annie. Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1625' (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1956) Pages 217-218
  • 3. Nugent, Nell Marion, Abstracted and Indexed by. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800. In Five Volumes. Richmond, VA.: Press of the Dietz Printing Co., 1935. Pages xxxiv, 4, 30
    • John Johnson, Yeoman, and ancient planter of James City, 100 acres, Jan. 12, 1624, p. 15. His first personal divident, whereof 15 acs. is situated on E. side of the island towards Ensigne Wm. Spencer, ... Fee rent: 1 Shill. for every 50 acs.
  • 4. Hotten, John Camden, Editor. The Original Lists of Persons of Quality; Emigrants' Religious Exiles; … and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. John Camden Hotten: London, 1874. Reprinted Empire State Book Co., New York. Pages 178, 228
  • 5. Martha M. McCartney, "Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers 1607-1635, A Biographical Dictionary," Publishing info? Date? Page?
  • 6. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27453911/john-johnson : accessed 06 March 2022), memorial page for John Johnson (1590–1636), Find a Grave Memorial ID 27453911, citing Travis Graveyard, Jamestown, James City County, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by James Bianco (contributor 47745493).Find A Grave: Memorial #27453911