Georgia:  Coweta County:  Biography of JOHN D. JOHNSON 

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JOHN D. JOHNSON, a prosperous farmer of Coweta county; belongs to one of the 
brave pioneer families of this region, his grandparents, John and Elizabeth 
(Pitts) Johnson, natives of Virginia, having emigrated thence, first to South 
Carolina, and finally, in 1827, to Georgia. During his residence in Virginia 
and South Carolina Mr. Johnson devoted himself chiefly to the culture of 
tobacco, and it was his custom to pack his crops into a hogshead and roll it 
to the Charleston market, a distance of many miles. When the family removed 
to Georgia the son, John, was a lad of eleven years, having been born in 
South Carolina March 3, 1816. While helping to clear up the farm for the new 
home in the Georgia wilderness he was deprived of much education. He married 
Miss Selah Haines, a daughter of Daniel and Rachel (Weaver) Haines, the 
father a native of Maryland, the mother of North Carolina. About 1800 they 
settled in Greene county, Ga., where the daughter was born Oct. 1, 1807. Mr. 
Haines served during the war of 1812, and after his death his wife, having 
received a warrant for land in Coweta county, set out to make a home there. 
After a long and toilsome journey at one of their camping places, knowing 
herself to be near her destination, Mrs. Haines made inquiry, and found she 
was upon her own land. "Then," said she, "we will go no farther," and as 
soon as possible the cabin was erected on that spot. Afterward when proper 
surveys were made it was discovered that the cabin had been located just 
within the corner of her claim. Amid these surroundings the daughter grew to 
womanhood, and at length became the wife of John Johnson and the mother of 
John D. Johnson (Sept. 17, 1843). The husband enlisted in 1862 in the 
company of Capt. Powell, but at the end of a year's service he was taken ill 
and returned home, only to die. The son had enlisted in 1861 under Capt. J. 
D. Hunter in Company D, Nineteenth Georgia regiment. He served through the 
entire war, always at his post, never shirking duty or drawing back on 
account of danger, but received only one wound, and that a slight one of the 
collar bone. Yet he went through many of the fiercest and most closely 
contested conflicts of the war, Williamsburg, Yorktown, Seven Pines, the 
seven days before Richmond, and others. He was a noncommissioned officer, at 
first in Gen. Stonewall Jackson's command, but at Wellington, N. C., was 
transferred to the forces under Gen. Johnston, with which he remained until 
the close of the war, when he returned to Georgia. In 1870 he married Miss 
Margaret Carmichael, who was born in South Carolina in 1850, and was of Irish 
lineage, her great-grandparents, Patrick and Mary Ann Carmichael, having come 
to America from Ireland at an early day, when the voyage took nine weeks. 
Mrs. Johnson's parents were South Carolinians, William and Margaret R. 
(Hunter) Carmichael, her father being a son of Abraham and Nancy (Hall) 
Carmichael. Her maternal grandparents were George and Mary (Weatherton) 
Hunter, the former of Irish birth, who came to America with his parents, 
Nathan and Mary (Young) Hunter, both natives of Ireland, making the journey 
in company with the Carmichaels, and settling first in Newberry district, S. 
C. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson has been blessed with nine children: 
Egbert D., Ada E., William P., Anna May, Francis H. L., Lena E., J. E. D., R. 
H. and Robert Lee. The parents are faithful and devoted members of the 
Baptist church. Like most of the courageous pioneers of the state, Mr. 
Johnson had but a limited education, and, as was the case with his comrades, 
he, too, had to begin life empty-handed after the war, but in spite of these 
disadvantages he has climbed the ladder of success. The first fifteen months 
after the war he only received ten dollars per month wages. After his 
marriage he settled on a farm; by hard work and by steady application to 
business he has reached his present prosperity. He now owns a large farm, 
well improved, a beautiful home, and is one of the leading men of the county.

Transcribed from MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA published by the Southern Historical 
Association, 1895.