Harrison County, Missouri History - Zopher Johnson (Intro) INTRODUCTION TO THE FAMILY OF ZOPHER JOHNSTON/JOHNSON By Stevie Hughes January 2003 Email: Stevie1302@aol.com Zopher Johnson Jr. Son of: Zopher Johnston Sr Son of: Zopher Johnston "The Elder" Born: 10-15-1790 or 1791 Between 1754-~1762 Between: 1700 ~ 1715 Greene County, TN Forks of Delaware, Probably Scotland or Ireland Northampton County, PA Married: Possibly Elizabeth #1: Unknown before 1750 Phebe Cooper (surname unknown) #2: Prob. Catherine Harrison 1-28-1817 About 1780 After 1780 (??) Greene County, TN Probably VA Wife #1, Probably PA Wife #2, Probably VA Died: 12-06-1866 Between 1836 ~ 1839 Before 1809 Hamilton Co., IL Greene Co., TN Greene, Co., TN Buried: Place Unknown Kidwell Cemetery Place Unknown Hamilton Co., IL Greene Co., TN Probably Greene Co., TN Page 2 The purpose of writing this History of our Zopher Johnston/Johnson family is twofold. Firstly, over the passage of time, our families' history had become lost for many years, and has only been resurrected through the painstaking efforts of many, many family researchers. With the advent of the internet, we now have a central repository for our families' history so that future generations will know or can discover their roots. Secondly, it is the hope of all who contributed to this research project that new family branches will be located. Again, the internet will more easily facilitate this prospect. For these reasons, the information that will be presented in the Johnson Family History has not been copyrighted. Indeed, we all encourage the free use and dissemination of this information. We only ask one thing: IF you are descended from these families, PLEASE contact us, and PLEASE share your knowledge of your branch of the family. As all of us have learned, researching using the internet as a source, can be problematic because of spelling variations of names. This can present a very large problem. Some of the spelling variations are intentional by those who originally wrote the source document. Other spelling variations are transcription errors by those who transcribed the primary source document. The reading of aged documents and the archaic writing style simply leaves plenty of room for error. The name of Zopher Johnston/Johnson has been written using several variations. In fact, I am not even certain which variation is correct. For purposes of this history, I have used the first name as "Zopher". For the surname, there are indeed two "correct" versions; that of "Johnston" and that of "Johnson". The surname version used in the original source documents are frequently used interchangeably, even in the same document! Also, by the mid-1800's, for the branch who went into Greene County, TN and later migrated into Illinois (my branch) and Missouri, the surname was permanently changed to that of "Johnson". A listing of name variations is presented here to facilitate search engine "matches" for those who are researching via the internet. The variations cited may be incomplete. I have only listed those that I have personally seen during my research. Zopher Johnston Zopher Johnson Zophar Johnston Zophar Johnson Zaphar Johnston Zaphar Johnson Zaphin Johnston Zaphin Johnson Zepher Johnston Zepher Johnson Zephes Johnston Zephes Johnson Zephus Johnston Zephus Johnson Zaphus Johnston Zaphus Johnson Zaffa Johnston Zaffa Johnson Zefue Johnston Zefue Johnson Gophar Johnston Gophar Johnson Topper Johnston Topper Johnson Page 3 So here we have it; a myriad of spelling variations for the same name. There are probably more. Further, there are numerous people in different time periods and different geographies who have one of the above surnames. I personally believe all of these people derive from the same "root" family. A sampling of these time and geographic references have been found in documents in PA, VA, West VA, TN, IN, OH and IL: 1730 Zopher Johnston "the Elder" along with John is in Philadelphia County, PA "settled ten years" 1754-62 Zopher Johnston Sr. is born at "Forks of Delaware", Northhampton County, PA 1781 Zopher Johnston Senior lives "near Winchester" in Frederick County, VA 1782 Both Zopher Johnston "the Elder" and his son, Zopher Sr., are in the Tax List of Frederick County, VA 1787 There is a "Zefue" Johnston in the 1787 Tax List of Berkeley County, WV. This County was formed from Frederick County, VA 1790 Zopher Johnston Sr. receives the first Land Grant from North Carolina for his lands in Greene County, TN 1790/91 Zopher Johnston Jr. is born in Greene County, TN 1794-99 Joseph Johnson, brother to Zopher Sr. is in the tax list in Fauquier County, VA. He names a son Zopher who is born 1787. 1795-1830 Zopher Sr. buys/sells land and is in the Tax List in Greene Co., TN 1796 A Zopher Johnson is found in Hanover Township, Northhampton County PA. He was one of the first settlers there to establish the Township. 1799 Zopher Johnston "JR" and his brother, Moses are listed in an estate inventory as owing debts to the estate of Robert Wyly, a Greene County merchant. The store ledger in 1799 naming Zopher "JR" implies that his father, Zopher "the Elder" is also in Greene County at this time period. 1809 Zopher Johnson Sr is in the Tax List of Greene County, TN. This is the first Tax List in Greene County in which he appears, although he had been a land owner since 1790. (I presume the pre 1800 Tax Lists are incomplete and those from 1801 to 1808, with the exception of 1805, are missing.) 1809 A Harrison Johnson, administrator of Zopher Johnston, deceased, brings suit in the Greene County, TN Courts. Page 4 1820-30 Zopher Johnson, son of Joseph, has left Loudon County, VA and is found in the Tax List of Licking County, OH This Zopher married Elizabeth Romine in 1810 in Loudoun Co., VA. 1830 In the 1830 Census of Greene County, TN there are three Zopher/Zepher Johnstons: Zopher, age 60-70 (born between 1760-1770). This is our Zopher Senior. Zepher Johnston, age 30-40 (born between 1790 and 1800). This is the son, Zopher Jr., who later migrated to Hamilton County, IL. Zepher Johnston, age 20-30 (born 1800-1810). We do not know who he is. I believe he is a son of Zopher Sr's brother, Moses. We know that Moses was in Greene County between 1799 and 1806. This Zopher could not be the son of Zopher Sr's brother, Joseph, since this Zopher is in the 1830 Census at Licking Co., OH. 1816-1852 Zopher Johnson Sr. and Jr. buy and sell land in Greene County, TN 1845 Zopher Johnson Jr's grandson, Christopher C. Johnson , names a son, Zopher A. 1845 Zopher Johnson, a descendant of Joseph, lives and dies in IN 1851 Zopher Johnson Jr's grandson, John Henderson Johnson, names a son Zopher H. 1852 Zopher Johnson Jr. sells his land in Greene County, TN 1853 Zopher Johnson Jr. buys land in Hamilton County, IL 1861 Zopher E. (Evans), grandson to Joseph, brother to Zopher Sr, is born in IN Further, there are also people with the name (or a variation) of Zopher but with a different surname who also appear in many of the same locations at the same time periods. I believe these persons are clearly descendants of the Zopher Johnston/Johnson family from a female line. Examples of these include: 1700's Zopher CARPENTER in Botetourt County, VA 1800's Zopher BROWN in Greene County, TN 1800's Zopher FOSTER in Greene County, TN and in the 1830 Census of Hamilton County, TN 1800's Another Zopher FOSTER who is in the 1830 Census of Bond County, IL and who later migrates to Arkansas and who dies in Texas Page 5 Because of the length of the Zopher Johnston/Johnson Family History, the History will be presented in phases and placed on the JohnsonFamilyHisitory.Org website. The phases of this History will be: INTRODUCTION PART 1: ORIGINS AND COLONIAL TIMES PART 2: THE VIRGINIA YEARS - REVOLUTIONARY WAR UP TO 1790, THE TIME OF MIGRATION TO TENNESSEE PART 3: GREENE COUNTY, TENNESSEE 1790 TO MID-1800'S PART 4: GREENE COUNTY, TENNESSEE, THE CHILDREN OF ZOPHER JOHNSTON SR. PART 5: ZOPHER JOHNSON JUNIOR AND THE MIGRATION TO ILLINOIS IN THE MID-1850'S In the future, additional family history will be added on the Illinois Branch to cover the post 1900 period. Hopefully, descendants of the Branch(es) who went into Missouri will also write and contribute their line's history, as will the Branch who remained in Greene County, TN.. There are also closely associated surnames that frequently intermarry and migrate with our Johnston/Johnson Family. These surnames include Cooper, Brown, Foster, Cox and Maloney. The Family History of the Christopher Cooper Family and the Jotham Brown Family will be added to this website and the Brown Family website as they are completed. We welcome submissions by all Branches of these families to compile and contribute their knowledge of these Families. As additional Family Lines are identified, many will already have a website. Links to these associated families' Websites will be published at our Johnson Family Website. A listing of sources for the information presented in this multi-part Johnson Family History includes: Page 6 JOHNSON FAMILY HISTORY REFERENCE SOURCES: 1.1782 Federal Census, Frederick County, VA 2."A Seed-bed of the Republic" (Virginia) by Robert D. Stoner 3."Muster Roll, Revolutionary War, Botetourt County, VA" by Anna Lowry Worrell, Col. William Preston Chapter, D.A.R., Roanoke, VA 4 ."Montgomery County, VA Tax Lists and Abstracts" transcribed by Netti Schneiner- Yantis 5. "Virginia's Colonial Soldiers" by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck 6. "Archives of the Pioneers of Tazewell County, VA" transcribed by Netti Schreiner- Yantis 7. Annals of Southwest Virginia" , Vol. 1, by Lewis Preston Summers 8. "Washington County, VA Will Book 1, 1777-1792" by Shelby Ireson Edwards 9. 1830, 1840, 1850 Federal Census, Greene County, TN 10. 1860 and 1870 Federal Census, Hamilton County, IL 11. 1860 Federal Census, Sullivan County, MO 12. Virginia Land Records, University of Virginia 13. Early Tax Lists, Greene County, TN 14. Land Records, Hamilton County, IL 15. Daughters of American Revolution (D.A.R.) Patriot Index, Vol. I and II 16. National Archives, Revolutionary War Pension Records of Zopher Johnston and Christopher Cooper widow, Jane Brown Cooper 17."First Families of Tenneffee" , East Tennessee Historical Society 18."Tennesee's First Settlers and Soldiers", by Edward C. McAmis 19."Greeneville, One Hundred Year Portrait 1775-1875" by Richard H. Doughty 20."Early Johnsons of Hamilton County, IL" by Rev. James W. Dupree 21. "Legacy of Kin, Hamilton County, IL" by Harold G. Felty 22. "Greene County Marriages" by Goldene Fillers Burgner 23. "Tennessee Marriage Records, Greene County, Volume 1, 1783-1818" by Gertrude L. Soderberg 24. "Greene County Cemeteries" by Buford F. Reynolds and Carl N. Hayes 25. "Greene County Wills, 1783-1890" by Goldene Fillers Burgner 26. "Records of Greene County, Wills-Inventories 1802-1810 and 1828-1843" copied by WPA, 1936 27. "Greene County Deed Abstracts, 1805-1810" by Joyce Martin Murray 28. "Greene County Court Minutes" TN Historical Records Survey compiled by WPA 29. Various Records, Tennessee State Archives, Nashville 30. National Archives, Civil War Pension Papers for Christopher Cooper Johnson and his sons, James A. Johnson, IL 40th Company A. and Zopher A. Johnson, 13th IL Cavalry Co. H Page 7 JOHNSON FAMILY HISTORY REFERENCE SOURCES (CONTINUED): . 31. Zopher Johnston Sr. descendants' "Family Notes" and Research 32. Christopher Cooper Sr. descendants' "Family Notes" and Research 33. Jotham Brown Sr. descendants' "Family Notes" and Research 34. Cox Family descendants' "Family Notes" and Research 35. Foster Family descendants' "Family Notes" and Research 36. Perth and Kinross, by Jeremy Duncan 37. Scotland History of a Nation, by David Ross 38. Mary Queen of Scots, by Antonia Fraser 39. Elizabeth the Great, by Elizabeth Jenkins 40. Scottish Clans by Ian Grimble 41. Macedonia ME Church Cemetery, Hamilton County, IL 42. Early History of Macedonia, IL; a Centenial Project 43. Cemetery Records, DuQuoin, Perry County, IL 44. Mt. Zion Cemetery, Grundy County, MO 45. Sullivan County, MO Marriages END OF INRODUCTION ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Stevie Hughes ====================================================================