Sketch of John Jay Johns, St. Charles County, Missouri >From "A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri, with numerous sketches, anecdotes, adventures, etc., relating to Early Days in Missouri" by William S. Bryan and Robert Rose, Published by Bryan, Brand & Co., St. Louis Missouri, 1876. ********************************************************************** John Jay Johns was born in Buckingham County, VA., in 1819. His father was Glover Johns, a tobacco planter, and a magistrate, an office of great honor in the Old Dominion in those days. He re- moved to Middle Tennessee in 1831, and from thence to Mississippi in 1834. In 1836, John Jay, then in his seventeenth year, went to the Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, where he graduated in 1840. He was married the same year to Catharine A. Woodruff, of Oxford, Ohio, and returning to Mississippi, engaged in the planting busi- ness. In the spring of 1844 he removed to St. Charles County, MO. That was the memorable year of the great overflow of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, by which untold suffering and sickness were entailed upon the population. In 1845, attracted by the rich lands in the Point Prairie, below St. Charles, Mr. Johns settled there. St. Charles, at that time, was a small, unprepossessing village, and many of its merchants and citizens were struggling against financial ruin, which threatened them on account of the stringency of the times. In 1846 Mrs. Johns died, leaving two daughters. There were a few scattering farms on the Point Prairie when Mr. Johns settled there, but its prospects soon began to im- prove, and a number of enterprising persons located there. Among them were Willis Fawcett, B. H. Alderson, Abner Cunningham, John Chapman, Charles Sheppard, and James Judge. On November 2, 1847, Mr. Johns was married to Jane A. Durfee, daughter of Rev. Thomas Durfee and his wife, Ann Glendy, who was the niece and ward of Thomas Lindsay. The ceremony took place at the old Thomas Lindsay farm, near St. Charles. In 1849, Mr. Johns, B. A. Alderson, Willis Fawcett, and John Stonebreaker bought the first McCormack reaper that was ever brought to the State. This gave a new impetus to the production of wheat in this great wheat growing county. In 1851, Mr. Johns removed his family to the city of St. Charles, where they have since resided. He had a large family of thirteen children, of whom ten are still living, four daughters and six sons. Believing a cultivated and well trained mind to be more valuable than wealth, he gave all his children a good education, and those who are grown occupy honorable and useful positions in society. Mr. Johns has been an Elder in the Presbyterian Church since he was twenty one years of age. ==================================================================== 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: Penny Harrell ====================================================================