From the Blue Ridges to the Sandhills:
            The History of 4 North Carolina Families

Henderson W. Johnson & Amelia (Milly) Jones

Henderson Johnson was born circa 1804, and his first wife, Amelia Jones, was born about 1810. They were bonded to be married on November 5, 1833 in Surry County. Their bondsman was William Zachary.

Henderson Johnson first appeared as a head of household in the 1840 census, in Surry County, North Carolina, with a household of six persons. The oldest male, presumably him, was between 30 and 40 years of age, and he was farming and living with a wife, one young son and three young daughters. Wesley Johnson, his brother, appeared farther down the page, as a farmer with a wife and two small children.

The 1850 census showed "Henson," a shoemaker, and Milly Johnson living in the Westfield district of Surry County, North Carolina, with the following children: Mary, age 23, Matilda, 14, Nancy, 11, Allen, 8, Rufus, 5, and Christina, 2. The gap in age between Mary and Matilda, and the fact that Mary was born a few years previous to Henderson and Milly's marriage may indicate that one of her parents had a previous marriage. Henderson's parents, Wright and Nancy Johnson and his sister, Elizabeth, lived in the next household. His brother, James, also a shoemaker, was listed next after them.

The Johnsons' community, Westfield, was named for the Friends Meeting that was established in that area and overlapped the borders of Surry and Stokes Counties in North Carolina and Patrick County, Virginia. Within it were Hollow Springs, Chestnut Ridge, and Slate Mountain. The Bannertown section of Mount Airy lay just to the west.

In 1860, at the age of 56, Henderson was a tenant of his father, Wright Johnson, in Mt. Airy Township. Only Jesse Allen was missing from the household, having married. Milly Johnson must have died sometime between 1860 and 1865, as on September 19, 1865, Henderson married Malinda Hall. By 1870, the couple were living in the Westfield township. Henderson was age sixty-one, Malinda was thirty, and they had several children. In the 1880 census of Quaker Gap, Stokes county, Malinda, a widow, was farming with three of their children. Of the children of Henderson and Malinda:

1. Lorinzo/Lovingo apparently passed away as a young person.

2. Charles W. married Lillie S. Woodall in 1896 in Patrick County, Virginia.

3. Ferdisia Adeline married Calvin H. Mabry around 1888. Their one surviving child was Posey Mabry. Ferdisia died between 1900 and 1904.

4. Eli Henderson married Martha Pinkney Jessup in 1891 in Surry County, North Carolina. They had several children.

5. Luella, or Louella, married Jeff East.

By the 1900 census, Malinda was living in the household of daughter Ferdisia and husband C.H. Mabry in the Dan River district of Patrick County, Virginia. In 1904, the living heirs of Henderson signed a deed selling his approximately 100 acres in Stokes County. By that time Mary, Christina, Ferdisia, and Lorinzo had passed away. The deed was signed by Malinda, Charles and his wife Lillie Johnson, C.H. Mabry as guardian for his son Posey Mabry, J.A. and wife Trifeny Johnson, R.R. and wife Fannie Johnson, Matilda Johnson, Nancy Johnson, Alexander and wife Mary Jane Collins, Eli and wife Pink Johnson, and Jeff and wife Luella East.

In 1910, Malinda was still living in the household of son-in-law C.H. Mabry.

Click here to read about Henderson and Milly's Children:

Sources

Population Schedule of the Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, Ephraim Hough Division, Surry County, North Carolina, Roll 371 (Washington: National Archives and Record Service), p. 60.

Population Schedule of the Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, Westfield District, Surry County, North Carolina, Series M432, Roll 646, (Washington: National Archives and Record Service) p. 282-283.

Population Schedule of the Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, Hollow Springs District, Surry County, North Carolina, Series M593, Roll 1161, (Washington: National Archives and Record Service) p. 593.

Population Schedule of the Ninth Census of the United States: 1870, Westfield Township, Surry County, North Carolina, Series M593, Roll 1161, (Washington: National Archives and Record Service), p. 385.

Population Schedule of the Tenth Census of the United States: 1880, Quaker Gap Township, Stokes County, North Carolina, Roll T9_982, Enumeration District 250, p. 8.

Population Schedule of the Eleventh Census of the United States: 1900, Dan River Township, Patrick County, Virginia, Roll T623_1722, Enumeration District, 59 pp. 2B, 7B, 8A.

Population Schedule of the Twelfth Census of the United States: 1910, Census Place: Dan River Township, Patrick County, Virginia; Roll T624_1640, Enumeration District 75, p. 7B.

Population Schedule of the Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1930, Dan River District, Patrick County, Virginia, Roll 2454, Enumeration District 3, p. 5A.

Vital Records:

Surry County Marriages, Microfilm #C.092.60004, (Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Archives and History)

Marriage Bond and Marriage Certificate of Henderson Johnson and Malinda Hall, Surry County Marriages, Microfilm # C.092.60004 (Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Archives and History).

Books and Web Sites:

Lorna W. Barrett, Marriages of Surry County NC 1869-1899, (Toast, N.C.: The Author, 1998) p.225.

Eunice B. Kirkman, Patrick County Virginia Marriages, 1875-1900, (Utica KY: McDowell Publications, nd) p. 103.

Land and Tax Records:

Grantor Deed for Henderson Johnson heirs, filed 22 March 1904, Stokes County Register of Deeds, Grantor Book 47 pp. 4-5; Microfilm Record, North Carolina Dept. of Archives and History, Raleigh, N.C.

From the Blue Ridges to the Sandhills: The History of 4 NC Families / Henderson W. Johnson & Amelia (Milly) Jones
© 2001 by Glenda Alexander, updated April 2009        Standard copyright restrictions apply.