Charles Frank Johnson (1848 - 1918)

Born 18 May 1848 in Scott, York, Canada West

Ancestors

Died 10 Aug 1918 at age 70 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Charles Frank Johnson was born in 1848 in Scott Township, Canada West.^[1] He was the son of William Johnson and his first wife, Elizabeth Brown.

He is recorded as immigrating to the United States in 1868.^[2] He does not seem to appear in the 1870 US census. He married Mary Arminta (or Araminta) Glines on 13 September 1874.^[3] Later American records seem to all agree that Mary Arminta was born in the Utah Territory in 1853, but the primary Johnson document says she was "of Quebec".^[1] Their first daughter, Sylvia Olive Johnson, was born on 17 October 1875 in Lake County, California.^[4] This is one of the first records that establishes a solid locality for Charles and Arminta in the United States together.

By the 1880 census, Charles and his family (now with two daughters) are shown as living in Fountain Valley Township, California.^[5] This was a part of Los Angeles County at the time, before the later formation of Orange County. Charles is listed as a blacksmith by occupation. This would have been fairly early in the "American era" history of Fountain Valley, which is a small suburban city today. It appears that their older son, Frank Charles, was born later in 1880.

On the 1900 census, it appears that they were now living in Santa Ana Township, Orange County, California, in a ward which seems to correspond with the modern-day community of Olive, which is a small suburb within the modern-day city of Orange, California. He is still listed as a blacksmith in the census, as well as a homeowner with no mortgage. Charles, Arminta ("Mary A."), and their son Frank are listed as the primary family unit in the house, with a second family unit indicated of their daughter Sylvia with her husband, Percy Lewis Nash. Also included are Sylvia and Percy's two older daughters, Leta May ("Leta M.") and Gertrude.^[6]

On the 1910 census, Charles and Arminta are shown living by themselves in "Rowland, 323", which seems to roughly correspond to modern-day Rowland Heights, Los Angeles County, California. He is still a blacksmith working on his own account.^[7]

Charles died on 10 April 1918. There does not seem to be a surviving gravestone for him. His California death certificate lists the place of death as Covina, his occupation as "blacksmith", and the cause of death as "valvular disease of the heart". Curiously, his son, Frank C., the informant for the death certificate, lists the family information for him as him being born in Canada, father Wm. Johnson born in Pennsylvania, mother unknown.^[8] Frank would seemingly have not known even the name of his grandmother. William's birthplace being Pennsylvania is incorrect as he was born in Canada, but it shows a sense that as far as Frank C. understood (much like his uncle Isaac Everett), the Johnson family was "originally" from Pennsylvania, and his father had only been born in Canada. This information would probably have come to him from his father and shaped his view of the family.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Primary Johnson document.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVLC-QHZ : Fri Oct 06 14:24:25 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles F Johnson and Mary A Johnson, 1910.
3. ↑ FamilySearch.
4. ↑ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGLW-9YMV : Sun Oct 15 15:22:07 UTC 2023), Entry for Johnson and Chas Johnson, 17 Oct 1875.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1880", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6GB-8FY : Thu Oct 05 11:05:35 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Johnson and Mary A. Johnson, 1880.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1900", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9PB-QDF : Wed Oct 04 00:06:07 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles F Johnson and Mary A Johnson, 1900.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVLC-QHZ : Fri Oct 06 14:24:25 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles F Johnson and Mary A Johnson, 1910.
8. ↑ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGPX-3KDM : Sun Oct 15 14:59:49 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles F Johnson and Wm Johnson, 10 Aug 1918.