William Henry Johnson (1833 - 1913)

Born 10 Nov 1833 in Meriden, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Husband of Isabell Matilda (Shirline) Johnson — married 5 Aug 1863 in Franklinville, Cattaraugus, New York, United States

Died 4 Jan 1913 at age 79 in Allegany, Cattaraugus, New York, United States

Biography

Cpl William Johnson served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: May 17, 1861
Mustered out: Jun 22, 1863
Side: USA
Regiment(s): 37th New York Infantry, Co. H

Birth

William Henry Johnson was born on 10 November 1833 in Meriden, New Haven, Connecticut, United States. (Suggested parents are Ezra J. Johnson 1815-1890 and Charlotte M. Palmer 1816-1881 others say Ezra Hurd Johnson 1772-1857 and Rebecca Northrop 1773-1838. No proof found for either yet.)

Marriage and Family

He married Isabell Matilda Shirline (1847-1932) on 5 August 1863 when he was 29 and she was almost 16.

Children of the Johnson-Shirline Marriage

1. Jennie Anna Johnson was born on 24 February 1867 in Allegany (town), Cattaraugus, New York, United States. She married 1) Benjamin A Eastman (1861-1912) in 1884 in New York, New York and 2) Fremont D. Evans (c. 1865- ) on 17 December 1913 in Wells County, Indiana and 3) William S. Conable (1876-1943) before 1930. Jennie died on 18 July 1946 in Bradford, McKean, Pennsylvania, United States.
2. James Monroe Johnson was born in March 1869 in Vandalia, New York, United States. He married Maud L. Hall (1877-1946). James died on 25 November 1903 in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States.
3. Claude Ezra Johnson was born on 22 February 1881 in Vandalia, New York, United States. He married Anna Bessie Hunt (1883-1975) on 10 October 1903 in Poneto, Wells, Indiana. Claude died on 24 September 1971 in Olean, Cattaraugus, New York, United States.

Military Service for the Union in the Civil War

From 15 May 1861 to 19 June 1863 he was in the 37th New York Infantry, Co. H as a Pvt and then promoted to Corporal on 31 October 1861. He was wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 and made partially deaf as a result of Fredricksburg. Mustered out on 22 June 1863 at New York, New York.

Occupations

He was a carpenter, joiner, farmer, and according to family members, he learned herbal medicine from the Seneca Indians and was considered an Herb Doctor.

Death and Burial

William died on 4 January 1913 in Vandalia, New York, United States at the age of 79. He was buried in the Allegany Cemetery, Allegany, Cattaraugus, New York. Plot Sec. B5, lot 31, plot 4. Find A Grave: Memorial #34666540

Sources

• 1850 United States Federal Census on 3 December in Angelica, Allegany, New York. Family 217. ^[1]
• 1865 New York State Census on 28 June in Allegany, Cattaraugus. ^[2]
• 1870 United States Federal Census on 1 July in Allegany, Cattaraugus, New York. ^[3]
• 1875 New York State Census on 24 June in Allegany, Cattaraugus. ^[4]
• 1880 United States Federal Census on 2 June in Allegany, Cattaraugus, New York. ^[5]
• 1900 United States Federal Census on 13 June in Allegany, Cattaraugus, New York. Page 7A, lines 46-48. ^[6]
• 1910 United States Federal Census on 11 May in Allegany, Cattaraugus, New York. Page 17B, lines 66 & 67. ^[7]
• New York Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, c. 1861-1865. Enlistment date 17 May 1861 in Allegany, New York. 37th Inf., H Co. Rank Corporal. Single.
• New York Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts.
• U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles.
• 1863 U.S. Civil War Draft Registrations Records.
• 1890 Special Schedule of Surviving Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, and Widows, etc. This says that he was made partially deaf at the Battle of Fredricksburg.
• 1869 U.S. Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918. His land was in Allegany, Ashford Hollow, Limestone, Cattaraugus, New York.
• Find A Grave. A headstone photo is available.
• Eastman, Veora Violet Garrett (4 November 1890-25 January 1984). Dear Grandchildren. ^[8]

Footnotes

1. ↑ 1850: Allen, Richard Jr. 36, farmer, head; Anna 28, wife; Francilia 4, daughter; Johnson, William H. 17, farmer.
2. ↑ 1865: Johnson, William 30, carpenter, head; Isabell 18, wife.
3. ↑ 1870: Johnson, William H. 3, carpenter, head; Isabelle 22, wife; Jennie 3, daughter; Monroe 2, son; Wheeler, Eva 14, 1/2 sister-in-law (d/o Lewis and Anna (Inman) Wheeler.
4. ↑ 1875: Johnson, William H. 39, b. CT, Farmer, Carpenter & Joiner, head; Belle 28, wife; Jennie 8, daughter; Monroe 6, son. Next door are Belle's sister Betsey E. Wheeler & family. Next to them are Joseph A. Wheeler & sister Eunice. Other family members this page as well.
5. ↑ 1880: Johnson, Wm H. 44, farmer & carpenter, head; Isabella 27, wife; Jennie 13, daughter; Monroe 11, son. They live next to her 1/2 sister Betsey on 1 side and on the other side stepbrother Joseph and sister Eunice.
6. ↑ 1900: Johnson, William, H. 67 b. Oct 1832, married 34 years, farmer, head; Isabella 51 b. Sept 1848, 3 children born & living, wife; Claude 19 b. February 1880, son.
7. ↑ 1910: Johnson, William H. 76, married 47 years, farm operator, head; Isabel 63, 3 children born & 2 living, wife. Son Claude is married and living next door.
8. ↑ Eastman, VVG: Grandma Johnson was so shy…and had the bluest of eyes that twinkled delightfully now and then. When she was making a joke or understanding one, her eyes would begin to twinkle and her mouth to quirk, and then she was apt to say something that was as witty as all get out…” (Dear Grandchildren, pg. 11 by Veora Garrett Eastman) In 1855 Isabel was eight years old and lived in Yorkshire, New York with her mother and step-father, Lewis J. Wheeler, five sisters and three step-brothers. Her sister Eunice, 18, had just married their step-brother, Joseph Wheeler. They all lived in a log home on 140 acres of pastures and wilderness. On the farm they grew seventeen acres in oats, buckwheat and corn, and an acre each of potatoes, peas and beans. From the orchard they hauled 100 bushels of apples. The gathering of 400 lbs of Maple syrop might have been a family affair. Around the barnyard could be found three horses, two swine, and three milking cows. One was killed for the winter’s meat supply. Isabel would probably have helped her mother and sisters with milking and the making of 250 lbs of butter that year (see 1855 state census). By 1860, Isabel was thirteen, attending school and living in Allegany, New York with her sister Eunice and Joseph Wheeler. Living next door to them was Joseph’s sister, Adaline with her husband, Benjamin Johnson. At the tender age of sixteen Isabel married 29 year old, William Henry Johnson, a soldier returning from the war. She lived out her days in Vandalia, a hamlet of Allegany until later years when she lived with her son Claude in Olean. Isabel is buried at the Allegany First Protestant Cemetery in Allegany, NY. …It was offered several times to have water piped into Grandmother Johnson’s new, big, square house, but she would not hear of it. She said she wasn’t lazy, she’d have everybody know! She had carried so many pails of water – wooden pails with a bit of wood on the handle to hold by – that her fingers were all puffed at the ends. And… she did not approve of the pail I kept to put waste water in either. She declared she wasn’t too lazy to go to the porch and throw out the water she no longer wanted. I’ve seen her many a time go out with a cup to throw a portion out into the wind. I wonder how much extra wood it took to heat that big house with her running outdoors every whip-stitch with her little dab of water. (Dear Grandchildren pg. 16 by Veora Garrett Eastman.) Samantha Eastman has shared parts of this story on her "Swimming in the Shadows" Family Tree on ancestry if you have access.