Abel Johnston (1803 - 1878)

Born 9 Aug 1803 in Adair, Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Jane (Leech) Johnston — married 10 Aug 1824 in Lawrence County, Alabama

Husband of Ruth Sarah (Frazier) Johnston — married 12 Sep 1850 in Lafayette County, Mississippi

Descendants

Died 4 Nov 1878 at age 75 in Dallas, Lafayette, Mississippi, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jerry Johnston [send private message]

Biography

Abel was born on Aug 9th, 1803 on land near Russell Creek in Adair County, Kentucky to parents William Johnston Sr (1760s-1835) and Elizabeth McGaughey (1764-1819). Abel was of Ulster Scot lineage and raised in the Presbyterian Church. Abel had four older brothers named John Miller Johnston (1793-1819), James H Johnston (1795 - ), William Johnston Jr (1797-1870), and Samuel Johnston (1790s-1834). He had three sisters. Melinda Maria Johnston (1791-1824), Isabella Johnston (1802-1870s), and Mary Polly Johnston (1805 - ). All of these children were likely born in Green or Adair County as William owned land in both neighboring counties.

Abel was brought south with the family into Maury County, Tennessee between 1805-1810. The family joined the newly formed Cumberland Presbyterian church here and became "allied" through marriage with the Stephenson, Craig, Martin, and McGaughey families. These families often migrated together through the early 1800s.

Abel's older brothers fought in the Creek War during the overall War of 1812, probably in Andrew Jackson's army alongside many Kentuckians and Tennesseans. In September of 1818, William Sr received land just south of modern Hatton in Lawrence County, Alabama. John Miller Johnston bought land just west of Mt Hope. John Miller Johnston died from a sudden illness in 1819. The mother Elizabeth McGaughey died that same year.

In 1824, Abel married Jane Leech and they had eight children together. They were:

Elizabeth Malinda Johnston (1825-1866) died Pontotoc, Mississippi;

Robert M Johnston (1826-1905) died Lafayette, Mississippi;

Mary Clarissa Johnston (1828-1903) died Amos, Baxter, Arkansas;

William Chapman Johnston (1833-1862) died in Siege of Corinth, Mississippi;

John Lewis Johnston (1837- ) no records after marriage in 1860;

Samuel M Johnston (1839- ) no records after marriage in 1866;

Albert Monroe Johnston (1840-1926) died Dunn, Scurry, Texas;

David F Johnston (1844-1864) died in battle at Canton, Mississippi

Abel does not appear in the 1830 census so he may have been living on either his father or father-in-law's land. In 1834, Abel is listed as a defendant in a civil case alongside his brother William Jr and father William Sr over a debt.

His father William Sr probably passed away in 1835. In 1836, the children of Abel's late brother Samuel Johnston were given in guardianship to William Jr and Abel signed a security on it.

Abel relocated southwest to Marion County in 1838. The parcel of land that was then Marion County is Lamar County today. He appears in the 1840 census there.

In 1844, his wife Jane Leech passed away not long after giving birth to their last son David. In 1846, his brother William's wife also died. A decision was made by the Johnston brothers to leave Alabama and move west. Abel stopped and settled in the old community of Dallas, Lafayette County, Mississippi nearby lands owned by his late wife's family. William continued west and settled in newly opened up land in Cherokee County, Texas in 1847. The two families never met again.

Abel finally re-married in Sept 1850 in Lafayette County, Mississippi to Ruth Sarah Frazier. They went on to have at least five more children. They were:

Senirah Jane Johnston (1851-1930) died in Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas;

Isabellah Alphasine Johnston (1854-1909) died in Grayson, Texas;

Christopher Columbus Johnston (1855-1857) died an infant in Lafayette, MS;

Jefferson Davis Johnston (1861-1917) died in Calhoun City, Mississippi;

Dira Johston (1864-) no info, probably died young in Lafayette, Mississippi

Abel was 58 years old when Mississippi seceded from the union and the Civil War began. The Civil War would have tragic consequences for the family as it took the lives of two or perhaps three sons serving in various Mississippi regiments. The family farm was pillaged by Union troops during the events of the burning of Oxford, Mississippi. The sons that did return found the land ruined. Starting in 1868, most of Abel's older children left and went west.

Abel passed away on Nov 4th, 1878. He was buried in Old Dallas Cemetery. He has an original headstone that is now in pieces in the ground and a replacement headstone with an incorrect spelling of his name leaning against a pine tree. His grave is close to a "W. C.", his sister-in-law Elizabeth Frazier, and his infant son Christopher Columbus Johnston.

The epitaph on his tombstone reads:

"Let me not murmur nor repine Under these trying strokes of thine But while I walk the mournful road Be still, and know that thou art God"

Sources

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LX7D-GB7

"Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DW-XNXM : 22 July 2021), Able Johnson and Jane Leech, 07 Aug 1824; citing Lawrence, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 2,431,926.

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4L8-PJN : 22 December 2020), Abel Johnson, Lafayette Springs, Lafayette, Mississippi, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"Mississippi Marriages, 1800-1911", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2ZT-FS3 : 14 February 2020), Abel Johnson, 1850.

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6GZ-3HM : 18 February 2021), Abel Johnson, 1860.

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFS8-PLH : 29 May 2021), Abel Johnston, 1870.

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