Who were the parents of Thomas Jefferson Johnson, Sr. b. 7 Apr 1851 and d. 19 Mar 1934 in Tippah County, Mississippi?

Question

Thomas Jefferson Johnson, Sr.'s FAG memorial is here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33292553/thomas-jefferson-johnson

FAG and Family Search lists William Weakley Johnson and Sarah Kearney Alston as the parents of my 2nd great grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Johnson, Sr.  I do not believe this is true. I found a list of William Weakley and Sarah's five children on page 301 of this book:  The Alstons and Allstons - Forgotten Books.It lists their children as: John, William Weakley, Jr., Columbus, William Calvin, and Joseph Darius. https://www.dropbox.com/s/rprwd5hgvcti8jj/Screenshot%202019-05-12%2009.24.17.jpg?dl=0

What I know from census records is that Thomas Jefferson Johnson was in the household of William H. Johnson b. in South Carolina around 1805. William's parents are listed as born in Kentucky. His wife was Sarah, possibly Sarah Locker Hicks, b.Georgia @1815.

Can someone please help me find the correct parents of my 2nd great grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Johnson, Sr.? Thank you in advance for your help!

Answer 1

I'm confused... so are you saying that the parents for Thomas Jefferson Johnson Sr. in Find A Grave are incorrect? It has father: William Weakley Johnson (1807–1874) and mother: Sarah Kearney Alston Johnson  (1807–1892).

Comments

Mr. Utterback, That is correct. I found the list of William Weakley and Sarah Kearney Alston Johnson's five children and my 2nd great grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Johnson, is not listed. I apologize for the confusion, but I do not think this is correct and wanted to give fellow genealogists a heads up so they would not read the FAG and Family Search references and automatically believe they are correct.

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Are there any male Johnson descendants of Thomas Jefferson Johnson, Sr., who have taken a Y-DNA test?

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Mr. Johnson, My father took the Ancestry DNA test. He would be my closest living link to our Johnson family. Would that test help us, or does it need to be a Y-DNA test?

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A Y-DNA test traces a man's father's father's father's.... etc.  The patrilineal line.  Since I am a Johnson male, if another Johnson male takes a Y-DNA test, then we ultimately have the same Y-DNA ancestor (i.e., our patrilineal ancestors were brothers). Ancestry, 23andMe, etc., are autosomal DNA (atDNA) tests which show ancestry on both sides.  Autosomal DNA is a mixture of parents.  Y-DNA is via the father to the son only. So it could help to trace the Johnson line. FamilyTreeDNA is where I recommend men take Y-DNA tests.