Francis Johnson (abt. 1607 - 1691)

Born about 1607 in England

Husband of Hannah Johnson — married 1656 in of, Woburn, Middlesex, Mass

Descendants

Died 3 Feb 1691 at about age 84 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Francis Johnson migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 1100) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Origins

Raymon Tingley Meyers,^[1] notorious for false genealogies, claimed that Francis was son of Davy Johnson and Elizabeth Cole without citing any evidence. Anderson (GMB) says that Mr. Davy Johnson had no recorded children, and that Francis' parents are unknown.

Biography

Francis Johnson was born about 1607, based on ages he gave during a variety of later depositions.^[2] His origins and parents are unknown (at least as of 1995). Two associations are of note,

In 1655/6 testimony, Dorothy Norice deposed that "when she was at Marblehead at her brother Johnson's house, about three or four years since, there came a man from the eastward who said to Mr. Johnson that Mr. Foxwell was poor, and had nothing to pay with ..."^[3]

On 31 May 1660, Francis sought a land grant "for money laid out in the common stock by his uncle Mr. Christopher Coultson." said one of the "'assistants' in 1629."^[4] Anderson (1995) writes, "This uncle was probably 'Mr. Colston," who attended meetings of the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Company in London on 28 and 29 August 1629."^[5]

Francis Johnson emigrated in 1630 residing initially in Salem, then Marblehead by 1634, Boston by 1672.^[6]

He married (1) by 1636 Joan _____; she died after February 1654/5 (last child born) and before 24 October 1656 (husband remarried). He married (2) in Boston 24 October 1656 Hannah (______) Hanbury^[7] widow of William Hanbury. (Note: "Noyes, Libby and Davis apparently mistakenly gives her name as "Madbury.")^[8]

"He was a trader, and possibly the Francis Johnson involved in outfitting the fist vessels for the Massachusetts Bay Company in 1628/9.^[9]

"Francis Johnson was a shrewd and aggressive trader who did business up and down the coast."

He died in Boston 3 Feb 1690/1.^[10] "On 23 March 1690/1 administration of the estate of 'Capt. Francis Johnson, late of Boston, deceased, intestate is granted unto Thaddeus MacKartey of Boston, Shopkeeper, and to Elizabeth his wife, the eldest daughter of the deceased"^[11]

Children

1. Naomi Johnson, baptized 1 April 1638^[12]; married by 1661 Samuel Sherman of Boston.^[13]
2. Ruth Johnson baptized 29 March 1650; no further record
3. Elizabeth Johnson, baptized 24 April 1642^[14]; married by 1667 Thaddeus McCarthy
4. Francis Johnson, baptized 16 June 1644
5. Samuel Johnson, baptized 20 May 1649; no further record
6. Joan Johnson, baptized 5 October 1651; no further record
7. Sarah Johnson, baptized 19 February 1653/4; suspected of infanticide November 1682 and spirited away by her father to York where she married before 6 March 1683/4 John Morris.

Research Notes

One Francis Johnson was baptized 16 August 1607 at Gamlingay, Cambridge, England; father as Leonard Johnson . See "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7WG-SYM : 30 December 2014, Francis Johnson, 16 Aug 1607); citing Gamblingay, Cambridge, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 990,297.

Sources

1. ↑ Tingley, Raymon Meyers, 1870-. Some Ancestral Lines: Being a Record of Some of the Ancestors of Guilford Solon Tingley And His Wife, Martha Pamelia Meyers. Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle Publishing Co., 1935. Johnson pp 165,166
2. ↑ Citing, "EQC 3:417; 5:115; 5:282," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
3. ↑ George Francis Dow, Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts (Salem, Mass. : Essex institute, 1911-1975), 9 vols., 2:26; digital images, Hathi Trust. Note: According to a separate query, the deposition of Dorothy Norice is "in the handwriting of Edward Norris, the schoolmaster of Salem", see Henry E. Waite, "Francis Johnson," in "Notes and Queries," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 39 (1885):386; digital images, Hathi Trust, Waite cites "Essex Co. Court Files, iii. 90," but a record of the case also appears in the noted Records and Files 2:26.
4. ↑ Citing "Mass. Records ... 4th vol. 2nd part, 429," Henry E. Waite, "Francis Johnson," in "Notes and Queries," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 39 (1885):386; digital images, Hathi Trust.
5. ↑ Citing "MBCR 1:49,50," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
6. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
7. ↑ Citing "BVR 57," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
8. ↑ Citing "GDMNH 382," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
9. ↑ Citing, "MBCR 1:23," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
10. ↑ Citing "BVR 193; Sewall 275," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
11. ↑ Citing "SPR Case #1827," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
12. ↑ Citing "SChR 16," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
13. ↑ Citing "BVR 79, 93," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.
14. ↑ Citing, "SChR 19," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, (1995), 1100-1103 (Francis Johnson); digital images by subscription, AmericanAncestors.

See also:

• NEGHR Vol 167 Apr 2013; Whole Number 666, pp 152,155 'The Earliest Shermans of Dedham Essex; Michael Johnson Wood