Adam Clarke Johnson M.D. (1832 - 1899)

Born 28 Jan 1832 in Caldwell County, Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret Ann (Sweeney) Johnson — married 1 Jan 1862 in Crittenden County, Kentucky, United States

Died 22 Oct 1899 at age 67 in Quitman, Cleburne County, Arkansas, United States

Biography

Adam Clarke Johnson^[1] was born on January 29, 1832.^[2] He was the son of Rev John Johnson and Susannah (Brooks) Johnson.^[3][4][5][6]

At the urging of his brother Dr Thomas Johnson, Adam left for Fredonia on February 29, 1848 to study and take up the practice of medicine. He was barely sixteen years old.^[7] He was brought home to work on the farm in September due to mental and physical exhaustion due to his studies.^[8]

After his father passed in 1858 Adam moved to Dycusburg, Crittenden county, Kentucky.^[9] He met and married Margaret Sweeney on January 1, 1862 in Crittenden, Kentucky^[10][11] and had four known children.^[12][13]

• Susan Johnson
• John Johnson
• Annie Johnson
• Edwin Lee Johnson

"Among our first acquaintance in Mount Vernon was Adam Clark Johnson, the Jefferson county historian^[14][6] from whom we have copied liberally in these pages. We have many times enjoyed his quaint sayings, have worked together with him in temperance work and the Sabbath school cause, and have known and respected him as a brother. We went out with him one Sunday to East Salem church to hold a Sunday school convention. We were importuned to teach a class which we finally did under protest. While trying to impress upon the minds of the boys the importance of living a Christian life, we propounded the following question: "Why do people call Brother Johnson a Christian, children?" "Because they don't know him," was the ready answer of a bright eyed boy. We "called the little fellow down," and he willingly admitted that he did not know Brother Johnson, and neither did he, for everybody knew that Adam Clark Johnson was a Christian in deed and in truth. But this incident shows the importance of being knowable."^[15]

Adam died on October 22, 1899 and was buried at the Quitman Cemetery in Quitman, Cleburne county, Arkansas.^[2]

Rev. Adam Clark Johnson died of appoplexy at his home in Quitman, Arkansas, last Sunday morning. The relatives here have received no particulars of his death, and it is surmised that the funeral has occurred, or will occur at Quitman.

Mr. Johnson was born in Caldwell county, near Princeton, Ky., in January 1832, and was the youngest but one of seven children. In November, 1834, his parents, Rev. John and Susannah Johnson, emigrated to Jefferson county, Illinois, and settled in Mt. Vernon. His father was a Methodist preacher and had preached through a number of southern states, notably Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. Clark, as he was generally called, was about two and a half years old when his parents came to this county. They settled on a farm and the father also preached and begun the work of advancing the cause of religion and Methodism in this section.

At the age of 16 Clarke returned to Kentucky and begun the study of medicine in the office of his brother; Dr. Thomas Johnson. His memory, for which he was ever in after years famous, was noted at this time and showed itself in the remarkable manner in which he could recite almost verbatim page after page of the medical works he read. He overtaxed his mental and physical strength, however, and had to abandon his studies, and it is not known whether he ever was admitted to the practice of medicine, though he was usually addressed as doctor. He taught school in Kentucky, and about 1860 or '62 was married to Miss Margaret Sweeney in Crittenden county, Ky. Later he returned to Mt. Vernon, where taught school at times, and for several years was employed in the circuit clerk's office by Uncle Johnnie Bogan, then clerk.

Johnson was a Methodist preacher, but at one time occupied the pulpit of the Presbyterian church for months, preaching to the Presbyterian congregation. Almost a eleven years ago he with his family moved to Oxford, Miss, where he resided a few years when he emigrated to Quitman, Ark., where he remained until the time of his death. His wife died at the latter place about two years ago.

Mr. Johnson was, perhaps, better acquainted with Jefferson county history and knew by name more people that any man who ever lived in the county, and was for several years before his departure for the South, Secretary of the Pioneer Association. At one time he wrote a history of Jefferson county, and also edited the "Recollections of Rev. John Johnson," his father, which dealt largely with the early history of this county. As a writer of a verse and pithy style Clark Johnson had no superior, and his education, which he had attained by his own efforts unaided by college advantages, was extended and thorough and covered a wide range, embracing a knowledge of Latin, Greek and other languages. He showed conclusively what a man of determination, steady habits and good morals, without money or influence, can accomplish when he is desirious of receiving an education. While in Arkansas he engaged in the real estate business and seemed to prosper, and during the past year he was one of the instructors in Quitman college.

Clark Johnson was a good man, a good citizen and a useful man, and death is deeply regretted by all who knew him. He was a man whose example is well worthy of emulation in many respects.^[16]

Research Notes

One researchers says he was known to have written newspaper columns from Oxford, Lafayette, Mississippi

Sources

1. ↑ Johnson. Page 229. View 454 of 691.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 12 June 2020), memorial page for Rev Adam Clark Johnson (28 Jan 1832–22 Oct 1899), Find A Grave: Memorial #80716836, citing Quitman Cemetery, Quitman, Cleburne County, Arkansas, USA ; Maintained by Sandra Thorpe (contributor 47572231).
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch Clarke Johnson in household of John Johnson, Jefferson county, Jefferson, Illinois, United States; citing family 214, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. ↑ Johnson. Page 189. View 374 of 691.
5. ↑ Wall. Page 84.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} History of Jefferson County, Illinois Part II. History of Jefferson County. Ancestry.com., Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2005, Provo, UT., Page 150. Free Ancestry Image
7. ↑ Johnson. Page 282. View 560 of 691.
8. ↑ Johnson. Page 283-284. View 562-563 of 691.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch Adam C Johnson in entry for Mary P Bishop, 1860.
10. ↑ "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954," database with images, FamilySearch Adam C Johnson and Margaret Ann Sweeny Or Swany, 1 Jan 1862; citing Marriage, Crittenden, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 559,325.
11. ↑ "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954," database with images, FamilySearch Adam C Johnson and Margaret Sweeney, 1 Jan 1862; citing Marriage, Marion, Crittenden, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 559,305.
12. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch A C Johnson, Kentucky, United States; citing p. 28, family 199, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 545,956.
13. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch Adam C Johnson, Mt Vernon, Jefferson, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district ED 49, sheet 510A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,215.
14. ↑ Wall. Page 84.
15. ↑ Wall. Page 285.
16. ↑ Mt. Vernon(Ill.) Register. Crittenden Press. (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, November 16, 1899, Image 3 - Chronicling America - The Library of Congress.

See also:

• Johnson, Susannah. Recollections of The Rev. John Johnson and His Home: An Autobiography. Nashville, TN: Southern Methodist Publishing House. 1869. Online Book Available

• Wall, John A., History of Jefferson County, IL, Indianapolis, Ind: B.F. Bowen & Company, 1909. Free PDF of Book or Free Book View Available

Acknowledgements

• This person was created through the import of Pioneer Stock.GED on 31 October 2010.