These six families came together from Tennessee in 1818 to Jefferson County, Illinois:

1. James C. DAVIS
2. James WILKERSON
3. Nathan PARKER
4. James JOHNSON
5. William MAXEY (James Johnson's father-in-law)
6. Henry Burchett MAXEY (James Johnson's brother-in-law).

James JOHNSON was born in 1778 in Louisa County, Virginia which is about 40 miles from Richmond. He was the second son of John and Betsy Tyler JOHNSON who was a descendant of President TYLER.

In 1803, four years after the death of John JOHNSON, the family consisting of the mother and ten children moved to Sumner County, Tennessee.

James married a beautiful young lady, Clarissa MAXEY, in Tennessee. They were the parents of 16 children, five of whom were born in Tennessee.

Clarissa's parents, William and Mary Emily ALLEN MAXEY, were Jefferson County pioneers as were her grandparents Rhoda ALLEN and family.

Rhoda ALLEN was the first person buried in the Old Union Cemetery and William MAXEY built the first mill here in 1820. He was also the Justice of the Peace in 1821.

Clarissa died 29 years after coming to Illinois. She was a devout Christian, a loving wife and mother, and loved by family and friends. And James was the same. He cleared his land and built his home, a story-and-a-half log cabin, a mansion in its day, was their home until their deaths. They had 16 children, most of whom married and scattered over many states. Children of James and Clarissa JOHNSON were:

1. John N. who married Sarah HOBBS
2. Lewis who married Patsy HOBBS and later Susan LEE
3. William who married Lucretia HOBBS
4. George died at the age of 19
5. Herbert died at the age of 8
6. Henry died at the age of 2
7. Thomas Casey married Sarah Jane FROST
8. Madonna L.
9. Abraham C. married Francis CRISWELL
10. Emily married Anthony WHITE
11. Betsy married John SATTERFIELD
12. Malinda married Owen WARD
13. Jane married Arnold ARMOUR
14. Katie married John WAITE
15. Sallie who married James BURGE
16. Clarissa

(Dorothy M. Hogue)

SOURCE: FACTS AND FOLKS, JEFFERSON CO, IL - 1978

SUBMITTED BY: Misty Flannigan
Dec 15, 1997

Notes:

1. See more about the Johnson family of Jefferson County here.
2. Here is another James R. Johnson (including photo and scanned family record)