Johnson Family - The First Five Generations

Discovering the identity of Thomas Ayer Johnson, and his wife, Hannah Barker Johnson has taken many years of research. In the Census of 1810, Thomas Ayer Johnson was listed with two girls between ten and sixteen, and one between sixteen and twenty six years of age. Olive Johnson's age was determined from her gravestone in Winslow, Maine, where she is buried beside her husband, Jonathan Garland and his second wife, Ann Southern Garland.

It is very unusual to find a middle name used before the 19th century in New England. The few occasions when I have discovered its use occurred when a grandparent had died very recently, and the parent wanted to name the new baby in his honor. Thomas Ayer Johnson was born in 1764, soon after the death of his maternal grandfather, Thomas Ayer. His mother Olive's name was given to Thomas Ayer Johnson's second daughter. This naming pattern was continued when Olive named her second son after his maternal grandfather. The fact that she named her son, Thomas Ayer Johnson Garland on April 22, 1826 was the first clue to her father's identity. Thomas Ayer Johnson's will was probated on May 9, 1825.

The town of Cornish is located just to the north of the town of Parsonsfield in York County, Maine. It was first bought from the Indian sagamore of Newichawannock, Captain Sunday, by Francis Small, an Indian trader of Kittery. The deed which was executed at Kittery on November 28, 1668, mentions two large English blankets, two gallons of rum, two pounds of powder, four pounds of musket balls, and twenty strings of Indian beads. A Major Nicholas Shapleigh bought an undivided interest, and in 1711, Francis Small transferred his remaining interest to his son Samuel Small. The deed seems to have been lost for several years, until 1770, when the descendants of Small and Shapleigh took possession and undertook a survey of their lands. During the interim period George Kezar of Canterbury, New Hampshire had used the lands for various hunting camps, which he used during much of the year. The plantation was given the name of Francisboro in honor of the first owner. Sadly all the records of the plantation and the town records of Cornish were destroyed in 1864, when the store of the town clerk, Mr. John F. Jameson, burned. Luckily probate records are not maintained locally, but are taken to the County Seat. Thomas Ayer Johnson died on February 4, 1825.

Thomas Ayer Johnson's will contains an interesting inventory of a New England farmer's personal estate. There are the signatures of three appraisers: two of them, Eben. F. Barker and Simeon Barker, are Hannah Barker Johnson's younger brothers. Hannah Barker Johnson, the administratrix of the estate, would be dead herself on October 19 of the same year. John Swett is the third signatory.

Real Estate:
The homestead of said deceased situated in Cornish containing 295 acres with the buildings there

$2200.

Personal estate
one horse 50, one colt, 25, two oxen, 75, two steers, 30
five cows 65, two heifers 20, 6 creatures, 2 years old 42,
4 years old 19, fifty sheep and lambs 62.50, 4 swine 24,
a chaise 100, a sleigh 5, an ox cart and wheels 5,
two ploughs 3, three chains 4, three shovles (sic) 1,
fifteen harness teeth 2, a sled 1, three pitchforks .50,
two axes 1, one iron bar .75, one grindstone .50,
cider works 8.50, a clock 5, two desks 2
fifteen chairs 3, six tables 5.50, one light stand .25,
two looking glasses 2, five beds and bedsteads with the bedding 30, table linen and towels 9,
a brass kettle and hard hollow ware 4,
shovels, tongs and fire dogs 1.25,
a loom, wheels, harnesses and (?) (?) and glassware 5.30, silver spoons 4,
pewter and tinware 2, sundry other articles 3.50,
a watch 5, the deceased's wearing apparel 15,
the deceased's library 7, and a share of a library 1,
two harnesses and saddles
a schedule of notes

180
127
105.50
110.
8.
3.50
2.25
15.5
8.75
41.
4.
1.25
9.3
5.5
20.
8.
10.
106.8
2
$2771.8

Tracing Thomas Ayer Johnson's family back in New Hampshire, one finds his father, William Johnson, and mother, Olive Ayer, of Greenland, Rockingham County. William Johnson was born in 1730, the son of Nathan Johnson and Mary Whidden Johnson. William had another son Jotham who also lived in Cornish, Maine. Both brothers had lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire from 1785 to 1790, as determined by the tax lists, and had moved to Cornish at the turn of the century. William died in 1778 in Greenland.

*******

Nathan's father and grandfather, both named John Johnson, lived in Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire.

Thomas Ayers' father and grandfather, were Thomas Ayers and John Ayres respectively, and came from Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts.

Hannah Barker was the daughter of Ebenezer Barker and Sarah Stevens. Ebenezer Barker's ancestors were Noah, Barzillai and James Barker. His grandmother, Anna Jewett Barker was a descendant of the Jewett family of Rowley, Essex, Massachusetts.

Ebenezer was born May 4, 1716 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, the eldest of the eleven children born to Noah Barker and Martha Figott Barker. When he was two years old the family moved to Stratham, Rockingham, New Hampshire, where his father was a weaver and a saddler, as well as a prosperous farmer.

Ebenezer married prior to 1740, Sarah Stevens, the daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah Stevens. This is confirmed by a deed dated October 22, 1740, in which all the Stevens children sold land to their mother after the father's death. However, a question arises about whether Sarah was the mother of all of his children. In The Barker Genealogy, it states that Ebenezer was married to Mary Rundlett. Since our ancestor, Hannah is the seventh of eight children, it is possible that she is a child of the second marriage, if there indeed was one. She did name her first daughter Sarah, which is one reason to stay with the conclusion that Sarah Stevens was the grandmother, since the second and third children, Olive and William, were named after the paternal grandparents.

Ebenezer was a successful farmer, and was chosen moderator for Stratham in 1776. He died November 16, 1803. His wife died September 14, 1791. It is not known where they are buried.


Location of Cornish Maine	Estate plan of Nathaniel Stevens	Map showing Greenland and Stratham in New Hampshire, and Rowley in MA

                 ┌── John JOHNSON, b. circa 1639
             ┌── John JOHNSON, b. 1662, d. 1747
             │   │   ┌── Anthony BRACKETT (Immigrant), b. 1613, d. 1691
             │   └── Eleanor BRACKETT, b. 1642
             │       └── (__________) (__________)
         ┌── Nathan JOHNSON, b. circa 1690, d. 1745
         │   │   ┌── Philip LEWIS (Immigrant), b. circa 1623, d. circa 1701
         │   └── Hannah LEWIS
         │       │       ┌── Thomas FILBRIGG, b. circa 1550
         │       │   ┌── Thomas PHILBRICK (Immigrant), bap. 1584, d. 1667
         │       │   │   └── Elizabeth (__________), b. circa 1555
         │       └── Hannah PHILBRICK (Immigrant), b. circa 1625
         │           │   ┌── William KNAPP, b. circa 1563
         │           └── Elizabeth KNAPP (Immigrant), bap. 1593, d. 1664
         │               └── Elizabeth READE, b. circa 1565
     ┌── William JOHNSON, b. 1730, d. 1778
     │   │   ┌── Samuel WHIDDEN, d. 1718
     │   └── Mary WHIDDEN, b. circa 1690
     │       │   ┌── James CATE (Immigrant), b. circa 1634, d. 1677
     │       └── Mary CATE, b. circa 1651
     │           └── Alice (__________) (Immigrant)
Thomas Ayer JOHNSON, b. circa 1765, d. 1825
     │           ┌── John AYRES (Immigrant), d. 1675
     │       ┌── Thomas AYERS, b. 1652
     │       │   │   ┌── Mark SYMONDS (Immigrant), b. circa 1584, d. circa 1659
     │       │   └── Susanna SYMONDS, d. 1683
     │       │       └── Joanna (__________), d. 1666
     │   ┌── Thomas AYERS, d. 1764
     │   │   │       ┌── John ERRINGTON (Immigrant)
     │   │   │   ┌── Abraham ERRINGTON (Immigrant), b. circa 1622, d. 1677
     │   │   │   │   └── Ann CLINTON
     │   │   └── Hannah ERRINGTON, b. circa 1655
     │   │       │   ┌── Robert CUTLER (Immigrant), d. 1665
     │   │       └── Rebecca CUTLER, b. circa 1626, d. 1678
     │   │           └── Rebecca (__________) (Immigrant), d. 1677
     └── Olive AYERS, b. circa 1735
         │               ┌── Joseph SHERBURNE, b. circa 1578, d. 1621
         │           ┌── Henry SHERBURNE (Immigrant), b. circa 1612, d. circa 1681
         │           │   └── (__________) (__________)
         │       ┌── John SHERBURNE, b. 1647, d. 1698
         │       │   └── Rebecca GIBBONS (Immigrant), b. circa 1620, d. circa 1667
         │   ┌── John SHERBURNE, d. circa 1723
         │   │   │   ┌── Edward COWELL
         │   │   └── Mary COWELL, b. circa 1655
         │   │       └── Agnes (__________)
         └── Ruth SHERBURNE
             │       ┌── John JACKSON
             │   ┌── Thomas JACKSON, b. 1639
             │   │   └── Joan (__________)
             └── Mary JACKSON
                 │   ┌── James JOHNSON
                 └── Hannah JOHNSON, b. circa 1641
                     └── Mary (__________)

                     ┌── (__________) BARKER
                 ┌── James BARKER (Immigrant 1638), b. 1618, d. 1678
                 │   └── (__________) (__________)
             ┌── Barzillai BARKER (Immigrant 1638), b. 1635, d. 1694
             │   └── Grace (__________) (Immigrant 1638), d. 1665
         ┌── Noah BARKER, b. 1688, d. 1749
         │   │       ┌── Edward JEWETT, b. circa 1580, d. 1614
         │   │   ┌── Maximillian JEWETT (Immigrant), b. circa 1607, d. 1684
         │   │   │   └── Mary TAYLOR
         │   └── Anna JEWETT, b. 1644, d. 1727
         │       └── Ann (__________) (Immigrant), d. 1667
     ┌── Ebenezer BARKER, b. 1716, d. 1803
     │   │   ┌── Peter FIGGOTT
     │   └── Martha FIGGETT, b. 1696, d. 1772
     │       │   ┌── George BONDFIELD, b. circa 1635
     │       └── Mary BONDFIELD
     │           │   ┌── Humphrey BRADSTREET (Immigrant 1634), b. 1596, d. between 1657 and 1657
     │           └── Rebecca BRADSTREET, b. circa 1640, d. 1687
     │               └── Bridget (__________) (Immigrant 1634), b. circa 1604, d. 1665
Hannah BARKER, b. circa 1765
     │           ┌── John STEVENS (Immigrant), b. circa 1611, d. 1688
     │       ┌── Nathaniel STEVENS, b. 1645, d. 1708
     │       │   └── Katherine CODMAN (Immigrant), d. 1682
     │   ┌── Nathaniel STEVENS, b. 1674, d. 1740
     │   │   └── Mary (__________), d. 1676
     └── Sarah STEVENS, b. circa 1720, d. 1791
         │               ┌── John SMITH ALIAS FOULSHAM, d. 1620
         │           ┌── Adam SMITH ALIAS FOULSHAM, d. 1627
         │           │   └── Grace (__________), d. 1630
         │       ┌── John FOLSOM ALIAS SMITH (Immigrant 1638), b. circa 1615, d. 1681
         │       │   └── Agnes (__________)
         │   ┌── John FOLSOM, b. 1641, d. 1715
         │   │   │       ┌── Edward GILMAN, b. 1557
         │   │   │   ┌── Edward GILMAN (Immigrant), b. circa 1587, d. 1655
         │   │   │   │   └── (__________) (__________)
         │   │   └── Mary GILMAN (Immigrant 1638), bap. 1615, d. circa 1692
         │   │       └── Mary CLARK (Immigrant)
         └── Sarah FOLSOM, b. circa 1682
             │       ┌── Abraham PERKINS
             │   ┌── Abraham PERKINS (Immigrant), b. circa 1603, d. 1683
             │   │   └── (__________) (__________)
             └── Abigail PERKINS, b. 1655
                 │   ┌── Humphrey WYETH, d. 1638
                 └── Mary WYETH (Immigrant), b. circa 1618, d. 1706
                     └── Susannah (__________) (Immigrant)