USA > New Jersey > Salem County > Salem > History and genealogy of Fenwick's colony > Part 10
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RICHARD JOHNSON FAMILY.
Richard Jolinson was a young man of marked ability and rendered great assistance to the proprietor ; he came from the county of Surry, England, and married Mary Grover, 25th of 6th month, 1682, at Salem. The following named persons signed their marriage certificate : James Nevell, his wife, Creseda Nevell, John Wilkenson, Cecilia Morgan, Ellen Rob- inson, Margaret Haselwood, Thomas Johnson, consin of Richard, George Haselwood, John Maddox and Henry Jennings. Rich- ard was one of the Burgesses of the town of Salem after it was incorporated as a borough in 1693, and was one of the Judges of the Salem Courts and a Justice of the Quarter Sessions, as also an influential member of the Salem monthily meeting of Friends, and took an active part in building the first brick meeting house in their ancient graveyard in 1699, which was completed in 1700 ; he paid fifteen pounds towards its erection. There was a subscription for the purpose of aiding poor Friends, in 1697, that belonged to Salem meeting, for which he gave twelve shillings; his place of residence was on Fenwick street where Rumsey's stores are now, the dwelling being built of brick with a hip or mansard roof. William Parrott purchased the property in 1788 or '90. William soon after removed the ancient dwelling and erected in its stead a large substantial two story brick dwelling, one of the first private dwellings in the city. In the year 1707, when men were chosen for their worth and ability, Richard Johnson, William Hall, Bartholomew Wyatt, Sr., and John Thompson, were elected to represent the Salem tenth in the State Legislature of New Jersey, which held its sessions at South Amboy and Burlington alternately. Richard was a large landholder in the town of Salem and other parts of the county; he owned five hundred acres of land on the south side of Alloways creek. Thomas Jones Yorke, of Salem, Samuel Kelty and the Hires' are the owners of the greater part of it at this time. Richard and Mary Grover Johnson had three children-Robert, Elizabeth and Ann. Richard Johnson died 1st month, 1719, aged seventy years ; his wife, Mary G. Johnson, died in 1714; they were buried in the Friends' grave- yard at Salem. Robert Johnson, their son, married Margaret, the widow of Joseph Sayres, in 1717 ; they had three children -Robert, Mary and Ann; he died 13th of 12th month, 1728, aged thirty-four years ; his widow, Margaret Johnson, died in 1730, aged thirty-seven years. Elizabeth, the daughter of Richard and Mary Johnson, married John Pierson, being his second wife ; he was the father of John Pierson, pastor of St. John's Episcopal church, in Salem, by his first wife. Elizabeth
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Johnson Pierson died 5th of 5th month, 1720, leaving one daughter-Elizabeth Pierson.
Anna Johnson, the daughter of Richard and Mary G. John- son, born 1687, married Alexander Grant, of Salem, in 1714, who arrived from England a few years before ; his place of residence was located on the west side of Market street, then known as Bridge street; the ancient house is still standing and is owned by Anna G. Hubbell, one of his lineal descendants. Alexander and his wife, Anna Johnson Grant, had two chil- dren-Anna and Barbara Grant, the latter died single. Anna Grant, the eldest daughter, married Samuel Fenwick Hedge, the great grand-son of John Fenwick, and soon after their marriage removed to Greenwich. Samuel F. Hedge and Nich- olas Gibbon were in the mercantile business together at that place. Samuel and his wife, Anna G. Fenwick, had three children-Samuel, Rebecca and another daughter, who died in infancy. Samnel F. Hedge died in 1731, making his will a short time previous, in which he devised a large landed estate to his widow, Anna G. Fenwick; she afterwards married Nicholos Gibbon, who was a partner in the mercantile business with her first husband. Nicholas and Anna G. Gibbon had five children-Nicholas, Grant, Jane, Ann and Francis. Jane became the wife of Robert Johnson, Jr., which I shall allude to more fully in another place. Ann married Judge Edward Weatherby, by whom she had one son, who died young. Robert Johnson, Jr., whose father died when he was young, lived sometime with his unele, John Pledger, Jr., in Manning- ton, to learn the farming business ; he married Margaret Mor- gan, of Chester county, now Delaware. (The romance respecting the marriage alluded to in the Sinniekson family genealogy.) Her parents were consistent members of the Society of Friends and she herself always adhered to the same religious society. The Morgans, Brintons, Palmers and Wades were among the first Quaker families who emigrated and settled in the province of Pennsylvania ; they trace their ancestors to the time that William Penn landed at Chester in 1682, excepting Robert Wade, who emigrated with his brother Edward and Samuel Wade in company with John Fenwick. Robert purchased lands of the proprietor in the Salem tenth, but soon afterwards sold the said lands and removed to Upland, now Chester, in 1678, and bought 500 acres of land on the south side of Chester creek. Robert Johnson, Jr., and Margaret Morgan were mar- ried 18th of 12th month, 1752, at Marcus Hook; she died young, at the age of twenty-three years and seven months, leav-
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ing one child-Margaret Johnson, born 2d of Sth month, 1756. I think Margaret Morgan Johnson always retained her right among Friends, her husband, therefore, had her buried in the Friends' ancient graveyard in Salem, and directed a small mar- ble stone to be placed at the head of her grave with her name upon it, it being the first of the kind that was ever used in the yard. I have no doubt he was actuated by the noblest motives to mark the spot where the object of his first love lay moulder- ing in the mother earth. Margaret, their daughter, subsequently married Andrew Sinniekson, of Penn's Neck, 26th of 5th month, 1779, the son of Andrew Sinaker, of the same town- ship. Andrew and Margaret I. Sinnickson had one daughter, Mary, and two sons-Thomas and John. Margaret Johnson Sinnickson died 4th of 11th month, 1792, aged thirty-six years and three months ; was buried in the Swedes church yard at Penn's Neck. Robert Johnson, Jr.'s second wife was Jane Gibbon, daughter of Nicholas and Ann Gibbon; they were married 3d of 11th month, 1767, and had one son-Robert Gibbon Johnson, born 23d of 7th month, 1771. Robert John- son, Jr., died 28th of 12th month, 1796, aged sixty-nine years; his widow, Jane Gibbon Johnson, died 16th of Sth montli, 1815, aged seventy-nine years and three months. Mary, the daughter of Robert Johnson, Sr. and Margaret Sayre Johnson, married Jolin Pledger, of Mannington; they had issue, one son and a danghter. Joseph Pledger, their son, after he arrived at the age of twenty-one left his native county and settled in North Carolina. Catharine Pledger, their daughter, married John Ewing. Ann, the youngest daughter of Robert and Margaret Sayre Johnson, was married three times; her first husband's name was Hale, it does not appear there was any children by this marriage; her second husband was named Scoggin, I think, a brother to Jacob Scoggin, who married the daughter of William Tyler, 3d; they had one daughter, who subsequently married a man by the name of Smith, and had issue, one son-Scoggin Smith. Ann Johnson's third husband was John Beesley, and they lived on and owned the property that her grand-father, Richard Johnson, bought of the proprie- tor,located on the south side of Alloways creek, not far from Quinton's Bridge ; they had one son whose name was Johnson Beesley. Ann survived all three of her husbands, and in her old age she went under the name of Nanny Beesley, and was considered very skillful in euring many diseases with herbs ; her son, Johnson Beesley, married and had one daughter, who subsequently married John, the eldest son of Samuel Nicholson,
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of Mannington. John Nicholson and his wife had one daughter -Catharine, who married Job Stretch, the son of Elisha and Sarah Bradway Stretch, of Alloways Creek; Job and Catharine Stretch had two or three children. Mary, one of their daughters, married John P. Moore, a native of Cumberland, but now a resident of the city of Salem, and keeps a hardware store on Market street.
Nicholas and Leonard Gibbon were the sons of Arthur and Jane Gibbon, of Gravesend, county of Kent, England .- Arthur became possessed of 5,500 acres of land in Cohansey precinct, now Cumberland county, lying in Greenwich and Hopewell townships. A few years after, Nicholas married Ann G., the widow of Samuel Fenwick Hedge, and they left Green- wich and moved to Salem. He continued in the mercantile business in that town, was Collector of the Port, and Surrogate of the county of Salem, as also Colonel, and had command of all the militia in the lower counties. The place of their residence was on Market street, in the house devised to his wife by her father, Alexander Grant. Nicholas died 2d of 2d month, 1758, aged fifty-five years and three months. His wife, Ann G. Gibbon, died 24th of 3d month, 1760, aged fifty-seven years. Their eldest son. Nicholas, born 5th of 11th month, 1732, and died 7th of 1st month, 1748, aged sixteen years. Grant Gibbon, the second son, born 28th of 11th month, 1734, was engaged in the mercantile business; was Surrogate of the county, and Judge and Justice, and Collector of the Port of Salem after his father's death. He was a man of culture and very prepossessing in his manners, which made him very popular with the people. He was a warm patriot, and a sympathizer in all the measures of the American Revolution. On the 13th of 10th month, 1784, a meeting was held in the county of Salem, in which the inhabitants unanimously proffered their sympathy to their fellow citizens in Boston suffering under the oppression of General Gage. At that meeting they proposed raising money to alleviate the distressed condition of the people of that city, and it was resolved that Grant Gibbon, one in whom the public had entire confidence in his integrity and patriotism, take the burthen and trouble in soliciting money fer their relief from the people. He cheerfully undertook this task, and collect- ed the sum of £157 3s 2d, which was speedily forwarded to the suffering poor in Boston. Grant Gibbon died comparatively a young man, which event occurred 27th of 6th month, 1776, aged forty-one years, being about seven days before the Decla- ration of Independance was signed in Philadelphia. Jane
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Gibbon, his eldest sister, born 15th of 5th month, 1738, married Robert Johnson, Jr .; Ann, the daughter of Nicholas and Ann Gibbon, was born 29th of 4th month, 1741; and Francis, the youngest son of Nicholas and Ann Gibbon, was born 14th of 5th month, 1744, and died 11th of 1st month, 1788, aged forty-three years.
Thomas Carney, born in Ireland in 1709, emigrated to this country early in life, and subsequently married Hannah, the danghter of John Procter, of Penn's Neck. He was a large landholder. His lands were located along the Delaware river, and extended easterly to Game creek. Thomas, the son of Thomas and Hannah Carney, was born in 1740. Peter Carney, their second son, was born in 1742. James, the third son, was born in 1748, and died in the 1st month, 1776, aged about twenty-eight years. Jolm, the fourth son, was born in 1760, and died in 1774, aged about fourteen years. Sarah Carney, their daughter, married George Clark. Naomi, the second daughter of Thomas and Hannah Carney, married John Sum- merill, of Penn's Neck. Mary Carney, the youngest daughter, was thrice married ; her first husband was Henry James, by whom she had one son-Henry ; her second Imsband was John Page; and her third, Joseph Stont. Thomas Carney, the father of the above mentioned children, died in the 5th month, 1784, aged seventy-five years ; and his amiable wife departed this life in 2d month, 1778, aged about sixty-three years. They were buried in the old Episcopal church yard at Church Landing in Penn's Neck, and several of their children lic mouldering there in their mother earth. When quite young, I heard several aged people speak of the benevolence of Hannah Carney. By tradition, she was in the practice of getting her husband to slanghter a fattening bullock occasionally in the winter. Then she, with a boy to drive for her, with a pair of oxen and a cart filled with meat and flour, (there were no spring wagons in Salem tenth in those days,) she would go into the woods of Obisqua- hasset among the poor and laboring classes who lived in small log dwellings, and there on a cold North American winter day, she would dispense to them both flour and meat according to their necessities. And above all, she was enabled, by the kindness of her manners and expressions, to encourage the despondent and administer by kind words to the sick and afflicted among them. Surely she had her reward, when she returned to her home in the evening, of feeling in her own mind that she had endeavored to do something to alleviate the suffering of her fellow beings. On reflecting upon the character
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of Hannah Carney, the sayings of David, the sweet psalmer of Israel, arrested my attention : "Blessed are those that consid- "ereth the poor, for the Lord will deliver them in time of " trouble." Peter, the second son of Thomas and Hannah Carney, married the daughter of Jonathan Roberts, of Man- nington ; they had issue, two daughters-Elizabeth and Margaret Carney. Elizabeth died single, and Margaret married John Tuft. They had one son-Sinnickson Tuft, who died single, in his twenty-second year. Thomas Carney, Jr., the oldest son of Thomas and Hannah Carney, married Mary, daughter of Abel Harris ; they had three children-Ruth, Harris and Hannah Carney. Ruth was born in the 5th month, 1773, and married Benjamin, son of Whitten Cripps, of Man- nington. Whitten Cripps descended from an ancient family on his father's and mother's sides. He married Martha Huddy, in 1759, which took place in the Friends' meeting house that stood in the grave yard at Salem. There were two children- Mary, who married Peter Andrews, and Benjamin Cripps. Whitten took his name from his grandfather, James Whitten, who located on the farm in Mannington, long known as the " John Denn Farm." Benjamin and Ruth Carney Cripps had one son-Thomas Carney Cripps, who died aged about twelve years. Ruth Carney Cripps, wife of Benjamin, died 17th of 2d month, 1794, aged twenty-one years. Harris Carney, son of Thomas and Mary Carney, died young.
Abel Harris, the father of Mary Carney, died in 1789. He made his will in 1779, and devised £100 to the Episcopal church in Pem's Neck, and also the interest of £100 to the township of Alloways Creek, for the schooling of children.
Hannah, the youngest daughter of Thomas and Mary II. Carney, was born 27th of 7th month, 1780; she married Robert Gibbon Johnson, on the 19th of 6th month, 1798. Robert and his wife had four children-Jane Gibbon Johnson, born in 1800; she died young. Mary Jane Johnson, their second daughter, born in 1805, died in infancy. Am Gibbon Johnson, their third daughter, married Ferdinand W. Hubbell, Esq., of Philadelphia, a lawyer of considerable eminence of that city; he has been deceased several years. They had four children-Robert Johnson, Ann L. Johnson, and Helena. Robert Carney Johnson, the son of Robert Gibbon and Hannah Johnson, married Julia Harrison, the daughter of the late Josiah Harrison, Esq., of Salem. Robert C. lives and owns the palatial dwelling where his father formerly lived, on Market street, in Salem. Robert and his wife had two children-
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Robert Harrison, who died in infancy, and Henry Johnson. Hannah Carney Johnson died when her son, Robert, was an infant. Robert Gibbon Johnson's second wife was Juliana Elizabeth, daughter of Paul and Esther Zantzinger, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. They were married in 1813; she died in 1854, aged seventy-three years. There was no issue. Robert Gibbon Johnson and his wife, Hannah Carney Johnson, had the largest and most valuable real estate of modern times, in Salem county. Robert inherited a large estate from his ances- tors, and his wife became the owner of the great and valuable estate of Thomas Carney, consisting of several farms, most of them located in Upper Penn's Neck. Robert, like his uncle, Grant Gibbon, was pleasing in his address; held in his time several important offices, was a member of the State Legislature two or three times, and was one of the Judges of Salem Courts for several years. In his old age he wrote a history of Salem county, which was published in 1839; it is often referred to at the present time. He at one time informed me that he intended writing and giving a more general history of the settlement of this Colony; but death intervened before he had an opportunity to accomplish it. He died 3d of 10th month, 1850, aged seventy-nine years.
JOHN JOHNSON FAMILY.
The name of Johnson has been familiar in the county of Salem since the first settlement by the Europeans. The Swedish family by the name of Jonanson, located on the eastern shore of the Delaware, now Penn's Neck, in 1640, but was soon merged to Johnson. The first English emigrant that bore the name was Richard and his cousin, Thomas Johnson, who came and located in Fenwick's tenth a few months before the proprietor. John Johnson, who was not any way connected, as far as appears, to the before mentioned, emigrated with his wife, Jane Suayberry Johnson, to Salem county from Ireland, about 1756. John had considerable means at his disposal, and he located a large tract of land in the township of Pilesgrove, now Pittsgrove, and settled thereon. John and his wife had eight children-James, John, Rebecca, Samuel, Phebe, William, Mary and Isaac. John, the father of these children, departed this life the 31st of 3d montlı, 1802, aged seventy-one years. His widow, Jane S. Johnson, died 28th of 6th month, 1825, aged ninety-two years and eight months.
James, the eldest son of John and Jane Johnson, was born 31st of 10th month, 1757. Soon after the war of the American Revolution commenced, he entered the Colonial army, and was at the battle of Red Bank. He married Christiana Swing, of Pittsgrove, 28th of 2d month, 1781. The year that James rented the large and productive farm in Mannington, that for- merly belonged to Bartholomew Wyatt, 3d, of William Carpen- ter, son-in-law of Wyatt, I have no means of ascertaining. IIe continued to reside on the Wyatt farm until the Spring of 1809, when having previously purchased valuable real estate in Lower Penn's Neck, located a short distance from the town of Salem. James with his family settled there in the year mentioned. James and Christiana had sixteen children; six of them died young, and his wife, Christiana, died 19th of 3d month, 1825, aged sixty years and four months. James died 9th of 2d month, 1837, in his eightieth year. He, in his time, possessed physical and mental abilities above the average of mankind, and also uncom-
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mon energy, combined with a sound and comprehensive mind. He was one of the most successful agriculturists in the county of Salem in his day. Although it appears his parents were members of the Presbyterian Church, he was himself a deacon and a consistent member of the Baptist Church of Salem up to the time of his death.
Ruth, daughter of James and Christiana Johnson, was born 1st of 12th month, 1784; she married John Redstrake, in 1807, and they had six children-Mary, Ann, James J., Edward, Jane, Ruth and Isabella. Mary Ann married William, son of William Hall, of Mannington ; they had issue. James Johnson, son of John and Ruth Redstrake, has been twice married, his first wife was the daughter of Edmund Gibbon, of Penn's Neck; she died young, leaving no issue ; his second wife was named Brown, a native of Greenwich, Cumber- land county. Edward, the second son of John and Ruth Red- strake, married a person by the name of Stout, and his children are Mary Jane and John. John, son of Edward, married Elizabeth, daughter of Michael Allen. Jane, daughter of John and Jane Redstreak, married Thomas Gibbon; they have issue, one son-Thomas Gibbon, Jr. Ruth, the daughter of John and Ruth J. Redstrake, married a man by the name of Jefferson, of Delaware; they had issue, two sons. Isabella Redstrake married a person by the name of Murphy; they have issue. Sarah, daughter of James and Christiana John- son, was born 11th of 6th month, 1783, married Jonathan, son of John Lindzey, of Upper Alloways Creek, in 1803; they had issue-William, Ruth, John, Mary and James. William went to one of the Southern States. John married Hannah, the daughter of James and Hannah Butcher, of Alloways Creek. John is deceased, leaving four children-James, Charles, John and Sarah Lindzey. Mary, the daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Lindsey, married Lawrence Hoover Boon, of Salem; they have two daughters-Sarah and Maria Jose- phine. Josephine married Albert H. Slape, a lawyer and Prosecutor of the Pleas for Salem and Atlantic counties. William, son of James and Christiana Johnson, was born 12th of 10th month, 1788, married in 1810, Margaret Lambson, a direct descendant of Thomas Lambson, who emigrated from England, and located land and settled thereon in 1690, in the township of Penn's Neck. William and Margaret Johnson had thirteen children-Isabella, Rebecca, Christiana, Mary Jane, James S., William, Ephraim, Edward, John, Margaret, Robert, Ferdinand and Charles. Isabella, danghter of William
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and Margaret Johnson, married William Meveling, of Mary- land; they have issue. Rebecca, the daughter of William and Margaret Johnson, married Thomas, son of Dr. Hedge and Mary Ann Thompson, of Salem. Thomas is deceased, leaving a widow and two children-Hedge and Isabella P. Thompson. Hedge married Achsah, daughter of Isaac and Achsah Hall Peterson, of Salem ; his wife is deceased, leaving no issue. Rebecca Johnson Thompson, widow of Thomas, resides with her son in the State of Maryland. Isabella Thompson, their daughter, married Charles Watson, of Philadelphia; she died without issue.
Christiana, daughter of William Johnson, married George Kelton, and reside near Haddonfield, Camden county ; they have six children. James S., son of William and Margaret Johnson, resides in Penn's Neck, on the homestead of his father. He married Sarah, daughter of John and Hannah Lindzey, 11th of 10th month, 1854; they have issue, three sons. William, Ephraim, Edward, and John Jolison, sons of William and Margaret, are deceased. Margaret, daughter of William and Margaret Johnson, married James, son of John and Lydia Flanagan, late of Philadelphia. James and his wife are living in Philadelphia, and have issue .- Mary and William. Charles and Robert Johnson, sons of William, remain single. Abraham, son of James and Christiana Johnson, born 19th of 7th month, 1792, married Mary Conaroe, of Salem. They moved to the western part of New York, and both are deceased; they died in Buffalo, and left two daughters. Mary, daughter of James and Christiana Johnson, born 23d of 5th month, 1790, married Joseph Dennis, in 1810; he was a bricklayer by trade, and a native of Greenwich, Cumberland county. They moved to the State of New York, and both are deceased, leaving four children. One of their daughters married Dr. Smith, of Chicago, Illinois. Rebecca, daughter of James and Christiana Johnson, born Sth of 10th month, 1794, married Edward, son of Henry Mulford, of Lower Alloways Creek; they moved and settled near Fredonia, New York; from thence they moved and settled near Chicago, Illinois; Rebecca is deceased, leaving three children-James, Edward, and Anna Mulford. James and Edward married, and are deceased; they left issue. Anna, their sister, is married, but has no issue. Edward Mulford, Sr., is living, at an advanced age, near the city of Chicago, and possesses a princely fortune. John, the son of James and Christiana Johnson, born 14th of 2d month, 1796, followed the sea in early life, was the captain of the ship Josephine, trading from Philadelphia to New Orleans
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for a number of years. When he was past middle age he left the seas and settled on the farm that his father left to him in Penn's Neck. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of John M. and Ann Sinnickson, of Salem; they had issne, one son. John and his wife, and their minor son, are deceased. Ann, daughter of James and Christiana Johnson, was born 7th of 7th month, 1802; married Jonathan, son of John Mulford, of Alloways Creek, in 1826; they have five children, named Christiana, Amanda, James, John, and Anna Mulford. Christiana, their oldest daughter, is married, and resides in Boston, Massachusetts. Lydia, daughter of James Johnson, born in 1804, married James M. Challis, a Baptist clergyman, in 1823; she is deceased, leaving tive children-Joseph, William, Luther L., George, and Emma Challis. Joseph, son of James and Lydia Challis, is married, and lives at Frankford, Pa .; has issue. William Challis is a physician, is married, and has issue. George, son of James and Lydia Challis, is married, and has children. Emma, daughter of James and Lydia Challis, married Richard Probasco; they are living in Talbot county, Maryland. Luther, William, and George Challis are among the first inhabitants of the city of Atchison, Kansas, and all three; are reputed to be very wealthy. Rachel, daughter of James and Christiana Johnson, born 21st of 4th month, 1805, married Josiah Hall in 1824; they moved to Cecil county, Maryland, and had two children-James and Christiana Hall. Josiah and his wife, Rachel J. Hall, are deceased, leaving a large and valuable estate.
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