| The Johnson Family Book 2 -
Johnsons of St. George, Georgia
By Viva Jean Johnson Outterson
Chapter 5 pages 131-150 THE JOHNSONS OF CHARLTON COUNTY, GEORGIA
Monroe Marion Johnson was born on April 1, 1856, in Canaan, Ohio, the son of Franklin A. Johnson and Susannah "Susan" Deahuff. While living in Ohio, Monroe, on August 11, 1881, married Bertha Augusta Pfeiffer, born on January 16, 1859, in Wooster, Ohio. After their marriage, Monroe and Bertha made their home with his father and mother and his unmarried aunts, Phebe and Eliza Johnson in the Johnson family farmhouse in Canaan, Ohio. Monroe and Bertha became parents to
Charles, born October 3, 1882; Wilbert Franklin, born January 14, 1887; Cora Augusta, born November 25, 1891; Laura Amelia, born May 25, 1895; and Earl Monroe, born June 11, 1898.  Bertha's father, Paul, died in 1876, and is buried in the Canaan Lutheran Church Cemetery in Canaan, Ohio. Monroe and Bertha's son Charles died as an infant on
December 22, 1885, and is buried in the Pfeiffer plot in the Canaan Lutheran Church Cemetery. Monroe's father Franklin died on July 20, 1887, and is buried in the Jackson Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Canaan, Ohio. Monroe's mother Susan died on September 7, 1893, and is buried with her husband Franklin. Bertha's mother, Augusta, died in 1901, and is buried with her husband, Paul. With the passing of his father Franklin in 1887, Monroe took over the operation of the family farm, assisted
by his younger Canaan, Ohio had been divided among Monroe's aunts and uncles and their children with some sections of the original farm sold to outsiders. Monroe and his brother John Elvin could no longer make an adequate living for their families from the remaining farmland. In 1908, Monroe and Bertha decided to seek a new life for their family. They packed their belongings and with their children Wilbert Franklin, age 21; Cora Augusta, age 17; Laura Amelia, age
13; and Earl Monroe, age 10; traveled south to St. George, Georgia.
The reason is unclear why Monroe and Bertha decided to migrate to St. George. During this period, St. George was being promoted widely in the newspapers of Indiana and Ohio as a highly desirable location for those with an enterprising disposition. Monroe, endowed with the pioneer spirit common to his ancestors, probably was impressed by the colonization efforts that were taking place in the area. St. George
was in the throws of being developed as a new city by P. H. Fitzgerald of Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Fitzgerald was the publisher of The American Tribune a newspaper devoted to promoting migration to the South. Fitzgerald formed a company called the "1904 Colony Company" for the purpose of colonizing an area that was later to be known as St. George. This area had earlier been called Battenville, followed by Cutler.
Stock in the company was sold to many people who lived in the states of Indiana and Ohio. Each stockholder was to be assigned ownership of the land in the colony based upon the number of company shares he owned. The assignment of specific parcels of land was to be determined at a public drawing. As an inducement to buy stock, the company had agreed to survey the land, lay out the streets, build bridges, construct
drainage ditches, plant trees and divide the property into business and residential lots. Alternate lots were to be retained by the company for future sales to generate dividends to be paid to the stockholders of the company. With the building boom that was to follow, there would be work for all. The area was a good location as it was on the main line of the railroad. Also at the time there were plans to construct a canal
from the ocean to the gulf that would run through the area. The St. Marys River was navigable from the ocean to Traders Hill, located about fifteen miles from St. George. By constructing a canal westward for a short distance from Traders Hill connecting with the Suwanee River, would provide a water corridor from the ocean to the gulf. The area had the potential for becoming a dynamic community. P. H. Fitzgerald had
developed a similar operation in Fitzgerald, Georgia, which was very successful. P. H. Fitzgerald's son, John P. Fitzgerald, was put in charge of the company and in 1904 purchased approximately 9,000 acres of land from the Georgia Southern & Florida Railroad. For the next two years he bought additional land to enlarge what was soon to be St. George. The company hired a surveyor who laid out the city of St.
George into 1,980 residential lots and 1,920 business lots. The area surrounding the city was divided into 265 five-acre tracts and 128 forty-acre tracts. The various lots and tracts of the city of St. George were to be distributed to the stockholders of the company by the luck of the draw at a public drawing. The drawing was held in St. George on February 24, 1905, with the deeds to the land immediately signed by John
P. Fitzgerald. The Georgia General Assembly in 1906 issued a charter establishing the city of St. George. The Monroe and Bertha Johnson family arrived in the developing and dynamic community of St. George eager to start a new life. Shortly after their arrival in 1908, Monroe put his farming skills to work and developed a farm. Wilbert, their oldest son, was more enterprising and started a grocery store.
Speculative stockholders sold the lots and tracts to the new settlers that were drawn to the area. Almost every day the train brought new people and potential residents to St. George. Buildings were going up at a rate of one a day. Soon St. George reached a population of 1000 with 54 businesses of different types. Efforts were made to form a new county with St. George as the county seat. St. George became one of the largest cities in southeast Georgia.
Not long after the Johnson family's arrival in St. George, things started going wrong and the economy of the area developed some serious problems. Congress failed to appropriate the money for the canal project, plans to build two new railroads that were to pass through St. George failed to get the needed financial backing and the "1904 Colony Company" refused to make the promised improvements.
Soon it was discovered that there was no incorporation of the "1904 Colony Company" and that all of the land had been purchased in the name of John P. Fitzgerald and not the company. The whole colonization operation had been a scheme to fleece people of their money. Of the $70,000 collected from the sale of stock in the company only $30,000 was used to purchase the land with no accounting for the remaining $40,000.
The land that was owned by the company (John P. Fitzgerald) that had not been sold was deeded to the "company" stockholders as a group. Apparently P. H. Fitzgerald had sold stock in a similar scheme in Texas which went bust. The defunct Texas company stockholders were offered stock in the "1904 Colony Company" as recompense for the failure of the Texas company. This led to the indictment of Fitzgerald by a Federal grand jury. He pleaded guilty and was fined
$1,600. By court order the land in St. George held by the stockholder group was sold with the money going to the construction of a school in 1910. Many of the settlers became discouraged and returned to their old homes while others stayed, determined to be successful. Each day the trains brought new settlers to the city. The citizens of St. George organized and an election was held to establish a city
government. The new city started to make the improvements promised by the company, streets were graded, bridges were constructed, drainage ditches dug and trees planted. A school was started, a large community union hall constructed, a bank was opened, a newspaper was published and businesses prospered. During the 1910s, life was good for the Johnson family members and they became pillars of the St. George community. Wilbert's business became very successful.
Monroe's had developed a market for the products from his productive farm. On April 10, 1924, Wilbert married Amanda Johnson of Hilliard, Florida. Wilbert and Amanda had the same family name but were unrelated. The family story of Wilbert and Amanda is the subject of Chapter Six. The Johnson family suffered a great loss on July 11, 1926, with the death of Bertha. She is buried in the Johnson plot in the St. George Cemetery. THE JOHNSON BURIAL PLOT ST. GEORGE CEMETERY During the 1930s things began to become difficult for the Johnsons. This was true for most of the people not only in Charlton County but also in the rest of the country. Wilbert's business began to fail and there was little market for Monroe's farm products. MONROE MARION JOHNSON (ca.1938) As Monroe aged his health began to fail and on May 30, 1940, at the age of eighty-four, he passed away. He is buried with Bertha in the St. George Cemetery. THE GRAVES OF MONROE AND BERTHA JOHNSON Monroe and Bertha's daughter Cora Augusta, born on November 25, 1891, married Herbert P. Smith. They made their home in Ohio. Cora and Herbert had one son, Herbert P., Jr. Cora died in February 1977 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Monroe and Bertha's daughter Laura Amelia, born on May 25, 1895, married William A. Messmer, on February 18, 1918. William was born in 1876 in Ohio. He had been previously married and had children by his first wife. He was employed as a railroad worker. William and Laura made their home at 64 Browne Avenue in Akron, Ohio and later in Lorain, Ohio. Laura and William were parents to two sons, Raymond, born on November 15, 1919, and Donald, born on August 18, 1921, both born in Ohio.
Raymond married and had two sons, Jimmy, born in 1942, and Bobby, born in 1947. William died about 1950 and is buried in Lorain. Later Laura married U. R. Craft. She died in Avon Park, Florida, on February 8, 1954, and was interred with William A. Messmer in Lorain, Ohio. William and Laura's son Donald died in October 1974 in Lorain, Ohio. Their son Raymond died in April 1978 in Colonial Heights, Virginia. LAURA AMELIA JOHNSON (ca.1916) Monroe and Bertha's son, Earl Monroe, born June 11, 1898, worked with his father on the farm in St. George until 1918 when he, in search of his fortune, moved to Pomona Park, Florida. Shortly after arriving in Pomona Park, he met Helen Gertrude Tucker and
about 1920 they were married. Helen was born on April 27, 1900, in Florida, the daughter of James Walton Tucker and Bessie Mae Platt. James was a native of Florida, born in September 1872. Bessie was born in Newark, New Jersey in June 1875. James was a farmer and also associated with Henry Flagler in his enterprising efforts in Florida. James died in September 1936, followed by Bessie on June 3, 1941. Helen's siblings included John Walton, Harry Wesley, Bert, Esther and Arnold. Her
brother John Walton became mayor of Pomona Park. Earl and Helen made their home in Pomona Park where Earl developed a farm. Earl and Helen were parents to Doris Gertrude, born on October 14, 1921; William "Bill" Guy, born on April 8, 1923; Norma Lillian, born on August 19, 1926; and Carolyn Eccles, born on June 16, 1929. All of the children were born in Pomona Park. In the early 1930s Earl and Helen's marriage broke down and they were divorced.
About 1937, Helen married William H. More, born in North East, Pennsylvania. William operated a restaurant and Helen worked in a fruit-packing plant in Pomona Park. Shortly after their marriage, William and Helen with her children moved to Jamestown, New York. They made their home in Jamestown where William managed an automobile parking lot. While in Jamestown, Helen and William gave birth to their two children, Mary
Josephine "Mary Jo" and Shirley. In 1941, William More and Helen Tucker's family, which included their two daughters Mary Jo and Shirley and Helen and Earl's daughters Norma and Carolyn, returned to Florida to live in Holly Hill near Daytona Beach, Florida. William More died in 1975 and is buried in the Shady Rest Cemetery in Holly Hill, Florida. In 1981 Helen moved to Lake Worth, Florida to live with her daughter Norma
and her family. Helen died on March 12, 1983, in Lake Worth. Helen is buried with William in Holly Hill. The following is a copy of her obituary that appeared in the Tuesday, March 15, 1983, edition of THE MEWS JOURNAL, the Daytona Beach newspaper. MORE, HELEN TUCKER -- Funeral services for Helen Tucker More, 430 Virginia Drive, Lake Worth, who passed away Saturday, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at Livingston Memorial Methodist Church, with the Rev. Blair
Hearth officiating. Internment will follow in the Shady Rest Cemetery. Friends may call and pay their respects today (Tuesday) at the Dale Woodward Funeral Home, Holly Hill, from 6 to 9 p.m. Mrs. More was a native of Pomona Park and had been a Daytona Beach resident for forty years before moving to Lake Worth in 1981. She was a member of Livingston Methodist Church. Survivors include five daughters, Doris Cappano, Hamburg, N. Y, Norma LoCastro, Lake Worth,
Carolyn Johns, Holly Hill, and Shirley Cullum and Mary Jo Bradford, both of Daytona Beach; a son, William G. Johnson, Rochester, N. Y.; a sister, Mrs. George Kula, Daytona Beach, 19 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Arrangements are under the direction of the Dale Woodward Funeral Home, 167 Ridgewood Avenue, Holly Hill.
Earl married Dorothy Main on July 24, 1937. Dorothy, born on June 28, 1914, in
Welaka, located not far from Pomona Park, was the daughter of Dr. Daniel Carr Main and Edith Rebecca Maxson. Daniel, born in 1876, and Helen and Earl's daughters Norma and Carolyn, returned to Florida to live in Holly Hill near Daytona Beach, Florida. William More died in 1975 and is buried in the Shady Rest Cemetery in Holly Hill, Florida. In 1981 Helen moved to Lake Worth, Florida to live with her daughter Norma
and her family. Helen died on March 12, 1983, in Lake Worth. Helen is buried with William in Holly Hill. The following is a copy of her obituary that appeared in the Tuesday, March 15, 1983, edition of THE MEWS JOURNAL, the Daytona Beach newspaper. MORE, HELEN TUCKER -- Funeral services for Helen Tucker More, 430 Virginia Drive, Lake Worth, who passed away Saturday, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at
Livingston Memorial Methodist Church, with the Rev. Blair Hearth officiating. Internment will follow in the Shady Rest Cemetery. Friends may call and pay their respects today (Tuesday) at the Dale Woodward Funeral Home, Holly Hill, from 6 to 9 p.m. Mrs. More was a native of Pomona Park and had been a Daytona Beach resident for forty years before moving to Lake Worth in 1981. She was a member of Livingston Methodist Church. Survivors include five daughters, Doris Cappano, Hamburg, N. Y, Norma
LoCastro, Lake Worth, Carolyn Johns, Holly Hill, and Shirley Cullum and Mary Jo Bradford, both of Daytona Beach; a son, William G. Johnson, Rochester, N. Y.; a sister, Mrs. George Kula, Daytona Beach, 19 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Arrangements are under the direction of the Dale Woodward Funeral Home, 167 Ridgewood Avenue, Holly Hill. Earl married Dorothy Main on July 24, 1937. Dorothy, born on June 28, 1914, in
Welaka, located not far from Pomona Park, was the daughter of Dr. Daniel Carr Main and Edith Rebecca Maxson. Daniel, born in 1876, years while serving in the Army he practiced at St. Elizabeth's Insane Asylum in Washington, D.C., where he became a specialist in psychiatry. In 1928, Daniel was released from active military duty and placed on reserve status. The family returned to the Pomona Park area where Daniel reestablished his medical practice.
In the early 1930s, Daniel, now a major in the Medical Reserve Corps was recalled to active service because of his expertise in treating malaria patients. He was assigned to provide medical care for soldiers and veterans suffering from malaria and confined to the military hospital at Isimorada in the Florida Keys. In the late summer of 1935 a hurricane with the lowest sea-level pressure ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere
was bearing down on the Florida Keys. The people of the Keys were instructed to evacuate the islands as a safety measure against the approaching storm. All of the hospital patients who could be moved were transferred to the mainland. A skeleton medical staff remained to attend the non-ambulatory patients. Daniel was ordered to evacuate but his dedication to healing and his commitment to his patients overruled the order. On Monday, September 2, 1935, the hurricane struck Isimorada and the
hospital was destroyed. Daniel was killed and was considered a military hero. His grateful nation honored him by providing a burial place in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Edith died on November 3, 1967, at the age of ninety-one, and is interred with Daniel.  Daniel and Edith's only daughter Dorothy, born on June 28,
1914, married Earl Marion Johnson on July 24, 1937. Dorothy was educated as a teacher at Florida College for Women, presently named Florida State University. Dorothy became a very successful businesswoman serving for many years as assistant cashier at the Peoples Bank of Crescent City, which was located not far from their home in Pomona Park. For years, Earl worked his farm and did carpentry work while Dorothy pursued her career with the bank. Although they never had any children, Earl and
Dorothy found happiness.
EARL AND DOROTHY JOHNSON (ca.1941) Earl and Helen's daughter Carolyn, born on June 16, 1929, met John "Jake" R. Johns in 1946 at a dance on the Main Street Pier in Daytona Beach. They fell in love and on
January 25, 1947, they were married. Jake was born on May 1, 1926, in Port Orange, Florida, the son of Clive Johns and Lelia Padgett. Jake's father died at an early age and his mother married Cecil Brown. Carolyn and Jake made their home in Port Orange. Carolyn and Jake were parents to Michael, Daniel, Timothy and Patrick. Jake was a heavy equipment operator. Carolyn worked for the Southern Bell Telephone Company for twenty-three years. Jake died on
June 30, 1980, and is buried in the Bellview Memorial Cemetery in Daytona Beach. Earl and Helen's daughter Norma, born on August 19, 1926, married Vincent "Vinnie" James LoCastro on February 23, 1946. Vinnie was born on December 28, 1924, in LeRoy, New York, the son of Antonia LoCastro and Carrie Martina. His siblings include Joseph, Anthony, Salvatore, Louis, Bertha and Nina. At the time Vinnie and Norma
were married, he was a truck driver in Daytona Beach. About 1948, Norma and Vinnie moved to Lake Worth, Florida, where Vinnie acquired a beer and wine distributorship. Later Vinnie and Norma owned and operated a delicatessen in Lake Worth. Norma and Vinnie were parents to James who was born in 1946, Gary who was born in 1949, and Lori who was born in 1956. Vinnie died on May 24, 1997. Earl and Helen's daughter Doris, born on October 14, 1921, married Charles Cappano.
Charles was born on July 9, 1920, the only child of Russell and Jeanette Cappano. Doris and Charles made their home in Hamburg, New York, where Charles was a businessman. Doris and Charles were parents to a daughter Sandra and a son Russell. After several years of marriage Doris and Charles divorced. Doris moved to West Seneca, New York, near Buffalo, where she found employment with the Erie County Health Department. Charles resides in Bradenton, Florida. Their married
children live near their mother in the Buffalo area. Earl and Helen's son William "Bill", born on April 8, 1923, was drafted in the army in 1942 and served for a period of eighteen months. During his military service he met and on September 2, 1943, married Sylvia "Sam" Klein while they were both in service. Sylvia was born on September 9, 1923, in Rochester, New York. After their discharge
from service, Bill and Sylvia made their home in Daytona Beach, Florida. While living in Daytona Beach, Bill and Sylvia gave birth to a daughter Elaine Ann in October 1944. About 1946 the family moved to Rochester, New York, where Bill found employment with the public schools as a school bus mechanic. Bill and Sylvia added to their family with the birth of daughters Marian Carol and Karen Elizabeth. After several years of
marriage, Bill and Sylvia divorced. Later Sylvia remarried. On October 14, 1974, Bill married Nancy Jane Brackley. Nancy was born April 16, 1941, the daughter of Richard Brackley and Elizabeth Polito of Rochester. Nancy's siblings include Patricia, Sandra and Richard who died as an infant. Nancy served two years in the army before becoming a legal secretary. Bill and Nancy were not blessed with children of their own.
Both are now retired but Bill still does some part-time work for the school district. Earl Johnson and Dorothy Main were married for forty-six years before death took him on July 29, 1983. He is buried in Eden Cemetery in Crescent City, Florida. The following is a copy of his obituary that appeared in the Wednesday, August 3, 1983, edition of the COURIER JOURNAL, the Crescent City newspaper.
Earl M. Johnson, 85, Pomona Park, died Friday morning in a Gainesville Hospital following a long illness. The Creston, Ohio, native had moved to Pomona Park from St. George, Ga. in 1918. Mr. Johnson was active as a carpenter and farmer. He was a member of the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Pomona Park. Johnson is survived by his wife, Mrs. Dorothy Main Johnson of Pomona Park; one son, William G. Johnson of Rochester, N.Y.; three
daughters, Mrs. Doris Cappano, Hamburg, N.Y., Mrs. Norma LoCastro, Lake Worth, and Mrs. Carolyn Johns, Holly Hill. Funeral services were held Monday morning in the chapel of Clayton Frank & Sons Funeral Home, Crescent City. Rev. William Banks, pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational Church, officiated. Interment followed in Eden Cemetery, Crescent City.
Earl is buried in the Eden Cemetery in Crescent City, Florida.
On November 22, 1986, Dorothy, missing the love of Earl, married Charles C. Bear. Dorothy and Charles made their home in Pomona Park. This was a short but happy marriage as Charles died on December 14, 1988. On February 22, 1989, Dorothy moved to Bishop's Glen, a retirement home in Daytona Beach, Florida, where she enjoys her retirement years. In anticipation of the inevitable, Dorothy has reserved her final resting-place next to Earl and has erected a grave monument for them. THE GRAVES OF EARL AND DOROTHY JOHNSON Monroe and Bertha's oldest son, Wilbert Franklin in 1924, married Amanda Johnson of Hilliard, Florida. As mentioned earlier the family story of Wilbert and Amanda Johnson is the subject of the Chapter Six. Chapter 6 - The Wilbert and Amanda Johnson Family of St. George, Georgia |
