Chapter Two
(Pages 45-69) This Chapter: THEJOHN J. JOHNSON FAMILY John Jackson Johnson was born on February 18, 1819, in Tennessee. John J. Johnson reported in the 1880 Census that both of his parents were born in Tennessee. Because John was thought to be half Cherokee Indian, his white friends gave him the nickname of
"Cherokee." Family stories indicate that Cherokee was born to a Cherokee Indian mother who died at an early age. Cherokee's father was of Scottish heritage and after his wife's death remarried. The very prosperous Johnson family had homesteaded in an area of Tennessee just west of North Carolina that was originally lands of the Cherokee Nation. Supposedly, Cherokee named his offspring after his several brothers and sisters. The story is told
that Cherokee, a young lad of fifteen, ran away from home after being severely reprimanded by his father. Apparently, Cherokee's stepmother Ann told his father that Cherokee had ridden a horse that his father had forbade him to ride. After he left home, Cherokee lived for about six months with his uncle and his family in Chattanooga, Tennessee. One story suggests that since Cherokee was part Indian, he was accepted by Cherokee Indians and in 1836, he rode with a band of them for a short
period of time. Based upon the story that Cherokee named his children after his brothers and sisters, a search was made of the 1850 census records of Tennesseefor a Johnson family with children of the same names as the children of Cherokee. The search revealed that such a family existed and was most likely Cherokee's family. James Johnson, born in 1796, and his wife, Ann, born in 1800, headed the family and lived in the 12th District of Blount County, Tennessee, just north of the city of Maryville, the county seat.
(Photo page 48)
WESTERN BLOUNT COUNTY. TENNESSEE
Blount County has about 584 square miles generally bounded by the Little Tennessee River on the south, the Tennessee River on the west and north, and North Carolina on the east. About half of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is located in eastern
Blount County. The western part of Blount County is primarily heavy-wooded, rolling land and the foot hills to the eastern mountains. The county is both agricultural and industrial. Today the leading industries are the Aluminum Company of America, the Rockford Manufacturing Textile Company and the marble mining. Prior to 1765, in the land of what is now Tennessee, was wilderness. The Cherokee
Indians inhabited eastern Tennessee, including Blount County. The first permanent white settler in the area was William Bean in 1769. During the Revolutionary War the Cherokee Indians sided with the English in an attempt to inhibit colonization of their lands. After the 1776 and later military campaigns against the Indians, many militia men staked their claims to certain lands which later became included in Blount County. Over a period of time the Cherokee Indians of Tennessee were pushed
southward off their lands and the area was opened for settlement. James' father was thought to be William Johnson, one of the early pioneers of Tennessee who came from North Carolina. He came to the area and established his home during the last part of the eighteenth century. Blount County was established in 1795. James Johnson's father cleared the land and established a large and prosperous
farm in Blount County. James Johnson was born in Tennessee in 1796. It is speculated that James had an older brother, William, who when reaching his majority, moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he reared a family and became Sheriff of Hamilton County. It is thought that James took over the farm from his father. In 1803, the newly organized Blount County government established the legal rates that
taverns were allowed to charge travelers. As an interesting note, the published rates are as follows: TAVERN RATES Half pint of good whiskey .12 ½
Pint of County made whiskey .12 ½ Good beer per quart .12 ½
Breakfast with coffee or tea .25 Dinner or supper with coffee or tea .25
Half pint of rum .25 Half pint French brandy .33 ½
Bottle of wine .33 ½ Horse at hay or fodder per night .16 ½
Oats per gallon .09
Corn per gallon .09
Cyder per quart .12 ½
Most of the earliest settlers never gained a clear title to their lands until 1806. Early pioneers who had already settled on the land were required to pay one dollar an acre to
obtain clear title to their land. Later white settlers were required to pay two dollars an acre. As more and more settlers moved into eastern Tennessee, the Cherokee Indians were driven farther southward and eventually in the late 1830s into Georgia. There are very limited records available of the early history and residents of Blount County. The absence of civil records reporting the marriage of James Johnson
supported the suggested marriage of James to a Cherokee squaw, the mother of his children. Whites who married Indians hadthe option of being married through the local government or Indian tribal council. The Indian tribal council maintained no marriage records. 
(Photo Page 51)
TYPICAL HOME OF EARLY BLOUNT COUNTY
Cherokee's siblings included William, born about 1817; Eliza, born in 1821; Mary, born in 1823; Nancy, born in 1825; Rachel, born in 1827; Susan, born in 1829; James, born in 1831; Barbary, born in 1833; Sally, born in 1835; Margaret, born in 1837; and Martha, born in 1839. In 1830, James' aging mother, born about 1765, was living with him and his family. Cherokee's mother, wife of James, is thought to have died in 1834.
Shortly after her death, his father married his second wife Ann. Cherokee's older brother William is thought to have moved to Chattanooga where he reared a family. 
THE SCHOOL ATTENDED BY THE JOHNSON CHILDREN
(Page 52)
As young children growing up, the Johnson offspring probably attended an old school
located less than a mile from the Johnson farm. This old one-room school was used during the first half of the nineteenth century and is currently designated an historic site. The schoolhouse is called the Sam Houston School, named after Sam Houston who in 1807 was the school's teacher. The school was used for many years and still contains the original student benches and teacher's desk. Houston later became governor of Tennessee and still later one of the heroic defenders of the Alamo in San
Antonio Texas. 
THE INSIDE OF THE OLD SCHOOLHOUSE
(Page 53)
James Johnson is thought to have died during the 1850s and the farm was broken up. Most of the girls in the family married during this period. Today the descendants of the Johnson family can no longer be found in the area. The only indication of the historical
presence of the Johnson family is the current name of the road that led to the Johnson property. Some parts of the old farm are stilt in production but others have been partitioned into building lots with homes constructed on them. 
The Johnson Farm Today:
(Photo Page 54)
The Johnson RoadToday:
(Photo Page 54)
During the mid 1830s the Creek Indians were harassing the settlers of Georgia. The story is told that the Cherokee Indians with Cherokee riding with them tried to bring peace by offering the Creeks a homeland territory in the Cherokee Indian Nation in North Carolina. These efforts proved to be in vain. The continued harassment by the
Creek Indians of the white settlers led to an Indian war. In 1838, an agreement was reached between the government and the Indians, which provided for the removal of many of the Cherokee and Creek Indians to Arkansas. Many Creek Indians, Seminoles, refused to participate and escaped into the swamps and wilderness and continued to harass the troops and settlers, which resulted in the Indian Wars of 1838 and 1840.
In 1840, Cherokee Johnson joined a Georgia militia unit that pursued and fought the Seminole Indians in Florida. Later, Cherokee, single and unattached roamed for a time, the settlements of Appling and Camden Counties in southeast Georgia. Camden County was very large, encompassing about the southern half of the Georgia coastline and extending inland several miles. Appling County was about as long and directly west of Camden County.
On December 19, 1844, in Camden County, Georgia, John Jackson Johnson married Elizabeth "Betsy" Douglas, of Appling County, Georgia. The following is a copy of the executed marriage license that was issued to John J. Johnson and Betsy Douglas. 
(Handwriting page 56)
Betsy Douglas was born in 1825 in Montgomery County, Georgia, daughter of Robert
Douglas and Sarah Wheeler. Sarah Wheeler was born in 1800 in Montgomery County. Robert Douglas was born in 1790 in Washington County, Georgia, son of Robert and Margaret Douglas, early settlers of Washington County. The area of Washington County that the Douglas family called home was later cut into Montgomery County and still later into Appling County, Georgia. Betsy's siblings included Sarah Ann, born in
1816; William H., born in 1820; Nancy, born in 1821; Robert, born in 1829; Mary, born in 1834; Margaret, born in 1835; Charles M., born in 1837; Amos, born in 1839, Michael, born in 1840, and James C., born in 1841. Father Robert Douglas died in 1867, followed shortly by mother Sarah Wheeler. They are buried in the Camp Ground Methodist Church Cemetery in Bacon County, Georgia. In the series of books entitled PIONEERSofWIREGRASSGEORGIA written and
published by Folks Huxford in 1951, it was erroneously written that Betsy married Harmon Deen, born in 1820. Harmon Deen married Malison, born in 1823, prior to 1844, and they became parents to a very large family as reported in the 1860 Census of Appling County, Georgia. Cherokee and Betsy established their family home in the Big Bend Country of the St. Marys River in Camden County, Georgia. At the time hostile Creek Indians, or more
precisely Seminole Indians, were still harassing settlers in the area. Cherokee's farm was located near Traders Hill in Camden County, Georgia. Traders Hill was the western terminal of the navigable part of the St. Marys River and provided access to the Atlantic seaboard cities. By way of the St. Marys River, the coastal waterway system and the Atlantic Ocean, the inland settlers of southeast Georgia and northeast Florida were
able to ship farm products, furs, lumber and turpentine to both domestic and foreign markets. In 1850, Cherokee and Betsy's neighbors in Traders Hill included Shadrack Wheeler and his family, thought to be related to Betsy's mother, Sarah Wheeler. Their other close neighbor was Zekiel Osteen and his family, whose offspring were to later
marry children of Cherokee and Betsy. Zekiel's brother Hezekiel migrated to Volusia County, Florida, after the war and started the town that bears the family name. The census of 1850 indicates that a brother Albert Johnson, born in Georgia in 1831, was living with Cherokee and Betsy. There is no further evidence of an Albert Johnson of this age in the records of Georgia and Florida. Since Cherokee did not have a brother
born in Georgia by the name of Albert, it is assumed that Albert Johnson was a distant relative of Cherokee or an Indian tribal brother. Cherokee Johnson and Betsy Douglas were living in Traders Hill when Charlton County was formed out of Camden County and granted a county charter by the Georgia legislature in 1854. Traders Hill was established as the county seat and a county government with law and order was formed. While living in Traders Hill, Cherokee and
Betsy became parents to Sarah, born in 1845; William, born on November 6, 1846; Martha, born on July 5, 1848; Alexander, born on May 7, 1850; Rachel, born July 22, 1852; Elizabeth, born on April 22, 1854; and Eliza, born on February 21, 1856. A story is related in Chapter One of the 1858 lynching of two Negroes for the admitted killing of a white man. After repeated escapes from jail, the men of the community decided that they would lynch the admitted killers.
Upon the signal, one hundred and seven men holding the trip-rope of the hanging scaffold pulled together, sending the two Negroes to their death Cherokee was one of those men who pulled the trip-rope.
THE TRAIL TO THE JOHNSON HOMESTEAD IN HILLIARD
(Photo page 59)
In 1857, Cherokee Johnson and Betsy Douglas moved their family across the St. Marys River to Hilliard in Nassau County, Florida, where Cherokee had acquired the ownership of the Charles Love Spanish Land Grant of approximately 300 acres, presently called Section 41. 
A SIGN STILL MARKS THE JOHNSON HOMESTEAD
(Photo page 60)
Shortly after the turn of the 19th century, Charles Love established a homestead in Spanish East Florida, across and bordering the St. Marys River, just south of Traders Hill. Charles had cleared and worked the land which were the requirements established by the Spanish Government for a person to be considered to receive a Spanish land grant. In 1815 Charles Love applied to the Spanish government for a land grant in accordance
with the acreage formula, prescribed by the Spanish government in 1790, as explained in Chapter One. According to the formula, Charles Love was eligible to receive 500 acres of land. The land that he currently occupied and worked was surveyed by the Spanish government and certified on October 20, 1817, as containing 300 acres. On December 10, 1817, Charles Love was issued a certificate for a Spanish land grant of
500 acres of land, consisting of the 300 acres he was currently occupying and 200 more to be claimed at a later date. In 1825, the newly established Florida government, after the United States acquired Florida, confirmed and accepted Charles Love's claim to the Spanish land grant of 300 acres. Charles Love's land, since it was a Spanish land grant, is configured quite differently than most of the current sections of land in Nassau County. It was given the special
number, Section 41. The Spanish government, when it controlled Florida prior to 1820 defined the layout of parcels of land for Spanish land grants in Florida. The description of the Spanish layout for land grants can be found in Chapter One. In 1857, when Cherokee Johnson acquired Section 41, some of the acreage had already been cleared for farming. In 1860, Cherokee was assessed a significant state
tax of $3.56 and county tax of $1.78 for his property which included his one slave. Cherokee, with the aid of his oldest son William and his slave, continued the land clearing and developed a very large and successful farm. After making their home in Nassau County, Cherokee and Betsy added to their family becoming parents to Mary Jane, born in 1857; John "Johnny", Jr., born on May 30, 1860; Amanda. born November 6. 1863: and Andrew, born on June 13. 1868. 
(Chart Page 62)
JOHNSON HOMESTEAD LAND TODAY
(Photo Page 63)
On January 16, 1862, John "Cherokee" Johnson and Betsy Douglas's son William,
feeling the need to make a contribution in the defense of the Confederacy, enlisted in Company D of the 10~ Florida Infantry. He lied about his age, as he was not old enough for military service. His youthfulness was discovered and William was discharged on March 5, 1863. During the war the Johnson homestead was never threatened but Federal troops were in nearby St. Marys, Georgia. Federal forces once made a trip up the St. Marys River
but encountered fierce opposition from the home-guard militia and quickly retreated. Jacksonville had been occupied on several occasions for short periods of time by Federal forces. The last occupation was in January of 1864, by mostly Negro troops commanded by white officers. Skirmishes between Federal forces and the Confederates were quite common west of Jacksonville, including major confrontations at Baldwin, Sanderson and Gainesville.
The Federals' strongest attempt to occupy inland Florida was when a force of 5,500 troops from Jacksonville marched on Lake City. On February 20, 1864, the Union forces challenged the defending Confederates who had chosen to make their stand at the railroad stop of Olustee Station east of Lake City. The battle resulted in a stunning defeat for the Union forces. The surviving Federal troops retreated to Jacksonville and were withdrawn for service in the north.
During the last of 1864, Florida was without an effective military defense force. Union forces under the command of General Sherman were moving south through Georgia and it was thought that Florida might become a battleground. Many of the older men of Duval, Nassau, Charlton and Baker counties boarded the train to Lake City to volunteer for service in the First Florida Reserves Regiment which was being formed in Lake City
to defend against any invasion of Florida. Cherokee was one of those volunteers, enlisting on August 8, 1864. The men of the area made up Company G under the command of Captain Thomas D. Hawkins. 
JOHN "CHEROKEE" JACKSON JOHNSON
(ca. 1875)
(Photo page 65)
At the end of the war many of the loyal Confederate troops deserted
rather than surrender to the Union forces. Cherokee was one of those that went AWOL, absent without leave. During the third week of May 1865, the Federal forces paroled the remaining members of the regiment. After the war, times were difficult for the people of the area and Cherokee and Betsy were no exception. Cherokee was a farmer but without a market for farm products Cherokee turned to collecting pinesap for turpentine and the logging of the virgin pine
forests for a livelihood. Cherokee was able to purchase many tracts of land for his logging enterprises and eventually owned over twenty-nine hundred acres of land. John "Cherokee" Jackson Jackson died on April 23, 1884, and is buried in a grave with a broken headstone in the Johnson/Tomlinson Cemetery. Upon Cherokee's death his vast landholdings were distributed among his and Betsy's children. Their youngest son John, Jr. was
bequeathed Section 41, the family homestead. Betsy applied for widow's benefits of a Confederate veteran from the State of Florida but was denied. Benefits were paid only for widows of veterans who were paroled by Federal forces. Cherokee had gone AWOL, absent without leave, rather than surrendering to the Union Forces and swearing allegiance to the United States, the condition required to be paroled.
Betsy continued to live at the homestead with her sons Johnny and Andrew who assumed the responsibility for her care. Betsy lived into the 1890s and is buried with Cherokee in the Johnson/Tomlinson Cemetery.  ELIZABETH "BETSY" DOUGLAS JOHNSON
(ca. 1875)
(Photo page 67)
The Johnson / Tomlinson Cemetery is a small cemetery located in sight
of the St. Marys River. Lately it has been referred to as the McLean Cemetery. It is on the east bank of the St. Marys River, west of Route 121 in western Nassau County. The cemetery can be found by traveling west for about .6 mile from the intersection of Route 121 and Tomlinson Road, where the road turns 90 degree to the south, going .2 mile more and ending at Emmie Lane: then traveling .1 mile west on Emmie Lane; then turning south on Family Lane and traveling .8 mile.
The small John son/Tomlinson Cemetery can be found on the eastside of Family Lane. The stones for Sarah and Levin Tomlinson are broken, as is the one for Rachel Johnson Tomlinson, the first wife of their son James Tomlinson. McLean family members are also buried there as evidenced by stone markers. There are other stone markers but they are not legible. Several children of John J. Johnson and Elizabeth "Betsy" Douglas married sons and
daughters of their close neighbors in Nassau County, Levin Tomlinson and Sarah Penelope Daugharty. These included John and Elizabeth's children Amanda, Rachel, Eliza, John, Jr. and William. Levin Tomlinson was born on April 11, 1813, in Clinch County, Georgia. Sarah Daugharty was born on March 19, 1825, in Appling County, Georgia. Levin Tomlinson and Sarah Daugharty had a very large family of six boys and nine girls.
In the early 1840s the Tomlinson family made their home in Clinch County, Georgia. About 1845 the family moved to Columbia County, Florida, where Levin operated a large farm with his father-in-law. In 1852, Levin purchased a large tract of land and developed his own farm. In 1858, the family moved to Traders Hill, Georgia, and about 1869 moved across the St. Marys River to Nassau County, Florida, where the family
became neighbors to the John and Elizabeth Johnson family. The family stories of the Tomlinsons and Daughartys are the subject of Chapter Three. Johnson homestead property is located on the westside of River Road, Route 121, 4.0 miles north of the intersection of Route 108 from Milliard and Route 121. A stream, the Johnson Branch, runs east to west through the property and crosses Route 121 about
200 yards north of the gated entrance. Johnson Branch is lined on both sides with small shrubs and trees. The old Johnson house was located about a thousand yards west of Route 121, not far from the banks of the St. Marys River. The Johnson living area was located on a high, dry and level piece of land, with the house located in an oak tree hammock. Several pecan trees were planted and surrounded the house so as
to provide an abundance of shade. Today the house is gone, but the building area is still shaded by the many beautiful pecan trees. It is one of the most beautiful, serene and peaceful locations in western Nassau County. This Chapter: | 
