| RACHEL JOHNSON
(Page 158-161) Cherokee Johnson and Betsy Douglas' daughter Rachel, born on July 22, 1852, married James J. Tomlinson on March 12, 1873, in Nassau County, Florida. James Tomlinson was born in January 1851, in Columbia County, Florida, son of Levin Tomlinson and Sarah Daugharty. The story of the Levin and Sarah Tomlinson family and their ancestors is the
subject of Chapter Three. Like his father Levin, James was a farmer. Rachel Johnson and James Tomlinson made their home in Nassau County where they became parents to Martha, born in 1874; Curtis, born in 1876; Evelina F., born in 1879; and Fleming F., born in 1884. 
THE BROKEN GRAVESTONE OF RACHEL JOHNSON TOMLINSON
(Photo Page 159)
Rachel Johnson Tomlinson died at an early age on April 7, 1884, either in giving birth to her son Fleming or shortly thereafter. She is buried in the Johnson/Tomlinson Cemetery on Tomlinson Road in western Nassau County. A broken headstone marks her grave. James Tomlinson was left with a newborn and three young children for whom he had to provide care. James Tomlinson on July 3, 1884, married Harriet Roberts, born in Charlton County,
Georgia, in 1845, daughter of George Roberts and Mary Mobley. Both George Roberts and Mary Mobley were born in 1812 in Georgia. Originally the family Roberts was from North Carolina where George's mother, Pheobe was born in 1785. George Roberts and Mary Mobley made their home in Charlton County, Georgia, where George owned and operated a very large farm. Harriet Roberts' siblings included Rhoda, born in 1839; Emily, born in 1853; John, born in 1854: and Jefferson, born in 1857. James Tomlinson and Harriet Roberts, with James' four young children, made their home with Harriet's parents in Charlton County. James and Harriet had a childless marriage. James Tomlinson and Rachel Johnson's daughters Martha and Evelina married in the 1890s. During this period, James Tomlinson and Rachel Johnson's son Curtis died as a young man. Harriet Roberts died in the late 1890s. After Harriet's death, James moved
to Suwannee County, Florida, where he had a childless marriage to Emma. After his stepmother died, James Tomlinson and Rachel Johnson's son Fleming continued to live with his stepmother's parents, George and Mary Roberts, in Charlton County. About 1903, Fleming married Matilda, born in 1885, and they made their home in Charlton County where they became parents to a son, Curtis, born in 1905, and a daughter, Hattie, born in 1909.
Shortly after Hattie was born, Fleming and Matilda Tomlinson joined Fleming's father James in Suwannee County, Florida. While living in Suwannee County, Fleming and Matilda Tomlinson added to their family with the birth of Wilber, born in 1910; Essie, born in 1913; a son L. C., born in 1916; and Eva, born in 1918. About 1910, after the death of his wife Emma, James Tomlinson returned to his roots in
Nassau County. It is thought that his son Fleming Tomlinson took over his father James' holdings in Suwannee County. Fleming continued to make his family home in Suwannee County and it is thought that he died and is buried there. James J. Tomlinson died shortly after his return to Hilliard and is buried next to his first love and wife, Rachel Johnson Tomlinson, in the Johnson/Tomlinson Cemetery. This Chapter: |
