+ 114 v. SIDNEY BRAGG JOHNSTON 4(#913) JAMES FRANKLIN3
JOHNSTON (GEORGE GREGORY ("G.G." OR
"GREG")2, LEWIS1)was born in
Albertha, Randolph County, Arkansas on November 29, 1863. SIDNEY died at the age
of 84, at the home of a grandson, Clyde T. Hogan, in Clarkton, Missouri, on July
7, 1948. His body was interred on July 10, 1948, in Randolph County, Arkansas,
Harper Cemetery.
He married (Mrs.) Maggie E. Harper, (#914) a 24 year old widow with 2 children, on July 7, 1885 in Randolph County. Maggie's maiden name was Stump and she was a sister of Malissa A. (Stump) Johnston, the wife of William M. Johnston, Sydney's oldest brother. Maggie E. Stump was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky on June 21, 1862. They were the daughters of George Washington Stump and Julia (or Julian?) Miller. The Stump family left Kentucky for Randolph County, Arkansas when Maggie was a small child. Maggie E. Johnston died at the age of 76, in Randolph County, on January 31, 1939, and was buried at Harper Cemetery.
Notes: 1. Maggie E. Stump married Phyonex Harper in Randolph County about 1879. Phyonex Harper was also born in Kentucky, in 1857. His parents were Thomas J. and Nancy Harper, who brought their family to Randolph County in the late 1860's to settle in Columbia Township. They were enumerated in the 1870 census, with the 13 year old Phyonex being listed as "Phineas." In the 1880 census, Phyonex, now listed as "Finis," is shown in his own household with his wife, Maggie. Maggie's age is shown to be 16, although we know that she would have been 18 in June. They are shown to be childless, although their first child, Louise Harper, was born in May of 1880. Their son, Oscar Harper, was born in October 1884. Sometime during that year, perhaps even before Oscar was born, Phyonex Harper died, at the age of only 27. He was buried in Harper Cemetery, in 1884. Harper Cemetery records include a note that says, "Phyonex Harper donated the land for the Cemetery in the 1870's." Since the oldest grave markers in Harper Cemetery are those for his father, Thomas J., who died in 1878, his younger sister, Catherine, who died at 14, in 1877, and another unnamed female Harper who died in 1876, it is most likely that this private family burial place was located on whatever portion of the family farm that Phyonex inherited at his father's death. He elected to set aside enough land surrounding those graves to provide a burial place for family members yet to die, although the cemetery has not been restricted to Harper family members.
2. Information on the 1910 census reflects that Maggie Johnston had been married twice and had given birth to 12 children, of whom 11 were living. That is confusing, especially since we have names for only 11; the 2 Harper children plus 9 Johnstons. Does this mean that perhaps there had been another Harper child, born between Louise and Oscar, who had died young? Or does that mean that another Johnston child had been born, and died, between the birth of Fred in 1904 and the census in 1910? It gets even more confusing because the 1900 census says that Maggie had given birth to 10 children with all 10 living. As of 1900, our documentation includes only 7 Johnstons and 2 Harpers. I don't know the correct answer, but I tend to believe that there was a 3rd Harper child. That would mean that Maggie, in 1900, had understood the question to mean, "number of children; and number born alive?"
3. Another anomaly with the census records for this family occurs on the 1900 census. That census reflects that child number 5 is a 10 (9) year old son named William. The 1910 census shows the same child to be a 20 (19) year old daughter named "Willie A." Willie was definitely a girl. Her actual given names were probably Wilhelmina Amanda Johnston, but she was always known as "Willie", or "Mandy," or both. One of her sons, Delmar Hogan (actually, his wife Dixie), informs me that her birth certificate shows her actual name to be "Willie Mandy." That's easy to explain. Until 1917 in Arkansas, there was no requirement for births to be registered, and no birth certificates were issued. When the Social Security Act of 1935 was enacted, persons who had no birth certificate had to complete a form requesting that the state issue one, after the fact. As long as the name put on the form was one a person commonly used, that is what was on the certificate they issued.
4. The 1920 census of Randolph County reflects a 9 year old "Marie Johnston" in the household of Sidney and Maggie Johnston. This child is actually their granddaughter, the daughter of Willie Mandy Johnston. Willie Mandy had two children of her own when she married James Hogan in 1917 - Marie, born in 1911 and Clyde, born in 1915. Whether Willie had been married previously, and/or what the children's true surnames were is unclear. Marie grew up in her grandparents' home and used the Johnston surname. Clyde grew up with Willie and James Hogan, using the Hogan surname.
SIDNEY BRAGG JOHNSTON and Mrs. MAGGIE E. HARPER had the following family:
i. Louise
Harper 5(#1982)
was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, in May 1880. Louise was the step-daughter
of Sidney Bragg Johnston.
ii.
Oscar Harper
(#1983) was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, October 1884. Oscar was the
step-son of Sidney Bragg Johnston.
iii. Birdie Johnston
(#1984) was born in Randolph County, Arkansas in January 1886.
iv. Bertha Johnston (#1985)
was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, January 1888.
v.
Wilhelmina Amanda "Willie Mandy" Johnston (#1986) was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, March
10, 1891 .
vi. Rufus C. Johnston
(#1987) was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, August 1893.
vii. Gussie N. Johnston (#1989)
was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, June 1894. Married to Alph Evans on June
29, 1913 in Randolph County, Arkansas.
viii. Monte R. Johnston (#1990)
was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, August 1896.
ix. Tula M. Johnston
(#1991) was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, July 1899.
x. Harry H.
Johnston (#1992) was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, about 1902.
xi. Fred H. Johnston
(#1993) was born in Randolph County, Arkansas, about 1904.
SIDNEY BRAGG JOHNSTON
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