Jacob Johnson (father of Andrew Johnson) - Early Life

Early Life

Jacob Johnson was born about 1778. Some sources indicate he was born in Newcastle, England and sailed to America around 1795, but others say he was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and it was his grandfather who came from England.

Historian Rev. Nash A. Odom writes, "In the year 1760, Peter Johnson, migrated from Kintyre Scotland to North Carolina with his large family and settled in Cumberland County. The preaching instinct broke out again and a number of the Johnsons became ministers. One was the father of Jacob Johnson, who moved to Raleigh, North Carolina and was the father of President Andrew Johnson."

Billy Kennedy writes that Jacob's father, an Ulster Presbyterian named Andrew Johnson, emigrated to North Carolina about 1750 from Mounthill, now in Northern Ireland.

Genealogist and local historian Hugh Buckner Johnston, Jr. (1913–1990) of Wilson, North Carolina, published a series of articles in The North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal between 1978 and 1985 in which he identified the probable siblings of Jacob Johnson and proposed a suggested ancestry for President Johnson. In February, 1978, Johnston identified Aaron Johnson as a brother of Jacob Johnson, based upon claims made by Johnson’s detractor William Gannaway Brownlow about Aaron’s son Madison Johnson, who was executed for murder in 1841 in Wake County, North Carolina. Hugh B. Johnston also published an article in May 1979 about the 1845 criminal trial of Matthew Johnson of Wake County, North Carolina, who was identified by Brownlow as a cousin of Andrew Johnson. Matthew Johnson was a son of Jesse Johnson of Raleigh. In “A Renewed Search for the Ancestry of President Andrew Johnson”, published in May 1982, Hugh B. Johnston identified several letters found in the papers of President Johnson written by individuals claiming kinship. Henderson W. Johnson of Jasper County, Iowa, son of Moses Johnson of Carter County, Tennessee, wrote Andrew Johnson a letter dated February 8, 1861 identifying himself as a cousin. Jesse Wheeler of Johnston County, North Carolina, while a prisoner of war at Point Lookout, Maryland, wrote two letters dated June 29, 1864 and December 23, 1864 seeking Johnson’s assistance. Wheeler identified his mother, Rulaney (Johnson) Wheeler, as Johnson's cousin. On August 2, 1865, Jane (Utley) Johnson of Raleigh, North Carolina, wrote President Johnson seeking his aid. She identified her late husband, Jesse Johnson of Raleigh, as the President’s uncle. In a subsequent article published in May, 1985, Hugh Buckner Johnston further identified John Johnson as a sibling of Jacob Johnson, citing a May 4, 1875 letter written by John’s grandson Henry H. Depo of Fayetteville, NC describing his family’s relationship. Johnston’s 1985 article also set forth a theoretical ancestry for Jacob Johnson, suggesting that he and his probable siblings Jesse, John, Moses, and Aaron Johnson were the sons of William Johnson of the Mark’s Creek area of eastern Wake County, North Carolina. Johnston further proposed that Jacob Johnson’s putative father William was a descendant of Sylvanus “Sill” Johnson (ca. 1696–1763) of Essex, Amelia, and Prince Edward Counties, Virginia, and Johnston County, North Carolina. The theoretical ancestry put forth by Hugh B. Johnston was repeated in Hans L. Trefousse’s book, Andrew Johnson: A Biography (1989).

DNA testing conducted by the Johnson/Johnston/Johnstone DNA Surname Project sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA has largely discredited the ancestry suggested by Hugh Buckner Johnston, as well as various theories published by other earlier biographers of President Johnson. Two direct male descendants of Moses Johnson (ca. 1788 – ca. 1873) of Carter County, Tennessee, have been DNA tested, as well as a direct male descendant of Sylvanus Johnson (ca. 1696–1763) of Johnston County, North Carolina. The y-chromosome DNA test results confirm that the family of Jacob Johnson is not descended from Sylvanus Johnson. In 2010, a direct male descendant of William Johnson (1804–1865) of Brazoria County, Texas, brother of President Andrew Johnson, was also DNA tested. The results of that y-chromosome DNA test reveal a close genetic match with the descendants of Moses Johnson of Carter County, Tennessee, substantiating the relationship of that family to President Johnson. Current DNA results performed for the Johnson/Johnston/Johnstone DNA Surname Project suggest Andrew Johnson is likely descended from or genetically related to William Johnson of Surry County, Virginia, who devised his will on November 4, 1709 (Probated July 4, 1710; Surry County, Virginia Deeds, Wills, Etc., Volume 6, 1709 – 1715, p. 28). President Andrew Johnson’s paternal Johnson ancestors belong to Haplogroup I2b.

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