William T. Johnson and family papers. Legal and financial documents. Folder 01-20, 1854-1859. - William T. Johnson and family papers. Legal and financial documents. Folder 01-20, 1854-1859.

Primary tabs

Islandora advanced search

Title
William T. Johnson and family papers. Legal and financial documents. Folder 01-20, 1854-1859.
Biographical Information
William T. Johnson (1809?-1851) and his sister, Adelia, were the children of Amy Johnson, a free woman of color and a former slave freed in 1814 by William Johnson, a planter of Adams County, Mississippi. William T. and Adelia were freed in 1820 and 1818, respectively. In 1820, Adelia married James Miller, a free man of color from Philadelphia. Miller was a barber and a respected businessman in Natchez, Mississippi, and he trained his brother-in-law, William T. Johnson, to become a barber. William T. Johnson moved from Port Gibson to Natchez in 1830 to pursue the trade, having purchased Miller's unexpired lease. Five years later, William married a free woman of color and former slave, Ann Battles (1815?-1866). Ann and her mother, Harriet Battles were emancipated by Gabriel Tichenor of Natchez in 1826. William and Ann Johnson had ten children: William (born 1836), Richard (born 1837), Byron (1839-1872), Anna (1841-1922), Katharine (1842-1901), Phillip (born 1844), Eugenia (born 1845), Alice (born about 1846), Josephine (born 1849), and Clarence (born 1851). Between 1835 and 1850, Johnson acquired three barber shops, a bath house in Natchez, and a plantation; he also maintained business connections in New Orleans.; In the late 1840s, Johnson became involved in a dispute with Baylor Winn and Benjamin Wade, regarding a property line on his plantation; Baylor Winn was also a free man of color. After the circuit court ordered a survey, the dispute was settled out of court in May of 1851. However, on June 16, 1851, Johnson was fatally wounded in an ambush; before his death on the morning of June 17th, Johnson named Winn as his assassin. Johnson owned more than 2,000 acres of land in Adams County at the time of his death.; Ann Battles Johnson (1815?-1866) was a free person of color and the daughter of Harriet Battles, a free woman of color and former slave. She may have been the daughter of Gabriel Tichenor, a white businessman, banker, planter, and slaveholder who lived in Adams County, Mississippi; Concordia Parish, Louisiana; and Cincinnati, Ohio. Ann was emancipated, along with her mother Harriet, through a deed of manumission in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1826. At the age of 20, she married William Johnson, a free person of color and barber of Natchez, Mississippi. Together, the couple had ten children: William (born 1836), Richard (born 1837), Byron (1839-1872), Anna (1841-1922), Katharine (1842-1901), Phillip (born 1844), Eugenia (born 1845), Alice (born approximately 1846), Josephine (born 1849), and Clarence (born 1851). Following the murder of her husband William in 1851, Ann took over management of the Johnson family household. She died of illness about the age of 51 years in Natchez, Mississippi.
Date Created
1854 - 1859
Location
Description
Legal and financial papers of the Johnson family for the years 1854-1859 include receipts and invoices for goods and services, receipts for rent, and tax receipts of Ann Battles Johnson, following the 1851 death of her husband William Johnson, a free man of color. Many of the tax receipts are for money owed from the estate of William Johnson.</br></br>Receipts of Ann Battles Johnson include receipts for furniture, the hire of a horse, purchase of coal, a gold ring, dentistry, fabric, and other goods. Included is a slave bill of sale for an enslaved man named ""Clifton,"" sold to Ann Battles Johnson by Catharine and John Brumley.
Type of Resource
text
Size
50 items.
Language
English
Source
Louisiana State University Libraries, Special Collections, Hill Memorial Library, Baton Rouge, La., http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special
Digital Collection
Revealing an Unknown Past: Free People of Color in Louisiana and the Lower Mississippi Valley
Repository Collection
William T. Johnson and family memorial papers, Mss. 529, 561, 597, 770, 926, 1093, LSU Libraries.
Shelf Location
Mss. 529, Box 1
Contact Information
To inquire about ordering copies of these images, email lsudiglib@lsu.edu See instructions for ordering reprints of this image here: http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/services/duplication.html . Include the "Item URL" in your request.
Rights
Physical rights are retained by the LSU Special Collections. Copyright has expired and the item is therefore in the public domain. Permission to reproduce this image must be requested through the repository that holds the original.
Preferred Citation
William T. Johnson and Family Memorial Papers,Mss. 529, 561, 597, 770,926, 1093,Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, LSULibraries, Baton Rouge.
Admin Login

 

Louisiana Digital Library

Contact the Louisiana Digital Library

Permissions/rights/reproduction and information requests:

The Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) is composed of collections from many different institutions. Permission to publish and acquire images or requests for more information about materials that you find in the LDL should be directed to the institution that contributed the item to the LDL. To find the contact who can help you, find the field called "Contact Information" next to the image of interest to you. The Louisiana Digital Library is a service provider only and has no authority to grant permission to publish or supply high-resolution images.

Technical assistant/site support

The Louisiana Digital Library platform has been developed by LSU Libraries on behalf of the Louisiana Digital Consortium. It runs on the Islandora open-source digital repository software.

LSU Libraries' Technology Initiatives: lsudiglib@lsu.edu.

Thanks for your interest in the Louisiana Digital Library.

About the Louisiana Digital Library (LDL)

The Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) is the front door to Louisiana's digital cultural heritage. Members include public libraries, academic libraries, museums, and archives from arcross the state.

Currently, there are 25 participating institutions in the LDL. Each institution contributes the digital items and the descriptive text for their collections.

  • Calcasieu Parish Public Library
  • Delgado Community College
  • East Baton Rouge Parish Library
  • Law Library of Louisiana
  • Louisiana State Archives
  • Louisiana State Museum
  • Louisiana State University
  • Louisiana State University at Alexandria
  • Louisiana State University at Shreveport
  • Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans
  • Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport
  • Louisiana Tech University
  • Loyola University New Orleans
  • McNeese State University
  • Nicholls State University
  • Northwestern State University
  • Southern University
  • State Library Of Louisiana
  • The Historic New Orleans Collection
  • Tulane University
  • University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • University of Louisiana at Monroe
  • University of New Orleans
  • Vermilionville Living History Museum & Folklife Park
  • Webster Parish Library

The LDL is built with Islandora, an open source digital library system based on FedoraDrupal, and Solr.

Information about the Louisiana Digital Consortium can be found here: http://louisianadigitalconsortium.org