FIRST GENERATION

1. Joseph Johnson. Frances Howe Johnson wrote "Joseph Johnson lost his life trying to save that of a friend when the two were crossing on horseback. (Aunt Frances says Fishing Creek; Aunt Belle inserts "Big Run, 2 miles south of Marietta in West Virginia - from an old letter. father's memory.") Joseph reached shore, but saw his friend had been dismounted and knowing he couldn't swim, went to his aid, but was caught by an uprooted tree in the current which dragged him under, his body being found later several miles below. His horse escaped."

Joseph may have been the son Henry Johnson, one of the earliest settlers of Wood Co., Virginia. Henry settled on the upper end of Big Run before Wood County was organized in 1800. The Wood Co. Deed Book 4 records that he had 500 acres patented to him on Aug. 22, 1797. The deed book mentions Henry's wife, Pleasant, and his son, Joseph, and daughter-in-law, Sarah. Jacob Johnson (below) married Sarah Locker, whose family lived on Big Run, so it just seems likely to me that this is the same family.

Joseph Johnson had the following children:

+2 i. Jacob Johnson.