DFNCLRND IN DEFENSE of Dr. Lorand Johnson by Douglas Tucker edited and retyped by Linda Sparks Starr MAY 1996 [First, my apologies to everyone, especially Doug, for the delay in getting this out to the group. Even though I don't personally agree with all of Doug's opinions on Dr. Johnson's research, I do respect his right to them and especially his right to present them to the group. In private, we've "agreed to disagree" on Dr. Johnson's work -- as I have with several others. In fact, I may be in the minority here. Toward that end, I tried to be unbiased in my editing -- and indeed almost re-typed the whole thing! -- but will leave it to each of you to decide for yourselves, which is as it should be. I look at this "round robin" as a place to freely exchange ideas and data; I hope the rest of you are having as much fun with it as I am. For those new to the list -- presently 15 on-line and four snail -- we have all agreed the Edward Johnson who first appears New Kent Co. VA 1677 is Penelope (Johnson) Clark's father; she's the wife of Capt. Christopher Clark. It's Edward's father, whom Dr. Lorand Johnson says is Dr. Arthur Johnston (below), where Doug and I differ. As in other things, Doug gets full credit for his comments and I "get credit" only for typos. I did by habit abbreviate some words -- VA, dau, etc.; I also "grouped" his paragraphs by subject. LSS] We begin with Doug's April 12, 1996 letter in which he noted find- ing two biographical accounts of Dr. Arthur Johnston -- one in the DAR Library and the other in the Library of Congress. He sent a photocopy from the DAR book -- _The Scottish Nation; with surnames, families, literature, honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland_, vol. II, by William Anderson, Edin burgh, 1868, page 577. [This includes the picture -- wood cut ting ? -- of Dr. Arthur I've seen elsewhere but didn't find in my most logical folder. He looks quite Elizabethan with his high decorative collar and pointy beard and long, curling mustache. LSS] Shortened greatly, the biography says Dr. Arthur Johnston was an "eminent Latin poet and physician", born 1587 at Cas kieben, Aberdeenshire, 8th son of George Johnston and Christian, dau of William Lord Forbes. He studied on the continent in Italy and France, where he rec'd his M.D. at Padua in 1610. He lived in France for about 20 years -- as a Latin poet -- had 16 children by two wives -- one a Franchwoman and the other a native of Brabant. [This is located south of Brussels, thus she was French-speaking. Neither wife or any children are specifically named in the article. LSS] He returned to Scotland 1632 where he continued to write poetry, although he was "styled one of the royal physicians" on the title page of an elegy published 1628 in Aberdeen. Archbishop Laud became his patron c1633 to translate Psalms which was completed four years later. Johnston died 1641 at Oxford while visiting one of his daus. The Lib of Congress copy of _Scotland's Men of Letters_, pub lished 1845 by the St. Andrew Society of Marischal College, Aber deen, Scotland was too fragile to xerox, but Doug was allowed to take notes: Dr. Arthur was born at Caskieben 1587, fifth son of George and Christian (Forbes) Johnston ... Orphaned at an early age, Ar thur was raised by an older brother, Sir John Johnston of Cas kieben ... Dr. Johnston married three times and had thirteen children. The name of his first wife is not known, but she was a native of France where Dr. Johnston practiced medicine and taught at the Christian University of Sedan from 1610 to about 1614. In 1625 Dr. Johnston returned to Aberdeen, Scotland where he practiced medicine and taught at Marischal College. In 1628 he was appointed physician ordinary to the royal household of King Charles I of England. About 1630 he married Barbara Gordon, dau of John and Margaret (Undy) Gordon, of Caskieben, Aberdeenshire. Together they had five children. Dr. Johnston served the Stuart royal family in London from 1628 to 1632 when he returned to Aber- deen to resume his medical practice and teaching career. He was elected rector of Kings College, Aberdeen in 1633. Dr. Johnston is best remembered as an accomplished poet who published twelve books of verse, many of which were written in Latin. He was noted, especially, for poems commemorating the lives and deeds of famous men of his age, many of whom were his intimates. Dr. Johnston died in Oxford, England June 1641. Bar bara Gordon Johnston died in Aberdeen in August 1650. Doug then discusses the discrepancies between to the two biographies: "Personally, I think the three wives is correct be cause the photocopy bio. mentions two wives, neither of whom is Barbara Gordon -- and there is other, solid proof that Arthur and Barbara were in fact married before 1631. My recollection is that Lorand Johnson gave Arthur two wives and 11 children which he named. These bios. seem to confirm _much_ of the information of fered by Lorand Johnson which everyone seems so ready to toss aside. It would appear that Arthur's oldest son, James (b.1612) was by his first wife. Three of the five children by Mary KYNUNCLE died young, meaning that Dr. Arthur returned to Aberdeen in 1625 with only three surviving children -- James, George and Susannah. Susannah was the daughter that married an Anglican min- ister and lived in Oxford, and was host to Arthur Johnston when he died. Her marriage is on record. According to Lorand Johnson, James and George both became Quakers and emigrated to VA, with James settling in Norfolk and George in Accomac Co. I cannot account for James, but I can account for George who was a Quaker and who founded the Muddy Creek Quaker meeting in Accomac Co.... Lorand Johnson said that Arthur Johnston had five children by Barbara Gordon after he returned from France. There are 'primary' records that appear to confirm the bare facts offered by Lorand Johnson on three of these children -- unfortunately Ed ward is not among the three. Scottish church records (LDS) show that a dau, Barbara Johnston, was born in July 1631 in St. Nicholas Church, Aberdeen and that she married a George Cullen in 1657. There are no birth records for any of the other Johnston children by Barbara Gordon, but there are marriage records that show a Margaret Johnston married a George Delgarno in 1655 and a William Johnston married a Helen Cullen in 1669. In both cases, the relative who stood for them was Thomas Johnston who I suspect was Sir Thomas Johnston, Laird of Craig and Sheriff of Aberdeen, and a son of John Johnston and Katherine Luncy. (John was Arthur's older brother). With the early death of his older brother, Sir Thomas had become the head of the Johnston of Caskieben clan. (He was also the father of James Johnston, the Quaker merchant of Aber deen, and grandfather to William, John and Alexander Johnson of New Kent Co.) ... Arthur's second youngest son (2 years older than Edward) by Barbara Gordon, was named William Gordon Johnston. Lorand Johnson reported that he became a civil law professor at Kings College, Aberdeen. We should be able to verify this particular information, though I have not found an appropriate reference. Still, no concrete information about the one child we really care about -- Edward Johnston. But the facts offered by Lorand Johnson on the other Johnston children seem solid enough. So why do we doubt the existence of an Edward as presented by Lorand Johnson? (Tying Arthur's Edward to 'our' Edward Johnson of New Kent Co. is a completely different problem.) Based on our ability to substantiate much of the collateral Johnston family evidence, I remain inclined to accept the existance of Edward Johnston as the youngest son of Arthur and Barbara Gordon Johnston." "I would _again_ like to offer the 'cousin' argument for accept ing Edward as the son of Arthur. Elizabeth Johnston Keith wrote a letter to Quaker Missionary Mary Harris before the 1676 Quaker meeting in London in which she referred to 'my cousin Edward Johnston' who was to accompany Ann Keith to VA after the London meeting. According to Lorand Johnson, the letter in question is included in the Mary Harris collection at the Society of Friends Museum in London. It is extensively quoted by Lorand Johnson, who must have had access to the letter or a published copy. I simply don't believe it was a figment of his imagination. If Edward Johnson, son of Arthur, existed, he would have been a first cousin to Elizabeth Forbes Johnston, the dau of Dr. William Johnston. I have searched Lorand Johnson's three books ... thoroughly and there is _no other living Edward in this par ticular Johnston Clan of Caskieben who could have qualified as a 'cousin' to Elizabeth Forbes Johnston Keith in 1676._ Keep in mind that Sir George Johnston of the generation following that of Arthur Johnston, had to document the entire Johnston of Caskieben Clan in a court proceeding that established his claim to the baronet title. Lorand Johnson specifically states that he had access to those court records. Also, Elizabeth Johnston had no Johnston second cousins be cause her grandfather had been an only child. Thus the cousin Edward referred to by Elizabeth Johnston Keith had to have been a first cousin -- one of the sons of her father's four brothers. Lorand Johnson gives the names of the sons of all of William Johnson's brothers and the _only Edward_ is the son of his brother Arthur. So I am reasonably convinced that the Edward referred to by Elizabeth Johnston Keith is Arthur Johnston's son and that he was headed for Virginia in late 1676. True, the Edward Johnson who appears in NKC in 1677 does not have a sign hanging around his neck saying who his father was, but almost everything we know about him fits the few facts that we do have." "Another piece of the Lorand Johnson offering on Dr. Arthur Johnston's family and the emigration of several of his sons to VA can be checked out from VA property records. Lorand Johnston stated that George Johnson (b. c1620), Arthur's fourth son by Mary Kynuncle, became an early Quaker who emigrated with his family to VA in 1661. George Johnston _was an early_ Quaker and was arrested and briefly jailed in Aberdeen in early 1661 with his young cousin Elizabeth Forbes Johnston. Their names are in cluded in Bess's list of 'Quakers who Suffered' through arrest and imprisonment during the turbulent years between 1658 and 1672. ... land records and wills for Accomac Co., on VA's Eastern shore, seem to confirm Lorand Johnson ... They show George Johnson Sr. as a land holder along Muddy Creek in Accomack Co. as early as 1664. The land records also show that George Johnson Jr. donated land to the Muddy Creek Quaker Meeting (later called the Guilford Meeting) in 1690 for the purpose of building a meet ing house. Quaker meetings had been held in the Johnston home since the early 1670's. The Meeting House at Muddy Creek was the first purpose-built Quaker Meeting house in VA. George Johnston Sr's first wife was Elinor Meredith of Aber deen and his second wife was Mary Goldsmith, dau of William Goldsmith of London ...Elinor ... was the mother of at least four Johnson children -- Mary, Elinor and Elizabeth (called Elspet) and George Jr. ... Mary Goldsmith _may_ have been the mother to younger sons, John and Samuel. All of the Johnston children were practicing Quakers. From 1664 through 1674, George Johnson Sr. accumulated more than 2,400 acres...His first 400 acres were patented by Alexander MASSEY in 1664 and subsequently 'assigned' to George Johnson later that year (Nugent, vol. 1, page 482; vol. II to 'Geo Johnson's property, formerly Alex. Massy's') We do not know the circumstances of the assignment from Massey to Johnson, only that the transfer to Johnston did not go through the colonial patent ing process. In 1665, another 400 acres were 'assigned' from John RENNY to George Johnson ... (Nugent, vol. I, p483 and v. II, page 65) Renny (Rennie) and Massey were fellow Scots from Aberdeen shire, and both came to VA as indentured servants...There is no indication that he [Massey] was related to the Massie's of Cheshire and NKC, although I would not count out a distant family connection ... In 1669, George Johnson rec'd his own patent for 550 acres of new land ... In 1672 [he] patented 300 additional acres ... 800 acres. Why Johnston used the 'assignment' approach for his earlier properties, but went through the patent process ... after 1688 is unclear." "Back to Edward Johnson. He reportedly arrived in VA in the later part of 1676 or very early 1677, in the company of Ann Keith who was to marry George WALKER. The possibility that Quaker missionary William Edmundson was a passenger on the same voyage was new to me, but Edmundson later published his diaries and memoirs, so I expect that the date, vessel name and condi tions in VA at the time of his arrival are documented... The fact that Edward Johnson signed the New Kent 'Complaints' document did not mean he was a NKC land owner by April 2, 1677. As I recall, 19 year-old Thomas MOORMAN signed the document and don't think he was a land owner of record at the time. I also suspect that 'not signing' the complaints document may have been more risky for a 'closet Quaker' than signing. (I note that Alexander and George WALKER signed a similar document as residents of York Co. George was certainly a Quaker, and his father had been defrocked in Scotland for his Quaker sympathies.) Furthermore, though Quaker males would not have volunteered to serve with Bacon's rebels, they certainly had little sympathy for the colonial government of Berkeley. You mention that no land patent has been found for Edward JOHNSON... If Edward Johnson was awarded a land patent in NKC, I think the record _would exist and would be in Nugent_. I talked to Minor Weisiger (804-786-2306) of Archival Reference at the VA State Lib about the apparent absence of 'expected land records' in Nugent...He said the absence of a recorded land patent after 1650 usually meant that the land in question was purchased out right or inherited. Weisiger said there are 'no significant num bers of unrecorded land patents after 1650 in Colonial VA. Before 1650 is a different story.' You have correctly pointed out that the 1670's were tough economic times for the tobacco farmers of colonial VA. However, the Johnson/Johnston clan was relatively wealthy and the im migrant Edward Johnson probably was in a better position to ac quire land than were the majority of the local colonial farmers. (Note that older brother George accumulated 2,400 acres in ap proximately 10 years between 1664 and 1674.)" "Also, I have puzzled over the name Anthony which is shown as the firstborn son of Edward and Elizabeth Johnson. However, if the name was taken from a handwritten record, consider how very close the letters of a scrawled Anthony and Arthur would look. Tall short-tall-tall-short-short. I think Anthony was a mistake of the transcriber -- the name was probably Arthur ... The fact that another Arthur appears on the list of children does not matter because it seems to have come from a marriage record rather than a birth record. They are the same person. By the way, the PHARES family were Quakers and did live in NKC during the appropriate period. They later spelled their name both PHARES and FARIS." "On the stormy 1669 colonization voyage of the 'Three Sisters' from Barbadoes to SC, with unscheduled stops at Bermuda and Hampton Roads (Nansemond River), might it be possible that the Captain of the 'Three Sisters' was the Capt. James Turner who patented land near Whiting Swamp in NKC in June, 1670 and claimed transportation of one Thomas MOREMAN? Remember, Thomas Morman's land was later located close to Whiting Swamp. Might not the 12 year-old Thomas have been inden tured to Capt. Turner, perhaps in return for giving the Moorman family a lift from Barbadoes to VA? After the end of his inden ture, Thomas may have acquired land on Whiting Swamp from his former master. One problem I have with this 'pure speculation' is that the land patent seems to be dated too close to the time frame of the voyage of the 'Three Sisters'. Or, perhaps Capt. Turner served as a surrogate for Zachariah MOORMAN, and part of the land patent taken out by Capt. Turner was subsequently 'assigned' to Zachariah, just as Renny and Mas sey did for Quaker George Johnson in Accomac Co. Again, just idle speculation at this point." "A cautionary comment regarding the vessel 'Glasgow' which family legend says brought the MOORMANs and CLARKs to Barbadoes. The paternal side on my family came from Devon and I have a list of the Devon vessels that were inventoried for possible military service by the Crown in 1664. This has nothing to do with the par- ticular 'Glasgow' that took the Moormans and Clarks to Barbadoes ... However, in 1664 there were 16 vessels registered at Devon ports with the name "Glasgow' or a variation such as 'City of Glasgow'. Eleven of these are described as being 'colonial traders'. I suspect there were numerous other 'Glasgows' scat tered among other English ports. My point is that a vessel named 'Glasgow' would not have been unique in the mid-17th century colonial trades -- I suspect there were many with that particular name. However, we have no knowledge that the particualr 'Glasgow' that carried the Moorman's to Barbadoes ever called at VA. All we know is that it reportedly sailed from Southampton to Barbadoes in 1669. Since it carried passengers, chances are there is a record of the voyage if not a passenger list. We should make an effort to track down the voyage record from the Southampton end where records are more likely to have been preserved. By the way, the 'Glasgow' part of the MOORMAN legend was in print long before either Lorand Johnson or Jesse Bryan did their genealogical research. I found an 1853 book on 'The Quakers of South River' at the DAR library which presents the essential parts of the Moorman family legend, including the 'Glasgow' and the Clark family. (This particular book had names and dates pretty mixed up, and seems to have been the beginning of the 'Green Springs' confusion, but the 'Glasgow' is there, with the Clarks, in black and white. The source of the Moorman legend material seems to have been interviews with Moorman descendants that were still living in the Lynchburg VA area in the 1850's.)" "One last item on Edward Johnson. His wife is reported to have been Elizabeth WALKER, who I believe was a sister of George Walker and dau of Alexander Walker. I can't prove that Elizabeth was or wasn't Edward's wife, but I did find record of her birth in Old Machar, Aberdeen on 13 JAN 1658. Her father, Alexander Walker, is listed in the church record, but we know from Scottish history that Alex. Walker was the minister of Old Machar Parish until 1661 when he was excommunicated for his vocal support of the Quaker movement. (I read somewhere that he and his family were 'transported' to America as undesirables, but haven't been able to find the source.) A 1658 birth would be just about right for a 1677 marriage -- except that Edward Johnson would have been 20 years older than his new wife. Wonder if Edward had been married earlier in Scotland?" Now to Doug's letter dated 17 APR 1996: "Here's more material for your file on Edward JOHNSON. It doesn't prove anything, but may fill in a gap or two in the Johnston/Johnson family story. ...earlier... I mentioned...after Barbara Gordon Johnston's death in 1650 her children had lived in the same household as their widowed aunt Barbara Forbes Johnston and her children. Con- sider the following facts that come from Scottish Church Records. Dr. Arthur and Barbara Gordon Johnston had a dau, Elizabeth, who was born in Aberdeen in 1631. On 1 AUG 1657 Elizabeth married George Cullen at Saint Nicholas Church, Aberdeen...George Cullen was the eldest son of George and Marjorie Forbes Cullen. Marjorie Forbes Cullen was the dau of William Forbes...the eldest son of Hendre and Marjorie Kyng Forbes of Aberdeen. Hendre Forbes' father was William Forbes (not the 'Lord' Forbes branch of the family) and his mother was Isobell Gordon. The odds are good that Isobell Gordon was related to the Barbara Gor don who married Dr. Arthur Johston--but so far I have found no facts to support such a relationship. Based on the birth date reported by Lorand Johnson and others, the Barbara Forbes who married Dr. Wm Johnston, was Hendre Forbes' dau and Wm Forbes' sister. However, I believe Bar- bara Forbes Johnston was actually William's dau, if only because she gave birth to five children between 1633 and 1641 -- and I have known few women to give birth at age 56! Also, she was an active Quaker dissident in the 1660s when she would have been near 80 and that is just not reasonable. So I would guess that Barbara Forbes Johnston, wife of Dr. Wm, was born between 1606 and 1612. Assuming Barbara and Marjorie Forbes were sisters, their children would have been first cousins who would have been prohibited from marrying in the church of Scotland. This is an important point, because if it is correct it would help explain the marriages of the next generation. Two of Marjorie Forbes Cullen's children (George and Hellen) married children of Dr. Arthur and Barbara Gordon Johnston. Their children would have been second cousins and allowed to marry in the Church of Scotland -- which they did. [Doug then charts the two generations which I won't attempt to duplicate, but will say George CULLEN b. 1636 married Elizabeth Johnston and Hellen Cullen b. 1643 m. William Johnston -- both chn of Dr. Arthur & Barbara. LSS] The above proves nothing about the parentage of 'our' Edward Johnson, but it adds a few more facts to the family puzzle. Lorand Johnson seems to have had the Cullen/Johnson marriage facts correct which suggests, to me at least, that we should con sider his other information on Dr. Arthur's children as credible until proven otherwise. Why would it all check out except 'our' Edward?" Doug sent the following April 20: "...In my old notes I found marriage information on two other daus of Dr. Arthur Johnston and Barbara Gordon. Elizabeth Johnston (b.1632) married John SEATON first and Col. James Innes second. Margaret (b.1634) married George Dalgarno of Balcos. William (b.1636) who I earlier reported as having married Helen Cullen and as being a Professor of Civil Law at Kings Col lege, died in Aberdeen in 1673 at just 37 years of age. George Cullen Sr., the father of the George Cullen Jr. who married Barbara Johnston and the Hellen Cullen who married Wil liam Johnston, was the Provost of Aberdeen. By the way, Barbara Gordon was b. at Caskieben, Aberdeenshire in 1603 and not 1587 as tentatively noted by someone in the IGI. (Her mother, Margaret UNDY was born in 1581!) ... Also the Barbara Forbes who married Dr. William Johnston, Arthur's younger brother, _was_ the dau of William Forbes and the granddau of Hendre and Marjorie Cullen Forbes. She was chris tened in St. Nicholas Church, Aberdeen, in 1607..." "In sum, there is confirmable marriage information on all of Arthur and Barbara Gordon Johnston's children except for 'our' Edward of New Kent Co., probably because he was married in a private Quaker ceremony in colonial VA with no records kept and no relatives in attendance. All we know for sure is that he made it to VA, he bought land in NKC, he was a Quaker, he married someone named Elizabeth, and they had a pile of children, one of whom married Christopher CLARK, whose origins are equally mys terious. But we are getting closer to the TRUTH. So to tidy up the family portrait of Dr. Arthur Johnston, I offer the family chart below. Dr. Arthur Johnston (1587-1641) m. French wife (1) (c1590-1614) Mary Kynuncle (2) (c1594-1624) Barbara Gordon (3) (1603-1650) Children by first wife: James 1612-c1673 Emigrated to VA with 3 sons and their families in 1671 (Possibly two other chn born between 1610 and 1614) Children by Mary Kynuncle: Ludovick c.1615-1615 d. young Nicholas c1617-1617 d. young George 1620 Emigrated to Accomac Co. VA in 1663 m. Elinore (Eleanor) Meredith (1) Mary Goldsmith (2) Mary c1622- * Susannah 1624 - * * It is not clear from the available records which dau, Mary or Susannah, died young and which married a Church of England minis ter. Frankly, since Mary would have been 19 in 1641, she seems more likely to have been the survivor. Children by Barbara Gordon: Barbara 1631- m. George Cullen Jr. 1657 Elizabeth 1631- m. John Seaton (1) Col. James Innes (2) Margaret 1634 - m. George Dalgarno of Balcos William 1636 - 1673 m. Hellen Cullen Edward 1638 - c1704 Emigrated to York Co. VA in 1676 Settled in NKC in 1677 m. Elizabeth Walker 1677