Mam-ma's Southern Family

The last post in the saga of Johnstons in Texas, found Marion J. Johnston’s death certificate that named his parents Samuel Johnston and Elizabeth McCormick. [1] One note to make as the research travels further back in time. The name Johnston is more often rendered as Johnson in the records, and we’ll see that in this research session. Reuben’s connection with brothers, Marion and David, was in a venture called Johnston Brothers. The agricultural census listed the Johnston Brothers but no specific names. [2] The tax records for Comanche County listed Marion with land and Reuben and David with livestock and no land. [3] The regular census shows the same men in the same order as the agricultural census. [4]   Johnston households in Comanche Co, Texas 1880 Ag Schedule - Johnston Brothers Titus County, Texas The previous census found the Johnstons in Titus County in 1870. I discussed in Timeline for Reuben M. Johnston that Reuben lived with proposed wife, Catharine and son, Samu...

I left off with the timeline for Reuben M. Johnston who lived in Titus and Comanche counties in Texas, from about 1860s to his death in 1924.  From an undated Comanche Chief article in the Wagon Wheels column, clipping sent to me by my mother's cousin . Time now for what I can locate using FamilySearch full-text search function. I searched using “R. M. Johnston,” “Reuben M Johnston,” “Rubin M Johnston” and the same using “Johnson” in Titus and Comanche counties. These are the only records I found. Children’s Vital Records Named Their Parents On 7 February 1904, R. M. and Lee Johnston were named as parents of Loyd S. Johnston was born in Gustine. The physician or midwife was D. M. Smith. [1]       COMMENT: Was Olivia called Lee by family? Or did the doctor or midwife get her name wrong? Ruby Mack Johnston and Olivia Jane Jones were named as parents on the birth record of Woodie Andrew Johnston, born 6 October 1892 in Comanche County, but recorded in O...

Reuben M. Johnston, my 2x-great-grandfather, was born 18 April 1841 in Alabama and died 4 May 1824. This information is clearly written on the tombstone in Hazeldell Cemetery in Comanche County, Texas, where he lived since the late 1870s. [1] Before Comanche County, he lived in Titus County, Texas, where he registered to vote and pay taxes. [2] Hazeldell Cemetery, Gustine, Texas photo by author 1870s In 1870, he was thirty years old and a farmer. He lived with Catharine, who was nineteen, and Samuel M, who was four months old, born in February of that year. He had no real estate listed. [3] He paid tax on a horse in 1868, [4] 1869, [5] and 1870. [6] By 1871, he owned 80 acres of land valued at $160. [7] No record has been found of the marriage to Catharine, most likely due to the Titus County courthouse fire in 1895 that destroyed all records. [8] He moved to Comanche County sometime in the 1870s. Catharine must have died before 1879, as Reuben married Olivia on 23 December 18...