Sam & Elizabeth Johnston in Texas & Mississippi – 12 for ‘26

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, Samuel M. They were enumerated immediately after Elizabeth Johnston, age 54, and possible children Marion J, David N, and Sarah A., along with a domestic servant, Celia, who was African American.[5]

1870 Titus Co, Texas census - Johnston families

Looking at the 1870 census in Titus County, Elizabeth was 54 years old and born in South Carolina, suggesting a birth of 1816. She owned $1000 worth of real estate and $400 worth of personal property. There are also marks in the “cannot write” and whether “deaf and dumb, blind, insane, or idiotic” columns. Many other people also have these marks in that column, so perhaps someone was making note of something else. These marks were for the same people who had marks for cannot read or write.

The other members of Elizabeth’s household were Marion J, born in Alabama, David N, born in Mississippi, and Sarah A., born in Mississippi. These give clues as to when the family was in Alabama and when they were in Mississippi. I would expect to locate them in Mississippi at least in 1850, and perhaps in 1860.

The domestic servant, Celia, was 15 and born in Mississippi. It is possible she was an enslaved person of the family before emancipation. If I locate a slave schedule for 1860, she might be listed as a 5-year-old.

Details about Elizabeth’s land ownership show in the Titus County 1870 tax list. Elizabeth Johnston owned 320 acres, worth $1120. Listed below her were R. M. Johnston and M. J. Johnston, both of whom owned no land but were taxed on horses.[6] If David was 20, he was not old enough to be taxed yet.

She was also enumerated in the agricultural census, having 70 acres cleared and 250 acres wooded, worth $1000 with $75 worth of equipment and machinery. She had 1 horse, 2 milk cows, 4 cattle, 16 sheep, and 12 swine, all worth $200. She grew 600 bushels of Indian corn, 8 bales of cotton, and 20 bushels of sweet potatoes.[7]

Following the tax records back in time, she was listed on the 1869 as Mrs. Elizabeth Johnston with the same acreage of land, worth $640. Reuben and Marion are also listed without land.[8] The original grantee of the land was Henry Culp, which is useful for tracing land, especially since land records were destroyed in the courthouse fire in 1895.[9]

In 1868, the person listed with the Henry Culp land of 320 acres was Samuel Johnson.[10] If Elizabeth was listed for the same land in 1869 that Samuel was listed in 1868, then Samuel may have died between 1868 and 1869.

In 1867, Saml Johnston was listed with the same 320 acres. He had 3 horses, 8 cattle, and 17 sheep, as well as being taxed on miscellaneous property worth $50.[11]

Samuel Johnston registered to vote on 25 July 1867 in Titus County. He indicated he had been born in South Carolina and had been in the state 6 years and in the county 5 years. He signed his name, indicating he could write.[12] Reuben and Marion registered on 29 August 1867 and said they had been in the state and county 7 years and had been born in Alabama.[13] There was also a W. K. Johnston, who registered on the same day as Reuben and Marion, who was also born in Alabama and had been in the county 7 years. Was he another brother?

1867 Voter Registration - Titus Co, Texas

In 1866, R.M. Johnson was taxed only on a poll. Samuel Johnson was taxed on the 320 acres of land (Culp), along with 3 horses, 15 catted, and 22 sheep. Next to Samuel was W. K. Johnson, who had 25 acres of land (John King) and 4 horses.[14]

1865 tax list is missing. In 1864, Samuel Johnson had the 320 acres, 1 horse, and the only one of the family listed.[15] This suggests the sons were under 21.

The 1863 tax list had Samuel Johnson with 320 acres, 1 horse and 2 cattle.[16] He was taxed on the same land and only one horse in 1862.[17]

There is no Samuel Johnson in the 1861 tax list. Doing a full-text search on “Henry Culp” may determine who owned the 320 acres before Samuel. But that is a tedious search for another day. With Samuel not in the 1861 tax list, they must have arrived sometime in 1861-62, which agrees with what he reported in 1867.

Search in Mississippi
I can now search in Mississippi for the family. I have several names tied to a family: Adults Samuel and Elizabeth, sons Reuben, Marion, David, and W. K., and daughter, Sarah.

I found Samuel Johnson in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, in 1860. The household consisted of the following:[18]

Samuel Johnson, 44, b. SC
Elizabeth, 45, SC
Reuben, 20, Alabama
Laura, 18, Alabama
Washington J, 16, Alabama
M. J., 14, Alabama
David N, 10, Mississippi
Sarah A, 5, Mississippi
Charles Norton, 55, b. Virginia

He also owned real estate valued at $1000 and had $185 worth of personal property. Only David attended school. Some neighbors included L. M. Dew, W. N. Springer, Paris Broadstreet, James Hough, William Gore, Thomas Brandon.

Samuel was difficult to locate in 1850, but search on his neighbor L. M. Dew, he was found in Yalobusha County. His entry was indexed as “Dehnson” and the way the scribe wrote the letter J on other names of the page, the beginning portion of the name is the letter J. Other members of the household, Elizabeth, Isabella, Reuben, Luvina, George W, Madison, and David N. correlate to the 1860 census. All the children were born in Alabama. Samuel had no land listed.[19]

Samuel Johnson, 34, SC
Elizabeth, 34, SC
Isabella, 10, Ala
Reuben, 8, Ala
Luvina, 7, Ala
George W., 5, Ala
Madison, 4, Ala
David N, 1, Ala

Correlating the 1850-1880 censuses helps resolve the differences in names.

Two of the children, Luvina/Laura and Madison/Marion, have name variations that could account for the enumerator mishearing the name or misreading the name from their notes.

Marion, David, and Sarah are consistently listed in the family each year in their respective position each census year, while Reuben remained a nearby neighbor.

In comparing the names of the members in the four households with their ages, they correlate within a year or two. Elizabeth did not age ten years between 1870 and 1880, but she was not the head of household in 1880, rather Marion J. was.

Old Family Group Sheet
In my early days of research, I contacted my mother’s Johnston cousin, Sandra. She sent me photocopies of pages from books, a paper written by another cousin from a genetics class, and a family group sheet. The reproduction is poor as some of the writing is too light to read. The last date on the sheet is a death date for Florence Ellen in 1978, so the paper was written after that date. There is no name of who prepared the sheet. It does say that the family bible and grave markers were the source of the information. There is probably some personal knowledge as well. I do not know the whereabouts of this bible.

Family Group Sheet - "Rubin Mack Johnston" - author unknown

Reuben’s father and mother are listed as Sam Johnston and Elizabeth (Betsy) with no surname. The dates of birth and death for Reuben are the same as on the tombstone. It is the same with his wife, Olivia Jane Jones. The marriage is marked as 2 for Reuben and 1 for Olivia. I do not have the family group sheet for his first marriage. The list of children with their birthdates may have come from the family bible, as they are very complete. Death dates are sporadic and there are missing dates for people who had died before 1978.

I hadn’t looked at this paper in a long while. I thought Reuben’s mother’s full name was on the sheet, but it is not. There is a clue at the bottom with a star listing the date 1916 and the name Higgenbotham. This is where my great-grandfather, Thomas N. Johnston worked, as stated on his WW I draft registration. Perhaps he started there in 1916. I cannot figure out the note “ninth” means. Edna Johnston Couch had children named Ione, T.J., Willa Ruth, Bobby, and Ernest. Are “Scissar” and “Thang” nicknames for the two youngest boys?

Part of the note after Oliva Jane Jones I can read is she had 4 sisters and 1 brother and that two of the sisters were twins. But I cannot make out the rest, something about one of them marrying a cousin named Hudson. I have not followed her siblings’ line down and perhaps I should.

Summary
Original documents in Texas and Mississippi have supported the likely parents of Reuben M. Johnston as Samuel and Elizabeth Johnston. Using tax, voting, and census records, the family is fleshed out, showing Reuben’s place in it. Marion’s death record named his parents. Census records placed Reuben as a brother of Marion. If they were full brothers, then they would have the same parents. At this point, without knowing when Sam married Elizabeth, we have the hypothesis that they had the same parents.

The family group sheet created by an unknown genealogist in the Johnston family used a family bible to fill in portions of the sheet and tombstones to fill in other parts. The current location of the bible is not known, so I cannot confirm how much of the information in Reuben’s part of the sheet came from the bible. Were his parents’ names there? Why weren’t Olivia’s parents’ names listed then? Would this be considered an independent source? Robert Lee Johnston, one of Reuben’s sons, was the informant for Marion’s death certificate. Where did he get the names of Marion’s parents? If from the bible, then why is Elizabeth’s last name missing from the family group sheet?

The next step in this research may involve using the FAN club, or Friends, Associates, and Neighbors, to help take the family back further in time. The 1840 census only lists the head of household. If the oldest known child, Isabella, was born about 1840 in Alabama, she may or may not be counted in the census. Plus, with Johnston also rendered as Johnson, there may be multiple Sam Johnsons in Alabama and even in South Carolina, if the family began there. Before jumping to Alabama, the next post will investigate what further records in Mississippi can be found to help take them back to a specific place in Alabama.

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[1] Comanche Co, Texas, Record of Deaths, v. 5, p. 91, Marion Jackson Johnston, 1938; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YSZS-3V4 : accessed 20 Aug 2026), IGN 004478834, image 167 of 610.

[2] 1880 U.S. census, Comanche Co, Texas, ag sched, ED 30, Prec 3, p. 23, line 4, Johnston Brothers.

[3] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Comanche County, 1880, p. 26, M.J. Johnson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-WZ9Z-91 : accessed 16 Aug 2026), IGN 004616282, images 812-13 of 1200; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[4] 1880 U.S. census, Comanche Co, Texas, ED 30, p 95a, families 169-174, W Thomas Jones, W George Knox, F Henry Wright, J. Marion Johnston, M Rubin Johnston, E James McDonald, and J John Knox.

[5] 1870 U.S. census, Titus Co, Texas, Mt. Pleasant Post Office, p. 26 (stamped), dwellings 173 & 174, Elizabeth Johnston & Rubin M Johnston.

[6] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Titus County, 1870, p. 24, Elizabeth. Johnston; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-4RST-VS : accessed 15 Aug 2026), IGN 004653615, image 1023 of 1184; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[7] 1870 U.S. census, Titus Co, Texas, ag sched, p. 5, line 25, Elizabeth Johnston.

[8] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Titus County, 1869, p. 22, Mrs. Elizabeth. Johnston; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-4RST-MG : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 004653615, image 960 of 1184; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[9] “Titus County, Texas Genealogy,” FamilySearch Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Titus_County,_Texas_Genealogy : accessed 21 Aug 2026).

[10] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Titus County, 1868, p. 22, Samuel Johnson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-4RST-XQ : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 004653615, image 894 of 1184; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[11] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Titus County, 1867, p. 24, Saml Johnston; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-4RSY-3S : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 004653615, image 823 of 1184; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[12] Texas Voting Registers 1867-69, v. VII, p. 38, Titus County, no. 297, Samuel Johnston; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKJ-57PL-9 : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 008151845, images 82-83 of 1010.

[13] Texas Voting Registers 1867-69, v. VII, p. 68, Titus County, no. 1500, R.M. Johnston; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKJ-57PN-K : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 008151845, images 143-44 of 1010.

[14] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Titus County, 1866, p. 16, R.M. Johnson, Samuel Johnson, & W.K. Johnson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-4RSY-RF : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 004653615, image 768 of 1184; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[15] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Titus County, 1864, p. 21, Samuel Johnson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-4RSY-K2 : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 004653615, image 722 of 1184; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[16] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Titus County, 1863, p. 18, Samuel Johnson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-4RSB-3L : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 004653615, image 674 of 1184; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[17] Texas Comptroller, Texas Tax Rolls, Titus County, 1862, p. 22, Samuel Johnson; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-4RSB-DQ : accessed 21 Aug 2026), IGN 004653615, image 626 of 1184; citing Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin.

[18] 1860 U.S. census, Yalobusha Co, Mississippi, S.E. Beat, p. 917 (penned), dwelling 1182, family 1276, Samuel Johnson.

[19] 1850 U.S. census, Yalobusha Co, Mississippi, North of the Yalobusha River, p. 387b (stamped), dwelling 161, Samuel Johnson.

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