WHO WERE THE EARLIEST JOHNSONS?

WILLIAM JOHNSON

The history of the earliest Johnsons is open to dispute because of the loss of the early land records in the 1831 Courthouse fire.  There are at least two possible candidates for the honor of being the first of our line in Maryland.  The most likely couple is William and Alice who arrived in Maryland in 1668.  Another couple is Peter and Ann who arrived in 1651. As I will explain below it does not appear, given their religious persuasion, that Peter and Ann are our earliest ancestor.

The easiest way to follow the descendants of William and Alice is through the chart I have prepared below (see below).  You can click on any Johnson (in blue) and see the detail page for that indivdual or family.  Once on the detail page you can navigate forward by clicking on the names of the children, and back by clicking on the names of the parents.  This chart takes you through generation four.  Once you are done here you can return to the table of contents to learn more about John & Sarah Drury Johnson, the next important family.

DESCENDENTS OF WILLIAM JOHNSON

Leona Cryer, who did the first work on the Johnson family in Southern Maryland, argues for William and Alice.  She advances her arguments in her book "Some Johnsons of Southern Maryland." She does this, in part, by tracing the history of the tract of land known as "St. Peter's Well."  That tract of land was owned by Alice and then devised down through several later generations.   You will be able to see the transcriptions of the original "Rent Rolls" and Wills that document this transfer history. The red numbers denote our line of descent for each generation.

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