|
William
Johnson and his wife Alice arrived in Maryland in 1668. William is listed
in Gust Skordas' book "The Early
Settlers of Maryland" as having "Immigrated" to
Maryland in 1668. That means that he paid his own passage to
America. His wife Alice is listed as "Service" 1668
which means that she came as an indentured servant who had to work for
some period of time before she could claim her 50 acre freehold.
The citation for them is Volume 18, page 314.
We have two tracts of land associated with William and Alice. The
first is in the Newtown Hundred and is named "Hopewell." The
1707 Rental Roll lists the possessor as "William
Johnson." The land was laid out in 1670 for Arthur De La
Hay. The second tract, and probably the more important one, is
"St. Peters Well." This tract was in the Chaptico
Hundred. In the 1707 Rent Roll it is listed as owned by
"Alice Johnson, widow." This allows us to place
William's death before 1707. The land was originally surveyed in 1678
for Thomas Melton. Ms. Leona Cryer in
"Some
Johnsons of Southern Maryland" states that William was thus
dead by 1678 the date of the survey but I suggest that the Rent Roll
dates from 1707 so I used that date. This tract is important
because Ms. Cryer traces it into the hands of later Johnson
generations. Interestingly enough, in the book entitled
"St.
Mary's County Rent Rolls, 1639 to 1771" published by TLC
Genealogical Publications that source lists the "St. Peter's
Well" tract as being sold to Philip Key
by John Johnson on March 9, 1737. The "Hopwell" tact
appears to have been conveyed to Richard
Cooper in 1730 by William's son William Johnson. Later there
is an "Addition" to "St. Peter's Well" that Ms.
Cryer references and we shall discuss when we get to the next
generation.
We know
very little if anything about William's oldest son William. Ms
Cryer bases her information on William on information taken from the
Will of Richard Benton and she admits this is the only reference she has
found to William. We do know more about John, the second son, and
he forms the second generation in Ms. Cryer's book. His will
survives.
Children were:
|
