The Long Way Home; The Tennessee Depositions Contiuned

"On November 29th, 1843, proceed to take the deposition of Nancy West age about 53 years. The said Nancy West after being duly sworn on the Holy Evangelist to speak concerning the matter in dispute between the said parties deposes as follows.

Question 1st. by Mr. Humpreys agent for the plaintiff to Nancy West,

Are you acquainted with Phebe Johnson the plaintiff in this suit and M. A. Gash and Sally

Jordan the defendants?

Answer by the witness,

I am well acquainted with Phebe Johnson the plaintiff. She has been called my mother ever since I recollect anything. I saw Mr. Gash at Hendersonville, North Carolina twice last fall. I have saw Sally Jordan at Reuben Johnson's. My father Reuben Johnson lived at that time on the French Broad River. I suppose at the place where he lived when he died.

Question 2nd. by the same,

How often was you at Reuben Johnson's house when he lived on the French Broad River?

Answer by Witness,

I do not recollect precisely the number of times but think I was there about three times.

Question 3rd by the same,

Did Reuben Johnson acknowledge you as his child when you went to see him and call you as such?

Answer by witness,

Certainly, he did.

Question 4th by the same,

How did Sally Jordan treat you when you went to Reuben Johnson's?

She treated me very mean she would not let my father give my dog a piece of bread and when I went to leave as I had as a young child, I asked Father to help me over the River and she would not let him assist me over. Father had a kind of yellow corn and gave me a few ears for seed and it made her so mad that she said if she liked rye bread she would sale every grain of corn on the place while he was gone to court, he had to attend court in a few days afterwards from then.

Question 5th by the same,

Do you recollect when your father Reuben Johnson and Phebe Johnson your mother parted at the time they lived near Asheville.

Answer by the witness,

I can recollect when they parted and also recollect some things that happened before they parted.

Question 6th by the same,

What was you Father's treatment of you mother before they parted?

Answer by the witness,

Father brought a girl in to the house with mother by the name of Polly Quean and after she stayed there a while he got so ill to mother that she could get no peace. I have seen him catch her and jerk her down and abuse her so that she would holler ( bloody ) murder.

Question 7th by same,

Do you recollect of them having any difficulty or disagreeing after he brought this woman Quean you spoke of to live at the house?

answer by witness,

I do not recollect of them having and difficulty until after he brought her there.

Question 8th by the same

Do you recollect who went with or carried your mother from Buncombe County, North Carolina to South Carolina when they parted?

Answer by witness,

It was my mother's step father I think. I was so young that I am not positive but I think he was the person. I do not know how he happened to come after us unless he had heard how she had been abused.

Question 9th, by the same,

Do you know whether your Father and this Quean woman lived together after you mother and him parted?

Answer by witness,

After he moved from Swannanoa to the French Broad, I went there and she was there.

Question 10th by the same,

How did your father treat you when you went to see him while he lived with this Quean woman that you speak of?

Answer by the witness,

I do not know but what he treated me well enough

Question 11th, by the same,

Did you father, Rueben Johnson come to see you mother Phebe Johnson and her children after they parted in North Carolina and your mother went to South Carolina to live?

Answer by witness,

He come to see us twice or three times and best as I recollect and stayed all night one time.

Question 12th by the same,

Did you ever live at your mother's entirely after she went to South Carolina to live or was you in the habit of living at other peoples houses before you married?

Answer by witness,

I lived at home with my mother

Question 13th by the same,

How long after your father and mother parted until you married and left home?

Answer by witness,

I cannot say positively but suppose it must have been 10 to 12 years.

Question 14th, by the same,

Do you know anything of your father coming to South Carolina after they parted and giving your mother a horse beast not to interrupt him while he lived and gave her a horse beast as hers?

Answer by witness,

If she got any horse from him I do not know what it was for.

Question 15th by same,

Was it the same Phebe Johnson that lived with Reuben Johnson your father in Buncombe County, North Carolina and is called your mother and afterwards lived in South Carolina that Reuben Casada saw her at you house some months since and did you go with her to Hendersonville, North Carolina and while there hear her acknowledge a power of attorney to John N. Woodfin authorizing him as a lawyer to sue for her dower in Reuben Johnson's estate?

Answer by witness,

Yes, she is the same woman and I heard her acknowledge such power of attorney.

Question 1st. by L.S.,Gash defendant's agent,

How old are you now,

Answer by witness,

I am about 53 years old.

Question 2nd by the same,

How much older was your brother Isaac than you.

Answer by the witness,

I think I have heard mother say he was about two years and two months older than me.

Question 3rd by the same,

How many children has your mother Phebe Johnson had and what are their names?

Answer by the witness,

She has three besides myself. Their names are Isaac, Mary and Eli and myself Nancy.

Question 4th by the same,

Do you not know her? And, did your mother never tell you that she had another child or children besides the four above mentioned?

Answer by the witness,

If she ever had any more I don't know it nor I never heard my mother say that sh had another child or children.

Question 5th by the same,

Do you not know that your mother has a daughter now living by the same name of Phebe with whom she now lives and has been living for several years both before and since she went to North Carolina in September last?

Answer by the witness,

She may have but she never told me she had such a daughter. ( Bloggers note: I do not know exactly what to think about this other than perhaps, at this point, they may be attempting to work around something. It is inconceivable to me that Nancy would not know about young Phoebe having lived relatively close to Blount County. There are some reasons that could make this an honest statement such as the young Phoebe may have been born to Mary out of wedlock and Phoebe senior raised her as her own. I have been told by the older generation that this was not an uncommon occurrence. However, there is no doubt from the public records that young Phoebe existed and was raised in the Johnson household in Blount County and married Abraham Ridge for whom Phoebe senior seems to be accounted in the early 1800's census data.)

Question 6th by the same,

Have you not always understood that she had and now has such a child as Phebe and whether you never understood that one or more of your mother's children was dead beside shoe you mentioned?

Answer by the witness,

I have heard that there was such a child but mother never told me so. I never heard of any being dead but my brother Isaac.

Question 7th by the same,

How many children had your mother when she left Reuben Johnson on the Swawnnanoa in North Carolina and went to South Carolina to live?

Answer by the witness,

What they parted that had two children Isaac and myself and Polly was born about two months after we moved to South Carolina and we went to South Carolina immediately.

Question 8th by the same,

Did Reuben Johnson and your mother ever live together any more after they parted on the Swawnnanoa?

Answer by the witness,

They never lived together afterwards.

Question 9th by the same,

How long from the time Reuben Johnson and your mother parted on the Swawnnaoa until the time you speak of seeing Polly Quean at his home on the French Broad River?

Answer by witness,

I do not recollect.

Question 10th by the same,

How long do you think that it was?

Answer by witness,

I cannot tell the precise time. It may have been two, three, four or five years.

Question 11th by the same,

Do you know that Polly Quean lived there at that time or was only there on a visit.

Answer by the witness,

I cannot say positively that they lived together but when I went there she was there and I stayed there a day and night and left his ( place ) when I went and was still there.

Question 12th by the same,

Did Polly Quean live with your mother and Reuben Johnson at the time they separated?

Answer by witness,

She had been living there some time and at the time they were talking about parting, she left and went into the settlement somewhere a few weeks before they parted.

Question 13th by the same,

Do you recollect what Reuben and Phebe Johnson first fell out about?

Answer by the witness,

About that girl Quean.

Question 14th by the same,

Who brought Polly Quean first to live with Reuben and Phebe Johnson and where was she from?

Answer by the witness,

I think Father brought her there but am not able to say where he got her from.

Question 15th by the same,

Do you recollect about Reuben and Phebe Johnson having a fuss about a man by the name of McMahan?

Answer by the witness,

I recollect of a fuss being about McMahan. He pretended to be jealous of this man McMahon but never heard any complaint about McMahon until after the fuss about the Quean woman. I know they had many scrapes about the Quean girl.

Question 16th by the same,

How long did you remain with Reuben Johnson the time you speak of Sally Jordan treating you so badly and whether Reuben Johnson ever admitted to you in your presence that you or any one else was his child.

Answer by the witness.

I think that I stayed two days and nights and he always in those days admitted me and treated me as his child.

Question 17th by the same,

Did no other man live with you mother whilst she lived in South Carolina after her and Reuben Johnson separated?

Answer by the witness,

Not to my knowledge.

Question 18th by the same,

Who did you understand took your mother from that county?

Answer by the witness,

I have saw mother but never asked her who moved her but I think I have understood that a man by the name of Deldene removed her from that County.

Question by Humphrey, plaintiff's agent,

Have you or any body else any record of your age to your knowledge?

Answer by the witness,

Not that I know of.

Question by same,

At the time you went with you mother to North Carolina, show houses di you and her go to and did you not go to these places for the purpose of letting them see your mother?

Answer by the witness,

I went to Old John Gashes, John Casada and Robert Orr with her for the purpose of letting them see her and further this deponent saithe not, (Blogger's note: signed with an X. as opposed to Reuben Casada who signed his deposition.)

A short note and small advisory about what is about to be revealed. From here, this story gets a little crazy concerning Phoebe Johnson and our ancestor Eli Johnson. If you thought that our family since time immortal was pure as the driven snow, you might want to quit reading and keep your illusions in tact. If you are really proud of the Johnson surname and want to see when the Johnson's immigrated from Europe, you might be disappointed. However, we can all take comfort in that the Johnson character and reputation was built through honesty and hard work since Eli Johnson moved to Big Gully in about 1810. Our family has been in Big Gully, as I mentioned before, since before the treaty was signed that took Big Gully out of Cherokee Indian territory. Not bragging or complaining, for now, just stating a fact about how long one family found the promised land and unlike others that kept moving west to try to make a better life for their families, we joyously settled here and have occupied some parts of the area continuously for over 200 years! Take care and stay safe and I hope to at least finish Nancy West's deposition this week. It may be the next before I can get into the gory details of our specific ancestry. However, I hope that all of the story will become clear before August.