The Long Way Home; South Carolina Depositions

South Carolina, Pendleton District — At the House of William Sutherland 8th Day of August, A.D. 1844

Nancy Wade, appearing before us as noted above, aged approximately eighty-two years, having been duly sworn upon the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, deposed as follows:

Question 1 — by L. S. Gash, agent for the defendants:

Are you acquainted with the parties in this suit?

Answer: I have no acquaintance with Sarah Johnson nor Martin A. Gash, but I was well acquainted with Phoebe Johnson and with William West and his wife Nancy West several years ago, when they resided in this county.

Question 2 — by the same:

How long ago did you first become acquainted with Phoebe Johnson, and what was her general character at that time?

Answer: I came to this county and settled in A.D. 1801. Phoebe Johnson lived near me on the South Fork of the Saluda—I believe on Mr. Roper's land. Phoebe Johnson afterward moved closer to the Roper house, and shortly thereafter had a child said to be Benjamin Roper's. There was considerable talk about her and Roper at that time. She was regarded as a woman of poor character.

Question 3 — by the same:

Do you know whether Phoebe Johnson left this county, and if so, who took her away when she moved?

Answer: Some time after she had this child by Roper, she took up and lived in adultery with a Mr. Jonathan Delaine, who shortly afterward took her away from this county. I have not seen her since, to my recollection.

And further this witness saith not.

Signed by mark: X — Nancy Wade.

(Blogger's note: I cannot confirm the precise circumstances under which this affidavit was signed, but having completed my share of affidavits over the years, I am mindful that a signature marked with an "X" very likely indicates that the signatory was unable to read the transcription. I have no reason to believe that anything was recorded falsely or with intent to deceive; however, even in modern depositions conducted by professional legal transcriptionists, spoken testimony can be misheard or recorded inaccurately.)

Blogger's Notes

If I have explained the preceding evidence clearly, it is my considered opinion that, biologically, none of the descendants of Eli Johnson carry a single drop of Johnson blood.

Further evidence will be presented as this account proceeds, but based on my DNA testing—as detailed in the previous post—and the sworn depositions from the early 1840s, we are descendants of Benjamin Roper and Phoebe (Dennis?) Johnson.

Two points warrant further explanation. First, I am not certain of the sur-naming conventions of that era. It is entirely possible that a child would take the mother's surname if the biological father and the estranged husband were both absent and neither claimed paternity nor provided support.

Second, and more importantly: legally, we are Johnsons, as reflected on our birth certificates. I want to make that abundantly clear. In southern Blount County and northern Monroe County, our family has been identified as Johnsons for well over two hundred years. No family is without its complexities, but I am proud of the Johnson name. As long as I have been part of this community, our reputation has been one of honesty, hard work, faith, and a strong moral compass—at least, that is how I was raised, and from what I know of my cousins, their upbringing was not markedly different.

Even so, as I uncovered this information, I found it genuinely stunning. It was not at all what I had expected after nearly fifty years of searching for evidence of Reuben Johnson and his lineage. In our part of the Appalachian foothills, birth control was either unavailable or declined for religious reasons, at least until after my parents' generation. I have not attempted a precise count, but based on the number of children Eli Johnson and Mary Winchester had, and the number their descendants had through my parents' generation—when all were living, I had nineteen aunts and uncles by blood, not counting spouses—my best estimate is that at least twenty thousand people likely descend from Eli and Mary. Many still reside in southern Blount County; others have dispersed across the country. All of them, like me, have believed themselves to be of Johnson descent.

I felt, therefore, that a brief reflection was warranted—simply to acknowledge the weight of this discovery. In all likelihood, it will never affect our daily lives or our standing in the community. But it could, as it did for my sister. After extensive DNA testing, I am fairly confident that our immediate family's "Old Silk Road" ancestry came to us through the Howard-Lambert line, as mentioned in the previous post. Again, this will probably have no practical bearing on our daily lives, though I cannot be entirely certain until the results of two additional DNA tests are received.

Two final thoughts. For anyone wishing to determine whether they carry "Old Silk Road" ancestry, I recommend CRI Genetics. They are not the most customer-friendly testing provider, but they are the only one among the major services I have encountered that analyzes DNA across up to fifty generations—provided that identifiable markers associated with one's heritage extend that far back. Most providers return results covering only four to five generations.

Between my grandmother Doll's remarkable memory and the work of the Hill family—Max, Barbara from California, and others—on my grandfather's side, I had documented five generations of ancestry from quite early in my research. However, I needed to reach further back to identify the genetic markers most commonly associated with Behçet's syndrome.

As a brief aside: until last summer, my family had five generations living simultaneously. My great-niece now has a child of her own. For those in my generation who have children and grandchildren, the research I have compiled extends well into their seventh or eighth generation. I have traced nearly every ancestor either to their point of immigration or at least across the mountains, and I hope eventually to bring each line back to its point of origin. That goal may not be fully realized within my lifetime, but I am already gratified by the number of Revolutionary War veterans I have identified. I hope that others will build upon this research in the years to come.

Finally, according to James McCall, Eli Johnson was buried in what was known as the "old Williamson Chapel Cemetery," now referred to by a different name—one I was unaware of until my uncle Paul mentioned it to me a few months ago. He recalled that his mother had taken him there as a young child, though at the time he had no clear understanding of whose grave they were visiting. The cemetery is currently enclosed by a fence, approximately two hundred yards down Williamson Chapel Road from where the church now stands. Last Friday, I drove out and obtained permission from the surrounding property owners to visit the cemetery in the coming week. I hold little hope of locating Eli's grave, as the WPA inventory compiled in the 1930s and 1940s—as part of the Depression-era employment program—does not list his name among those interred there. The adjacent landowner also noted that only the more recent stones bear legible inscriptions. Now that James McCall has passed, I may never know with certainty whether Eli is buried there, but I intend to look for myself.

Superior Court of Law for the County of Henderson, State of North Carolina

We caused to appear before us at the house of William Sutherland, Pendleton District, State of South Carolina, on the eighth day of August, A.D. 1844, Mr. John Keith, Esquire, a competent witness aged approximately seventy-three years, who, having been duly sworn upon the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, deposed as follows:

Question 1 — by L. S. Gash, agent for the defendant:

Are you acquainted with the parties to this suit?

Answer: I have seen Sarah Johnson once—I stayed the night at Reuben Johnson's home approximately fifteen years ago and saw her there on that occasion. I have no other acquaintance with her. I was acquainted with Phoebe Johnson approximately forty or fifty years ago, when she lived in this neighborhood. I have had no acquaintance with her since.

Question 2 — by the same:

What was the general character of Phoebe Johnson when she lived in this neighborhood?

Answer: Not very good. She was said to be kept as an adulteress by different men.

Question 3 — by the same:

Were you ever acquainted with one Jonathan Deldine? If so, what was his general character?

Answer: I was acquainted with Deldine at approximately the same period. He never had much of a character in this county, as far as I ever knew. He was not a particularly reputable man. The most I ever heard of him concerned his living in adultery with Phoebe Johnson.

And further this witness saith not.

Please stay safe.