A Place to Begin:

                    Researching the Virginia and Aberdeen

                                 JOHNS(T)ONs



by Douglas Tucker

CT 1998



[We thank Doug for presenting the traditional (or Dr. Lorand?s version of)
JOHNSON family history in such an organized way. So far this group has
barely touched on William and John Johnson and our discussions of Edward
(father of Penelope) predate many of your joining the group. This also
introduces the MASSIE/MASSEY family. In other words, there is much here to
absorb. The task Suzanne is laying out for her group is locating as yet
untapped sources which may shed more light on certain aspects of this
tradition. Hopefully in the process we can move away from a history based on
much "circumstantial evidence" to one filled with "real facts" from primary
sources. Of course this means an open mind to changes in the traditional
history; it?s an exciting time for this group. LSS]



I have been digging through my old Johnston/Johnson notes and was amazed at
how much I had from sources other than Lorand Johnson (The Scottish Nation
by Anderson, Thomas Histoy of Aberdeen, Scotland's Men of Letters by the St.
Andrew's Society of Marischal College, Registry of St. Nicholas Church,
Aberdeen, and several others) However, I had taken notes from four books by
Lorand Johnson the earliest of which was dated 1935. I assume that was the
study he completed while still in medical school. None of it seems terribly
helpful towad resolution of the several issues that are on the table, namely
(1) the kinship of William and James Johnson of New Kent Co., (2) the
origins of Edward Johnson, father of Penelope Johnson Clark and (3) a
definitive linkage between the Johnsons of New Kent Co. and the Johnstons of
Caskieben.



My own multiple ties to the Johnsons are through Rachel Clark/Thomas
Moorman, Thomas Clark Moorman/ Apharacia Hope, Susannah Johnson/Micajah
Clark Moorman and Martha Bangham/Thomas Chalkley Moorman. Rachel Clark's
mother was Penelope Johnson, daughter of Edward Johnson/Elizabeth Walker.
Apharacia Hope's grandmother was Henrietta Johnson, daughter of William
Johnson and Sarah Massie. Susannah Johnson and Martha Bangham both tie back
to the John Johnson/Lucretia Massie line.



As I mentioned earlier, I researched the "Old Town" property in King William
Co. which was passed down by immigrant James Johnson to three subsequent
generations of Johnsons (John, James, James) before being sold to the
Ammons. Some Johnsons from this line migrated to Greene Co., Ohio where they
again named their property "Old Town" . (Other Johnson in the same line
settled in Highland and Clinton Cos. Ohio.) To avoid confusion, the "Old
Town" property owned by James Johnson was originally considered New Kent
Co., but became part of King & Queen Co. in 1701 and King William Co. in
1704. The Old Town property was acquired by patent by James Johnson (see
Nugent) and not through purchase from George Walker as reported by Lorand
Johnson -- although other adjacent property may have come through purchase.
More on the Old Town issue, later.



(1) Possible kinship of William and John Johnson of New Kent Co.



As far as I can tell (aside from Lorand Johnson's research), the rationale
for these two being siblings is based on their shared last name, their
closeness in age, the fact that they married sisters, their shared Quaker
religion, and the fact that the properties they owned at a very early age
were contiguous. Their properties also were close to the property of Edward
Johnson who some think was related to William and John. Seems to me a fairly
convincing circumstantial case for close kinship if not brotherhood..



We know, for instance, that both John and William owned their land in 1704
through the Quit Rent lists. How did they acquire their properties? They
were both relatively young (still in their 20's), yet William owned 265
acres and John owned 100 acres. Given that neither Johnson is recorded in
Nugent as having received a patent, my supposition is that they probably
inherited the property from their father (or possibly fathers).



Why did William have considerably more land than John? He was the older son,
that's why. Can we prove that he was the older son? Only factual evidence is
that William baptised his first child three years before John baptised his
first child. The fact that William died many years before John has minimal
relevance given the times and general living and health conditions.



Patent records show that James Johnson, father of John and possible father
of William, acquired two patents (one for 110 acres and another for 40
acres) for property in the newly opened Indian grounds in Pamunkey Neck in
1701 and 1703, respectively. (In the 40 acre patent, his listed himself as
the transported person. In the 110 acre patent, he listed three strangers as
the transported persons.) The acquisition of these patents fits nicely with
the fact that John and William had their own properties by 1704.



By the way, my notes indicate that James Johnston had two wives and that he
had four sons by first wife Margaret Alexander and one daughter by second
wife Faith Leith. Records from the Aberdeen Quaker Monthly Meeting show that
James married Faith Leith in 1686 and that a daughter, Elisabeth, was born
26 Dec 1688 in Aberdeen. That establishes that James and Faith could not
have been in Virginia before 1689 at the very earliest. My notes also show
that James Johnston married Margaret Alexander 23 NOV 1672 at St. Nicholas
Church, Aberdeen and that their four surviving sons were James, William,
John and Alexander (not well-documented). There is hard evidence that James
was their oldest son, that he married Jean Olgivie (Burgh records of
Aberdeen show that Jean Olgivie Johnston died in 1716), and that he remained
in Aberdeen at least through 1716. Thus, the James Johnston who married Jean
Olgilvie and remained in Aberdeen was the son of the James Johnston who
settled at "Old Town" in Pamunkey Neck. (This is one of the relationships
that Lorand Johnson mixed up in his first book, but corrected in his later
books.)



There is circumstantial evidence that Alexander Johnson was the youngest son
of James and Margaret Alexander. William and Sarah Massie Johnson's first
child is noted in St. Peter's Parish records in 1698. John and Lucretia
Massie's first child is noted in 1702. Alexander and Mary Walker's first
child is recorded in 1708. William and John both would have been about 20
plus or minus a couple of years when their oldest child was born and
Alexander could have been as old as 23. So I see no problem with the
suggested birth order or the dates that have been generally associated with
these Johnsons.



(One point on dates needs comment. There is hard evidence that Sarah Massie
Johnston died in 1711 and Anne Walker Johnston died in 1715. Circumstantial
evidence -- principally the birth dates of her children -- implies that
Lucretia Massie Johnston died sometime after 1728. That later date is often
confused with the date-of-death of sister Sarah.)



James Johnston/Johnson was christened at Dyce, Aberdeenshire on 20 JUL 1656
and died in 1716. Both dates are documented. When James died, he left his
"Old Town" property in King William Co. to son John Johnson which implies
that John was the oldest son still living. This can be confirmed from St.
Peter's Parish records which show that William Johnson died 6 Nov 1714. As
for James Johnson's 1656 date of birth, his father, Thomas Johnston of Craig
was born in 1598 and died in 1656. However, James Johnson's mother, Mary
Irvine, was his father's second wife and Mary was born in 1626. She probably
did not marry Thomas Johnston until about 1646. So the 1651 birth date for
James appears OK even though Thomas Johnston would have been in his early
50's.



Thomas Johnston of Craig was the oldest son of Sir John Johnston of
Caskieben by his second wife Katherine Lundy of Fife. Thomas received the
title "Laird of Craig" as part of his mother's marriage contract with Sir
John Johnston. Thomas had two surviving older half-brothers (George and
John) by his father's first wife, Janet Turing and a younger, full-brother,
Gilbert. Thomas Johnston also had a younger full-sister who married Charles
Dun of Cordyce who was a merchant in Aberdeen. According to Lorand Johnson,
it was a vessel owned by Charles Dun which ferried James and Faith Leith
Johnson and James's three sons by first wife Margaret Alexander, to Virginia
in 1696.



Sir John Johnston of Caskieben, Thomas of Craig's father, was the eldest son
of Sir George Johnston of Caskieben (1544-1593) and Christian Forbes. Sir
George and Christian had six son and seven daughters. Their youngest two
sons, Arthur (1687-1741) and William (1688-1740) were more than 21 years
younger than oldest son John (1666-1714). In fact, because Sir George
Johnston died when Arthur and William were very young, it seem likely that
older brother John served more as a father to Arthur and William that as a
brother.



It is also noteworthy that two of Sir George and Christian Johnston's
daughters played a role in the future "Johnsons of Virginia" story. Daughter
Janet Johnston married distant (third) cousin Sir Robert Johnston of
Caiesmill (Cayesmill) and was the mother of Alderman Robert Johnson, Deputy
Treasurer of the Virginia Co. (Sir Robert moved to England during the late
years of Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558-1603) which is when he changed the
surname spelling to Johnson). Some have speculated that Alderman Robert's
older brother Edward Johnson may have emigrated to VA in the late 1620's and
become the founder of the Johnson family which later produced William, John
and Alexander of New Kent Co. The Edward Johnson speculation appears
unfounded as it makes no sense given Edward's high economic and social
position in London, but another descendant of this branch of the
Johnston/Johnson family, Robert "the Grocer" Johnson, did emigrate to
Virginia in 1663, the product of an English political scandal that also
resulted in the banishment of Independent preacher Robert Ferguson from
Kent.



(Robert Ferguson later served as a close associate of Anthony Ashley-Cooper,
Lord Shaftesbury, whose daughter, Penelope, married Peter Massie. Penelope
Ashley-Cooper Massie was the mother of Sarah Massie Johnston and Lucretia
Massie Johnston. Robert Ferguson accompanied Lord Shaftesbury into exile in
Holland in 1683. Ferguson later served as emissary between the English
establishment and William of Orange and was instrumental in getting William
to accept the call to overthrow James II and accept English Crown. For his
many political intrigues, successful and unsuccessful, Robert Ferguson
became known to history as Robert Ferguson "The Plotter".)



Sir George and Christian Johnston's daughter Agnes married Robert Johnston
of Crimond. They were ardent Royalists and were part of the entourage the
James IV of Scotland took with him to London when he was named James I of
England in 1603. (They were also the second branch of the Johnstons to have
Anglicized their name to Johnson (the first being the Caiesmill branch of
the family which did so during Elizabeth's reign). It is theorized that it
was the Court influence of the Crimond branch of the family that got Arthur
Johnston his appointment in 1624 as "physician ordinary" to James I and
later to son Charles I. Robert Johnson, great grandson of Agnes and Robert
Johnston of Crimond, emigrated to Ulster in the early 1700's and later
emigrated to PA.



(2) Origins of Edward Johnson of New Kent Co.



Lorand Johnson postulated that Arthur Johnson (1587-1641) was the father of
Edward Johnson who showed up in New Kent Co. in the late 1670's, married
Elizabeth Walker (surname not proven) circa 1677 and settled on Powhite
Swamp shortly after 1686. However, Edward's names does not show up in any
known church or civil record of Arthur Johnston's family and that has left
the door open for speculation. Personally, I think Lorand Johnson's
judgement on Edward's origins was sound, but it lacks the proof necessary to
settle things. Below, I spell out what I have learned about Arthur and
Edward Johnston/Johnson and the largely circumstantial evidence that makes
me accept Lorand Johnson's judgements regarding Edward Johnson's parentage.



Arthur and William Johnston were the youngest children of George and
Christian, being born in 1587 and 1588 respectively. Arthur was 21 year
younger than his oldest brother, John, who inherited the Caskieben mantle in
1593 when Arthur was only 5. So Arthur and William barely knew their father,
and probably were raised by their widowed mother while living in their older
brother's Caskieben household. Arthur and William both studied and traveled
abroad and lived for lengthy periods in France. Arthur was a physician in
Paris and William was a professor at the Univ. of Sedan. Both were
accomplished Latin poets and Arthur left a large legacy of published poems
and eulogies. In 1624, Dr. Arthur Johnson returned to England/Scotland and
subsequently served as physician ordinary to Kings James I and Charles I
(probably between 1624 and 1630) but returned to his hometown, Aberdeen,
about 1630/31. There, he practiced medicine and was named Regent of Kings
College in Aberdeen. He died in Oxford, England in 1641.



Several biographies of Arthur Johnston (Thomas, Anderson, Marischal College)
state that he had two or three wives and from 11 to 16 children. I think it
can be proved that Arthur Johnston had three wives and 12 or 13 surviving
children. We know that Arthur was married for many years to Mary Kynuncle of
Brabant, Belgium who died in Aberdeen in 1624. We know, also, that Arthur
married Barbara Gordon sometime before 1629 and that she bore him either
four or five children (depending on whether you want to believe that Arthur
was the father of Edward Johnson of New Kent Co.). My own research suggests
that Arthur Johnston married first in 1610/11 in Paris shortly after
graduating from medical school. I believe he had two daughters by this first
marriage which ended in divorce rather than the death of the first wife.
(Her name has not been discovered and the two daughters remained with their
mother in France.)



Aberdeen records indicate that Arthur Johnston and second wife, Mary
Kynuncle, who he married about 1615, had six children including four sons
and two daughters. We know the names of two sons, George and James, and of
both daughters, Mary and Susannah. Their other two sons had Germanic names
(Ludowic and ?? ) which I haven't been able to recall, but my recollection
is that both died young.



Arthur and third wife, Barbara Gordon, had Barbara (b1631), Elizabeth
(b1633), Margaret (b1635), William (b1636) and possibly an Edward (b1638).
All except Edward's birth are recorded in the register of St. Nicholas
Presbyterian Church in Aberdeen.



(As info. Arthur's daughter Susannah Johnston married Rev. John Logie (CoE).
It was while visiting Suzannah Johnston Logie in Oxford that Arthur Johnston
died in 1641. Daughter Mary Johnston married Patrick Gordon who was executed
by Covenanters at Harthill in 1641, leaving Mary with five young children.
Daughter Barbara Johnston married George Cullen on 14 AUG 1656 at St.
Nicholas Chapel in Aberdeen. Daughter Elizabeth Johnston married Lt. Col.
James Innes of Sandysyde, and daughter Margaret Johnston married George
Cullen. Son William Johnston married Helen Cullen, George's sister, in 1662.
Son George Johnston married Elinor Meredith. All these marriages took place
in Aberdeen and are documented. I do not have a wife's name for James, two
other sons died young and nothing is known about the two daughters by
Arthur's first wife.)



In 1633, Dr. Arthur Johnston bought a property named Monkegy at New Leslie
in Aberdeenshire. He bought the property for L5,000 from his nephew, Sir
George Johnston, son of Arthur's older brother Sir John Johnston (who died
in 1614). In 1669, Arthur's son William sold the Monkegy property to Sir
John Keith. In the deed of sale, William is cited as Arthur Johnston's
oldest son. Other data, however, establishes that William was not Arthur's
oldest son, but rather was the oldest son still resident in Scotland. The
phraseology "oldest son" also implies that there was a younger son (the
mysterious Edward ?). Otherwise, the phrase should have read "only son".
Another interesting corrollary circumstance regarding the Monkegy property
is that Rev. Samuel Walker, grandfather of Elizabeth Walker, was the
Presbyterian minister at the Mongegy chapel from 1630-1649. His son,
Alexander Walker (b1623), was excommunicated in 1661 for defending and later
joining the Quakers. Rev. Samuel Walker also witnessed the will of Sir John
Johnston of Caskieben, Arthur Johnston's older brother who died in 1614. So,
the Johnston and Walker clans had a close relationship before Edward Johnson
is supposed to have married Elizabeth Walker in faraway Virginia.



Alexander Walker and family, including son George and three-year old
Elizabeth, left Aberdeen that same year (1661) for VA where they settled in
York Co. After marrying, George and Anne Keith Walker settled at Kickotan in
York Co. (today, Kickotan is part of the city of Hampton) where George
served as a James River pilot. Later in life, George Walker served as a
Quaker missionary to the Pamunkey Indians. Elizabeth Walker supposedly
married Edward Johnson in 1677 when she was 19. (Keep in mind that Alexander
Walker, George Walker, Elizabeth Walker and Anne Keith all were convinced
Quakers. It is unlikely that Elizabeth Walker would have married a
non-Quaker. However, Lorand Johnson reported that Elizabeth was the daughter
of George and Ann Keith Walker. Not true. Elizabeth Walker was George
Walker's younger sister, and her birth in 1658 was recorded at. the Aberdeen
Quaker Meeting.)



Turning back to George and James Johnston, both sons of Arthur and Mary
Kynuncle Johnston. George was the oldest son (b. bef.1620) and he had the
honor of making "Bess' List" as a Quaker martyr in Scotland -- meaning that
he had served time in prison for his religious beliefs. In fact, George and
niece Elizabeth Johnston, are the only Johnstons on Bess's List. George
Johnston/Johnson emigrated to Virginia in 1663/64 and settled on Muddy Creek
in Accomac Co. He was among the founders of the Muddy Creek Quaker Meeting
in 1664 and gave the Meeting 100 acres in 1671 on which to build its first
meeting house.



Aberdeen records show that George Johnston/Johnson was married to Elinor
Meredith in the years before he emigrated to VA. However, she had apparently
died before 1664 as George married Mary Goldsmith of Norfolk Co., VA shortly
after he arrived in VA. Later land records establish that George Johnson had
surviving sons named John, George Jr., Samuel, and Robert and daughters
named Elinor, Mary and Elizabeth. He may have had other children. George
Johnston/Johnson of Muddy Creek died in 1684.



Elizabeth Johnston (b 15 Oct 1640), who also made "Bess' List", was the
youngest daughter of William Johnston (Arthur's younger brother) and Barbara
Forbes. She later married Quaker Alexander Whyt in 1658 at Dyce,
Aberdeenshire. They were confirmed Quakers at Inverurie before 1661. He died
in jail in 1667; she then married Quaker preacher and firebrand George Keith
in 1672. It was her step-daughter, Anne Keith, who left England after the
1676 Quaker Annual Meeting to sail to VA to marry George Walker, son of
Quaker Alexander Walker. Edward Johnston, who was described in her mother's
correspondence (which are part of the Quaker letters collection at Quaker
House in London) as "my cousin Edward Johnston" (he was her first cousin and
if Arthur Johnston did not have a son named Edward, then there was no other
cousin in the Johnston of Caskieben branch of the family that was named
Edward.) supposedly accompanied Anne Keith to VA and ended up marrying
George Walker's younger sister.



Though we have difficulty proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt, the
weight of circumstantial evidence and simple logic give a high degree of
confidence to the above Walker/Johnston scenario. A young, unmarried girl
would not have been sent to VA unchaperoned -- not in those times -- and it
is logical that her chaperone would have been a relative and a Quaker. The
mysterious Edward Johnston/Johnson fits the bill. [Doug?s insert: The 1676
Annual meeting took place in June 1676. This must be considered when
evaluating the claim that Edward Johnson and Elizabeth Walker were married
in 1677. Also, the Edmundson diary "implies" that the ship on which Edward
reportedly sailed arrived in VA in late November 1676. In fact, by the
English calendar it probably arrived in early December. A note of caution
about Scottish dates. Scotland adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1600, 150
years before England made the switch. Thus, after 1600 Scotland began the
new year on Jan 1 rather than March 25. There was an additional 10 days
difference between the Scottish and English calendars for all of the 17th
century and 11 days difference after 1700.]



There have been some issues raised in the past as to the timing of events in
1676 and early 1677 with the object of testing whether a person who attended
the Summer 1676 Quaker Meeting in London would have been able to sail to VA,
meet and marry Elizabeth Walker, sign the Bacon's Rebellion grievance
document of 2 Apr 1677 in New Kent Co., acquire property and have a son,
Anthony, who was reportedly born in New Kent Co. in 1678. No one knows for
certain who the Edward Johnson was who signed the Bacon Rebellion grievance,
but the notion that a grievance signer would have had to have been a land
owner does not hold up to scrutiny. Quaker Thomas Moorman, who also signed
the grievance, was only 19 in 1677 and would not have been a land owner.
Furthermore, there is considerable doubt as to whether Anthony Johnson was
the son of Edward and Elizabeth Johnson. I personally think that Anthony
Johnson was the son of Thomas Johnson (who lived at Chericoke on Pamunkey
Neck) and grandson of Richard Johnson. Anthony Johnson's first child (son
Thomas) was born in Dec 1694 which makes it unlikely that Anthony could have
been the product of a 1677 marriage. But stranger things happened.



(By the way, I have been able to track Arthur Johnson, son of Edward and
Elizabeth Walker Johnson. Arthur was born c1690 and died in January, 1759 in
Augusta Co., VA. He married Margaret Phares, daughter of John Phares. They
had several children including Margaret Johnson who was born seven months
after her father's death. Margaret (1759-1808) married Andrew Skidmore and
settled in Randolph Co., VA -- now part of WV. Arthur's proven presence in
the family is additional circumstantial evidence that Edward was the son of
Dr. Arthur Johnston.)



Dr. Arthur Johnston's son James was also a Quaker and served as a
missionary. I have not been able to verify the Lorand Johnson claim that
James Johnston's missionary status can be confirmed by documents on file at
Quaker House in London, but Arthur Johnston's Marischal College biography
(the St. Andrew's Society bio) states the Arthur's "son James was a Quaker
missionary". James and three adult sons (reportedly John, Joseph and Robert)
and their families migrated to VA in 1671 shortly after the Scottish
Parliament passed the third and most severe of the so-called Quaker Acts. I
found no records of James Johnston/Johnson presence in VA but have been told
that Quaker records show him speaking at Quaker Meetings in Isle of Wight
and Surry Cos. during the 1670's and 1680's.



So, there is evidence that two of Arthur Johnston's sons were practicing
Quakers and both are believed to have ended up in Virginia. We know that
Elizabeth Johnston, youngest daughter of Arthur's brother Willliam, was an
active Quaker who migrated with her preacher husband George Keith to the
American colonies in 1680 and later settled in PA. (She and her husband
later broke with the Quakers and returned to England.) Finally, Arthur
Johnston's son William (b.1636) became a professor of civil law at Marischal
College. In 1670, William Johnston was among the leaders of an insurrection
at the College in which almost all the faculty and student body declared
themselves Quakers as a way to defeat unbearable political pressures on the
College from Episcopalian and Covenant (Presbyterian) forces then battling
for religious supremacy in Scotland.



Somehow, I think Quaker Edward Johnson of New Kent Co. fits right into the
family mold -- at least the mold for his particular twig of the Johnstons of
Caskieben family tree.



(3) Dr. Arthur JOHNSTON of Scotland



I found some additional notes, apparently from the St. Andrew's Society of
Marischal College biography on Arthur Johnston's family by first wife Mary
Kynuncle. Two of Arthur and Mary's sons (Ludowic b.1615 and Nicholas b.1617)
died young. Some sources report Arthur?s son James as the eldest son, but
other sources say the "Quaker missionary" was the youngest son. Can anyone
document his specific birth year? Son George was b. 1620, daughter Mary in
1622 and Susanne was born 1624, the year her mother died. The St. Andrew's
bio. refers to " two wives and 13 children".



I have previously accounted for eight surviving children, three boys and
five girls by name and spouses, ** and we know Ludowic and Nicholas died
young. That leaves three children unaccounted for. My understanding is that
Arthur had two daughters by his first wife (before he married Mary Kynuncle)
which narrows the missing to one child. The St. Andrew's bio. also states
that Arthur and Mary had six children, fours sons and two daughters, before
Mary's death in 1624. That is a very specific statement and must have had a
factual basis. That leaves seven children for the unknown first wife and
third wife Barbara Gordon. Four of Barbara Gordon's children are listed in
the christening records of St. Nicholas in Aberdeen. Two of the three
remaining "missing" children can be attributed to the first wife. That
leaves Barbara Gordon as the likely mother of the other missing child.
**I?ve since learned that daughter Elizabeth (whose mother was Barbara
Gordon) married 1st George Seaton and 2nd Lt. Col. James Innis.



By the way, Barbara Gordon married Arthur Johnston on 4 Mar 1625 (Aberdeen
Register of Sasines). I had earlier reported only that Mary Kynuncle died in
Aberdeen in 1624 and that Arthur had married Barbara Gordon before 1629. The
marriage date raises some interesting questions. The first child of Arthur
and Barbara in the St.. Nicholas records was born in 1631. Were their no
children from March 1625 until 1631? More likely, the absence of records is
due to the fact that this was the period when Arthur was supposedly in
London, serving as "physician ordinary" to Kings James I and Charles I. Any
children born in London probably would not have made the St. Nicholas
registry (although baptisms sometimes occur well after the fact). Perhaps we
should look in London records for signs of other children.



I am not being so much an advocate as I am repeating the "facts" as
presented by the several biographies and emphasizing what those facts imply.
The Anderson bio. (written in 1856) also mentions 2 wives and 13 children,
but it's source may have been the St. Andrew's bio. since the phrasing of
the family description is virtually identical. The Thomas bio. of Arthur
Johnston ("History of Aberdeen) claims 16 children and further offers that
"...son James was a travelling missionary." The 16 children could be correct
since it seems unlikely that all of Arthur's children could have survived to
the point of naming and christening and there is also that six year gap
(1625-1631) when Arthur Johnson may have resided in London.



Still. we need to acknowledge that there is no known primary record that
identifies Edward Johnston/Johnson as a son of Arthur Johnston and Barbara
Gordon. All we know is that Edward was not a son by Arthur's earlier wives,
and that he "appears" in New Kent Co. records beginning in 1680 for certain
and "may" be the Edward Johnson who signed the Bacon's Rebellion grievance
document in April, 1677. He may also be the Edward Johnston, cousin of
Elizabeth Johnston Keith, who reportedly accompanied Ann Keith to VA in
1676.



Anderson states that Arthur Johnston was "the fifth of six sons" of Sir
George Johnston and Christian Forbes. The oldest son was John Johnston who
succeeded to his father's title in 1593 when Arthur was still 5 years old.
The other sons, in order of age were George, Gilbert, Thomas, Arthur and
William. Arthur's mother, Christian Forbes Johnson, lived until 1621, so it
is probably safe to accept Lorand Johnson's statement that Arthur grew up in
his older brother's household.



Sir John Johnston died in 1616 while Arthur was living in Paris. Sir John
had two wives, Janet Turing of Foveran and Katherine Lundy of Fifie. He had
two surviving sons, George and John (of Newplace), by his first wife and
four sons, Thomas (of Craig), grandfather of William, John and Alexander
Johnson of New Kent Co., Gilbert, William and James, by his second wife.
(Some sources do not acknowledge sons William and James, who may not have
survived to adulthood.) Financial difficulties forced Sir John Johnson to
lease the Caskieben property to the Jaffrey family in 1615. Caskieben was
later sold by Sir John's son, to the Jaffreys who, in turn, sold the
property in 1634 to the Keiths who renamed the property Keith Hall.



In 1616, the Caskieben title passed to Sir John's oldest son George who
married Elizabeth Forbes. George was roughly the same age as his uncles
Arthur and William. In 1625 or 1626, Sir George Johnston was granted the
title of Baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles I. (It was this title that was
later contested in Baronetcy Court, the record of which provided Lorand
Johnson with much of the historical information on the Johnston of Caskieben
family.) It was Sir George who sold the Monkegy property in New Leslie to
his uncle Arthur Johnston in 1633 for L5,000.



Shortening the story, Sir George Johnston, 1st Baronet of Nova Scotia was
succeeded by son George, who became 2nd Baronet. The 2nd Baronet's only son,
John Johnston, became the 3rd Baronet but was executed in 1690 for playing
an unwitting, supporting role in a friend's "abduction" of Miss Mary
Wharton, daughter of Lord Wharton. Sir John had no children when he was
executed and the Baronet title passed to his cousin John Johnston, son of
John Johnston of Newplace (second son of Sir John Johnston and Janet
Turing).



The 4th Baronet's luck was not much better than that of his immediate
predecessor. John was a confirmed Jacobite and his only son died at the
Battle of Sherrifmuir in 1715. When John died in 1725, he was succeeded by
his cousin, William Johnston of Craig (a grandson of Thomas Johnston of
Craig and second cousin to William, John and Alexander Johnson of New Kent
Co.). I'll stop discussing the succession there and go back to the earlier
discussion of Arthur Johnston's siblings.



Arthur Johnston's three other older brothers were George, Gilbert and
Thomas. Thomas died young, long before Arthur was born. William, a year
younger than Arthur, was the sixth son of Sir George and Christian Forbes
Johnston. William married late and had only two daughters, Elizabeth who
later married Quakers Alexander Whyt and George Keith, and Ann who married
Alexander Skene of Dyce. So, Arthur Johnston really had only three older
brothers who could/might have produced a son named Edward who Elizabeth
Johnston Keith called "...my cousin Edward Johnston" in her 1676 letter to
Quaker Mary Harris. Since we can eliminate older brother John (the
well-documented 1st Baronet of Nova Scotia) from the mix, we are left with
only brothers George and Gilbert Johnston as potential fathers of
Elizabeth's "cousin Edward Johnston" -- aside from Arthur Johnston.



Note: The current Baronet of Nova Scotia (probably the 13th or 14th in the
line) is an American citizen and a resident of Chapel Hill, NC (he teaches
at the University of North Carolina.) Maybe we should try to contact him to
see if he can confirm or refute what has already been developed on his
family.

Doug Tucker

dougtucker@erols.com



[This is well presented and does come with some documentation; but we need
to remember there is a lot of circumstantial evidence here. Dr. Lorand never
found absolute proof that Edward Johnson is a son of Dr. Arthur. Neither
have we located proof that the James Johnston of Aberdeen, Scotland is the
same James who appears in VA. Anyone who would like to help solve this
puzzle, contact Suzanne Johnston SSJ145@aol.com . One member has already
located info in his files which suggests some changes may be forthcoming.
Even if you don?t particularly want to join in the research, we ask you to
send early JOHNSON Bible records and anything published/written before 1900
to Suzanne. She may well see something significant which you have
overlooked. LSS]