“The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.”
This is entry #19 in Amy Johnson Crow’s Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.
#19 Huldah JOHNSON abt. 1817-aft. 1880
I can hear her say, “Be sure to spell my name right!” Well, Huldah if you’d have left a few more records . . . at least they got it right in the 1850 to 1880 census.
The second child of Nancy Ann SIMS (1793-aft. 1860) and William JOHNSON Jr. (1793-1845) was born in Kanawha County in Virginia about 1817, a year before Nicholas County was created from Kanawha, Greenbrier, and Randolph Counties. This child, a daughter, was my 3rd great-grandmother Huldah JOHNSON.
No exact date of birth is known for Huldah. She was seen as age 32, 42, 52, and 63 in the 1850 to 1880 censuses – each taken on the 1st of June. If she was born before 30 January 1818, the date of the formation of Nicholas County, then she was born in Kanawha County. However, if she was born after this date, Nicholas County would have been her place of birth.
Nancy Ann and William married on 15 October 1814 in Kanawha County, (West) Virginia, and were the parents of 11 children.1 Huldah’s siblings, three of whom died young, were:
Sib 1: Nelson (1815-1855) b. about 1815 md. Elizabeth HUGHES on 14 September 18372
Sib 3: Alexander (1819-1887) b. 10 June 1819 md. Isabella HUGHES bef. 18503
Sib 4: Mary (1820-1898) b. 20 August 1820 md. David Alexander MILLER on 13 December 18394
Sib 5: John Brown (1823-1902) b. 23 December 1823 md. Mary Ann SETTLE on 14 July 18465,6
Sib 6: Amy (1825-1904) b. 4 November 1825 md. Charles McClung HUFFMAN in 18497
Sib 7: Lewis (1828-1845) b. 6 March 1828. Never married.
Sib 8: Elizabeth (1829-1833) b. about 1829. Never married.
Sib 9: William Hunter (1832-1899) b. 27 July 18328 md. Louisa Lavinia SAMUELS on 26 October 18569
Sib 10: Nancy (1835-1915) b. Aug 1835 md. William B. MARTIN on 7 Sep 185310
Sib 11: Morris Houston (1839-1845) b. 21 January 1839. Never married.
William JOHNSON Jr. and his family originally lived at the mouth of Laurel Creek, a tributary of the Gauley River which empties about one mile above Swiss. In 1810 the JOHNSON and SIMS families were neighbors and it is known that James SIMS, father of Nancy Ann SIMS, made his home in Swiss. Huldah’s brother John Brown JOHNSON was born at the mouth of Rich Creek on Gauley in 1823 per the 1911 biography of his son Julian M. Johnson.11 This would have been in the area of Swiss. Later, most likely after 1823, the JOHNSON family moved to a place on Loop Creek (Loup Creek) in the area of what is known as Robson in present-day Fayette County, West Virginia.
“Loop Creek flows for its entire length in western Fayette County. It rises in the city of Oak Hill and flows initially west-northwestward through the unincorporated communities of Lick Fork, Wriston, Ingram Branch, and Hamilton; then northward through the unincorporated communities of Kincaid, Page, North Page, and Robson, to Deep Water, where it flows into the Kanawha River.” 12
The 1820 and 1830 censuses were enumerated in alphabetical order rather than in order of household visitation. This makes it less useful for locating the actual place where the family lived. The pre-1850 census listings will be discussed in William Johnson Jr.’s story at a later date.
The family was in Nicholas County in 1820 and then next seen in Kanawha County in the 1830 census which supports the theory that their move to Loop Creek was in the 1820s, most likely between 1824 and 1830.13,14 Robson is 10 miles south of present-day Gauley Bridge. Fayette County was created on 28 February 1831 from parts of Greenbrier, Kanawha, Nicholas, and Logan counties. From then on Huldah’s siblings were born on Loop Creek in Fayette County where they were seen in the 1840 census.15
Huldah JOHNSON met Robert INGRAM (1819-1902) who also lived on Loop Creek at Ingram Branch about 5 miles from Robson. Both were living at home with their respective parents per the 1840 census listings. They married after the enumeration and before the birth of their first son Vincent about 1841. Geraldine Dempsey Workman, who did much of the early work on our families, wrote, “Robert and Hulda’s (sic) marriage record cannot be found since pages are missing from the Marriage book at the courthouse.” Death records of their children Mary Elizabeth (Ingram) BLAKE16 and Richard Edward INGRAM17 list the mother as Hulda (sic, Huldah) Johnson.
I’m sorry, Huldah, but it looks like your descendants dropped an h off of your name.
Huldah’s father William JOHNSON Jr. died on 18 December 1845 on Loop Creek in Fayette County, (West) Virginia. Following his death, her mother Nancy moved to the Sissonville area of Kanawha County with Huldah’s siblings Alexander, William, and Nancy.18
Following the birth of Vincent abt. 1841, Huldah and Robert had two more sons before the 1850 census.19 Irvin Lewis was born about 1846 and William Preston was born about 1847 on Ingram Branch of Loop Creek.
Three daughters were born in the 1850s: Amy about 1851, Nancy Margaret about 1853, and Mary Elizabeth b. 26 October 1855.20
Huldah’s oldest son Vincent gave evidence on 28 May 1862 about an event that took place in the fall of 1861.21 This is the last mention of this child and it is believed that he died between 1862 and 1870.
Huldah’s mother Nancy Ann SIMS died sometime after the 1860 census was enumerated. She was last seen in the Sissonville District of Kanawha County in the household of her son William Hunter JOHNSON.22
Richard Edward, Huldah’s youngest son, was born during the Civil War in March 1862 at Ingram Branch.23
Two of Huldah’s children married in the late 1860s in Fayette County. Irvin Lewis married Mary M. DEMPSEY (1845-1888) on 23 May 1867.24 William Preston married Minerva LIGHT (1849-1920) on 8 April 1869.25
In 1870 Huldah was with her husband and four youngest children when the census was enumerated.26
Two of Huldah’s daughters married in Fayette County in the 1870s. Nancy Margaret “Maggie” married Marion L. BOWLING (1836-1900) on 2 February 187227 and Mary Elizabeth married Martin Van Buren BLAKE (1846-aft. 1900) on 22 Oct 1874.28
In 1880 Huldah and her husband Robert were enumerated in the census with their daughter Amy and youngest son Richard.29
Huldah JOHNSON died sometime after the 1880 census and before the 1900 census. She may have lived to see her youngest son Richard marry first in 188330 and second in 1888.31 It is my belief that she was not living when her daughter Amy finally married in 1895 at the age of 45.32
Huldah was buried in a cemetery at the mouth of the Ingram Branch of Loop Creek, Fayette County, West Virginia, according to Luella Loving Lowther.
This post is dedicated to Luella Loving Lowther (1929-2019) who first introduced me to this branch of the family. She was a very dear friend, 3rd cousin once removed, and a great-granddaughter of Huldah’s son William Preston INGRAM. William and his wife Minerva LIGHT named their second daughter after Huldah JOHNSON in December 1879.33,34,35 Only they spelled her name without an H at the end – Hulda Margaret INGRAM (1879-1924).
This Post Was Updated on 8 May 2022: Missing source citations were added and some corrections were made to the text and format.
© 2014-2022, copyright Cathy Meder-Dempsey. All rights reserved.
- West Virginia Vital Research Records Project (database and images), West Virginia Division of Culture and History citing county records in county courthouses, West Virginia (A collaborative venture between the West Virginia State Archives and the Genealogical Society of Utah to place vital records online via the West Virginia Archives and History Web site accessible at https://archive.wvculture.org/vrr), West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 215, Kanawha County, Marriage Records, page 74, line 16, William Johnson and Nancy Sims 15 Oct 1814. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00215.jpg : accessed 20 January 2020). ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 196, Fayette County Marriages, page 13, 4th entry, Nelson Johnson and Elisabeth Huse married on 14 Sep 1837 by John Johnson. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00196.jpg : accessed 24 April 2022). ↩
- 1850 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/), citing Seventh Census of the United States, 1850 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M432, 1009 rolls, Roll: M432_943; image 336; Virginia, Fayette County, District 14, sheet 365B, lines 7-9, household 455-455, Alexander Johnson household (accessed 11 June 2018). Alexander and Isabella are together with their daughter Lucy age 4/12. Although relationships are not listed, it is inferred that the couple was married and this was their first child. ↩
- Sissonville A Time to Remember, The Sissonville Historical Awareness Committee of the Sissonville Village Association, compiled and edited in 1988 (online images scanned by Linda Secco with permission of The Sissonville Historical Awareness Committee at http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvkanawh/Sissonville/index.html), page 108, article on the Miller family (pages 106-109). ↩
- William Sydney Laidley (1839-1917), History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative Citizens (Richmond-Arnold Publishing, Chicago, Illinois, 1911), page 979. Article on Julian M. Johnson, great-grandson of William Johnson and his wife Amy. (https://archive.org/details/historyofcharles00laid/page/432 : accessed 8 October 2015). ↩
- WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 209, Fayette County Marriages, page 39, entries 13 and 26, John B Johnson and Mary Ann Suttle, married 14 July 1846 by M. T. Bibb. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00209.jpg : accessed 3 May 2022). ↩
- 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Roll: M432_954, image 172; Virginia, Kanawha County, District 29, sheet 84B, lines 29-31, household #1239-1254, Charles Huffman (accessed 11 June 2018). A mark was made in column 10 for Charles and Amy indicating the couple was married within the year. ↩
- Sissonville A Time to Remember, pages 96-97, article on the Johnson family. (http://sites.rootsweb.com/~wvkanawh/Sissonville/hphphp152.jpg and http://sites.rootsweb.com/~wvkanawh/Sissonville/hphphp153.jpg : accessed 4 May 2022). Includes date of birth and date of marriage. ↩
- WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 343, Registry of Marriage Licenses for Kanawha County, 25 Oct 1856, William H. Johnson and Louisa Lavinia Samuels, line 99. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00343.jpg : accessed 3 May 2022). ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 521719, image 306, Registry of Marriage Licenses, Kanawha County/Record of Marriages Returned, line 95, license 27 Aug 1853, William Martin and Nancy Johnson married 7 Sep 1853 by Warwick Briscoe. (http://images.wvculture.org/521719/00306.jpg : accessed 3 May 2022). Note: Nancy’s brother Wm Johnson proved the mother’s consent on oath. ↩
- Laidley, History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia and Representative Citizens (Richmond-Arnold Publishing, Chicago, Illinois, 1911), page 979. Article on Julian M. Johnson, great-grandson of William Johnson and his wife Amy. (https://archive.org/details/historyofcharles00laid/page/432 : accessed 8 October 2015). ↩
- Wikipedia contributors, “Loop Creek (West Virginia),” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Loop_Creek_(West_Virginia)&oldid=955940781 : accessed 25 April 2022). ↩
- 1820 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7734/), citing Fourth Census of the United States, 1820 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls, NARA Roll M33_130, image 388, Virginia, Nicholas, page 204B, line 31, William Johnson (accessed 21 February 2018). ↩
- 1830 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8058/), citing Fifth Census of the United States, 1830 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C. NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls, NARA Roll M19_191, FHL Film 0029670, Virginia, Kanawha, image 37+38 of 84, page 198A-198B, line 7, William Johnston (accessed 3 March 2018). ↩
- 1840 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8057/), citing Sixth Census of the United States, 1840 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls, NARA Roll M704_555, FHL Film 0029685, Virginia, Fayette, sheet 145 (double-page spread), line 23, William Johnson Sr. (accessed 5 June 2018). ↩
- WVCulture.org, Certificate of Death No. 15521, Mary Elizabeth Blake, died 26 Dec 1928, citing Oak Hill, Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view2.aspx?FilmNumber=1953469&ImageNumber=545 : accessed 16 January 2007). ↩
- Ibid., Certificate of Death No. 555, Richard Edward Ingram, died 2 Aug 1920, filed 7 Aug 1920, citing Kincaid, Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view2.aspx?FilmNumber=1952796&ImageNumber=572 : accessed 27 Apr 2014). ↩
- Sissonville A Time to Remember, pages 96-97, article on the Johnson family. ↩
- 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Roll: M432_943; image 336 and 337; Virginia, Fayette, District 14, sheet 365B, lines 41-42 and Sheet 366A, lines 1-3, household 461-461, Robert Ingram (accessed 11 June 2018). ↩
- “Vital statistics, 1853-1860 of West Virginia,” (browse-only images), FamilySearch, citing microreproduction of original manuscripts at the Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia, Calhoun – Hampshire counties, Film 34485, DGS 7499353, Fayette County Register of Births, image 118 of 554, no page number (double-page spread), line 45, 26 Oct 1856, no name for child, parents Robert Ingram and Huldah Ingram. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99Z5-FZRR?i=117&cat=308753 : accessed 9 February 2022). ↩
- “United States Union Provost Marshal Files of Individual Civilians, 1861-1866,” images, FamilySearch, citing NARA microfilm publication M345 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration), Clark, H.-Clay > image 1720-1721 of 2173 > Vincent Ingram makes the within statement against Can Clendenen. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-13038-40557-62?cc=1834304&wc=M6Y2-VWT:162115001 : accessed 17 April 2014). ↩
- 1860 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/), citing Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls, Roll: M653_1356; FHL Film 805356; Virginia, Kanawha County, page 113, lines 21-25, household 788-788, William Johnson (accessed 5 June 2018). ↩
- WVCulture.org, Certificate of Death No. 555, Richard Edward Ingram, died 2 Aug 1920, filed 7 Aug 1920, citing Kincaid, Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view2.aspx?FilmNumber=1952796&ImageNumber=572 : accessed 27 Apr 2014). ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764/, image 244, Fayette County, West Virginia, Register of Marriage 1867, page 6, line 14, Irvin Ingram and Mary M. Dempsey, citing Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00244.jpg : accessed 22 January 2022). ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 249, Fayette County Register of Marriage for 1868-1869, page 10 (double-page spread), line 44, 8 Apr 1869, Wm P Ingram and Manerva Light, married by Wm Johnson. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00249.jpg : accessed 24 April 2022). ↩
- 1870 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163/), citing Ninth Census of the United States, 1870 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls, Roll: M593_1686, West Virginia, Fayette County, Falls of Kanawha, sheet 95B, lines 31-36, household 13-13, R. Ingram (accessed 21 July 2018). ↩
- WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 258, West Virginia, Fayette County Register of Marriages, page 18, entry 8, 2 Feb 1872, Marion L. Bowling and Nancy M. Ingram, citing Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00258.jpg : accessed 15 February 2022). ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 262, West Virginia, Fayette County Register of Marriages, page 22, entry 40 of 45, 22 Oct 1874, Martin Van B. Blake and Mary E. Ingram, citing Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00262.jpg : accessed 15 February 2022). ↩
- 1880 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/), citing Tenth Census of the United States, 1880 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls, Roll: 1402, West Virginia, Fayette County, Kanawha, enumeration district 28, sheet 59D, lines 30-33, household 329-330, Robert Ingram (accessed 10 May 2014). ↩
- WVCulture.org, West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584764, image 288, West Virginia, Fayette County Register of Marriages, page 47, entry 29, 21 Mar 1883, R. E. Ingram and Lucy F. Hamilton, citing Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://images.wvculture.org/584764/00288.jpg : accessed 15 February 2022). ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584765, image 188, West Virginia, Fayette County Clerk’s Certificate and Marriage License, page 331 (stamped), 26 May 1888, Richard Ingram and Rebecca Wilmuth Reece, married 27 May 1888. (http://images.wvculture.org/584765/00188.jpg : accessed 15 February 2022). ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970, FHL microfilm 584765, image 355, West Virginia, Fayette County Register of Marriages, line 24, 23 Oct 1895, James B. Payne and Amy Ingram, citing Fayette County, West Virginia. (http://images.wvculture.org/584765/00355.jpg : accessed 15 February 2022). ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Births, 1853-1930, FHL microfilm 584755, image 79, Register of Births for Fayette County, page 144-145 (stamped, double-page spread), line 148, 25 Dec 1879, Hulda Ingram. (http://images.wvculture.org/584755/00079.jpg : accessed 2 April 2022). Note: The register is for the year 1880 however Hulda was born in 1879 as 1. a second register entry is dated Dec 1879 and 2. she appeared on the 1880 census as a six-month-old child. ↩
- Ibid., West Virginia Births, 1853-1930, FHL microfilm 584755, image 70, Register of Births for Fayette County, page 126-127 (stamped, double-page spread), line 125, Dec 1879, Ingram – (no first name). (http://images.wvculture.org/584755/00070.jpg : accessed 2 April 2022). ↩
- 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Roll: 1402, West Virginia, Fayette County, Kanawha, enumeration district 28, sheet 60A, lines 27-33, household 335-336, William P Ingram (accessed 7 May 2022). ↩
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Opening Doors in Brick Walls 
Cathy, nice post. I know how you feel about the lack of records for some ancestors! It’s really frustrating. One of the worst things is the lack of a 1890 census! That 20 year hole in what is sometimes the only source of records is really awful. Luckily some states have a state census that partially fills in.
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Thank you Larry! What is most frustrating is that I know that it could have been done better. For my maternal line (completely European) I can find birth, marriage and death records without any problem as Luxembourg, France, Germany and Belgium have records going back to before the American Independence.
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Hi, I stumbled on your blog site and was fascinated to read about William Johnson. I am new to this but I am the grandson of warren Johnson, the great grandson of Conklin Johnson, and the great great grandson of Adam Johnson. I also believe that I am the great x’s four of John Brown Johnson but cant be sure. Thanks for all your hard work.
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Hello Daniel, thank you for stopping by and leaving the comment! I’ll send you an email later today so we can compare notes. I have Conklin Hoy Johnson in my database. Between his father Adam and John Brown Johnson is Adam’s father and John B.’s son Harrison. You’re welcome.
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I keep waiting to find my name in a comment on one of these revived and revised posts. Your comment that you have an easier time finding your European maternal records than your American paternal records made me smile. For me it’s just the opposite for the most part. American research is so much easier!
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Amy, you only started following and commenting after the end of my first year. So all of my US greats back to the 4th are NEW posts for you. 😉
As for the European being easier for me, it is only because they kept such good civil records from the French Revolution (abt. 1797) forward and had a law about surnames not being changed, i.e. women kept their maiden names. Thank you, Amy.
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Wow, I didn’t know that women kept their surnames! I wish that had been the law here when we got married and people thought I was strange for keeping my surname!
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