Biography of Jeremiah Johnson, Jr.

Biography of Jeremiah Johnson, Jr.

by Julie Johnson Brinkerhoff

In the 1800's, life in New Hampshire revolved mainly around the family farm. It was hard work with thin, rocky soil filled with hardwood trees that needed to be cleared.  The hilly landscape added its own difficulties. The weather was harsh with long cold winters giving it a short growing season. It was a hard difficult life and the farms were the main support for the families. There were no stores and so the neighbors bartered with one another. (Shannon, p 30)  It was to these struggles that Jeremiah Johnson was born the 9th of May 1797 to Jeremiah Johnson, Sr. and Olive Shepherd in Epping, Rockingham, New Hampshire, a farming town at the top center of Rockingham County. (www.findagrave.com)   Jeremiah was the only surviving son and had four younger sisters.  Jeremiah's ancestors had immigrated to New Hampshire from Massachusetts several generations earlier.

Jeremiah's father was not a wealthy farmer and barely got by like most of his neighbors.  In 1811 the family owned one horse, five cows, tilled one acre, did not have an orchard, mowed two acres, and had twelve acres of pasture.  This is what they had to sustain the family. It took a long time to mow the fields with just a scythe as a tool and they had to till the rocky soil by hand.  The horse was what they had to help clear the land.  You were lucky if you had a some oxen.  In 1817, right before they relocated to Northwood, they had two horses, two oxen (used to clear the land), seven cows, tilled three acres, mowed nine acres and had six acres of pasture.  They had worked hard to improve their land but opportunity lay elsewhere for this family. (New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, vol 3 image 4)  

Bird's eye View, Eppingh, NH - 1906 postcard

Jeremiah was 21 years old when his family moved to Northwood, New Hampshire.  "Northwood was a good town in which to live, it was also a good town whence to emigrate, since it had a good reputation abroad for intelligence and manliness of character... The pioneer settlers, and those attracted to them, came hither with the hope of improving their fortunes, well knowing that success depended upon bodily vigor and a resolute will... [and]  if they cast their lot in a dense wilderness, and warred with the storms of winter and the ruggedness of the soil, the intellect of their children must not be lost sight of amid the clearing of land, the rearing of houses, and the constructing of highways.  Hence, like wise men, they reared school houses and hired teachers... the number of those that could not read and write was exceedingly small." (Cogswell, p 535)

Northwood about 1910 - wikipedia - Northwood

Jeremiah's family was taxed for one orchard, two acres pasture, seven oxen, no cows, and three horses in 1818.  They paid a town tax of 1.00, school tax of 1.53, state tax of .54, county tax of .54, and a minister tax of 2.94. They only paid a minister tax if the minister was used and perhaps Jeremiah's sisters could of gotten married or there was a death in the family.  His neighbors were the Hiatt's and the Pease's. Northwood was divided up into eight districts and Jeremiah's family lived in district seven.  (New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, vol 2 image 311)

Jeremiah married Polly (Mary) Edgerly the 23 of January 1821 in Northwood. (New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947) He was 23 years old.  Polly was the daughter of Samuel the 2nd and Elizabeth (Betsey) Edgerly, a local farming family. They had two daughters, Melinda born four months after their marriage, 10 May 1821 and Elizabeth born the 26 of April 1823.  In 1825, Polly's father Samuel died and left his estate to Polly, the only surviving child, and made sure that his wife, Elizabeth was taken care of all her days.  Polly's brother John died in 1824, Josiah in 1825, and her father in 1825 making one think that they may have died of consumption (tuberculosis) that seemed to gallop through the area. (New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973, image 196)

In 1826, Jeremiah moved to district 6 in Northwood and took care of his mother-in-law Elizabeth (Betsey). One of his neighbors was a Dudley Leavitt. With the death of his father-in-law his assets increased greatly.  Before the family had been living with Jeremiah's father.  His assets now included 12 acres mowing, 26 acres pasture, two cows, and one horse.  (New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, vol 2  image 474) In 1830, Jeremiah has moved back home with his father, mother, and sisters. (1830 U.S. Census)  His wife Polly was not with him and she may of remarried or passed away. 

Jeremiah married Elizabeth Sleeper the daughter of Daniel Sleeper a traveling shoe maker from Grafton County, New Hampshire on the 1 September 1830. (New Hampshire, Marriage Records 1637-1947)  They had six boys (Levi Dolloff, John Edgerly, Daniel Sleeper, Warren Marshall, Leroy Sunderland, Charles Wesley) and one daughter (Mary Ann).  Jeremiah took up farming in Bridgewater, Grafton, New Hampshire and raised his family on that farm.  In the 1840 census (1840 U.S. Census), it shows that the two daughters from his first marriage are living with them.  In the 1831 tax and property records it shows that Jeremiah had two horses, two oxen, four acres mowing, an half acre tilled, eight acres pasture with a total of 26 acres with a value of $50.00 which was average for the area. (New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947, Grafton,  Bridgewater,  Town records 1816-1842 vol 2  image 175)

Postcard of Bridgwater, Newfound Lake 

Life for Jeremiah and his family would have been like a typical farmer of the area. " A farmer would take three dollars, six bushels of turnips, and five calves to a neighbor.  The neighbor would keep the money and the vegetables and kill and dress the calves.  He would return the dressed meat and four skins to the farmer, keeping one for himself.  The farmer would take the skins to another neighbor, who would tan them for something less than a dollar and a half-bushel of wheat.  And then another man would come for three days to the farmer's house to make five pairs of shoes and a pair of pumps out of the calfskin. [like Daniel Sleeper, Elizabeth's father] The following week, the farmer would go for a day to the house of the man who had made the shoes to make an ox yoke and two whiffletrees for the hay-cart... When a man wanted to build a house, he sought out a neighbor...he supplied all the material and gave his neighbor and maybe two boys board, but not room, for eight months.”  When the house was finished... he gave him one hundred dollars and a two-year-old heifer.  In New Hampshire there was few banks and less money.  Their needs were met by trade, borrow, and swap.  The men had to be proficient in the art of negotiation. (Morison and Morison)

Bridgewater sunset

In Bridgewater, a small town in the Lakes Region of Central New Hampshire, Jeremiah was active in the Methodist Church and there were meetings and funerals held at his home.  There was a "preaching service one afternoon at the home of Jeremiah Johnson in Bridgewater.  A great congregation had gathered, and Richard Newhall preached a sermon of wonderful power from the text, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.'   More than two hundred were said to have professed religion as the result of this revival."   Jeremiah had bought a pew for $33.00 on Jan. 4, 1839 to help towards the building of a new Methodist church. (Musgrove, 277, 279)

He died the 21 December 1869 (New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949, Ancestry.com)  in Bridgewater from Typhoid Fever.  The farmer's life was hard but Jeremiah managed to improve his lot and gave his children an opportunity for a better life.  Levi became a photographer.  John Edgerly (named after first wife's family) was active in Methodist church work.  Daniel Sleeper was a farmer like his father and died of a surgical operation.  Warren Marshall emigrated to Utah for his health's sake.  He was educated at Dartmouth , a math professor, taught school, worked as a Ferryman at Lee's Ferry for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was postmaster of Lee's Ferry. Leroy Sunderland manufactured lumber and veneers.  Charles Wesley engaged in the fancy woods business in Boston.  Melinda married a carpenter and resided in Bridgewater. Elizabeth married a farmer and carpenter. Mary Ann died at the age of 25 of consumption. (www.findagrave.com)

Thomas Jefferson described Jeremiah's life best. "The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and their management," and he was sure that such a foundation could be secured by men who owned and worked their own land - farmers, the chosen people of God. (Moore, 7-29)

 1860 map of Bridgewater that shows the Location of Jeremiah Johnson's home from

old maps.com

  

Sources

1830 U.S. Census—Northwood, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. NARA Series M19 Roll 77,  Ancestry.com, accessed June 2014, Page 17, household of Jeremiah Johnson, Sr.

1840 U.S. Census—Bridgewater, Grafton County, New Hampshire, Author, NARA Roll 237, Ancestry.com, accessed June 2014, Page 153, household of Jeremiah Johnson, Jr.

Cogswell, Elliott C, History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood Comprised Within the Original Limits of Nottingham, Rockingham County, N.H. With Records of the Centennial Proceedings at Northwood, and Genealogical Sketches (Publisher John B. Clarke, 1878, Manchester, New Hampshire, eBook, The Library of Congress) 535

findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=85567669, Jeremiah Johnson, links to children

Moore, J.B.,  A Gazetteer of the State of New Hampshire (Concord, N.H., 1823) 7-29

Morison,  Elizabeth Forbes and Elting E., New Hampshire A Bicentennial History, (American Association for State and Local History, Nashville, Tennessee, 1976)

Musgrove, Richard Watson, Annals (Bristol, New Hampshire, 1904, Google Book) 277, 279

"New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-32657-29348-19?cc=2040537&wc=M797-268:347815701,348189501 : accessed 03 Jul 2014), Rockingham > Probate records 1824-1827 vol 48-49 > image 196 of 607.

"New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949 - Ancestry.com." New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949 - Ancestry.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Jun. 2014.

"New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FL6P-9S4 : accessed 03 Jul 2014), Jeremiah Johnson and Polly Edgerly, 23 Jan 1821; citing , Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1001271.

"New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FL6P-9MP : accessed 04 Jul 2014), Jeremiah Johnson Jr and Elizabeth Sleeper, 01 Sep 1830; citing Bristol, , New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1001271.

"New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-28478-274-52?cc=1987741&wc=M6CN-WWG:265836001,265845401,265847401 : accessed 01 Jul 2014), Grafton > Bridgewater > Town records 1816-1842 vol 2 > image 175 of 277.

"New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-28477-5691-43?cc=1987741&wc=M6CJ-BWG:265836301,265976101,265978601 : accessed 01 Jul 2014), Rockingham > Northwood > Town records 1802-1830 vol 2 > image 311 and 474 of 545.

"New Hampshire, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-28481-24693-90?cc=1987741&wc=M6CN-2Z9:265836301,265874601,265876001 : accessed 01 Jul 2014), Rockingham > Epping > Town records 1794-1847 vol 3 > image 4 of 286.)

old-maps.com/nh/nh_towns/grafton_1860/Bridgewater_1860.jpg

Shannon, Terry Miller, New Hampshire, 2002 (Children's Press, United States of America)  30