Compiled by P. Davidson-Peters © 2001

Special thanks to Judith Funk & Marlena Hays for their research & contributions.

Seth M. Johnson was born on 03 Mar 1782 in Cheshire, New Haven County, Connecticut and was christened at the Cheshire Congregational Church on 28 Apr 1782. He was said to have descended of good old New England stock and English ancestry, his parents being Seth and Eunice (Hitchcock).

The elder Seth married Eunice in Wallingford, CT on 26 Dec 1771 and died before 20 Jun 1823. His surviving children were listed as: Eunice Hills, Esther Benham, Mary Kelsey, Seth Johnson, william Johnson and Philo Johnson. Two of Seth's children were buried in 1774 and 1775.

Seth, Jr. married Mary Hough, the daughter of Ebenezer Hough in 1806 in Connecticut. Mary had been born on 24 Jan 1786 in New Haven, Connecticut and after their marriage and birth of their first two children, they emigrated to Chenango County, New York and settled in the heavy timber near Bainbridge.

There he and his wife encountered the hardships of a pioneer life and diligently toiled until they had improved and cultivated a good farm on which they spent the remainder of their days. Seth, who was said to have been a member of the Baptist Church and an active Whig, died at the age of fifty-seven, and his wife who lived until the venerable age of eighty years died on 28 May 1865. They were buried in the West Bainbridge Cemetery.

The family is listed In 1810 and 1820 in Jericho, in 1830 listed in Bainbridge. It appears Seth had died prior to 1840 as a Mary Johnston is listed as residing in Bainbridge Village - her children matching the correct ages of: William, Marcus, Harvey, Seth, Deforest, Mary & Estella. A few households before Mary's is the household of an Ebenezer Johnson, but not to be confused with her oldest son "Eben" who was by this time living in Sugar Grove, Lee County, Illinois and enumerated in that county during that year.

After the death of Seth, Mary was enumerated in the 1850 and 1860 census living in the household of her son Marcus in Bainbridge.

Note: Birth and death dates of Seth and Mary have been taken from West Bainbridge Cemetery.

1. Areluses - died in infancy.

2. Jannet "Polly" Johnson - born about 1805.

3. Frances E. Johnson - born in 1809; died in 1890.

4. Ebenezer "Eben" Johnson - born on 05 Jul 1810; died on 29 Aug 1885.

5. William S. Johnson - born in 1813 in Chenango Co., New York where he died in 1873. He was buried in West Bainbridge Cemetery. He had been counted in a census in 1820 in Jericho, Chenango, NY; counted in a census in 1830 and 1840 in Bainbridge

6. Marcus T. Johnson - born on 11 Mar 1815.

7. Cornelia Johnson - born about 1816.

8. Harvey E. Johnson - born on 11 Feb 1819; died on 15 Nov 1887.

9. Seth M. Johnson - born about 1821. He died on 19 Dec 1867 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY and was buried in West Bainbridge Cemetery, NY. Seth was counted in a census in 1830 in Bainbridge; in a census in 1840 in Bainbridge Village, and in a census in 1860 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY. Seth married Tabitha who was born about 1828/1830 in New York. and died in 1914 in Bainbridge, She was buried in West Bainbridge Cemetery, NY and had been listed as a widow, head of household in 1880 in Greene, Chenango, NY.

10. Estella Adeline Johnson - born on 09 Jul 1822; died on 22 Jun 1894.

11. Mary E. Johnson - born about 1825; died on 25 Jan 1901.

12. DeForest Sanford Johnson - born on 12 Mar 1826; died on 11 Jun 1897.

Generation II

Jannet "Polly" Johnson (1805)-?

Daughter of Seth and Mary Hough, she married Harrison G. Conant who was born about 1806 in New York.

Harrison was the only Conant located in the Chenango County census records and his wife was repeatedly listed as Polly. In 1840 he is listed in the census records with what appears to be himself, his wife, one male under age 5 (Rufus) and two females under age 5 (Calista & Polly). In 1850 the family consisted Harrison, Polly and their children Rufus, Coletta, Polly, and Caroline. In 1860 the family was still residing in Greene Twp. and daughter Calista was listed as a teacher. In 1870 only their daughter Esther is listed in the household.

Please note that this is speculated but not proven to be the same as Jannet. If you can confirm this information, please contact Patti.

1. Rufus Conant - born about 1833 in Chenango Co., NY.

2. Coletta or Calista Conant - born about 1836 in Chenango Co., NY.

3. P.N. "Polly" Conant - born about 1839 in Chenango Co., NY.

4. Caroline Conant - born about 1842 in Chenango Co., NY.

5. Esther Conant - born about 1846 in Chenango Co., NY.

6. Francis H. Conant - born about 1852 in Chenango Co., NY.

Daughter of Seth & Mary (Hough), she married Reuben C. Fosbury on 17 Nov 1832 in West Bainbridge, Chenango, NY. They were enumerated in the census records in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 residing in Bainbridge.

Her husband Reuben was born in 1807 in New York and was listed in the 1869-70 Bainbridge Business Directory along with Abel Fosbury and other Johnsons as follows: Abel C. Fosbury (Bainbridge) lot 41, farmer; Reuben C. Fosbury (Bainbridge) lot 41, farmer (130 acres); Davis Johnson (Bainbridge) lot 73, retired; Jefferson Johnson (Bainbridge) lot 66, farmer (124 acres); and Marcus T. Johnson (Bainbridge) lot 41, farmer (200 acres).

Reuben died in Bainbridge in 1880, and Frances in 1890. They were buried at West Bainbridge Cemetery.

1. Phebe E. Fosbury - born about 1834 in New York.

2. Eliza P. Fosbury - born about 1835 in New York.

3. Mary A. Fosbury - born about 1837 in New York.

4. Frances E. Fosbury - born about 1839 in New York.

5. Rubyetta Fosbury - born on 1 Feb 1841 in New York.

6. Abel C. Fosbury - born about 1843.

7. Franklin Fosbury - born about 1844.

8. Seth J. Fosbury - born about 1848 in New York.

9. Reuben Deloss Fosbury - born on 30 Mar 1850.

Ebenezer "Eben" Johnson 1810-1885

Son of Seth and Mary (Hough), he was born on 05 Jul 1810 in Bainbridge, New York. Eben left home before his majority and engaged in various pursuits until his marriage, directly after which he came west, arriving in Lee County, Illinois in 1838 where he settled at Palmyra.

According to a biographical sketch, Ebenezer married Sarah Johnson, the daughter of Capt. Jonas Johnson and Sallie McCray. Sarah was born on 10 Aug 1808 in Blanford, Hampton, Massachusetts and died in May 1885 in Palmyra, Lee, Illinois.

From a letter written by Eben and his wife Sarah to his mother back in Bainbridge on the 18th of November in 1838, he writes: "We arrived in Illinois Oct. 9th after a prosperous journey of five weeks, one of which was spent with relatives in Ohio. We first went to Monmouth, where our friends had preceded us and we first thought of settling, but after viewing the country over, they all concluded to settle here, 110 miles north of that place. We are in a very handsome country, five miles from Dixon's Ferry, and have been three weeks in our new situation."

"We find the county mostly settled by eastern people which makes it very pleasant. The majority are from New York and New Hampshire, with quite a number from Massachusetts, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Father and mother will remain with a brother till spring, when they will rejoin us here. (Mrs. Johnson's father was Capt. Jonas M. Johnson, a veteran in his 76th year, who greatly enjoyed the new country during the remaining four years of his pilgrimage..)"

Eben was listed in the 1840 census residing in Sugar Grove, Lee Co., Illinois and in the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 census residing in Palmyra, Lee County, Illinois. He died on 29 Aug 1885. The Amboy News of October 24th states that probate records list "Howard Johnson to be appointed administrator of the estate of E.H. Johnson, deceased, under bonds of $300."

View Outside link to IL Trails - Lee Co., Illinois

1. Thomas H. Johnson - born about 1839 in Lee Co., IL
2. Mary J. Johnson - born about 1841 in Illinois.
3. Jane Ann Johnson - born about 1844 in Illinois; listed as single, living with her parents in 1880.
4. Ebenezer Ralph Johnson - born about 1846 in Illinois.
5. Theodore Johnson - born about 1848 in Illinois.
6. William Howard Johnson - born about 1850 in Lee Co., IL.
7. Marcus M. Johnson - born on 15 Aug 1855 in Palmyra, Lee, IL; he married Emma C. Flamm who was born about 1859 in Illinois.

Marcus T. Johnson 1815-?

The son of Seth & Mary (Hough), was born in Bainbridge on the 11th of March 1815. Listed in the Bainbridge Business Directory of 1869 -1870, he was a farmer who owned two hundred acres in lot 41, but at one time he and his brother William had been clock makers in New York City.

Sometime before 1847 Marcus married Alice Parsons, daughter of Augustus Parsons and Lydia. Alice was born in 1821 in New York and died in 1901. They were enumerated in the census records in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 residing in Bainbridge.

1. Adalaide Johnson - born about 1847 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY; she lived at "the old
2. homestead" and was married to Coe.
3. Tabitha Ann Johnson - born on 7 Nov 1849.
4. Seth M. Johnson was born about 1857/1858 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY. He came to Greene township in April of 1878 and was in business as S.M. Johnson & George D. Graves as fruniture dealers.
5. Marcus Monroe Johnson - born in Apr 1860 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY and married Della.
6. Carrie Johnson - born about 1868 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY.

Daughter of Seth and Mary (Hough), she was born about 1816 in New York. She married Timothy Stephen Lane, son of James Lane and Lois, in about 1835. Timothy was born about 1816 in New York.

They were enumerated in the census records in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 residing in Bainbridge.

1. Marcus D. Lane was born about 1836 in New York.
2. Smith Lane -born in 1838 in New York; died 1905 in Bainbridge. He married Melissa A. Lyon (1839-1913) and both are buried in West Bainbridge Cemetery.
3. Luman or Lyman L. Lane - born about 1845 in New York and died in 1877. He married Marietta (born 1844) before 1870 in Chenango Co., NY. He was listed as a farmer in Bainbridge, lot 45 with 104 acres in the 1879-1880 Business Directory.
4. Aurelia Jennett Lane - born on 08 Jan 1848 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY.
5. George Lane - born about 1851 in New York.
6. Timothy A. Lane - born about 1852 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY.

Harvey E. Johnson 1819-1887

Born on 11 February 1819 in Bainbridge, Chenango Co., New York, Harvey was the son of Seth and Mary (Hough). He remained in New York until about 1845 when he removed to Lee County, Illinois where his brother, Eben H. Johnson (known to many as Uncle Eben), had settled in 1838 in Palmyra which had been settled only four years prior by John and Harvey Morgan and Benjamin Stewart. Here, Harvey E. Johnson purchased a farm and three years later, on 31 Dec 1848, he married Mary Jane Wheat who was the daughter of Josiah and Mary (Black) who were early settlers of China township in Lee County, Illinois. 

In 1850 Harvey and Mary were listed with their three month old "infant" son whom they named Deforest. By 1860 their family had grown and were living in the town of Palmyra (post office Dixon), and Harvey was listed as a farmer with real estate valued at $5,085 and personal estate valued at $1,100.  They continued to reside in Palymra Township and were listed in the 1870 with children Deforest, Florence, Frank and Adaline. In 1880 the census indicates Mary's parents were both born in Vermont, and both of Harvey's parents were born in Connecticut. The census records his son Deforest as living next door with his young family.

Harvey died on 15 Nov 1887 in Palmyra, Lee County, Illinois and was buried in Sugar Grove Cemetery. His wife Mary (Wheat), who was born on 08 Feb 1827 in China Twp., Lee County, Illinois, died on 19 Mar 1892 in Meriden, Cherokee County, Iowa.

1. Deforest Johnson - born 13 Apr 1850 in Lee County, IL; married Emma Bovey.
2. Florence "Flora" R. Johnson - born 08 Oct 1851 in Lee County, IL;married Jacob Baker on 25 Dec 1873 and resided in Ogle Co., Illinois.
3. Franklin F. Johnson - born 19 Dec 1855 in Palmyra, Lee County, IL.  He married Ida May Rand on 01 Dec 1876 and lived in Palmyra.
4. Augustus L. Johnson - died before 1870.
5. Freddie L. Johnson - died before 1870.
6. Addie A. Johnson - born 25 Dec 1866 in Illinois.  She appears to have been the wife of Will Snyder (whom she married sometime after 1881/1882) and was residing in Tama, Iowa according to DeForest's obituary of 1920. The Amboy News (Lee Co., IL) states Addie was living in Viola and visiting friends in Amboy - this being 01 Jul 1882 - her name still listed at this date as Johnson.

Daughter of Seth and Mary (Hough), was born on 9 Jul 1822 in Bainbridge, Chenango, NY. Estella married David Orlando Ingersoll, son of David Ingersoll and Hannah (Holcomb) on 19 Aug 1845 in Afton, Chenango, New York.

David was born on 15 Jun 1823 in Lisle, Broome, New York and died on 9 Aug 1890 in Oxford, Chenango, NY. Estella died on 22 Jun 1894 in Oxford, Chenango, NY.

They were enumerated in the census records in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 residing in Oxford, Chenango Co., New York.

1. Hamilton Ethelbert Ingersoll - born on 30 Apr 1849.
2. Washington Edelbert Ingersoll - born on 12 Jul 1850.

Daughter of Seth and Mary (Hough), she was born about 1825 in Chenango Co., New York. She married Nelson Ireland in Bainbridge in about 1843. Nelson was born about 1818 in New York and was possibly the son of James Ireland and Lydia (Ingersoll).

They were enumerated in the census records in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 residing in Bainbridge or Bainbridge Village in Chenango Co., New York. Nelson died on 03 Apr 1865 in Bainbridge; and Mary died on 25 Jan 1901. They were buried in West Bainbridge Cemetery.

1. Harvey Ireland - born about 1844 in Chenango Co., New York. In 1880 he was residing with his sister Ursula and brother-in-law Charles Strong in Bainbridge.
2. Ursula Ireland - born about 1846 in Chenango Co., New York. She married Charles Strong after 1870. Charles was born about 1847 in New York.
3. Aurelius Ireland - born about 1848 in Chenango Co., New York and was employed as an insurance agent in 1870.
4. Luella Ireland - born about 1855 in Chenango Co., New York. Luella married Charles E. Root who was born about 1852 in Guilford, New York and was the son of Silas Root and Matilda (Cole). Lueall and Charles were the parents of Susan Root who was born about 1875 in Chenango County, New York.
5. Justin Ireland - born about 1858 in Chenango Co., New York.

Son of Seth and Mary (Hough), was born on 12 Mar 1826 in Chenango Co., New York. He married (1) Ednah "Jane" Bartholomew who was born about 1835 in Oxford of that county and was the daughter of Ira Bartholomew and Nancy (Stimpson). They were married on 10 Sep 1856 in West Bainbridge, Chenango, New York.

They were enumerated in the census records in 1860 and 1870 residing in Bainbridge, and then removed to Henderson County, Illinois in the spring of 1871. Jane died in 1874 in Little York, Warren, Illinois of tyberculosis and was buried in Little York Cemetery.

On August 16, 1877 DeForest married (2) Eliza Macklin in Henderson County, Illinois and they were listed in the census records for 1880 residing in Henderson Co., Illinois. Deforest died there on 11 Jun 1897.

View The Japhets of Upstate New York (Outside link by Cory Panshin)

1. Edward Johnson - born about 1858 in New York. He married Annie or Amy Macklin on 01 Mar 1880 in Henderson Co., IL and died in 1926. Annie was born about 1863 in Delaware.
2. Miles Lavern Johnson - born about 1868 was born in West Bainbridge, New York and moved to Belmont, Illinois at the age of three. At one time he went to colorado where he owned the Oly Mososes Sliver Mine and ran a pool hall in Denver. He married Pearl Edna Snodgrass in Oquaka, Illinois in about 1900 and were the parents of: Edna Leone, Jeanette Ruth, and an infant son.

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Updated 21 Dec 2010
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