JOHNSON, RICHARD J. (1835 ~ 1920). Richard J. Johnson was born in September of 1835 in Alabama. His father was born in Georgia and his mother in Alabama.
R. J. moved to Texas in 1855, and in 1861, he enlisted in H. E. McCullough's regiment of the Frontier troops for one year. He later enlisted in a company of Waul's Legion during the Civil War and ended the War serving in Co. C, Willis' Battalion, Ross Brigade, Forest's Division and was discharged in May 1865 at Jackson, Mississippi. During the war, Johnson was wounded twice, shot once in the neck and once in the right knee. The neck wound disabled his right hand.
On his way back to Texas, Mr. Johnson and a comrade confronted a large number of Federal soldiers who were harassing and assaulting a woman in front of her home. As a result, Johnson and his partner ran their horses into the crowd of Federal soldiers, and started to fire their guns, according to legend.
Johnson married Melissa Johnson in 1865. She was born about 1843 in Georgia (her maiden name happened to be Johnson as well). In 1871, he and his wife's family settled in Blanco County near what eventually became Johnson City. R. J. Johnson and his wife's brothers started a cattle operation in 1873. His wife died in Fredonia, Texas in 1913.
Johnson was a resident of the Confederate Men's Home in Austin on several occasions. He died on December 1, 1920 and was buried in the Texas State Cemetery a day later.
Information provided by William Johnson. Sources include "100 Years of Blanco County History," published in Blanco County, Texas, 1991; Confederate Pension Application, Confederate Home roster, oral history, census documents, and other unpublished material. |
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