The goal of these surname search blog posts is to help you connect with other researchers interested in these surnames, and to find more information about your ancestors. Use the resources below as a stepping point to find credible sources, and remember: not every “Jane Doe” is your “Jane Doe”! If you have information related to the Johnson surname, or would like to reach out to fellow Johnson genealogy researchers, leave a comment. Please do not share any information about those still living to respect privacy.
Johnson
Related surnames or alternate spellings: Jonson, Johnston, Janssen
Notable ancestors include:
Andrew Johnson, vice president under Lincoln, then 17th U.S. President
Arthur John “Jack” Johnson, first black heavyweight boxing champion
Ben “Son” Johnson Jr, champion rodeo cowboy, stuntman, actor
Blind Willie Johnson, Blues musician
Claudia Alta Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson, First Lady, wife of Lyndon B. Johnson
Dr. Samuel Johnson, English writer
Griffith Johnson; William Johnson - possible qualifying ancestors for First Families of Maryland
Hiram Warren Johnson, 23rd California governor, senator
J.J. Johnson, jazz trombonist
Lonnie Johnson, Blues musician
Lyndon B. Johnson. 36th U.S. President
Nicholas Johnson; Henry Johnson - possible 1587 Colonists at Roanoke
Robert Johnson, Blues musician
Russell David Johnson, Professor Hinkley on Gilligan’s Island
Genealogy websites
Johnson - NY genealogy Information Page (rootsweb - still active)
“John Johnson and Other Johnsons meet Robert Gray and His Descendants” (rootsweb)
“Johnson Family History” (rootsweb - still active)
“Johnson Family” Carols House (with family photos)
“Johnson” (rootsweb - still active)
“Origins of the Johnston / Johnson Family” (rootsweb)
“Our American Family” John Henry Johnson, Johnson Ancestors
“The Johnson Genealogy” Jared L. Olarm (rootsweb - still active)
Message boards & mailing lists
“Johnson” posts on Ancestry.com Message Boards
“Jennie Amalie Johnson” thread on History Hub Genealogy Forum
“Johnson” posts on Genealogy.com GenForum Message Boards -
“Johnson” tagged questions on WikiTree
“Johnson” surname on GenealogyWise
Social media groups & societies
“Johnson Family” Facebook group, public, 551+ members.
“Johnson Family Reunion 2024”, Facebook group, public, 302+ members.
“The Johnson Family Reunion” Facebook group, public, 102+ members.
Photographs:
“Daniel A. Johnson family” TESSA Digital Collections of the Los Angeles Public Library
“George Goodham Johnson, 1875” Online Archive of California
“George Theodore Johnson, confirmation, 1880 - 1920” History San Jose
“Grove L. Johnson, attorney, 1906” Center for Sacramento History
“Johnson, Archibald, Mr., and Mr. Hiram Johnson, Jr., portrait photograph” Library of Congress
“Johnson, Rev. J.A.” Library of Congress
“Leontine Johnson signing court papers, Los Angeles, 1928 - 1932” UCLA Digital Library
“Magnus Johnson & Family, 1923” Library of Congress
“Margaret Johnson, 1932” Calisphere
“Member of Johnson family churning butter in her home near Black River Falls, Wisconsin, 1937” Library of Congress
“Miss Mabel Johnson, 1896” Center for Sacramento History
“Montgomery, Alabama. Marvin Johnson, truck driver, with his family.” 1943. Library of Congress
“Mr and Mrs. Julian Johnson” UCLA Digital Library
“Mrs. Jack Johnson, ca. 1911” California State Library
“Mrs. Nelson Johnson in Lyon Family Album” Daviess County Historical Society & Museum
“Nelson Johnson in Lyon Family Album” Daviess County Historical Society & Museum
“Noble M. Johnson” UCLA Digital Library
“Ollie Johnson and family. Anniston, Alabama, 1914.” Library of Congress
“Peter and Ida Johnson” Online Archive of California
“Portrait of Annie Johnson” Online Archive of California
“Portrait of Ida W. Johnson and S.C. Johnson, ca. 1900” CSU Chico Digital Collections
“Portrait of Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson” Library of Congress
“Portrait of Samuel Johnson” Online Archive of California
“Portrait of Walter W. Johnson” Library of Congress
“Shirley Marie Johnson and Donna Lee Johnson sit on their mother’s lap, upset over the loss of their father, Los Angeles, 1935” UCLA Digital Library
“Walter Johnson and family, 1927” Library of Congress
Local historical or genealogical society website clippings
Christian, John, Hayward Area Historical Society. “Hayward’s Salty History: John Johnson”
Mapes, Ginny. “William Johnson (1784 - 1848)” Oregon Encyclopedia
Robins, Ruby M. “The Johnson Family, pioneers in Ozark County before Civil War” White River Valley Historical Quarterly. Vol. 2, Number 5, Fall 1965.
“The Man Himself: LBJ’s Ancestors” LBJ Presidential Library
Online news clippings or blog posts (no paywalls)
“The Johnson Family Legacy: The Gift that Transformed a School” SC Johnson College of Business
Artifacts
1868 Deed from Thomas and Laura Johnson, Daviess County Historical Society
“Johnson family Bible Records” Indiana State Library Digital Collections
“Wallingford (Conn.) Johnsons” reprint from New-England historical and genealogical register, Oct., 1901, Library of Congress
Correspondence and Letters
“Harlan W. Johnson letter to his mother, August 23, 1918” World War I in Ohio collection
“Johnson Family Papers, 1858; 1862 - 1865” Virginia Military Institute
“Letter from William Parker Johnson to Julia Johnson, November 5, 1863” Ohio University Libraries Digital Archival Collections
“Letter to Mrs. William Sumner Johnson, 1849” National Museum of American History
Homes & Historical Markers
“The Johnson House” Philadelphia
Oral Histories
“Allan Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Bernice Johnson Oral History Interview, 1993” Oregon State University
“Carl T. Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Desmond Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Oral history interview with Sam Johnson, 1980” audio only, Oregon Historical Society
“Wilbur E. Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Herb Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Richard Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Clair Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Geraldine Johnson Collection” audio only. Library of Congress.
“James Johnson Collection” Library of Congress.
“Charles Johnson Collection” Library of Congress.
Garlon Johnson Collection” Library of Congress.
“Lamar Johnson Collection” audio only. Library of Congress.
“Donald Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Paul Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Rhenard Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Richard Johnson Collection” audio only. Library of Congress
“Richard Johnson Collection, 1936” Library of Congress
“Martha Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Howard Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Ray Johnson Collection” audio only. Library of Congress
“Raymond Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
“Mace Johnson Collection” Library of Congress
Books (Online & In Print)
Barewald, Ina Marjorie Reid. “A genealogy of the Johnson family” Tipton, Iowa. 1961. (Full view on Internet Archive)
Johnson, Abraham Malone. “Genealogy of a Branch of the Johnson Family and Connections” 1893. (Full view on Google Books)
Johnson, Anna. “Living Record of the Olaus Johnson Family” 1927. (Full view on Google Books)
Johnson, Alfred. “History and genealogy of one line of descent from Captain Edward Johnson: together with his English ancestry, 1500 - 1914” Salem, Mass. Higginson Book Co., 1990. (Full view on Hathidigital Trust)
“Johnson, Edmund Roe. “Genealogy of the descendants of Captain Edmund Johnson, circa 1741 - 1812, by Edmund Roe Johnson with the collaboration of Laurence Ayres Johnson” Lyons, NY. 1954. (Full view on Hathidigital Trust)
Johnson, George D. “Johnson Genealogy”, Leavenworth, Kansas. 1915. (Full view on Internet Archive)
Johnson, George Munn. “The genealogy of John and Ruth Johnson” Binghampton, N.Y. Barnes, Smith & Co., 1909. (Full view on Hathidigital Trust)
Johnson, James Bowen. “The Johnson Memorial, Jeremiah Johnson and Thomazin Blanchard Johnson, his wife. An Account of their Lineage from John Alden, Thomas Blanchard, Samuel Bass, Thomas Thayer, Isaac Johnson, and James Gibbon” Washington, D.C., Howard University Print, 1895. (Full view on Google Books)
Johnson, Frederick C. “Rev. Jacob Johnson of Wallingford, (Conn.) and Wilkes-Barre (PA)” 1904. (Full view on Library of Congress)
Johnson, Lorand V. “The descendants of William and John Johnson, colonial Friends of Virginia” Cleveland, 1940 (Full view on Internet Archive - requires login and borrow)
Johnson, Robert Leland. “The Ancestry of Anthony Morris Johnson, Volume VIII”. 1989. (Full view on Internet Archive - requires login and borrow)
Johnson, Robert Winder. Sr. “The Johnson family and allied families of Lincolnshire, England; being the ancestry and posterity of Lawrence Johnson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania” Philadelpha, The Dolphin Press, 1934. (Full view on Internet Archive)
Johnson, Samuel W. “History and genealogy of the Johnson family, from Charlemagne to the present time”. Denver, Big Mountain Press, 1956. (Full view on Hathidigital Trust)
Johnson, Shirley Ross. “Andrew Johnson of Vermont and some of his descendants” Fitchburg, Mass, 1952. (Full view on Internet Archive)
Johnson, Milas Edgar. “The Johnson pioneers of the West, Records and Histories of Ezekiel - Julia Hills Johnson” 1984. (Full view on Internet Archive)
Johnson, William W. “Johnson Genealogy: records of the Descendnats of John Johnson, of Ipswich and Andover, Mass., 1635 - 1892: with an appendix containing records of descendants of Timothy Johnson, of Andover, and poems of Johnson descendants” North Greenfield, Wisconsin, 1892. (Full view on Internet Archive)
Knobe, Damaris. “The ancestry of Grafton Johnson, with its four branches, the Johnson, the Holman, the Keen, the Morris…” 1924. (Full view on Internet Archive)
Farrand, Max. American Antiquarian Society. “The papers of the Johnson family of Connecticut” Worcester, Mass., The Society, 1913. (Full view on the Library of Congress)
Felton, Cyrus. “The Johnson family: a brief account of some of the descendants of Wm. Johnson, who settled in Charlestown in 1634, and of his son, Jonathan Johnson, who settled in Marlborough, Mass., as early as 1662, including about all the Johnsons that have resided at Southborough” Marlboro, Stillman B. Pratt, 1879 (Full view on Internet Archive)
Paxson, Ann J. Johnson. “Memoirs of the Johnson Family: with an autobiography”, J.B. Lippincott Company, 1885. (Full view on Google Books)
Pearson, Hilma Johnson. “John I. Johnson family, the Ola I. Levin family and related families” Svea, Minnesota. The Hart Press, 1960.
Shepard, James. “The New Haven and Wallingford (Conn.) Johnsons” Boston, Press of D. Clapp & son, 1902. (Full view on Library of Congress).
Stivers, Mabel P. “Lineage of Albert L. Johnson” Ansonia, Conn. 1926. (Full view on Internet Archive)
Temple, J.H. “Johnson, sketch of the Johnson family gathering: held at Southboro, Mass., June 26, 1878, and the historical address by Rev. J.H. Temple.” 1878 (Full view on Internet Archive)
Leave a note below if you would like to share relevant links to the Johnson / Johnston surname search, or get in touch with other researchers. Again, do not share any private information of your own, or belonging to anyone living. Thank you!
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See also: Allen | Brown | Clark | Davis | Haggard | Jones | Kavanagh / Cavanagh | Smith | Upham | Warren | Wilson