Hi, there is a Harley Johnson who retired as school supt. at Abbott, Texas, Hill County, (Willie Nelson's childhood home) and Harley has returned out of retirement to Penelope School Dist., Hill county, Texas. He lives in Hillsboro, but he grew up in Mooreville, Bell County, Texas. Bob Johnson, my Sunday School teacher, is his brother. Bob said they were sharecroppers in Mooreville- Eddy area Hill County is not in what is commonly known as the Texas Hill Country, but is on the Brazos River and Lake Whitney- some rough Texas hills and some very fertile black land. Walter Degner of Malone- Bynum area had the natinal record for bushels of corn per acre, including all 50 States. It has a large Outlet mall on I-35, next to Hill College and its Confederate Center, which honors Hood's Texas Brigade and has the Audie Murphy Gun Museum in the front of the Col. Harold J. Simpson Confederate Research library. This might be a good place to do family history research. Some have had unexpectedly goofd luck in research there. Bob is semi retired from the Atlas Portland Cement plant in Waco. No more digging there, but they bring Mexican Gray cement there to mizx with several years supply of Texas cement. I taught with Harley at West, Texas when I had Industrial and Health occupation co-op students and he had the CVAE Cooperative ed program for lower level academic achievers. Harley is now one of the board which writes rather liberal guest editorials for the Waco Tribune- Herald, a Cox newspaper with Atlanta Ga. ownership. There is another elderly Johnson next door to our daughter in Eddy, Texas but Bob says they are not kin.(At least not enough for him to know it) This one had a coverred wagon on car wheels which he rented out for parties, , hayrides and such and he drove, His wife is now in the Rest Home and he has slowed down now. He still has his mules and hortses outside town on his farm On Sun, 6 May 2001 20:26:22 EDT JAS17@aol.com writes: > Mr. Wyly, I wonder if you know where Morris Johnson's ancestors were > from. My > 3rd g-grandmother, Anny/Amey JOHNS(T)ON had a brother called Morris. > She was > born about 1775-1780 and lived in Edgefield Co, SC. Morris was > older. There > were other Morrises in the family tree, and both Morris JOHNSONs and > Moore > JOHNSONs (also spelled JOHNSTON) in Edgefield Co in the early 1800s. > Their > father was David and their mother seems to have been Rachel (surname > > unknown). I believe they came to Edgefield from Virginia. Lots of > Scots in > this area -- Anny/Amey married one whose surnamed was HAZEL. > > I have another line of JOHNSONs who were in Hill Co. TX in the > 1860s. My > g-grandfather, William Henry JOHNSON (grandmother's side of the > family) was > born there in March 1861. Found him, I think, on the 1870 census, > age 9, > with an older bro. Jeremiah, born in Ark. before the war, and a > younger > sister, Catherine, born after the war, and a mother, Dorean. No > father > listed. Mother says she was from NC. Nearest neighbors were GUSTs > -- > (GUESTs?) also from NC. Later census records say the parents were > born in > AL, though. > > If any of these JOHNSONs sound familiar, I would love to place them > in some > sort of extended neighborhood and discover if they connect to any > of the > other JOHNSONs in Hill Co. I'd also like to find out which > "Southern trail" > they took to get there. > > Regards, > Barbara Schenck > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the > #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB >