Johnson family papers

The first 6 boxes contain the papers of Dr. Thomas Johnson. These boxes contain medical account books from 1788-1831, ledgers, correspondence, bills and receipts, ground rent books and land papers from 1792-1897, artifacts, blacksmith account books from 1811-1813, and Falls Turnpike Road ledgers including worker time books from 1809 and 1820. The subjects covered in these boxes include: his election to Maryland State Senate, medicine, ground rents and properties, the estates of John Woodard (1795-1805 and Anne Johnson, blacksmithing, the sawmill , Falls Turnpike Road , Fells Point property, and the Rockland estate.

Boxes 7-8 consist of Robert North Carnan’s will, land papers, blacksmith daybooks, account books, correspondence and bills. Besides blacksmithing, these boxes contain information on the founding of Garrison Forest Academy and Hooks Town Church.

Box 9 contains correspondence, sketchbooks, diaries, and other material of Abraham Barker, Ann Mifflin Barker’s father.

A great deal of material, spanning boxes 10-22, is that of William Fell Johnson. These boxes document work he did at Rockland, his time in Maryland’s Senate, Falls Turnpike Road, and his membership in the Literary Debating Society. The bulk of this material is correspondence and bills, though there are also drafts of legislation, blacksmith account books, farm account books, political speeches, and some interesting plans of the grounds and buildings at Rockland. The Rockland plans include contracts for construction from 1830-1850, descriptions of structures, and plan for an apple orchard. There are detailed lists of produce sold from the farm between 1847-1853, as well as the “Rockland Vegetable Book” from 1831.

Boxes 23 and 24 contain letters, diaries, journals, and legal papers of Priscilla Barker, wife of Abraham and mother of Anne Mifflin Barker Johnson, spanning from the early 1820s to 1845.

Anne Mifflin Barker Johnson’s material spans 70 years (1820s-1890s) and fills boxes 25-40. These boxes contain correspondence from the 1840s-1890s, school notebooks, letter books, receipts, bills, banking material, and fire insurance policies. Of particular interest are “A Guide to Good Housekeeping”, 1835; menus and record of table settings, 1835; records of food served; “Recipes for cleaning Crape”; “Account of Children’s diseases; and household diaries, reflecting the life of a nineteenth century woman.

The two boxes of Dr. Thomas Francis Johnson (1829-1881), boxes 41 and 42, contain much material relating to the Civil War. Included in these boxes are correspondence, journals, and daily chronologies of the Civil War from 1861 and 1862. Of particular interest in his journal from 1865 in which he laments the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Also included in these boxes is a list of “stereoscopic views near Ithaca, New York”.

Boxes 43-45 contain material of Henry Barker (1811-1858), the only brother of Anne Mifflin Barker Johnson. These boxes consist of correspondence, letter books, accounts, and journals which have information about both the Bare Hills Sabbath School and the Baltimore County Public Schools.

Box 46 contains correspondence, diaries, and memorial albums of Catherine Sanderson (d. 1860) pertaining to the Rockland estate and the Bare Hills Sunday School.

Kate Johnson (1844-1914) has three boxes of material (47-49) which contains correspondence, receipts, bills, schoolwork and even a scrap of a wedding dress. Some of the more unique correspondence discusses the Lincoln assassination and other events from the Civil War.

Boxes 50 -57 contain correspondence, diaries, bills, receipts, farm account books, banking material, and construction documents of William Fell Johnson II (1846-1916). Lots of the material relates to the Falls Turnpike Road Company, Rockland, and the First Brooklyn Cooperative Building Association.

Robert W. Johnson’s (1854-1930) papers, in boxes 58-62, contains correspondence from 1860-1915, real estate papers, newspaper clippings, school papers, and circulars from St. Thomas’ School from 1868-1870.

Boxes 63 and 64 contain papers of Marshall Barker Johnson (1848-1880). Most of these papers are letters spanning the 1850s to the 1880s, but the boxes also contain his will from 1880, and a military exemption certificate from 1867.

Boxes 65-69 contain correspondence and financial material belonging to Ann Julia Johnson Johnston (1880-1970) daughter of Robert W. Johnson and Julia Watts Hall Brock (1858-1949).

Boxes 70-74 are papers of William Fell Johnson III (1884-1968). The bank books, bills, and correspondence span 1920-1950. They reflect his time working on his law degree from University of Maryland and then maintaining his practice in Baltimore, and looking after his property in Rockland and Fells Point. William Fell III was also active member of the board of St Paul’s school for boys for almost 50 years as well as member of old St Paul’s parish. He was also an avid hunter with Green Spring Valley Hunt Club.

The last member of the family is Major Gordon Johnston (fl. 1910) in box 75. The most notable item in this box is a letter from President Teddy Roosevelt, among other letters, bills, clippings, and military records.

The mixed material spans boxes 76-115. This wide assortment of material includes ledgers, broadsides, clippings, correspondence, photographs, and more pertaining to many members of the family. It was not interfiled with the individual papers to preserve as much of the original order as possible. The detailed container list highlights the notable contents of each box.

The 3rd series consist of 49 ledger books spanning the 1720s to the 1950s. These ledgers are lease and rent books, account books, daybooks, or scrapbooks arranged chronologically. The lease books date back to property owned by Edward and William Fell, and pertain to properties throughout what is now Fells Point. There are also ledger books of the Falls Road Turnpike Company from 1806-1869.