Jacob & Margaret Johnson
Memorial Project

Copyright © 1999 by Debra Blackard

Jacob and Margaret JOHNSON were living in Surry Co., NC by 1783. They moved to Lawrence Co., in southern Mississippi by 1829, with their son-in-law and daughter, Aaron and Middia MATTHEWS. After Aaron's death about 1836, a large family group, including Middia, her nine children, and parents, moved to Johnson Co., AR. Middia and her younger brother, Jacob Jr. are listed on the Johnson Co. tax returns in 1837.

Old-timers reported that Jacob and Margaret's graves were the first burials in MINNOW CREEK CEMETERY. This is supported by letters exchanged by Aaron Matthews (b. 1850) and Miss Clara B. Eno in 1918. He stated that those were the graves of his great grandparents and that the graves had been in the family graveyard eighty to eighty-five years. Until the 1930s, cairns, constructed of stacked sandstone, covered the graves of Jacob and Margaret. This style of burial was common in frontier times, but seldom used after the Civil War. All that is left of this original grave structure is a coping and two large slabs of sandstone.

Descendants installed a memorial marker for Jacob Johnson and his wife, Margaret Garrett, in 1999. If you are a member of this large clan network, join them in honoring the memory of this pioneer couple by contributing to the maintenance fund of Minnow Creek Cemetery. For more information contact: Wanda Pearson, 506 N. Mt. Home Road, Lamar, AR 72846;

 Johnson County Cemetery Index        Johnson County Genealogy         Minnow Creek