Johnson Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 1629

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of materials pertaining to the Johnson family of Washington County, Arkansas, and to family homes (particularly the Johnson House in Johnson, Ark.) and a family business (the Johnson Mill), as well as to Johnson Baptist Church and to local politics and elections. Materials include photographs, business records, property records, autograph books, correspondence, and clippings.

Dates

circa 1847-2020

Creator

Johnson family (Family)

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Conditions Governing Use

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical / Historical

The Johnson family of Washington County, Arkansas owned and ran the Johnson Mill in Johnson, Arkansas.

Benjamin Franklin (B. F.) Johnson moved to Washington County with his family in 1854. He married Nancy Boatright, and they had four children, including J. O. (Oliver) and Mary Johnson; following Nancy Johnson's death in 1863, B. F. Johnson married Lydia Lewis in 1864, and the couple had 13 children, including Burtis Benjamin (B.B.) Johnson.

B. F. Johnson's brother, J. Q. Johnson, and his wife Rietta, co-purchased Sutton's Mill in 1865, and took sole ownership in 1880; the mill later became known as Johnson Mill. Around 1898, B. F. Johnson repossessed the mill from his brother, and ownership of the mill passed to B. F. Johnson's son, Burtis Benjamin (B.B.) Johnson. B.B. Johnson and his wife, Arminta Josephine (Josie) Lichlyter, had three children, Marion Frank (Frank), Burtis Dayne, and Ruby. Frank Johnson, who married Edith Hinshaw, took on management of the Johnson Mill after his father. The bulk of the collection materials pertain to B.B. Johnson and to Frank and Edith Johnson.

Extent

2.88 Linear Feet (4 boxes and 1 oversize folder)

Additional Description

Arrangement

Materials are arranged by format and by subject.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Johnson Family Papers were donated to Special Collections by Anne W. B. Johnson Prichard of Fayetteville, Arkansas on February 24, 2006. The papers were found by Johnson House Bed and Breakfast owner Mary K. Carothers in a trunk at the Johnson House in Johnson, Arkansas prior to the sale of the Johnson House in fall 2005, and were given by Carothers to Prichard to be donated to Special Collections.

Additional materials (Boxes 3-4, Oversize Folder 1, and some duplicates integrated into Box 1) were donated by Prichard on December 6, 2021. The 2021 donation was primarily materials acquired by Prichard from her family members. Prichard is a descendant of Benjamin F. Johnson (known within the family as Benjamin F. Johnson "3," he was the son of Ben Johnson "2"; however, neither was a direct descendant of the first Ben Johnson, whose family established the Johnson Mill). Some materials in this donation, particularly genealogical research, were compiled by Mary Ellen Johnson, and this provenance has been indicated in folder titles when applicable. Additional materials (Box 4, Folder 36) were donated by Prichard in October 2023.

Processing Information

Processed by Katrina Windon; completed October 2021. Updated by Katrina Windon in January 2022 to incorporate an additional donation of materials (Boxes 3-4, Oversize Folder 1, and some duplicates integrated into Box 1). Updated by Katrina Windon in November 2023 to incorporate an additional donation of materials (Box 4, Folder 36).