​Looking Back: The Johnsons vs. the Cockleburs

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
 
My father used to have a saying, "There are more Johnsons than cockleburs in Eastern Jackson County.” I knew he was referring to the large number of Johnsons that lived around us and now I have a better understanding of the old saying.

David Johnson purchased the “south West quarter of the South East quarter of Section fifteen (15), Township forty-nine (49), Range thirty (30) Jackson County, Missouri” on May 20, 1850. By the time the 1860 census was completed, he and his wife Frances Elizabeth (Cook) Johnson had fourteen (14) children.

David died at the age of 44 on March 13, 1862 in Lexington, Missouri. He was a soldier in the Civil War and we can only speculate that he might have been fighting for the Confederacy since he was born in Virginia. His death certificate lists pneumonia as the cause of death.

A small portion of the land he purchased in 1850 is where Grain Valley North Middle School and the Early Childhood Center are now located. When my classmate, Nancy Norris, came to Grain Valley last week to attend the Grain Valley High School Alumni Banquet, she gifted the Historical Society with the old Abstract of Title to the land which her parents Robert and Evelyn Norris purchased on September 28, 1955.

I have many more hours to probe into the abstracts before I know exactly how it got from David Johnson, to Bob Norris, to Joe Ben Stone, and eventually to the Grain Valley School District. I believe the Johnson holdings were quite large and at one time included the land where Harmon Electronics was begun in the late 1950s. Afterall, Mildred Harmon (Mrs. Robert Harmon) was a Johnson at birth!

This will call for a visit to the Johnson-Chiddix Cemetery on Murphy School Road and the Oakland Cemetery on Truman Road where I will hopefully find the connection between Jesse David Johnson (Mildred’s dad) and the original David Johnson from the 1850 abstract!  Stay tuned.

Headstone of David Johnson
Chiddix Johnson Cemetery, Murphy School Road
Photo credit: Grain Valley Historical Society