Tuesday, May 5, 2020

1864/1865 Payments on Behalf of Family in Robbinston, Maine, of Civil War Soldier William Johnson; in 1860s/1870s Ledger of Financial Transactions of Robbinston


William Johnson; then serving in Company M of the 1st Artillery; payments made in 1864 and 1865 to his parents and siblings in Robbinston, Maine.

Found on numbered page 22 in a ledger of Robbinston, Maine, financial transactions from the mid 1860s to the 1870s.

Payments were made on behalf of:
  • Joel Johnson, age 62; father
  • Catharine Johnson, age 50; mother - Catharine (Gillis) Johnson
  • Marian Johnson, age 8; sister
  • James Johnson, age 15 on 26 December 1864 - presumably James F. Johnson (about 1850-1917)

There were several men by the name of William Johnson in the eastern Washington County area - a  William P. Johnson and a William H. Johnson, both born in the relevant era, and perhaps more.  If you can identify the William Johnson who was the son of Joel Johnson and Catharine (Gillis) Johnson, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Two possibilities:

1) William P. Johnson
Maine Civil War Enlistment Papers, 1862-1865: A William P. Johnson of Eastport, age 18, volunteered on 29 December 1863, sworn at Belfast, Maine, on 6 January 1864.

Another record in Maine State Archives, 1718-1957, Military Records of the Civil War, shows that William P. Johnson was:
  • was born in Robbinston, Maine, but living in Eastport, Maine
  • enlisted as a private
  • was 5' 4" tall, with dark complexion, gray eyes and brown hair
  • left the service on 29 March 1865
  • was listed as "deserted", near Petersburg, Virginia - most likely later sorted out
I believe this was the William Johnson who married Margaret Russell, a native of St. Andrews, New Brunswick, just over the mouth of the St. Croix River from Robbinston, Maine. By the time of the 1920 US Census, William P. Johnson was a widower and was living in Sangerville, Maine, in the household of his son Joel, who was working in a woolen mill there.  William died in Sangerville in 1924 and is buried in the Village Cemetery at Sangerville, Maine.

2) William H. Johnson
A record in in Maine State Archives, 1718-1957, Military Records of the Civil War shows that William H. Johnson volunteered on 25 January 1864, sworn on 25 January 1864 at Matagorda Island, Texas.

A record in Maine State Archives, 1718-1957, Military Records of the Civil War shows that William H. Johnson was 16 years old when he enlisted in the 15th Infantry on 15 November 1861. He was:
  • a farmer
  • was 5' 3" tall, with fair complexion, gray eyes and brown hair.

William H. Johnson, who served from 1861-1866 is listed in the 1890 Veterans Schedules of Calais, Maine.

Maine, Veterans Cemetery Records, 1676-1918: 
  • born in Robbinston, Maine, about 1843
  • enlisted 21 November 1821 at Augusta, Maine [perhaps that was the date he mustered in]
  • a private in Company A of the 15th Maine Volunteer Infantry
  • discharged on 5 July 1866
  • buried in Dennysville, Maine

Find a Grave: William H. Johnson (about 1844-1910), buried in the Dennysville Cemetery at Dennysville, Maine

If you can identify the William Johnson who was the son of Joel Johnson and Catharine (Gillis) Johnson, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

The ledger measures about 13" by 8" by 1/2" and contains entries for almost 50 families and many pages of other financial transactions. About half of the 178 numbered pages have entries. The ledger is missing its covers; the first page of what remains is shown below.


Soldiers and sailors listed in the ledger
  • The numbers in parentheses indicate specific pages in the ledger.
  • Many of the men listed below were born in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia and may have returned to Canada after the War.  See the map below to see how close New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were, particularly in the Age of Sail.
  • If you have information on any of the men listed below, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

The List, Alphabetized
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