Historical marker (note our ancestor Edward Johnson); Woburn Center; entrance to First Burial Ground.
The JOHNSON family (1642-1752)
|-Edward Johnson
|-William Johnson-|
|-William Johnson-| |-Susan Munter
|-William Johnson-| |-Ester Wiswall
Dole Johnson-| |-Ester Gardner
|-Sarah Dole
CAPTAIN EDWARD & SUSAN (MUNTER) JOHNSON - Gen-0
Five generations of our ancestors in the Johnson family lived in Woburn. The first, EDWARD JOHNSON, is called the "father of the town". He is also one of the most famous of our ancestors for writing the first general history of New England, published in 1654 as "The Wonder Working Providence of Sion's Saviour, in New England". Other people have written about EDWARD's life better than I can, so I will quote two works; the first is from "The History of Historical Writing in America", 1891, by John Franklin Jameson:
"He was a Kentish farmer, and probably also a shipwright, who came out in the same fleet with Governor Winthrop in 1630. A dozen years later, he was, in company with half a dozen others, one of the founders of the new town of Woburn... The stout Kentishman, having put his hand to the plough, chose to remain in the town he had helped to plant. He had always an important part in the affairs of the town, was chosen selectman nearly every year, was again and again elected to represent the town in the general court or legislature of the colony, acted as town clerk, and was captain of the train-band. He was, therefore, more or less concerned in the public affairs in the colony, but never had a leading part in them. Though he was a more prominent, a wealthier, and perhaps a more intelligent man than most of his fellow citizens, we may well enough take him as in most respects a type of the rank and file of the original settlers".
The following is paraphrased from "The Record of my Ancestry", 1899, by Charles L. Newhall:
Captain Edward Johnson was born in 1599, and before emigrating to New England, resided at Herne Hill, near Canterbury, County of Kent, England. His Will indicates that he was possessed of a comfortable estate consisting of a farm and two other pieces of property which he kept all of his life. On embarking from England with his family he is classed as a joiner. This may have been in part of evasion, as no one above the rank of mechanic or serving man was allowed to leave without special permission. As several of his sons and grandsons were shipwrights and carpenters, it is not improbable that he carried on the business of shipbuilding at Herne Bay. However, he did not engage in any mechanical occupation after his arrival in New England.
Early in April, 1630, Capt. Johnson, without his family, embarked in one of the ships of the fleet which brought Governor Winthrop and his company to Massachusetts Bay. The records show him trading on the Merrimac River, and it is probable that he came for traffic and adventure and that he returned to England in the summer of 1631.
He returned with his family, in 1636, a zealous Puritan and in full sympathy with the religious system of the Massachusetts Colony. His ruling motive was no longer business or pleasure but in building up a Puritan Commonwealth in this western world. Embarking this time at Sandwich, the nearest seaport at which there was foreign travel, he settled temporarily at Charlestown. From that time to the day of his death the Records of Charlestown, of Woburn, and the Colony are filled with his name and deeds.
He was of the committee of the Charlestown church "for the erecting of a church and town" at Woburn and was the first Recorder (town Clerk). He was generally known as the father of the town. May 10, 1643, he took his seat in the General Court as deputy from the town of Woburn, the first session of the court after the incorporation of the town. For thirty years he was not only town clerk and representative in the general court, but he usually was Chairman of the Selectmen and occupied some prominent place on commission and committees, especially legal and military committees.
Captain Johnson had evidently given considerable attention to military matters in England, and there acquired the rank by which he has since been known. Soon after his second arrival we find his name in the Charlestown Records with the prefix of Captain, a title of honor which in those days was not given at random. On becoming a deputy to the General Court, he was placed on nearly every military committee. These were intrusted with most extraordinary powers such as inspecting fortifications, levying fines, collecting arrearages, etc. He gathered and drilled a squad of militia at Woburn soon after its settlement, and always held a command in the militia of the Colony. He was often sent out on expeditions to treat with or overawe the Indians and to deal with troublesome neighbors. His name scarcely ever appears in the Massachusetts Records without his military title.
EDWARD JOHNSON died April 23, 1672, with an estate valued at £706.5.6. His wife SUSAN then lived with their son John and died in 1689. Most historians think their graves are in the First Burial Ground; however a historical map made by Dorothy Linscott in 1930 said their graves are marked by two stones located somewhere on Menchin Hill, which is still a forested hill south of Lexington Street and west of Waltham Street in the southwest corner of the town.
The photo on the left is the north side of High St. where the Gardner Farms would have been. The photo on the right is looking south of Lexington St at Menchin Hill.
MAJOR WILLIAM & ESTHER (WISWALL) JOHNSON - Gen-1
The pre-eminence of the Johnson name continued with his son WILLIAM JOHNSON. WILLIAM was born in Canterbury, England in 1629, married ESTHER WISWALL of Cambridge Village (now Newton), in 1655, and became the third largest land owner in Woburn, owning over 900 acres in over 70 separate tracts. Much of his land was in the Second Precinct, which became Burlington in 1799. His home was on "Plain St" (Mass Ave??) near what became known as Mr. Edmund Parker's farm. WILLIAM was on various town committees as was his father, and was a Selectman in 1664. When his father died in 1672, he essentially stepped into his father's shoes by succeeding him as Town Clerk for the next 17 years; thus in the first 44 years of the town, only the father and the son served as Town Clerk. WILLIAM was also a Selectman for those same 17 years, surveyed some of the common lands in Woburn in 1673 and 1677 for the allotments to settlers, and was the commander of the militia (with the title of Major), all as his father had done before him. He became a Deputy to the General Court in 1674 and 1676-1683, and for the 1684-1686 was chosen for the Board of Assistants (i.e. the state senate and supreme court).
In 1686, King James II created The Dominion of New England in America to oversee the colonies, with his appointed governor controlling the General Court and town governments. WILLIAM was outraged, and protested by declining to be Town Clerk or Selectman any more. He almost went to jail when he refused for a while to take an Oath of Allegiance. He opposed the new Royal Charter and fought to return to the old charter whereby the Governor and Assistants were voted by the people, not appointed by the King. In 1689 when the Dominion government was overthrown after King James II was deposed, WILLIAM was once again appointed to the Board of Assistants, but only for three years. He died in 1704, and his wife died three years later.
WILLIAM & ESTHER (GARDNER) JOHNSON - Gen-2
MAJOR WILLIAM and ESTHER had nine children born in Woburn, including the oldest, WILLIAM, born in 1656. WILLIAM junr was a shipwright in Charlestown until his father died, at which point he moved into the homestead in Woburn with his mother. The other sons inherited the lands in the Second Precinct, and were zealous in the effort to split it off to form Burlington. WILLIAM junr. also married an Ester, as his father did: ESTHER GARDNER, who was described above with the Gardner family.
WILLIAM & SARAH (DOLE) JOHNSON - Gen-3
Once again, WILLIAM and ESTHER had a son also named WILLIAM, who married SARAH DOLE from Newbury. Two years later, their son DOLE JOHNSON was born in 1710, but SARAH died two weeks later. The father and son moved away from Woburn to Mansfield, Connecticut, and later to Harvard, Massachusetts. After five generations and 110 years of Johnsons in Woburn, the only remaining ancestor in Woburn, WILLIAM JOHNSON junr, died in 1752.
First Burial Ground in Woburn, looking south. Graves of Richard Gardner and his daughter Ester Johnson are in the blue circle and John Burbeen in the orange circle. Arrow at right points to grave of Sarah Johnson.
Here lyes the | Here lyes ye body of
body of | Richard Gardner
John Burbeen | aged about 79
aged about 86 | years died May
years who | 29 1698
deceased January
the 8, 1713
Here lyes ye body | Here lyes ye body
of Esther Johnson | of Sarah Johnson
wife to William | wife to William
Johnson, who | Johnson Juner
departed this life | who departed
December ye 17th | this life, October
1706 in ye | ye 14th, 1710, in ye 29
48th year of her age. | year of her age.
"The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Mass...", Samuel Sewall, 1868
"Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages from 1640 to 1873", Edward F. Johnson, 1891
"Wonder-working providence of Sions Saviour in New England" by Edward Johnson, 1653 (published in England as "A History of New England", 1654)
"Transcript of epitaphs in Woburn first and second burial grounds" by William R. Cutter and Edward F. Johnson, 1890
houses:
Major William Johnson home on "Plain St" near what became known as Mr. Edmund Parker's farm
JOHN BURBEEN was one of our few Massachusetts ancestors who came from Scotland. He came to Woburn by 1660, where he married SARAH GOULD of Charlestown on April 16, 1660. They had three children including their eldest, MARY, born in 1661, before SARAH died in 1670. The Burbeen family lived "on the easterly side of the hill, a little to the north of Mr. Lawrence's" in a house described as 40 feet long and 20 feet wide below, 22 feet wide above, which was never painted (the drawing is taken from "An account of John Burbeen" by Joseph Burbeen Walker, 1892.)
JOHN was a tailor who served as town constable in 1679 and selectman in 1692. His will gave to his daughter MARY all of his personal estate except for one small bed. He could not write, and signed the will with his mark. He is buried in the First Burial Ground in Woburn.