Jabez Harrison Johnson

I recently discovered through a geneological search on new.familysearch.org the parents of my ancestor Jabez Harrison Johnson. As a family several of us have been looking for information on this man for decades. Thanks to a woman named Barb, with whom I have a common, though distant, ancestor I was able to finally acquire his parents' names.

What we know of Jabez is that he was born between 1839 and 1844 in Highland County, Ohio. The dates and specific town vary. The current theory on the conflicting birth years is that Jabez enlisted in the American Civil using an older brother's birth date; we are looking for more info to clarify. The differing townships of birth is explained by the proximity of the townships; Greenefield, Leesburg and Hillsboro, Ohio are mere miles from each other.

Jabez volunteered for the 81st Ohio Regiment in the American Civil War. The battalion saw lots of action, especially around the Atlanta region. Jabez served until 1965 when he was released. His veteran's pension card shows that he was classified as an invalid, largely due to repeated bouts of heat stroke caused no doubt by marching and fighting in the humid heat of Georgia.

I will record later all the locations but Jabez and his family moved several times before ending up in Enderby/Armstrong, BC a few years before his death in 1913.

Jabez married at least twice though someone has suggested that there may be a third wife. His first marriage to Mary C. Smith ended in divorce. His final marriage to Matilda A. Kunce  around 1887 in Iowa would last until his death. Matilda, 15 years (give or take) his junior, was known as a good baker and it showed in her physique. There is a legend in that family that she was a good pianist and due to the family's financial circumstances at the time of Jabez's death she sold her piano to buy Jabez's grave marker; her grave is next to Jabez's but remains markerless.

Jabez was called "Old Red Eyes" by some of his family members, as told to my grandfather by one of Jabez's brother-in-laws. Apparently when he was tired his became bloodshot quickly. He was a blue-eyed, red-haired, nearly 6 foot tall man. There was some affiliation to the Ku Klux Klan at some point in his history and we even had a picture demonstrating this.

Jabez and Matilda's daughter Daisy remained in the Okanagan until her death in 1948 and is my Grandfather's Grandmother. I am not aware of the fate of Harley though he did live in New Westminster for a time.