Isaac Johnson (1801 - 1873)

Born 1801 in Pelham, Niagara, Upper Canada

Ancestors

Died 31 Mar 1873 at about age 72 in East Gwillimbury, York, Ontario, Canada

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Biography

Isaac Johnson was born about February 1801^[1] at the settlement of Pelham in Upper Canada, on the Niagara Peninsula. His parents, Jacob Johnson and Sarah Moore, were migrants from Pennsylvania seeking to settle in Upper Canada. Pushing northward late in the year of 1800, Jacob and Sarah likely overwintered at the Quaker settlement in Pelham, which had originally been founded by refugees of the American Revolutionary War only a short distance from the newly-established United States border. Jacob was associated with a number of prospective settlers active in upstate New York and Vermont, including the Quaker leader Timothy Rogers, who were motivated by complex political, economic, and religious factors to leave the United States for Upper Canada.

Isaac was Jacob and Sarah's first recorded child,^[2] and he shared a name with his paternal grandfather, Isaac Johnson (abt.1749-1825). Isaac Johnson, along with others, would make the journey himself the following year to Upper Canada and eventually settled near Jacob and Sarah in the township of Whitchurch.

Following their stay in Pelham, the small family with newborn Isaac would have likely travelled via Dundas Street to York (now Toronto), where Jacob submitted a land grant petition. This petition was received on 7 April 1801, giving an approximate date for the family's arrival at York.

Jacob received his land grant of 200 acres and established a homestead at lot 3, concession 3, East Gwillimbury Township. This is presumably where his son Isaac grew up.

Sources

1. ↑ "Canada, Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDTG-CY8 : 2 March 2021), Isaac Johnson, 31 Mar 1873; citing East Gwillimbury, York, Ontario, yr 1873 cn 11980, Registrar General. Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,846,469.
2. ↑ As per Bob Johnson, Jacob may have had up to three children with him, but it is unclear if these were his own, and one may have actually been his sister Sarah. It is possible that Isaac had at least one sibling who died without leaving surviving records.

See also:

• FamilySearch Person: LDMS-LGT