Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Larkin Johnson (b. circa 1819 - d. 1885)
MSA SC 5496-047816
Manumitted from Slavery, Montgomery County, Maryland, 1846

Biography:

Larkin Johnson was born in Montgomery County, Maryland circa 1819. Johnson was the slave of Thomas Waters of Montgomery County, who manumitted him at the age of thirty, December 21, 1846. Waters also released from slavery, other members of the Johnson family including, Lot , Hanson, and Harriet Johnson. It is unclear what their relationship is to Larkin Johnson. Larkin Johnson was first married to a woman, Lucy, and they had four children, Benjamin, Mary, Martha, and Charles. Larkin and Lucy lived in the Howard District, Anne Arundel County, MD according to the 1850 U.S. Census. Johnson purchased 10 acres of land for the sum of $150, August 15, 1856 from William S. Bond in Montgomery County.

Larkin Johnson married Emily Edmonson April 5, 1860 in the District of Columbia. Johnson's wife, Emily, was part of the group that a attempted to escape slavery on the Pearl - a merchant schooner belonging to Captain Edward Sayres. Larkin and Emily had three children, Ida, William, and Emma, and he was the stepfather of her son Charles Fisher from a previous marriage. June 3, 1862, Larkin Johnson purchased a parcel of land from Richard T. and Edith D. Bently in Montgomery County for the sum of $89. The Johnson family lived on their farm in the Sandy Spring community of Montgomery County. In 1869, after years of living in Montgomery County the Johnson family moved to Washington, DC and became founding members of the Hillsdale community. While living in DC, Larkin Johnson worked as a gardner. Larkin Johnson died February 26, 1885 at his Hillsdale home, from complications due to pneumonia.

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