Family Tree

Berry Hill and the Johnson Family

Berry Hill - Home of Joseph H. Johnson (1827-1893) and his wife Elmira Andrews (1831-1867) or (1836-1869)
According to Antebellum Orange book, Joseph Johnson purchased Berry Hill in 1872 and lived there until his death in 1893. His wife, Elmira Andrews Johnson, had died in 1869 and she, along with her infant daughter, Fannie, are buried in the same grave in Graham Cemetery. Berry Hill still stands and was owned by Joseph Johnson’s grand daughter, Jo Williams Hill and her husband, Rowland Hill until 1986 when it was purchased by the Taylor family. Oddly Berry Hill land had once been a part of the original Taylor grant and had at one time been owned by the grandfather and namesake of President Zachary Taylor. Children of Joseph and Elmira: Wallace (1855-1860) (buried or re-buried in Graham Cemetery) LELIA (1856-1918) married Walker Sanford Evelyn married William C. Williams Blanch Wister Fannie (died as an infant and buried with her mother in Graham Cemetery)
Sunning Hill - Home of Joseph H. Johnson prior to move to Berry Hill
From information gathered by Richard Sanford, Sunning Hill is located in Louisa County and was purchased by Joe Johnson and his cousin, Henry Quarles, in 1867 and sold soon thereafter to two of Joseph Johnson’s brothers, Thaddeus and Munford after which Joseph and his family moved to Berry Hill. It appears that our LELIA was born prior to the move to Sunning Hill.
An excerpt from an article written by Claudia Anderson Chisholm many years ago reads: The next period of permanent tenure was that of the Johnson family. In 1863 Joseph H. Johnson and Henry Quarles obtained the three tracts of minor property with an agreement that in the event either should die, Quarles was to take the Spotsylvania and Duckinghold tracts and Johnson the Sunning Hill tract. Unfortunately, Quarles died before deeding the said tract. A law suit settlement in 1866 retained Sunning Hill in the Johnson family. During the next thirty-three years, various members of the Johnson family owned Sunning Hill. Johnson owners were Joseph H. Johnson of Orange County, 1866-1885; Thaddeus T. Johnson, 1885-1898; Mumsford S. Johnson and wife, Mamie E. of Louisa County, 1898-1899. By 1905, John N. Walker had purchased all three tracts from the Johnson heirs. ......... Sunning Hill still exists today.
Andrews Tavern - Home of Elmira Andrews (wife of Joe Johnson)
The home of Elmira Andrews Johnson called Andrews Tavern still exist and is located in Spotsylvania. It is now owned by the R. E. Taylor family formerly of Orange County. There is a graveyard on the site. Elmira Elizabeth Andrews (1831-1867) was the daughter of William Harris Andrews and Mary Elizabeth Anderson Quarles (1806-1869). She died a young woman and is buried with other family members in Graham Cemetery.
Children of William Harris and Mary Elizabeth Quarles Andrews were: John Quarles Andrews (1829-1859) Drowned in Texas ELMIRA ELIZABETH ANDREWS (1831-1867) married Joe Johnson Roberta Andrews (1833-?) Married William Garnett Armelia Landonia Andrews (1835-1853) married Joseph Brock Wilmonia Eudora Andrews (?-1927) married James Mordecai Moore Mary Isabella Andrews (1838-1874) (Note: The Ben Sanford family values very highly a small walnut trunk or chest that Ben purchased at the auction of Cousin Mabel and Willie Moore’s property in 1959 in the Town of Orange. Mabel and Willie were daughters of Wilmonia Eudora Andrews and James Moore. The trunk was said to have been one of three built by an uncle for three of the Andrews sisters, probably their hope chest. This story was told to us by Cousin Rowland Hill who added that the base of one of these chest was removed and it was put down in a closet to hide the family silver from the Yankees during the War between the States. I think I recall him saying that he and Cousin Jo had one of the chest and Aunt Lelia had another.) John Andrews (1765- 1802) who married Elizabeth Lipscomb in 1792 John and Elizabeth were the parents of at least six children. Among these children are William Harris Andrews and John Day Andrews (17951882) who went to Texas and was closely allied with the city of Houston. (Note: There exist in my files a fascinating write-up of John Day Andrews’s life and accomplishments in and around Houston which came to me through Brena, Gene and Richard.)