Florence Wallace Johnson:
The Story of the Family Matriarch
Who is Florence Wallace Johnson?
Biography of Florence Johnson
(*Please note that this information is subject to further verification as we “write the story” of Florence Johnson.)
As a family, we celebrate our honored traditions and shared heritage. We are blessed to have this shared heritage as the lineage of Florence Wallace Johnson, who is the matriarch of this family. Florence Wallace Johnson’s life serves a testament to the power of prayer and the importance of God in one’s life. Her vision has spanned seven generations.
While family continues to learn more about her life, we proudly share this unfinished biography, which highlights the indelible mark she has left on the life of her family for generations to come.
A documented history of Florence’s life, as we know, began on June 22, 1870 with the census taken that year. Florence (age 8) is listed with her parents (Joe and Sallie Hilliard—other spelling Hilmon) and siblings. Listed in the household are Joe (other spelling Geo—age 33), Sallie (age 35), Marie (age 15), Matthew (age 13), Voyage (age 11), Bogan (age 7), Hilliard (age 5), and Hattie (age 2).
Thereafter, in the 1880 Census, Florence Wallace (18 years old) is married to Jefferson Wallace (21 years old) in Dougherty County, Militia District 620. The couple has two small children, Hester (age 2) and Emma (age 3), who are listed, as well. Sadly, the record indicated that Florence had been ill. Florence has “bilious fever” an ailment, which seems to be common during this time and also, called the “cold plague” and comparable to malaria. The symptoms were devastating. One historian wrote of the debilitating effects of this illness:
“Its symptoms were chills in the forenoon, between ten and eleven o'clock, which were succeeded by violent fever afterwards in an hour and a half. The fever continued to rage until about six o'clock in the evening. During the exacerbation, great pain or depression was felt in the brain, liver, spleen or stomach, and frequently in all of these organs. The sweating stage took place around midnight. By daylight there was a respite, but not a total exemption from the urgency of these symptoms. This was the common course of the disease.”
Thankfully, Florence survives; however, Little Emma is not listed in the next census record of 1880 or any records thereafter that have been found. Only assumptions can be made about Little Emma since sickness was in the house which was similar in nature to a plague and highly contagious, the census representative did not take accurate records regarding her information, or she is no longer in the home.
By the 1900 Census Records, Florence (35 years old) and Jeff (40 years old) have expanded their family to include: Dolphus (age 19), John (age 11/*or Jack), Robert (age 9), and Matilda (age 2). Also, listed on this record is Hester Williams (Aunt), who is 75 years old. Hester Williams was born in 1824 in North Carolina. Coincidently, Dolphus (age 19) is born in 1880, the same year that Florence is battling a bout of bilious fever.
As previously indicated, Hester, the daughter of Florence and Jefferson, is not mentioned in the household during this time. However, Hester Wallace is listed in the 1910 Census with John Henry Coe (36 years old). Hester (referred to as Sallie) is now 32 years of age, and she shares a household full of love and children with John Henry Coe (spelled Cole in some census records). Mary (age 13/*Matilda), Mollie (age 11), Robert (age 9/*Roosevelt), Lula Mae (age 8), Ezekiel (age 7), Alonza (age 3/*Nathaniel), and John Henry.
For Florence Wallace, life changes dramatically as she becomes Florence Johnson (age 48), and she marries Rev. Albert Johnson (age 57), pastor of First Bethesda Baptist Church (Dougherty County, Georgia). Presumably, Jefferson Wallace has died leaving Florence with a family to care for and support. However, Florence and Albert live together peacefully in Baker County in the 900 Militia District on the land that they own.
During the 1920’s, Florence’s life has come full circle as she has now been married for ten years to Rev. Albert Johnson (72 years old), pastor of Second Bethesda Baptist Church (Dougherty County, Georgia). Florence’s home is full of family with her daughter, Hester, and young grandchildren, including her stepchildren. In the home with Florence (60 years old), she has her daughter, Hester Coe/Cole (age 35), her stepson, Julius King (age 24), Matildia Cole (granddaughter/age 22), Robert Cole (grandson/age 20), Lula Mae Cole (granddaughter/16), Ezekiel ((grandson/age 14), Nathaniel (grandson/age 13/”Uncle Ked”), Henry (grandson/age 7), and Sallie (granddaughter/age 6). Albert’s grandchildren are also in the home located in the 900 Hardup District of Baker County. His grandchildren living in the home include: Lula King (great-granddaughter/age 5/Aunt Lee’s mother), Willie (great-grandson/age 4/”Mr. Buddy Boy”), and Jessie (great-grandson/age 3).
After experiencing the joy of young grandchildren playing about and the blending of a family, Florence is faced with the loss of several family members, including her husband, Rev. Albert Johnson. Rev. Albert Johnson passed away on November 30, 1925, from old age (82 years old) quietly at his home after being bedridden for three months. This same year, Florence loses her two boys, Rodolphus (R. B.) Wallace, who dies October 11, 1925, and John (*Jack) Wallace, who passed away while living in Steubenville, Ohio on December 14, 1925. On March 22, 1926, Florence’s grandson, Ezekiel, would pass away from typhoid fever; however, family members have noted that Ezekiel died from a brain hemorrhage. We can only surmise that these series of deaths led Florence to “get her affairs in order” and ensure that her family could be left an inheritance of all her worldly possessions. Lula Mae (Coe) James, her granddaughter, is documented saying, “She {Florence Johnson} never wanted any of her heirs to ever be homeless.”
On November 1, 1926, Florence Wallace Johnson secured the legal representation of Atty. Robert B Short, in the presence of J. W. Tracy and M. L. Hall as witnesses, to write her will. In this will, Florence Wallace Johnson bequeaths almost 600 acres of land to her children, grandchildren, sister, and stepchildren. This land, we call Bogan, was her inheritance, which she passed down to her descendants to “share and share alike.”
By 1930, Florence is a widow (66 years old) and head of the household. Again, she has in her household extended family: Nathaniel Coe, grandson (age 20), Matilda Coe, granddaughter (age 18), Roosevelt Coe, grandson (age 19), Sallie M. Johnson, granddaughter, (age 16), Willie King, *grandson (age 14), Jesse King, grandson (age 13), Lula Mae King, granddaughter (age 15), Sego Coe, grandson (age 12).
Our matriarch, Florence Wallace Johnson, died August 16, 1933 at 1:00 am from bronchial pneumonia. Lee’s Funeral Home handled her homegoing arrangements. We still live by the values of faith, love, and determination she instilled in our family. Her compassion and kindness are lasting legacies she has left as we are a people committed to family, community, and service to others. The land and the legacy continue because of the unwavering love for family in the heart of Florence Wallace Johnson.
Resources:
The name of “Sallie” for Hester, lovingly referred to as Ma Hester, was confirmed by Patricia (James) Paschal, who heard her Grandmother (Lula Mae James) speak fondly of her mother–Hester Wallace Coe.
U.S. Census Records from 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 were used to create this report
Georgia Archives (Virtual Vault), Florence Johnson Will