Lot 538: Coweta Georgia Plantation Journal, J.H. Johnson Family

Antebellum and Civil War Era Archive related to the Coweta County, GA family of John Hutchins Johnson (1807-1864) and his son, CSA Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Coke Johnson (1835-1862, KIA Mechanicsville, VA). Comprising 35 loosely bound pages from what was originally a “Daily Record of Passing Events” on John Hutchins Johnson’s plantation.  Includes cotton production values attached to lists of first names of 11 enslaved persons (Andrew, Isham, Ben, Baily, Wash, Tom, Lucy, Ely/Eley, Gus, Simon, Cornelia) along with inventories and receipts for the sale of household goods (possibly related to the settlement of an estate), along with handwritten planting records. The book, whose entries appear to begin in the 1850s, was later used as a scrapbook for saving newspaper clippings and small cut outs from early books or magazines (including ladies fashion plates).  On page 23, there is a draft poem dated July 30, 1862, and described in margin: “Written by Mr. Jack Johnson when his Bro Tomas was killed near Richmond Va – Civil War.”  Latest date is a newspaper article titled “Death Is An Opportunity,” August 31, 1907.  9 in. W x 14 in H. Note:  Pages are from a partially printed commercially available ledger called the “The Cotton Plantation Record and Account Book,”  a detailed system created by Thomas Affleck in the mid-19th century for the purpose of allowing plantation owners to track the efficiency of their production and other aspects of plantation management, including the day-to-day activities of slaves.  Section D is titled “Record of Clothing and Tools Given Out to the Negroes Upon Plantation During the Year 185_,” with columns still visible for Buckets, Bed-Ticks, Mosquito Bars, Blankets, Comforts, Shoes and Sacks (no entries). 

PROVENANCE:  Living Estate of Sally Johnson Harlan, a direct descendant of the Johnson family. Note: other items related to this family are also for sale in this auction including an ambrotype portrait of the Johnson Family (lot 537), a  tintype of Lt. Col. T.C. Johnson, (lot 536), and a portrait of John Hutchins Johnson and possibly his second wife, Mariah, lot 1116 (Day 2 of this auction). 

CONDITION: Missing covers, overall loose pages.  Pages 44-58 retaining string binding, 61-94 held together by a thread.  Foxing to all pages, some bent page corners, scattered creases, tears, and edge chipping. First and last pages in overall fragile condition.