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Johnson

Georgia Jenkins with her granddaughter

Georgia Johnson married Tom Jenkins in 1908. The only reunion I have ever attended for my paternal side of the family was the Johnson-Cole Family Reunion held in the suburban Chicago area in August 1998. The last Johnson-Cole reunion I recall was held in Portland, Oregon in 2010 although I wasn't able to attend that one.

One memento I had from 1998 was a panoramic picture of those in attendance that year at a reunion banquet held at a Holiday Inn in Harvey, Illinois. Almost 30 years later that hotel has since been closed and boarded up. A lot of people from that panorama have since passed away.

Below is another important memento from that reunion which is a Johnson family history, the first page of which is below. 

Feel free to click for larger resolution

The Johnson's origins appear to be from Alabama. Mama Georgia's father John Wesley Johnson was born in Alabama while her mother Margaret Henderson was born in Louisiana. Mama Georgia herself was born in Lousiana.

The Johnson family had settle in Millican Bend, Lousiana and lived most of their lives on plantations. They later moved to Shelby, Mississippi though by 1923 parents John & Margaret Johnson had also moved to Webster Grove, Missouri to be near their son and Mama Georgia's brother Walter Johnson.  John (on Dec. 27, 1936) and Margaret (on Dec. 10, 1937) died in Webster Grove, MO and are buried there at Father Dickinson Cemetery.

I have heard orally that my grandfather Levi Jenkins Sr. had spent some time with his maternal family in Webster Grove, Missouri although later he returned to Mississippi to start his own family.

Here's another memento from the 1998 Johnson-Cole Reunion in suburban Chicago. This piece of swag was a t-shirt for those who were in attendance back then.

1998 - Suburban Chicago, ILL
 The first Johnson-Cole reunion was started in Kansas City, Missouri in August 1977. The Cole part represents Mama Georgia's sister Safronia Johnson Cole who displayed a "strong desire to help her descendants know who their people were".  Safronia married into the Cole family.

If you're a descendant of the Johnson family feel free to connect via our email below.

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