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From handwritten notes -John A. worked in 'dog hole' coal mines in East Bernstadt and Wild Cat, KY. He was also a farmer and a carpenter and in later years he had his own property with a seam of coal. They would keep it covered with soil until they needed to harvest some. They would scrape away the soil layer and then "dead lift" or strip mine the seam for their use. After breaking up and gathering all the coal they might need, they would recover the seam with soil. When exposed to sunlight, the coal was brittle and would not burn.
A memory of her husband's grandfather from Judy m. Lonnie s/o Joseph 'Joe' Ivory 'Iver' Buttree & Lyda Mae Johnson. "John A. Johnson was always putting puzzles together and taping them together so you could frame them and hang on the wall."
In October 2007 during a visit to Lynn and Carley Emma Johnson Whisman, the youngest child of John Aaron Johnson, she related some memories of her father.
'John Aaron worked in log woods and at age 10 to 12 worked at stripping limbs and bark from logs to be shipped north. The bark was bundled and sold for tanning leather.
He also worked at Pittsburg, KY at the mine tipple.
He did not have much formal school, school was for when there wasn't work for him on the farm. His education was probably based on the seasonal needs of the family farm. But he made the most of the schooling he did receive. Carley said he had a beautiful handwriting and there are samples of his handwriting in the Civil War pension application papers of his father, George Washington Johnson. John Aaron assisted in filing those papers for his father's pension.
John Aaron went to the highest level of schooling available, he was bright and could have taught school. He was offered a position to teach, but the pay was $2.00 per month! Even for 1895 to 1900, that was really low pay.
Despite a lack of formal "schooling", John A. was nobody's fool. He is described as being a 'sharp trader', very good at mathematics and was also a Notary; Carley has his Notary seal.
John Aaron had his own farm to operate, he raised tobacco, had a large garden and had an orchard.
Granddad, John Aaron, loved to fish and he was very good at it! He could catch fish when others could not.
In later years, he assembled jigsaw puzzles. Once his son-in-law, Lynn Whisman, bought TWO IDENTICAL puzzles and put them into only ONE BOX. Although the puzzles were the identical picture, they were NOT interchangeable, they were not the exact same cut and were slightly off.
After Lynn told him what he'd done and he thought he'd had his joke, John A. got the last laugh by setting up ANOTHER table and working BOTH puzzles simultaneously!
Until John A. learned to slide and flip a puzzle, he used to work puzzles UPSIDE down.
Carley told another story that her father, John Aaron, told on himself.
John A. went into East London to Jim Green's store for some supplies and he specifically wanted some black paint for his truck.
And on the way back home he realized that he had forgotten the very item he had gone to the store for - the black paint.
So he said he'd teach himself a good lesson not to be forgetful - that he would WALK back to the store to get his paint!
And so he set off, by taking a shortcut, by walking up the train tracks to the store. The trip was about 2 miles one way - and he got there just fine, but when he was ready to go home, he made a call to the house for the girls (Rosalee & Carley) to come and pick him up in the truck!
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Sentinel Echo newspaper, London, KY
Thursday 10 September 1942; Front Page, Column 3
Lucky
Mr. John A. Johnson, of Langnau, was very fortunate in having his son, Mr. George Johnson and Mrs. Johnson, of Louisville, and his son-in-law, Mr. Joe Buttree, of Cincinnati, as his guests last weekend. It was tobacco housing time, and he put the whole bunch to work.
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From handwritten notes -John A. worked in 'dog hole' coal mines in East Bernstadt and Wild Cat, KY. He was also a farmer and a carpenter and in later years he had his own property with a seam of coal. They would keep it covered with soil until they needed to harvest some. They would scrape away the soil layer and then "dead lift" or strip mine the seam for their use. After breaking up and gathering all the coal they might need, they would recover the seam with soil. When exposed to sunlight, the coal was brittle and would not burn.
A memory of her husband's grandfather from Judy m. Lonnie s/o Joseph 'Joe' Ivory 'Iver' Buttree & Lyda Mae Johnson. "John A. Johnson was always putting puzzles together and taping them together so you could frame them and hang on the wall."
In October 2007 during a visit to Lynn and Carley Emma Johnson Whisman, the youngest child of John Aaron Johnson, she related some memories of her father.
'John Aaron worked in log woods and at age 10 to 12 worked at stripping limbs and bark from logs to be shipped north. The bark was bundled and sold for tanning leather.
He also worked at Pittsburg, KY at the mine tipple.
He did not have much formal school, school was for when there wasn't work for him on the farm. His education was probably based on the seasonal needs of the family farm. But he made the most of the schooling he did receive. Carley said he had a beautiful handwriting and there are samples of his handwriting in the Civil War pension application papers of his father, George Washington Johnson. John Aaron assisted in filing those papers for his father's pension.
John Aaron went to the highest level of schooling available, he was bright and could have taught school. He was offered a position to teach, but the pay was $2.00 per month! Even for 1895 to 1900, that was really low pay.
Despite a lack of formal "schooling", John A. was nobody's fool. He is described as being a 'sharp trader', very good at mathematics and was also a Notary; Carley has his Notary seal.
John Aaron had his own farm to operate, he raised tobacco, had a large garden and had an orchard.
Granddad, John Aaron, loved to fish and he was very good at it! He could catch fish when others could not.
In later years, he assembled jigsaw puzzles. Once his son-in-law, Lynn Whisman, bought TWO IDENTICAL puzzles and put them into only ONE BOX. Although the puzzles were the identical picture, they were NOT interchangeable, they were not the exact same cut and were slightly off.
After Lynn told him what he'd done and he thought he'd had his joke, John A. got the last laugh by setting up ANOTHER table and working BOTH puzzles simultaneously!
Until John A. learned to slide and flip a puzzle, he used to work puzzles UPSIDE down.
Carley told another story that her father, John Aaron, told on himself.
John A. went into East London to Jim Green's store for some supplies and he specifically wanted some black paint for his truck.
And on the way back home he realized that he had forgotten the very item he had gone to the store for - the black paint.
So he said he'd teach himself a good lesson not to be forgetful - that he would WALK back to the store to get his paint!
And so he set off, by taking a shortcut, by walking up the train tracks to the store. The trip was about 2 miles one way - and he got there just fine, but when he was ready to go home, he made a call to the house for the girls (Rosalee & Carley) to come and pick him up in the truck!
----------
Sentinel Echo newspaper, London, KY
Thursday 10 September 1942; Front Page, Column 3
Lucky
Mr. John A. Johnson, of Langnau, was very fortunate in having his son, Mr. George Johnson and Mrs. Johnson, of Louisville, and his son-in-law, Mr. Joe Buttree, of Cincinnati, as his guests last weekend. It was tobacco housing time, and he put the whole bunch to work.
Family Members
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Guy Mack Johnson Sr
1906–1963
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Charles Elmer "Charlie / Paddle" Johnson
1907–1998
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Margaret Edna "Mag/Maggie" Johnson Allen
1909–1971
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Lyda Mae Johnson Buttree
1911–2001
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Sally Belle "Sallie" Johnson Reams
1913–2000
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Hannah Mary Johnson Lawson
1914–2001
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George Allen Johnson
1916–2002
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Mollie Missouri "Zouri" Johnson Buttree
1921–1999
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Johnnie Robert "John-Johnny" Johnson Sr
1923–1999
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Rosa Lee Johnson Garland
1925–2010