Looking for a relative.

BelleBlackburn

First Sergeant
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Location
Nashville, TN
I looked through the solder database for my relative since he would have been of age during the war and thought he had an unusual name but apparently not. His name was Pleasant Moment (insert joke here) Johnson, born 10-31-1845. He would have been from Tennessee. Does anyone know of a better way to search for him? There were a lot of Pleasant Johnsons and I am not sure how to determine it is him.
 
I looked through the solder database for my relative since he would have been of age during the war and thought he had an unusual name but apparently not. His name was Pleasant Moment (insert joke here) Johnson, born 10-31-1845. He would have been from Tennessee. Does anyone know of a better way to search for him? There were a lot of Pleasant Johnsons and I am not sure how to determine it is him.
CS or US in Tenn its hard to tell
 
I looked through the solder database for my relative since he would have been of age during the war and thought he had an unusual name but apparently not. His name was Pleasant Moment (insert joke here) Johnson, born 10-31-1845. He would have been from Tennessee. Does anyone know of a better way to search for him? There were a lot of Pleasant Johnsons and I am not sure how to determine it is him.
This is a Union soldier. The Union 8th Tenn Cavalry was an East TN. unit.

If this is him, he was from Knox County.

Event Type:Census
Name:Pleasant Johnson • Edit
Sex:Male
Age:15
Event Date:1860 • Edit
Event Place:4th District, Knox, Tennessee, United States • Edit
Event Place (Original):4 District, Knox, Tennessee, United States
Birth Year (Estimated):1845
Birthplace:[Blank] • Edit
Race:White

Pleasant Johnson

The residence was not listed; 18 years old.

Enlisted on 1/1/1865 as a Private.

On 3/17/1865 he mustered into "L" Co. TN 8th Cavalry
He was Mustered Out on 9/11/1865 at Knoxville, TN

Here's his pension index card. Middle initial "M".

record-image_ (1).jpg


Probably his Find-A-Grave Page:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5302917/pleasant-m.-johnson
 
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His wife was named Susan so not sure it's him.

Sex:Male
Age:31
Event Date:1880 • Edit
Event Place:District 14, Union, Tennessee, United States • Edit
Birth Year (Estimated):1849
Birthplace:Tennessee, United States • Edit
Marital Status:Married
Occupation:Farmer
Race:White
Relationship to Head of Household:Self
Father's Birthplace:Tennessee, United States
Mother's Birthplace:Tennessee, United States
Person Number:0
Sheet Letter:C
Sheet Number:152
Volume:1
Household
Role

Sex
Age
Birthplace
Pleasant Jonson

Self
Male​
31​
Tennessee, United States
Susan E Jonson
Wife
Female​
26​
Tennessee, United States
Malicy Jonson
Daughter
Female​
8​
 
If he was a Union soldier, then I find only three named Pleasant Johnson (or phonetically similar):

Co. E, 6th TN Mounted Infantry: b. about 1828.
Co. L, 8th TN Cavalry: b. about 1846, wife Lucinda and minor children as above.
PVT, Co. G, 9th TN Cavalry and 11th TN Cavalry: b. about 1812.

There were others named "P. Johnson" with middle initials other than "M." in the records ... and a few with no middle initials recorded but those were all in the CSA.

You might consider that, while he lived in Tennessee, he fought for an out-of-state regiment. There was a Pleasant Johnson in Co. F, 12th KY Inf. (USA) who was born in about 1843 or 1848 (records vary). He died of fever in a hospital in Lebanon, KY on 26 Feb 1862 and his mother, "Betsey A", received a pension in 1887.

There was a Capt/Lt "P. M. Johnson" in Co. A, 21st Iowa Infantry but his first name may have been Perry.

Was he black? There was also a Pleasant Johnson in the 4th U.S. Colored Cavalry and one in each of the 41st, 47th, 58th, 84th, 87th, and 90th U.S. Colored Infantries (all enlisted men).

BTW, there is a "Pleasant M. Johnson" buried at Finn's Point National Cemetery, Salem, NJ (Section CM, Site 1183). He died 14 Aug 1863.
 
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If he was a Union soldier, then I find only three named Pleasant Johnson (or phonetically similar):

Co. E, 6th TN Mounted Infantry: b. about 1828.
Co. L, 8th TN Cavalry: b. about 1846, wife Lucinda and minor children as above.
PVT, Co. G, 9th TN Cavalry and 11th TN Cavalry: b. about 1812.

There were others named "P. Johnson" with middle initials other than "M." in the records ... and a few with no middle initials recorded but those were all in the CSA.

You might consider that, while he lived in Tennessee, he fought for an out-of-state regiment. There was a Pleasant Johnson in Co. F, 12th KY Inf. (USA) who was born in about 1843 or 1848 (records vary). He died of fever in a hospital in Lebanon, KY on 26 Feb 1862 and his mother, "Betsey A", received a pension in 1887.

There was a Capt/Lt "P. M. Johnson" in Co. A, 21st Iowa Infantry but his first name may have been Perry.

Was he black? There was also a Pleasant Johnson in the 4th U.S. Colored Cavalry and one in each of the 41st, 47th, 58th, 84th, 87th, and 90th U.S. Colored Infantries (all enlisted men).

BTW, there is a "Pleasant M. Johnson" buried at Finn's Point National Cemetery, Salem, NJ (Section CM, Site 1183). He died 14 Aug 1863.
Thanks for all that research. His mother was Nancy Elizabeth. I imagine he was not married at the time of the war. He died in 1929. I am just trying to figure out if I have any CW soldier ancestors and thus far they hid behind a tree.
 
Have you worked your way back to this ancestor? If not, I'd suggest that you do so before going on.

Assuming that your have, look at what you know. You have a date of birth, his wife's name, his mother's name and his children's names.

I'd go to the pension index files (there are 3 online) and enter a soldier surnamed Johnson with a widow named Susan. You'll have over 100 "hits" 😡 and honing that down to PM Johnson or Pleasant (etc.) Johnson, there are none. This might indicate that 1. He outlived his wife; 2. he never filed. With the date of birth, you can search Ancestry--under the BMD search. I did and came up with P.M Johnson (born 31 Oct 1845 in Union County, TN; died 6 Jan 1929 in Knoxville, Knox County, TN; buried in Lynnhurst Cemetery in Knoxville under the name "P.M. Johnson".

BUT, searching him out in census records, his wife was Ellen. Either this is the wrong person OR "Susan" was a call name OR he married more than once.
 
Have you worked your way back to this ancestor? If not, I'd suggest that you do so before going on.

Assuming that your have, look at what you know. You have a date of birth, his wife's name, his mother's name and his children's names.

I'd go to the pension index files (there are 3 online) and enter a soldier surnamed Johnson with a widow named Susan. You'll have over 100 "hits" 😡 and honing that down to PM Johnson or Pleasant (etc.) Johnson, there are none. This might indicate that 1. He outlived his wife; 2. he never filed. With the date of birth, you can search Ancestry--under the BMD search. I did and came up with P.M Johnson (born 31 Oct 1845 in Union County, TN; died 6 Jan 1929 in Knoxville, Knox County, TN; buried in Lynnhurst Cemetery in Knoxville under the name "P.M. Johnson".

BUT, searching him out in census records, his wife was Ellen. Either this is the wrong person OR "Susan" was a call name OR he married more than once.
Susan was her given and called name and she died in 1929. He probably didn't serve.
 
Susan was her given and called name and she died in 1929. He probably didn't serve.
It's not looking like he did. I looked at all the pension notes for Pleasant Johnson and they all check out to other men. It could be that he served in some local capacity - a home guard unit or similar - and didn't get written down anywhere. But there don't seem to be any records to link him to service.
 
Thanks for this. I am wondering how to search the records and databases for Civil War information. I don't have any ancestors from that time ( mine all arrived around 1900), but I've been wondering about the sources for looking at all different types of records I see on the Wednesday CWT zoom meetings. Is there a thread on here that gives information on what data bases are online for various CW information?
 
Thanks for this. I am wondering how to search the records and databases for Civil War information. I don't have any ancestors from that time ( mine all arrived around 1900), but I've been wondering about the sources for looking at all different types of records I see on the Wednesday CWT zoom meetings. Is there a thread on here that gives information on what data bases are online for various CW information?
There is a pinned post at the Ancestry forum which I very much need to update - it covers a lot of ground but I can't vouch for how stable all the links are

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/helpful-online-research-search-links-o-r-s-dyers-fox-etc.18500/
 
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