Rachel was probably born in mid 1730's as she married James Johnson, 15 Dec 1755, St James Northam Parish, Goochland Co, VA, recorded in The Douglas Register. Family records indicate that James and Rachel had three children - David, Ann "Nancy", and Mary "Molly" - the parents may have both died at a fairly young age leaving them orphaned. Ann and Mary's births and baptisms were recorded at St. James Northam, but David's was not.
There are many Johnson families in Virginia and a quite large database of DNA of descendants exists. The results imply that there were at least three separate families of Johnsons in colonial Virginia. Rachel's husband James has always been placed as a part of the family of Michael Johnson [c. circa 1719] and his wife Sarah Watson which makes sense since the Johnsons and Hadens lived in close proximity. The problem is that there are multiple men, descendants of this family, living at the same time in Goochland Co named James Johnson - and at least two of them had wives named Rachel. The other Rachel was nee Rachel Street. There was, living in the same area, a third James Johnson of near the same age who married Mildred Mims - among James and Mildred's nine children were children named David, Ann or Nancy, and Mary.
Two Johnson researchers and I collaaborated for several months in an attempt to sort out the James-and-Rachel difficulty. One assertation that James and Rachel had these three children comes from the book John Haden of Virginia, apparently from Haden family records - actual source not stated. The two daughters are proved by their baptism records; other records make clear they had a brother David. Some of the Haden researchers placed Rachel's husband James Johnson, as a son of John Johnson and Mary Pledge [John and Mary did indeed have a son named James of this age - he's the one that married Mildred Mims]. But after careful study of land deeds, particularly those of James and Rachel's son David, and court records regarding guardianship, it became much more likely that Rachel's husband James was the son of the older James Johnson [son of Michael & Sarah Johnson] who is usually referred to in records as "James the Elder" and is said to have soon after 1787, probably as a very old man. [I'm not sure that the correct death record has been applied, but that has no relevance here.]
Apparently after the death of James Johnson, and perhaps Rachel Haden as well, Isham Johnson - the eldest son of James Johnson, the Elder - was made guardian of three Johnson children, orphans of a James Johnson - David, Ann, & Mary. This order took place in Goochland Court, August 1773. David was the eldest as he reached his majority first, Ann would have been almost 13, Mary age 10. Some of the Johnson researchers who had no access to the Haden information assumed they were three of the children of James Johnson and Mildred Mims. This assumption falls apart because James & Mildred had other children, older, younger, and in between these three, and they both were still living.
That James Johnson, the Elder, had a son also named James is indicated by several Goochland deeds. James, the Elder, made gifts of land to several of his sons, and references within the deeds make plain that there was also a James Jr. Later, when David Johnson, son of James & Rachel, sells his property, it becomes eivdent that he is selling land he inherited and some of it has trickled down from the patriarch, Michael Johnson, through James, the Elder, and David's father, James. I am happy to furnish details to anyone interested in the whole story.
It is my belief that all three of the children of Rachel Haden and James Johnson ended up moving to Logan Co, KY where many of their cousins were already living. However, the proof is circumstantial. I could change my opinion if additional documentation were found.
Here are the children of Rachel Haden and James Johnson:
1. David Johnson was probably born circa 1756-1760. I believe he appears in most of the Goochland Co records as David Johnson Jr. - not because he was the son of a David, but because he had an uncle named David Johnson living in the same area. I believe the marriage record of a David Johnson to Nancy Bowles, 16 Dec 1790, Goochland, is his marriage. The Bowles genealogies are fraught with mine fields but she could have been the Nancy, daughter of John Bowles & Elizabeth Curd. There are Goochland deeds, 1804 and 1807, when David & wife Nancy sold property. By 1809, a David Johnson appears in Logan Co KY and he associates with other Haden related familes. In May of 1818, the inventory and appraisal of his estate is ordered by the Logan County Court. I have found no indication he had children. Nor is there any record in Logan Co suggesting the name of his wife as Nancy.
2. Ann Johnson [also seen as Nancy] was born 29 Nov 1763, Goochland, baptized as daughter of James Johnson and Rachel Haden. She married William Johnson, 15 Oct 1781. I do not believe he was a cousin, but think more likely he was the William Johnson, son of James Johnson and Sarah ?Tenham of Louisa Co, VA. William had a brother named Thomas Johnson who also removed to Logan Co, KY. In 1807, William and Nancy Johnson sold land in Louisa Co, VA. In 1809, William Johnson appears on the tax list in Logan Co KY. William Johnson died in fall of 1811, and Ann (Johnson) Johnson remarried to James Slaughter, 8 Apr 1812, in Logan Co. Again, there is no indication that Ann had any children. James Slaughter was presumably first married to Elizabeth Hampton by whom he had at least eight children; he married third a lady named Mildred, apparently after the death of Ann Johnson. as Mildred is named in his will written in 1831. I've not found this last marriage record for James Slaughter.
3. Mary Johnson was born 19 Apr 1763, Goochland. She married John Price, 3 Aug 1779, Goochland. John was a son of William Price and Elizabeth Burton, and this family can be traced back to John Price who arrived in Jamestown, 1611. As early as 1784, William Price had deeded land to John in Louisa Co, VA. In 1810, John Price bought land from William Haden [grandson of old Anthony; my husband's ancestor and Mary Johnson Price's first cousin] on the waters of the Gasper River, Logan Co, KY. John Price and Mary Johnson had twelve children, eight of them sons creating virtually a Price dynasty in Logan Co. Their oldest child, daughter Ann "Nancy" married Thomas Johnson, believed to be the brother of the above William Johnson, 25 Feb 1799, in Louisa Co. Mary died 1822, John died before August of 1824, in Logan Co.
I feel that I should add one last bit here. Rachel Haden, of course, married James Johnson. William Haden, son of John & Jean Moseley Haden, and Rachel's nephew also married into the Johnson family. William's second wife, Ann "Nancy" Johnson, was a daughter of Joseph Johnson & Sarah Harris, Joseph being a son of John Johnson and Mary Pledge. John Johnson was one of the sons of Michael Johnson and a brother to the above James Johnson, the Elder. Therefore, William Haden's wife, was a first cousin once removed, to Rachel Haden's husband. Or, put another way, Rachel's James Johnson was a grandson of Michael Johnson. William's wife Nancy Johnson was a great granddaughter of Michael Johnson.
Then there is this. I am also descended from John Johnson's wife Mary Pledge. Mary Pledge had a brother William - he is my direct ancestor. Mary and William's parents were John and Dorothy [her surname unknown] Pledge. My husband was also my 8th cousin once removed - but you need one of those automatic genie tools to figure that one out!
