Mary Magdalena Johnson

Brief Life History of Mary Magdalena

When Mary Magdalena Johnson was born on 23 May 1816, in German Township, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States, her father, Jacob Johnson, was 25 and her mother, Sarah Bixler, was 32. She married John Fretz in 1842. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 4 daughters. She died on 5 August 1877, at the age of 61.

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Family Time Line

John Fretz
1814–1876
Mary Magdalena Johnson
1816–1877
Marriage: 1842
Samuel Fretz
1843–
Nancy Fretz
1846–1928
Nancy Frets
1847–
Margaret Fretts
1856–
Mary Magdalena Fretz
1856–1931

Sources (4)

  • Mary Fretts, "United States Census, 1860"
  • Legacy NFS Source: Mary Magdalena Johnson -
  • Mary in household of John, "United States Census, 1870"

World Events (8)

1819 · Panic! of 1819

With the Aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars the global market for trade was down. During this time, America had its first financial crisis and it lasted for only two years. 

1820 · Making States Equal

The Missouri Compromise helped provide the entrance of Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state into the United States. As part of the compromise, slavery was prohibited north of the 36°30′ parallel, excluding Missouri.

1836 · Remember the Alamo

Being a monumental event in the Texas Revolution, The Battle of the Alamo was a thirteen-day battle at the Alamo Mission near San Antonio. In the early morning of the final battle, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. Quickly being overrun, the Texian Soldiers quickly withdrew inside the building. The battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War, But the Alamo gradually became known as a national battle site and later named an official Texas State Shrine.

Name Meaning

English and Scottish: patronymic from the Middle English and Older Scots personal name Johan, Jo(h)n (see John ) + -son. It was often interchanged with Jenson and Janson . In North America, this surname has absorbed cognates from other languages, e.g. Norwegian, Danish, or North German Johnsen , Johannesen , Johannsen , Johansen , Jansen , Jantzen , and Jensen , Swedish Johnsson (see below), Johansson , Jonsson , and Jansson , Dutch Janssen , German Janz , Czech Jansa 1, and Slovenian Janša (see Jansa 2) and Janežič (see Janezic ). Johnson (including in the sense 2 below) is the second most frequent surname in the US. It is also the second most common surname among Native Americans and a very common surname among African Americans.

Americanized form (and a less common Swedish variant) of Swedish Johnsson: patronymic from the personal name John, a variant of Jon (see John ). Compare 1 above.

History: Surname Johnson was brought independently to North America by many different bearers from the 17th and 18th centuries onward. Andrew Johnson (1808–75), 17th president of the US, was born in Raleigh, NC, the younger son of Jacob Johnson and Mary (or Polly) McDonough. Little is known of his ancestors. The 36th president, Lyndon B. Johnson, dates his American forebears back seven generations to James Johnston (sic) (born c. 1662) who lived at Currowaugh, Nansemond, and Isle of Wight counties, VA. — Noted early bearers also include Marmaduke Johnson (died 1674), a printer who came from England to MA in 1660; Edward Johnson (1598–1672), a colonial chronicler who was baptized at St. George's parish, Canterbury, England, and emigrated to Boston in 1630; and Sir Nathaniel Johnson (c. 1645–1713), a colonial governor of Carolina, who came from County Durham, England.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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