Johnson, James (of Decatur, IL)

Flourished: 1830-05-26 Decatur, Illinois

Johnson moved west from his native state first to Kentucky and later to Illinois, settling in Macon County. Johnson was one of the early settlers to the Hickory Point area, establishing the first blacksmith shop in 1828. In 1830, he purchased eighty acres of public land in the region. During the Black Hawk War, he was captain of a company of Macon County volunteers from April 24 to May 16, 1832, when he received promotion to colonel and took command of the 5th Regiment of the Illinois Mounted Volunteers. He served as county treasurer in 1832 and 1833. Johnson later moved to Pike County.

John W. Smith, History of Macon County, Illinois, from its Organization to 1876 (Springfield, IL: Rokker's, 1876), 55; Isaac H. Elliott, Record of the Services of Illinois Soldiers in the Black Hawk War, 1831-32, and in the Mexican War, 1846-8 (Springfield, IL: H. W. Rokker, 1882), 104; Past and Present of the City of Decatur and Macon County Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1903), 31; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Macon County, 145:11, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; History of Macon County, Illinois (Philadelphia, PA: Brink, McDonough, 1880), 58, 203.