William Edgar (Ed) Johnson

William Edgar (Ed) Johnson, son of William Brantley Cooke Johnson and Martha Ann Wallace Pipkin, was born 23 June 1878, Beardstown, TN, died 31 Oct 1944, Flagler CO, FL, married 10 Sept 1902, Highwoods, Hohenwald, Lewis CO, TN, Lillian Williams, dau of Septimus Williams and Laura Frances Basford, born 29 Oct 1882, Bertrand, Mississippi CO, MO, died 12 Jan 1968 Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL. Both buried Hope Cemetery, now Flagler Palms Memorial Gardens, Flagler CO, FL.

The family is listed on page 45 of the 1920 census of Flagler County with his occupation given as "Farmer - Truck Farm."

The family moved to Bunnell in 1913 from Hohenwald, Lewis CO, TN and he was appointed a councilman in June 1913 when Bunnell was incorporated and elected president by the council.

Numerous accounts are found in the Bunnell Home Builder of his many business activities. He, in Apr 1913, opened the first hardware store and lumber yard on Bay Street (Johnson Lumber & Supply Company). Operating as a general contractor, he operated a saw mill just south of the depot in Bunnell (Jul 1913) as well as shingle mill. He completed (Jan 1914) a "magnificent" concrete bungalow on Moody Blvd and moved into same.

In Jan 1916 he sold the hardware business associated with the Johnson Lumber & Supply Co. The hardware company changed its name to Bunnell Hardware Company. In Nov 1916 he had his shingle mill nearly completed - he estimated that he will cut about five million at this location.

In 1917, Mr Johnson bought several tracts of land in the northeast section of Flagler County and eventually owned a great portion of the land known as the Hernandez Grant. He built a home and moved his family on the east side of the canal when there was no road on the ocean side of the canal, only a dirt road up the west side of the canal. He was a moving factor in the creation of the Ocean Shore Improvement District which was created to build the present A1A highway from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach, serving as chairman of the trustees of the district for 10 years.

In May 1924, he added 2,200 acres to his extensive holdings in Flagler CO, FL and adjoining his property at the beach. He already owned 1,500 acres on the canal.

In Apr 1925, he, Harry Wallace Sessions and Ray Gordon formed the Atlantic Reality Company

After moving to the Hammock he was engaged in extensive truck farming. He also had a dairy. He eventually sold parcels of this land and the Hammock began to grow and by the time of the Florida Land Boom, it was some of the most valuable land in the county.

In Nov 1928, his sawmill at Bon Terra Estates was destroyed by fire. A short time before this, he was forced to kill about 30 head of dairy cows because of bovine tuberculous.

In Nov 1929, he was again president of The Bunnell Hardware Company and began building at 50 x 100 foot warehouse to be used to store the bulk stock carried by the company. He had associated with him in the business, Mr E H Lott and his son, Ed.

In Jan 1930, workmen on the Bon Terra Estates were digging a ditch adjacent to the Florida East Coast Canal and were not more than 2 feet below the surface when they discovered some elephant bones. There were two teeth, each of which was approximately four by five inches in diameter and weighing bout 12 pounds, several sections of vertebrae and two ball and socket joints. The bones were similar to those discovered on this same tract of land earlier and identified by the Smithsonian Institute as those of a mastodon.

In Mar 1931, The Bunnell Hardware Company, of which he was president, purchased the entire bock on which their hardware store was located from Major James Frank Lambert. The two story brick structure formerly occupied by the Bunnell Mercantile Company and the brick building occupied by the hardware were among the first buildings erected in Bunnell around 1911. They were torn down in January 2007.

In the 11 Feb 1932 issue of The Flagler Tribune, it noted that bones of prehistoric animals had been found in quantities at Bon Terra Estates and that Ed Johnson had made arrangements with Rollins College to make extensive excavations of the site.....Dr. Armstead of the college staff directed the excavating .....Jack Connelly, archeologist at Rollins was assisting

On 1 Mar 1932 he re-entered the real estate business and opened an office in the building he owned on Bay Street in Bunnell

In April 1948, ground was cleared in Artesia, 10 miles north of the Flagler Beach pier, for construction of a community church which was named the Ed Johnson Memorial Church. Mrs Johnson gave the property on which it was to be erected and the material for building (the old chapel is still there and sits next to the new chapel which was constructed around 2006).

He was not only engaged in many business ventures but was well known in the politics of the county, serving as Superintendent of Public Instruction from Dec 1918 until Jan 1921; as Tax Assessor for a term; a County Commissioner from 1929 to 1939, two of which he was Chairman of the Board. He was chairman of the Flagler County Selective Service Board from its inception in Oct 1940 until his death.

Mr and Mrs Johnson were the parents of four children;

1. Malcolm Leroy Johnson, born 10 Aug 1903, Hohenwald, Lewis CO, TN, died 04 Aug 1977 Flagler Beach, Flagler CO, FL, married 06 May 1924, in the Dr D R Walker Home, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL by Rev H E Partridge to Blanche Walker, dau of John Walker and Amy LNU, born 27 Mar 1906, Camilla, Mitchell, CO, GA, died 03 Mar 1968, Knoxville, Knox CO, TN (Div 1943, Tampa, Hillsborough CO, FL).

He lived in the first house in Flagler Beach - George Moody built it. He said that when he was nine years old, he spent the summer in Flagler Beach, hunting turtle eggs and fishing - in those days there was an old barge that was pulled across (the now, inter coastal canal) with a cable.

The inter coastal was Smith Creek then, and it was a private canal owned by the East Coast Canal and Transportation Company which had wood burning steamboats. Up toward the Hammock, the canal banks of the waterway were 35 feet high - it was man rather than nature that brought them down to their present low level.

The government took over maintenance of the canal in 1927 - in 1933 they widened the canal and the banks just sloughed in.

When his family moved here in 1912 from TN, his father opened a lumber business. They moved to a farm north of Flagler Beach and at one time owned 4,000 acres of land where Palm Coast is now located. Malcolm said that there were about 40 wild horses where Palm Coast is now - they were all put to death by the government in 1933 who claimed they had fever ticks.

Their farm was called Bon Terra and was the only residence in the county at the time that had a telephone line. The family had to maintain it as there was no one else who wanted or could afford a telephone. Bon Terra was maintained with the help of about 10 artesian wells located on the property -- the house well was run by a turbine which also provided electricity to the 17 room house (which stood until the property was purchased by ITT).

Malcolm spent his entire life in Flagler CO with the exception of four years during WW II when he worked in the shipyards in Tampa. He served as a member of the school board from 18 Oct 1947 to 3 Jan 1955. Issue;

(1) Malcolm Leroy (Mickey) Johnson Jr, born 29 May 1925, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL, died 14 Apr 1992, Titusville, Brevard CO, FL, married 29 June 1968, Henry CO, GA to Hallie Louise Horne, born 29 May 1931, Concord, Knox CO, TN. He served in the Army during W W II.

Malcolm Leroy Johnson married 2nd, 19 Nov 1944 Tampa, Hillsborough CO, FL to Leona Moody, dau of Isaac I Moody and Dora Lee, born 02 May 1908, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL, died 07 Jan 1999, St Augustine, St Johns CO, FL (Div- Aug 1949, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL). Leona Moody was previously married to Harlan Spencer French. After she and Malcolm were divorced, she married Walter Eugene Knight, Jr.

Malcolm Leroy Johnson married 3rd, 8 June 1950, Folkston, Charlton CO, GA, Mary L Vandergrif, dau of John Joseph Vandergrif and Susan H Mattis, born 22 Feb 1907, St Augustine, St Johns CO, FL, died 10 June 1962, Halifax Hospital, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL buried Eden Cemetery, Crescent City, Putnam CO, FL.

Malcolm Leroy Johnson married 4th, 20 Aug 1966, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL to Helen E LNU, born 29 Jul 1925, died 11 Jan 1998, Manning, Claredon CO, TN, buried Hope Cemetery, now Flagler Palms Memorial Gardens, Flagler CO, FL. She was previously married to FNU Boman.

2. Edouard Donovan (Edwin) Johnson, born 04 Mar 1905, Hohenwald, Lewis CO, TN, died 29 Oct 1933, Bon Terra Estates, Flagler CO, FL buried 31 Oct 1933, Hope Cemetery, now Flagler Palms Memorial Gardens, Flagler CO, FL.

Edwin Johnson came here with his parents in 1913 and up to the time of his death was overseer of the Johnson estate. He was considered by those who knew him as considerable of a genius and was fond of experimenting with radios and other electric equipment. At the time of his death he was said to have been working on radio telephony.

3. Philip Stanley Johnson, born 07 Feb 1908, Hohenwald, Lewis CO, TN, died 25 Mar 1982, Ormond Beach, Volusia CO, FL, married Feb 1932, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL to Eunice Horne Outz (Div-01 Dec 1932, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL).

Philip Stanley Johnson married 2nd, 16 Feb 1933, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL by Judge H A Eisenbach to Doris Sweat Booth, dau of James B Booth and Aurora Sweat, born 28 Mar 1913, Manor, Ware CO, GA, died 08 Jan 1976, St. Augustine, St Johns CO, FL. Both buried Hope Cemetery, now Flagler Palms Memorial Gardens, Flagler CO, FL Issue;

(1) Phyllis Ann (Sally) Johnson, born 21 Apr 1934, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, married 30 July 1957, First Methodist Church, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL to Alexander Germaine Dompe, Jr, son of Alexander Germaine Dompe, born 13 Jan 1936, DeLand, Volusia CO, FL.

After graduating from Crescent City High School in 1954 he attended the University of Florida graduating from that institution with a degree in architecture. He worked for the University of Florida Facilities Planning Division and retired from there.

Sally graduated from Bunnell High School in the Class of 1953 and in Oct 1953 was attending a business college in Jacksonville, FL They are Methodists and resided in Gainesville, Alachua CO, FL. Issue;

A. Alexander Germaine (Al) Dompe III, born 29 Apr 1958, Halifax District Hospital, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, married 21 Apr 1979, Alachua CO, FL

B. Philip Edward (Phil) Dompe, born 25 Jun 1961, Gainesville, Alachua CO, FL

C. Leslie Lynn Dompe, born 02 Mar 1965, Halifax District Hospital, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL

(2) Doris Wynell Johnson, born 22 Oct 1942, Waycross, Ware CO, GA, drowned 22 July 1948, Flagler Beach, Flagler CO, FL, buried Hope Cemetery, now Flagler Palms Memorial Gardens, Flagler CO, FL.

NOTE: The compiler, though a small boy at the time (age 10), was the individual who pulled Doris from the Atlantic Ocean just north of the Flagler Beach Pier.

4. Lillian (Lillo) Johnson, born 26 Oct 1914, St. Johns CO, FL, died 20 Aug 2009, Gainesville, Alachua CO, FL, married 21 Nov 1941, Valdosta, Lowndes CO, GA by Dr T Baron Gibson to Richard Henry Townsend, son of Deber Townsend and Stella LNU, born 15 Nov 1916, Atlanta, Fulton CO, GA, died 21 Feb 1997, Macon, Bibb CO, GA. Both buried Macon Memorial Park, Macon, Bibb CO, GA.

He enlisted in the US Navy at age 17 and served four years. With the advent of WW II he reenlisted in the Navy and among the ships he served on was the Battleship U.S..S Alabama. He was with Remington Rand Ind as a salesman before becoming a real estate broker until his retirement.

She was a graduate of Bunnell High School and received commercial training at a business school in Tampa. In Dec 1941, she was employed in the Dade County Tax Assessor's Office in Miami, FL before moving to Macon, GA in 1941. Lillo worked at First National Bank in Macon, aa bookkeeper at Chandler Insurance Company and as office manager and co-owner with her husband at Riverside Realty.

They were members of Ingleside Baptist Church where she was a member of the Fidelis Sunday School Class. She served as Circle Leader and as secretary in the Junior Sunday School Department.

 

Source: The First Families of Flagler by Mary Ketus Deen Holland who cites as her sources, Census, Published Articles and Lillo Johnson Townsend.

Additional sources used by the compiler were: 1910 United States Federal Census, St Johns CO, FL, St Augustine Ward 1, Dist 142; 1920 United States Federal Census, Atlanta Ward 3, Fulton CO, GA; 1920 United States Federal Census, Camilla, Mitchell CO, GA; World War I Draft Registration Card, Ware CO, GA; Birth Certificate for Malcolm Leroy Johnson, Jr,, FL, book 385, pg 10114; Social Security Death Index Record; Georgia Deaths, 1919-98; The Flagler Tribune, Bunnell, FL, 08 May 1924, 16 Sep 1937, 04 Dec 1941 24 Feb 1944, 29 Jun 1950, 08 Aug 1957, 08 May 1958, 29 Jun 1961, 04 Mar 1965; The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, FL, 30 Oct 1923, 02 Mar 1933 and Johnson Family information provided by Phyllis Ann "Sally" Johnson Dompe (16 Sep 2009).

Please send questions, corrections or additions to Sisco Deen, P.O. Box 637, Flagler Beach, FL 32136 or email him at Sisco_Deen@hotmail.com