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MAGGIE JOHNS (SAM)
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| I am using this Captain Sam photo, Maggie's third husband, due to not having one of her (or Long Valley John or Tom Jefferson). The very first referrence I have to Maggie Johns is not by name, but by being listed as Annie's mother on the 1910 US Census. It initially says she was born in Aurora, Nevada. But pay close attention, because that is circled with a line to a post note above that corrects this to Bishop, Inyo, California (the one below Annie and Annie's entries got mixed up and are for the other person). On the lower half of that census, it talks about the tribe of the parents. #2 is Annie, so the mother is Maggie Johns. It states full blooded Paiute-Mono (Mono Paiute). The second referrence I have to Maggie Johns is not by document, but by Oral History via Maude John Shaw to me, and the Oral History given by my cousin, Audrey Kramer (do not know her source. Could be Maude or my grandmother Julia) - Maude had said her grandmother had married Tom Jefferson (at the time, I never knew Maude was talking about her own grandmother). She said this is where Annie got the name Jefferson. She became known by her father and step-father's name - Annie John(s) Jefferson. This was from my cousin - Oral History Blurb. Her names are a bit confused, as she is saying Annie is her great grandmother, but also mentions Annie as the one that died. Annie is actually her grandmother, and Maggie is the great grandmother. At any rate, we were both told of a Tom Jefferson. Since Long Valley John died in 1900 (see his entry), then Maggie had to have married Tom Jefferson no earlier than 1900, post Long Valley John. She and Tom together weren't the caretakers of the children either, as Maggie married Captain Sam in 1914 (see Captain Sam probate, below) 3 years before Sarah was born. Rather, the one that raised Sarah and the kids was Maude's family, under Minnie John (Maude's mother), Annie's sister-in-law (wife of Annie's brother, Allie). As Maude always said - She and my grandmother Julia, Dorothy and Sarah were raised together as sisters. So this fits. Tom could have still been a part of that raising, via with Minnie (though not married? Can't find anything that ties them together) at this time rather than Maggie. This would make sense, given my cousins words that Tom ended up too old to care for Annie's children. So... who is Tom, and what document can we find to connect him to Maggie, Annie and the children? Well, I know, via Maude, that they were raised in the Laws, Inyo County, California area, just outside of Bishop. So I searched Census records for the area. Did not find any Laws Indian Censuses for the years I was targeting, but I did hit on TWO U.S. Censuses for 1910 - 1910 US Census #1 and 1910 US Census #2. So which is which? Neither states Maggie by name. In fact, neither of them HAVE a name for Tom's wife. So what else can we look at? Age? And as my cousin said, Tom was old. Both of these Tom's are old - 65 and 55 in 1910, respectively. So that doesn't tell us which. Also, the wife of the 65 year old Tom has an age listed at 36. Born in 1860, Maggie would have been 50 in 1910, not 36. That would be younger than Allie by two years.The wife of the 55 year old Tom has no age listed. How about the length of time married? We know it can't be longer than around 9 years, right? Sometime in 1900 to mid 1910 (date of this census)? The 55 year old Tom Jefferson does not have number of years married entered. The 65 year old, however, has that number we just figured out: 9 years. I am not discounting the other Tom though... just because that entry is blank, he too could have been married only 9 years, but more importantly, look at his neighbors names. Some seem awfully familiar... James Watterson is Allie's son's name (see Allie's entry). And Shaw? Many years later, Maude would marry a Shaw (if these are the same Shaws, that is). So.. take your pick between the two Toms. I would bet that either one of the "not named" wives is Maggie. In this 1911 BIA letter (page 1, page 2), Long Valley John (but not Maggie) is mentioned by name, with Annie and Allie as his children. There seems to be a dispute over his property. This is just the beginning for Maggie and the property. This 1912 BIA letter from Maggie Johns shows that Long Valley John was her husband and that Annie was their daughter. Maggie was signing the property over to Annie here. This letter also shows that Long Valley John and Maggie were making this homestead generally in the Benton, CA area. The two-year-earlier 1910 US Census from above had placed John and Annie in the Benton census coverage area, so this fits. ** A side note about that letter - Maggie inherited directly by being the widow of Long Valley John. She then turned the property over specifically to Annie (Allie had died two years earlier, in 1910, so was not living at the time of this letter/decision by Maggie). Thus, this makes Annie the sole owner of the property, while she is still married to John Lawrence. When Annie died in 1917, would the land not turn over to John Lawrence, based on him having been her husband? And if not him, then her children directly - Johnny, Julia, Dorothy and Sarah? Perhaps the problem lays in the fact the property wasn't officially issued until 1916 (see below), thus negating the 1912 letter. These two Indian Censuses have a Maggie Johns listed, as a widow, but no other information: 1912 Indian Census and 1913 Indian Census. Oddly, the 1913 census has a Long Valley John listed at the bottom, with no actual information. Per the previous letter from Maggie, Long Valley John was dead by this time. So IF this is him, then why is he on here? The fact he IS on there adds to this being our Maggie Johns, but who are the people listed below her? George and Essie are Minnie's children, Maggie's grandchildren. No idea who Poker and Jennie are (probably a different house hold?). Also on a 1913 Indian Census, Captain Sam is listed ... as living in Mono (from here going forward, take note of the "living at Mono Lake area" type of stuff, as according to Captain Sam's probate, he lived with Maggie, and he did NOT live in the Mono Lake area. He lived, by virtue of a Maggie letter dated 1916 and them being married at the time, on Long Valley John's property near the Benton area, and according to the probate, in Yosemite, where he eventually died), and with a "Mrs. Sam". There is no birthdate nor age. Why I bring that up is because it is about to get interesting... Captain Sam is still isted on the 1914 Indian Census, 1915 Indian Census, 1916 Indian Census and 1918 Indian Census with that same information: Mono Lake (previous pages start the Mono Lake Indians listing, hence the blank on some pages), Mrs. Sam, NO AGE/BIRTHDATE. Interesting about "Mrs. Sam" - Captain Sams first wife, Susie, died in 1903. So no way that can be her. As for Maggie, per Captain Sam's probate, they married in 1914. Yet that 1913 Census, the year prior to their marriage, is listing that "Mrs. Sam". Who is that? Is it possibly Maggie? She was listed on a seperate census for that same year (1913), with her grandchildren. You will see why that is important, after a couple more Maggie items of note. Here is a land certification dated January 28th, 1916. It is stating the widow (Maggie Johns) of Long Valley John and his heirs receive the property at the location listed. The President also made a proclamtion dated July 22, 1916 (page 1, page 2) regarding Long Valley John's property. This August 1, 1916 letter is requesting Long Valley John to sign some paperwork. Obviously they did not know he was dead at this time. A month later, this September 12, 1916 letter on behalf of Maggie regarding Long Valley John's property was sent. Per this letter, Maggie had been living on that property (had to be living with Captain Sam, as they married two years prior), even though in 1912 she requested the property to be turned over to Annie (see above). Are you ready for some Long Valley John/Maggie John/Captain Sam fun? It's not until these three Indian Censuses, 1919 Indian Census, 1920 Indian Census and 1921 Indian Census that any referrence to Maggie being with Captain Sam is mentioned on document, and they have Long Valley John listed as Captain Sam's wife. You read that right. I have no idea why they put Long Valley John instead of Maggie's name, but there it is, on three seperate Indian Censuses. In 1922, the listing takes place over two pages - Captain Sam on the first page, at the bottom and Maggie on the second page at the top. But now we have a new problem! Look at the birthdate for Captain Sam. As far as I know, there is only ONE Captain Sam that is Mono-Paiute, and stories passed down in the family have stated that our Maggie, widow of Long Valley John, married Captain Sam of the Mono Paiute. This is confirmed in Captain Sam's probate. Someone messed up and listed the wrong birthdate for Captain Sam. It should be 1833. If Maggie's birthdate is correct (1860, which I suspect is wrong, given Allie's birthyear of 1872... which would have made Maggie 12 years old when Allie was born), then Captain Sam was 27 years older than her. In 1923 and 1924, they stil have Mono area of living and got Maggie's name correct (and still have that 1860 D.O.B.), BUT still have Captain Sam's birthdate wrong. The 1925 census brings us some sad news - Captain Sam is listed as a widower, meaning Maggie Johns is no longer with us. Look right under the Captain Sam entry. And on top of that, they still got his birthdate wrong. His probate confirms the date of Maggie's death in 1924. Captain Sam's probate (pg 1, pg 2, pg 3, pg 4, pg 5, pg 6, pg 7, pg 8) confirms Maggie as his wife (and her death date), as she is mentioned throughout as being his second wife. The exact date this probate was initiated, I do not know. Three different dates are found throughout the paperwork - 1/28/47 (I do not know of that is in referrence to something, or if this was the initial date of the paperwork, since it is on page 1). The two testamonies are in 1950 and 1951, the same year as Long Valley Johns "Sale of Inherited Indian Land petition", covered in Long Valley John's entry. Individual records for those heirs listed on the "Sale of Inherited Indian Land petition" will be in the sections on this webpage for those individuals. In this case, Louise and Leanna Sam (Tom), Helen Keith, Clyde Sam and Margaret Hogan are here, in the Maggie Johns section. Additional information that helps connect Maggie Johns with Captain Sam is on the 1951 Sale of Inherited Indian Land petition. As seen in the Captain Sam probate, Louise Sam (Tom), Leanna Sam (Tom), Helen Keith, Clyde Sam and Margaret Hogan are on the Captain Sam side of things, thus related through marriage, not blood. Here is the 1951 Supplemental Peition to Louise Sam (Tom) - Pg 1 (To Louise) and Pg 2 (from Louise). There is not a copy for Leanna, as she was one of the original signers on the petition, along with George and Maude Johns. This is the Fund Distribution letters- Louise and Leanna. These are copies of the paperwork for Helen Keith, Clyde Sam and Margaret Hogan - Helen Keith 1, Helen Keith 2, Helen Keith 3, Helen Keith 4, Clyde Sam 1, Clyde Sam 2, Clyde Sam 3, Margaret Hogan 1, Margaret Hogan 2, Margaret Hogan 3. Should you have any more information by way of documents or any questions, you can contact me on Facebook at this link. |
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