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Elizabeth Johnson Forby

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Elizabeth Johnson Forby
Some members of the Forby family in the 1901 Knoxville city directory
Born
Lucy Elizabeth

March ~1846
Tennessee, United States
DiedOctober 3, 1905
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Other namesLiz, Lizzie Forbey, Lizzy, Lucy Elizabeth Johnson, Lucy E. Forby, Mrs. George Forbey, Mrs. G. W. Forby, Mrs. Elizabeth Ford, Elizabeth J. Farley, Farbey
Known forEnslaved by a future U.S. President, "estimable colored woman"
Parent
RelativesFlorence Johnson Smith (sister)
William Andrew Johnson (brother)
Sam Johnson (uncle)

Lucy Elizabeth Johnson Forby[a] (March ~1846 – October 3, 1905) was an "estimable colored woman" of the United States.[1]

Lizzie Forby was a mixed-race Tennessean who was enslaved from birth until approximately age 17 by Andrew Johnson, later the 17th president of the United States. Her mother was Dolly Johnson; the identity of her father remains officially unknown. Since the late 20th century several scholars and popular historians have speculated or insinuated that Andrew Johnson may have been Lizzie's biological father, although there is no evidence that either affirmatively confirms the relationship or eliminates Johnson as a candidate for paternity.[2][3][4][5][6][7] She married a freedman named George W. Forby shortly after the American Civil War. He worked as a laborer and a coachman, and together they raised nine children in East Tennessee.

Elizabeth Johnson Forby died at the age of approximately 60 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is the only known member of her family to have a headstone marking their grave at Knoxville's historic Freedmen's Mission Historic Cemetery; the stone reads "Our Mother Elizabeth Johnson Forby died October 3, 1905".

Biography

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Lucy Elizabeth, often called Liz or Lizzie, was born in March 1846, in Tennessee, United States.[8][b] She was the first-born child of Dolly Johnson, and her father was likely white.[5] She reported that her father and mother had been natives of Tennessee.[9][8] She was never taught reading or writing skills and was illiterate.[8] The only record of her childhood is mention in a letter that Andrew Johnson had bought her and her sister Florence a "little chair" in 1854.[10] The authors of the Andrew Johnson Biographical Companion (2001) argued that there were "no rumors of involvement of members of the Johnson family" in fathering Liz and Florence.[11] However, echoing David Warren Bowen in Andrew Johnson and the Negro, they also stated that Liz and Florence "were treated somewhat as pets by the Johnson family."[11] Elizabeth, like the rest of Andrew Johnson's personal slaves, is said to have been emancipated by him on August 8, 1863, when she would have been in her late teens.[12] In 1864 and 1865, when Andrew Johnson was military governor of Tennessee, he "claimed pay toward wages, rations, and clothing for three servants: Henry, Florence, and Elizabeth (Liz)."[2]

The first legal marriage, in Greene County, Tennessee, of two people who were likely former slaves appears to have been on June 29, 1865, when the county marriage ledger self-consciously records the wedding of "Samus Taylor of color to Polly McConister person of color".[13] On Wednesday, September 5, 1866, Elizabeth Johnson married George W. Forby in Greene County, Tennessee.[13] They were approximately the 18th black couple ever legally married in the county, although for whatever reason Liz's entry in the marriage book was not tagged "freedmen" or "people of color".[13] Lizzie Johnson was probably between 20 and 22 years old at the time of her wedding. George W. Forby was about 22, having been born in the first half of the 1840s in Greeneville, Tennessee, to George and Rebecca Forbey.[14] According to the U.S. National Park Service, which operates the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, George Forby had formerly been enslaved by "Dr. John Shields of Timber Ridge".[15] Elizabeth and George had at least nine children over the next 22 years: Tillman, Lillie, Mary Belle, Charles C., Bessie, Nellie, George, Samuel Johnson, and Dollie.[9][8] In 1870 and 1880, according to U.S. census records, the Forbys lived in Greeneville; George Forby worked as a farmer.[9] Circa 1875, Lizzie and some of her children were living on Mary Johnson Stover's farm in Carter County.[11] This fact may be known because "in the last letter ever written by the former president, he mentions two formerly-enslaved individuals—William and Liz. To his daughter, Mary, he describes his upcoming trip to visit, stating 'William is very anxious to come and perhaps I may bring him as he is...desirous to see Liz and the children.'"[2]

George Forby and Elizabeth Johnson in the Greene County marriage book

Tillman Forby, Lizzie's oldest child, and one Mary Forbey lived with Andrew Johnson's granddaughter Lillie Johnson Stover Maloney and Thomas Maloney as domestic servants in 1880.[16] As she was dying from tuberculosis in 1883, Andrew Johnson's daughter Mary Johnson Stover prepared a will and bequeathed her assets to selected heirs. The balance of the estate went to her two married daughters but she also left some real estate, four acres[11] of land in Greeneville, to Elizabeth Johnson Forby.[17]

Tenth, to Lizzie Forbey, wife of Geo. Forbey, I give and devise for during her natural life only and after her death to her children [?] all my undivided interest whatever it may be in a certain tract of land lying and being in Greene Co. Tennessee known as the Johnson woodland tract a portion of which was sold to Samuel Johnson [?] by the heirs of my father and being apart of the same land on which he now lives.

Excerpt from Stover's 1883 will

Around 1890, the Forby family moved from Greeneville (population 1,779) to Knoxville (population 22,535). George W. Forby and some of the children appear in the city directories of Knoxville for the next 40 years, give or take. George W. Forby (or possibly his son George Forby) is recorded in the directories of 1891 (occupation, porter, W. L. Warwick); 1894, residing 714 Temperance (occupation, teamster); 1895, residing 713 Mabry (occupation, coachman); 1897, residing 1004 Brigham (occupation, coachman for Miss M C White); 1898, residing 1004 Brigham; 1900, residing 1004 Brigham (occupation, teamster); 1901 (occupation, coachman); 1903; 1904 (occupation, coachman, Thomas Rodgers); 1906; 1915; and 1927.[18]

Elizabeth J. Forby died in Knoxville, Tennessee on Tuesday, October 3, 1905, at 11 p.m. She was said to be 55 years old, and she had been living in Brigham Street. The cause of death was a "lingering illness of several months".[19][20][1] She was buried on Friday, October 6 at Freedmen's Mission Historic Cemetery.[1] One of the two newspaper notices of her death called her an "estimable colored woman," and listed her surname as Ford.[20][1]

George and Liz had been married for almost 40 years when she died. George Forby lived with his children Mary Belle and Sam, and his son-in-law Dabney Wilson, in St. Louis, Missouri in 1920. George W. Forby died at the age of 86, in Roanoke, Virginia, on April 13, 1927.[14] The informant on his death certificate was Liz and George's daughter Lillie Francis, a resident of Roanoke.[14] His body was returned to Knoxville for burial.[14]

Descendants

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ANDREW JOHNSON FORBY: In his (in)famous Moses speech Andrew Johnson promised to lead the African-American people of Tennessee out of bondage;[21] his contribution to the emancipation of Tennessee's enslaved no doubt inspired one of George Forby's kin in Greene County to name their child after the military governor
By coincidence, the December 1889 marriage records of Andrew Johnson's grandson Andrew J. Patterson and Dolly Johnson's granddaughter Lillie Forbey appear on the same page of the marriage record ledger of Jonesboro, Tennessee
  • Tillman Forby, born ~1867 — seemingly disappears after 1880[9][16]
  • Lillie Forby, born ~1869 — she married a man named John T. Francis and moved to Roanoke, Virginia; they had at least one child;[22][14] when Liz's brother William Andrew Johnson visited FDR at the White House in 1937, he hoped to stop in Roanoke, Virginia, on the return trip, to see a cousin[23]
  • Mary Belle Forby, born ~1870 — married more than once; lived with her father George, her brother Sam, and her husband Dabney Wilson in St. Louis in 1920[24]
  • Charles C. Forbey (October 9, 1873–1965) — Charles used the spelling Forbey; he married Esther Kent[25] and had several children, and died in Missouri at the age 92.[26]
  • Bessie Forby, born ~1879 — Bessie is last known to be living with Belle in St. Louis in 1910; both sisters are single and working as servants for a "private family"[27]
  • Nellie Forby (February 4, ~1882 — 1982?) Nellie married Robert Davis,[28] they had a stillborn son in 1922 who was buried at the Colored College Cemetery;[29] another son was Robert Trigg Davis[30]
  • George Forby, born ~1883 — George Forby and Delia Hodge were licensed to wed in 1900,[31] they were in court against each other in Knoxville in 1909,[32] and they received a divorce decree from the court 1910;[33] his whereabouts after that are unknown
  • Samuel Johnson Forby (May 3, 1886 – February 14, 1945) — was a private in the 40th Company, 158th DB from 1918 to 1919;[34] married Opal Lee in Sioux City, Iowa in 1925;[35] they apparently divorced, he worked for a railroad and died in Proviso Township near Chicago, Illinois at age 58[36]
  • Dollie Forby, born ~1888 — her whereabouts after 1900 are unknown

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The name is spelled Forby or Forbey across various records; this article uses Forby since that is the spelling that appears on her grave marker.
  2. ^ Calculating a birth year based on her reported age at various times yields birth years ranging from 1844 to 1850.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Mrs. Elizabeth Ford". Knoxville Journal and Tribune. October 5, 1905. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-07-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c Fling, Sarah (2021). "The Formerly Enslaved Households of President Andrew Johnson". WHHA (en-US). Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  3. ^ Boren, Rance A. (September 2022). "A case of neglect". Cortex. 154: 254–258. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2022.06.003. ISSN 0010-9452. PMID 35810499. S2CID 249650951.
  4. ^ Wineapple, Brenda (2020). The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation. Random House Publishing Group. p. 52. ISBN 9780812987911 – via Libby.
  5. ^ a b Gordon-Reed, Annette (2011). Andrew Johnson. The American Presidents Series. New York: Times Books/Henry Holt. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-0-8050-6948-8. LCCN 2010032595. OCLC 154806758.
  6. ^ Holland, Jesse J. (2016). The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press. pp. 193–201. ISBN 978-1-4930-0846-9. LCCN 2015034010. OCLC 926105956.
  7. ^ Bowen, David Warren (2005) [1976, 1989]. "Chapter 3: The Defender of Slavery". Andrew Johnson and the Negro. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-0-87049-584-7. LCCN 88009668. OCLC 17764213. Originally published as a thesis: ProQuest 7710753.
  8. ^ a b c d "Lucy E Forby in entry for Geo Forby, 1900", United States Census, 1900 – via FamilySearch
  9. ^ a b c d "Lizzie Forbey in household of George Forbey, Greeneville, Greene, Tennessee, United States", United States Census, 1880 – via FamilySearch
  10. ^ Johnson, Andrew (1967). The Papers of Andrew Johnson: 1852-1857. Univ. of Tennessee Press. pp. 231–232. ISBN 978-0-87049-098-9.
  11. ^ a b c d Schroeder-Lein, Glenna R.; Zuczek, Richard (2001). Andrew Johnson: a biographical companion. ABC-CLIO biographical companions. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 270. ISBN 978-1-57607-030-7.
  12. ^ Brown, Fred (August 10, 2003). "Significance of this date recorded mainly in hearts; Researchers seek more". Local section, Appalachian Journal column. The Knoxville News-Sentinel. p. B1. Page image 22. Retrieved 2023-06-24 – via Newspapers.com. & "Journal, from B1". August 10, 2003. p. B2.
  13. ^ a b c "Forby–Johnson", Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, image 175 of 798 – via FamilySearch
  14. ^ a b c d e "Elizabeth Forbey in entry for George Forbey, 13 Apr 1927", Virginia, Death Certificates, 1912-1987 – via FamilySearch
  15. ^ "Dolly's Children". Andrew Johnson National Historic Site.
  16. ^ a b "Lillie S. Maloney in household of Thomas Maloney, Greeneville, Greene, Tennessee, United States", United States Census, 1880 – via FamilySearch
  17. ^ "Mary J Stover in the Tennessee, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008", Wills, V. 1-2, 1838-1915, Tennessee County Court (Sullivan County); Probate Place: Sullivan, Tennessee, Page images 226–231 of 774 – via Ancestry.com, Tenth, to Lizzie Forbey, wife of Geo. Forbey, I give and devise for during her natural life only and after her death to her children [?] all my undivided interest whatever it may be in a certain tract of land lying and being in Greene Co. Tennessee known as the Johnson woodland tract a portion of which was sold to Samuel Johnson [?] by the heirs of my father and being apart of the same land on which he now lives.
  18. ^ "Knoxville, Tennessee, City Directories", U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, 2011 – via Ancestry.com
  19. ^ "Elizabeth J. Farley, 1905", Tennessee Deaths and Burials, 1874-1955 – via FamilySearch
  20. ^ a b "Elizabeth Forby". Knoxville Journal and Tribune. October 6, 1905. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Reynolds, David S. "He Was No Moses". New York Review of Books. ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  22. ^ "J T Francis and Lillie Farbey (Unknown), 23 Dec 1889; citing p. 368, Washington, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee", Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002 – via FamilySearch
  23. ^ "Slave of President Johnson spends an hour in White House". Evening Star. February 17, 1937. p. 21. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  24. ^ "Mary Bell Wilson in entry for Dabney Wilson, 1920", United States Census, 1920 – via FamilySearch
  25. ^ "Chas Forby and Esther Kent, 27 Jan 1899; citing Knox, Tennessee, United States, Marriage, p. 55, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville", Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950 – via FamilySearch
  26. ^ "Charles Forbey, Jan 1965; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File", United States Social Security Death Index – via FamilySearch
  27. ^ "Bessie Forby in household of Belle Forby, St Louis Ward 19, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 296, sheet 8A, family 151", United States Census, 1910 – via FamilySearch
  28. ^ "Nellie Forby Davis", United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 – via FamilySearch
  29. ^ Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958, 1922, Roll Number: 142, FHL Film Number: 1299746 – via Ancestry, George Davis, 17 Apr 1922: Knoxville, Knox, Tennessee, buried Colored College, father Robert Davis, mother Nellie Farley
  30. ^ "Nellie Forby Davis in SSDI", U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 – via Ancestry.com
  31. ^ "Licensed to Wed". Knoxville Sentinel. August 11, 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  32. ^ "Delia Forby v George Forby". Knoxville Sentinel. June 9, 1909. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  33. ^ "In Circuit Court". The Journal and Tribune. December 13, 1910. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  34. ^ "Samuel Johnson Forby, 15 Mar 1919; citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication 76193916", United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940 – via FamilySearch
  35. ^ "Samuel J Forby and Opal Lee, 18 Aug 1925, Woodbury, Iowa, United States", Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934, FHL microfilm 1,451,908 – via FamilySearch
  36. ^ "Samuel Johnson Forby, 14 Feb 1945; citing Proviso, Cook, Illinois, United States", Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871-1998 – via FamilySearch
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