Andrew Johnson Blankenship was born November 28, 1828, in Aid, a small coal mining town in Lawrence county, southern Ohio. His parents were Andrew Blankenship, born about 1790 in Ohio and Hannah, last name possible Rankin, also born about 1790 in xxxxx. Andrew and Hannah were married in 1812, in Gallia county, Ohio, which is the next county over from Lawrence, just to the east. Andrew Johnson had at least two siblings, an older brother named James Madison Blankenship, born in 1815, and a sister Ida, born in 1826. Andrew Johnson seems to have gone by his middle name, perhaps to keep from getting him confused with his father. His older brother also seems to have gone by his middle name.

Andrew Johnson Blankenship was married in Lawrence county on June 28, 1849 to a Mary “Polly” Dempsey. Polly was the daughter of Thomas Dempsey and Dicey Lucas. She was born about 1825, in Logan county, Virginia (now part of West Virginia). Polly had an older brother, John, who was born about 1821. When John and Polly were still young, their father most likely died, leaving Dicey a widow. She then married a Samuel P. Vannatter, with whom she had at least 7 children, the first being born in 1833.

Johnson and Polly appear on the 1850 census of Aid twp, Lawrence co, Ohio. Johnson is 22 years old, Polly is 25, and they have a son Alonzo C, who is listed as being a month old. The same census has Johnson’s parents, Andrew, age 60, and Hanna, age 59, as well as his older brother Madison, Madison’s first wife Delila, and their 6 children. His sister Ida had married a Nathan Earwood in 1844, and they had two small children.

The next ten years were busy ones. Johnson and Polly had 5 more children: Lorenzo Dow, born August 9, 1852; Floyd Dempsey, born August 1853; a daughter, born about 1856; James Madison, (no doubt named for his uncle) born 1859, and John B (born before 1860). But something happened that split the family up. By the time of the 1860 census, Polly had moved back to Logan county with her two youngest sons, James Madison and John B, and had moved in with her mother, step-father, and half siblings.

Meanwhile, Johnson, his parents and two of his children, Alonzo age ? and Flora age ?, moved to Clay twp, Gallia county, and at the time of the 1860 census, were living next door to Ida and Nathan Earwood, who by then had 8 children. Lorenzo Dow Blankenship is still living in Aid, Ohio, with a family named Smith, and listed in the census as being 6 years old. Older brother Madison, his second wife Margaret, two of his children form his first marriage and his two children from his second are also living in Aid. There doesn’t seem to be any record of Floyd in either Lawrence county or Gallia county, Ohio, or in Logan county, Virginia. I suspect he was living with another family, and was counted as their child.

Johnson remarried in Gallia county, on February 7, 1863, to a Sarah Jane Fosnot. Sarah Jane’s death certificate lists her father’s name as George and says he was born in Germany. There are a variety of spellings of her last name: Fasnot, Fosnaugh, and Fasnauch being three of them. Johnson and Sarah Jane’s first child, Ida Jane, was born in Lawrence county, on November 1, 1863.

At some point, for some reason, Johnson, his brother Madison, and their father decided to move from southern Ohio to southern Illinois. I wonder if it had anything to do with the Civil War. As the roads during that time were not good, it seems most likely that they took a boat down the Ohio River.

By 1870, Johnson and Sarah Jane were living in the small town of Equality, in Gallatin county, Illinois. Johnson’s four oldest children were living with them; AC, age 19; LD, age 18; FD, age 16 and Hannah, age 14. This seems to be the same child who was named Flora in 1860. Then there are two younger children, Flora, age 3, and Laura, 2 months old. There seems to be no record of Ida Jane, who would have been about 6 years old. But why was the daughter named Flora in 1860 and Hannah in 1870? And then why did Johnson and Sarah Jane name another daughter Flora? Also living with this family is old Andrew. His wife Hannah seems to have died between 1860 and 1870, but if she died in Ohio or in Illinois, and when she died, I have no idea.

About seven miles away in Eldorado, Illinois, lived Madison, with a third wife, Eliza Gilday, whom he married in 1865. None of Madison’s children from his first wife seemed to have moved with him, but his two daughters from his second wife, Mary Esther and Henrietta, are there, along with his two young sons with Eliza, Johnson (probably named for his uncle), age 3, and Charles, age 1. Although Madison and Johnson were living just a short distance apart, Eldorado is in Saline county, so all the county records are in different places.

In 1870, old Andrew Blankenship died, and was buried in the Wesley Chapel Cemetery, a mile or two outside of Eldorado, on the way towards Equality. The next year, he was joined by two of his grandsons, both children of Madison and Eliza: Johnson, age 4, and John W, an infant.

In Logan county, West Virginia, James Madison and John B Blankenship are living with their grandmother and step-grandfather, Dicey and Samuel Vannatter. Their mother, Polly Blankenship, id in the Weston Home for the Insane, in Weston, Lewis county, West Virginia.

In 1880, Johnson, age 57, and Sarah Jane, age 47, were still living in Equality, Illinois with children Laura, age 10; Albert B, age 7, AJ, age 2 and “grandson” Jas. E. Hudgeons, age 4. This little boy is the son of Flora/Hannah, Johnson’s son with Polly Dempsey. His father...... there are three possible men who could have father this boy. They are the only three the right age and in the right area. They also are all first cousins of each other. The contenders include: William Monroe Hudgins, born about 1852, son of John Wesley and Martha Hudgins; James Monroe Hudgins, born about 1851, son of James R and Julia Ann Hudgins; and Columbus M Hudgins, born September 5, 1852, son of Asa Harrison and Mary (Lowe) Hudgins. Personally, I think the most likely is James Monroe (who went by his middle name, Monroe, so as not to confuse him with his father James). He is in the 1880 census in Equality, and his name is also spelled “Hudgeons”. He also was married May 18, 1870 to Nancy Ellen Elder, daughter of Jeremiah and Barbara (Shomate) Elder. Monroe and Nancy had two sons, Ezra Napoleon, born June 10, 1870, and Charles, born January 20, 1873. Nancy died January 26, and Charles 3 days later. Monroe went back to Equality to live with his parents, would have known the Blankenships, and could have fathered a child.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s oldest son Alonzo “Lonse” moved to Saline county, and married a Cynthia Elder on January 6, 1876. The Elder family was one of the founding families of Eldorado. In 1880, “L. Blankenchip”, age 28, his wife “Cintha” age 24, and their children, Mary A, 3 years old and Madison, 11 months. Also living with them is a Mary Shomate, age 73, “grandmother”. Next door to them are living Cynthia’s parents, Jeremiah and Barbara (Shomate) Elder. Yes, Cynthia Elder and Nancy Elder were sisters.

Johnson’s second son, Lorenzo, married Sabia Morton October 14, 1877 in Gallatin county. His brother Floyd had married Sabie’s sister, Sarah Ella Morton June 2, 1871. Sabie and Sarah were the daughters of FA Morton and his wife Mary Whitley, who was born in England.

Lorenzo and Sabie had three sons; Andrew Dow, Edward Harvey and JF. Lorenzo died in 1908, and his wife died March 11, 1934. They are both buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery, as are their sons JF, Edward, and Edward’s wife Bertha.

Floyd and Sarah had children Anna, Maggie, Leonard, Wade W, Charles O, Mary Pearl, Lurlene and Irena. Floyd, Sarah and Wade are all buried at Wolf Creek Cemetery, just north of Eldorado, Illinois.

James Madison and John B Blankenship stayed the rest of their lives in West Virginia, both marrying and raising families. Their mother, Polly, died in the Weston Hospital for the Insane in November 1887.

Johnson and Sarah Jane’s daughter, Laura Belle, married a Samuel Newton Swain and they had eight children: Andrew J, William B, Eva, Lida, Tina, Clara, Minnie and Madeline. Laura and Sam, as well as Lida and Minnie, are all buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery.

What about the “grandson”, James E. Hudgins?

Johnson made a will that was dated November 8, 1897, where he lists a wife, Sarah J; daughter, Laura Belle Swain, and “boys”, AC, LD, FD, JM, John B, AB and JE. Except for JE, the other boys are his sons with Polly Dempsey. Laura Belle and AB seem to be his only surviving children with Sarah Jane.

Andrew Johnson Blankinship died October 16, 1906 in Eldorado, Illinois. When his will was probated, it listed his widow, Sarah J, and these children: AC of Eldorado, JE of 779 Dunlap Ave, Memphis, TN; AB of Obion, TN; LD of Eldorado; JM of Holden, WV; JB of Holden WV; and LB Swain of Eldorado. He also listed these grandchildren (children of FD, who had died in 1901): Maggie Council of Harrisburg, Illinois; WW; CO; MP; Luarline, and Ella.

Albert B. died of TB in 1910 in Tennessee, and was buried in Illinois. But who was the JE? Was it the little boy, Jas. E. Hudgeons, the grandson from the 1880 census?

The 1900 census of Memphis, Shelby county, Tennessee, does list a James E. Blankinship, age 24, living on Dunlap Ave, with wife Clara E and a 4 month old daughter, Laura L. This is the same JE that Johnson mentions in his will and in the probate. Did Johnson and Sarah Jane adopt their grandson? Did they raise him as their own and he decided to take the Blankinship name because of that?

By 1920, James E and Clara E Blankinship are living on Stafford Street in Huntington Park, California, with their four children: Louise L, James E, Jr, Herman E and William. James E died in Huntington Park, California, in 1828. On his death certificate, he has his birth place as Illinois, and his father’s name is “Johnson Blankenship”. Although this was actually his grandfather, this is who filled the role of father in his life.