Biography of General Joseph Burton Johnson --Taken from text written by Mrs. Ruth V. Hunter, Great Granddaughter of the General Joseph Burton Johnson was born in Clinch County, Georgia on April 7, 1816. His family later moved to Leon county, Territory of Florida, where he met his wife Patience Ponder, born May 16, 1821. Miss Ponder was also from Leon County. The general served in the Indian Wars in both Georgia and Florida. He was appointed Captain by the Governor of Florida on March 2, 1837, and promoted to Major on August 25, 1846. Major and Mrs. Johnson moved to Texas in 1848, living in Tyler County, and near Bryan, before moving to Freestone County in late 1854. He immediately began work on a large plantation style home built from native stone quarried on his land. Eventually finished in 1860, the large, square, two storied home took one hundred slave artisans a year to complete. The home was the centerpiece of a plantation that encompassed over 10,500 acres, and was the setting for many social and political activities including a great ball for departing Confederate soldiers from the area. Known as the "Old Rock House", it stood on that location until 1928 when it was torn down. Many of the original stones from the home were used in projects within the city of Fairfield, including the stone wall surrounding the old High School football field. Little evidence remains from the home today except for the cistern which is still in fairly good condition, and the excavation which was once the home's cellar. With the outbreak of the War Between the States, Major Johnson was commissioned Colonel on November 2, 1861, of the 1st Regiment, 19th Brigade, Texas State Troops. For a short time he also commanded the 4th regiment Texas State Cavalry, which was stationed north of Dallas, and also near the area of Fort Stockton. His commission, signed by Governor Lubbock of Texas, shortly preceeded a second, to the rank of Brigadier General, on August 1, 1863. With that promotion, he was given command of the 19th Brigade, Texas State Troops, which included men from Freestone, Limestone, Ellis, and Navarro Counties. That command served along the Texas gulf coast near Galveston for the duration of the war. General Johnson was also a Royal Arch Mason, and many stories are told of his long trips by horseback and ferry to Nacogdoches in execution of the duties of that esteemed office. He was also first Master of the Texas State Grange, a farm organization to promote agricultural education, and cooperative buying of farm supplies, and the selling of farm products. He donated land for the first Grange Hall, which still stands near the home site just off Interstate 45 north of Fairfield. General Johnson also donated land to be used as a negro cemetery, which is still in operation today. General and Mrs. Johnson had 6 children, 2 of which died either in infancy or as young adults, but descendants of only one remain in Fairfield. His wife Patience died on November 18, 1870, and his eldest son in 1874. Shortly before his death, General Johnson (referred to as "The Colonel" by friends and family) disolved a partnership, and hid the gold coins of profit in a fireplace in the cellar. His children were playing in the cellar one day, and accidently found the coins prompting the General to see the need to re-hide them. He was seen to go over the hill with a huge black washpot containing the coins, and return sometime later with the pot empty. A few days later , he suffered a stroke, and on his death bed, kept trying to tell the children something , but they could not understand him. They supposed he was trying to tell them the location of the coins. In the years following his death, many fortune hunters came to the property to dig, which probably explains why the house was in such delapidated condition by the 1920's. Reports state that at least part of the coins were found in 1942, though this report is not confirmed. General Joseph Burton Johnson died on January 18, 1874, and was buried alongside his wife and son Joe Jr. in a small family plot about fifty yards from the home. His last spoken wish was that he and his wife and son be reburied in the Fairfield City Cemetery. In the summer of 2000, General Johnson's Great Granddaughter, Mrs. Ruth Hunter, approached the Johnson-Sayers-Nettles Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, with a request for their help in carrying out her ancestor's last wish. Camp commander John Carr, and the General's namesake camp's members, immediately accepted the responsibility, and began planning what will be the premier event for the SCV in the year 2001. By fall of 2000, the camp had begun removal of the undergrowth at the cemetery plot, and asked for the assistance of the 12th Texas Infantry in following military protocol for exhumation and re-burial of the General and his family. On December 9, 2000, final preparations were completed for the removal of the remains. The original tombstones are being refurbished, and the ornate iron fence surrounding the plot will be repaired, painted and re-set around the new grave site. A tentative date of October 2001, is set for the funeral services, and General Johnson will finally be granted his last request.