Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

2854 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANSHe gives close attention to his work, almost his only recreation being an occasional automobile trip to some point of interest, and outside of his personalinterests, he is always ready to bear a hand in any enterprise for the benefitof the community at large, cheerfully answering letters of'inquiry in regardto Conditions for settlement in city or county. He also continues to take akeen interest in good government and is an active member of the democraticparty. For twenty years he served as steward in the Methodist Church, finallyresigning the position on account of ill health.Mr. Henderson was married October 22, 1872, in Covington, Georgia, toMiss Julia Usher, of Newton County, this state, a daughter of Robert 0. andFannie (Colbert) Usher, of Morgan County, Georgia. They have been theparents of four children, namely: Claud, who died at the age of nine months;Florence, wife of Albert Sidney Burney, of Rome, Georgia; Robert Clifford,and Frances. Mrs. Henderson, besides presiding with womanly grace anddignity at the head of her family, is a popular leader in church and socialaffairs.JULIUS CAESAR JOHNSON. It would be difficult to name an essential element in the progress and advancement of Lithonia that does not bear theimpress of the strong individuality of Julius Caesar Johnson, the city's oldestcitizen, eldest merchant, leading financier and prominent factor in civic betterment. He has been a very important factor in the industrial and commercialactivity of the county, and has advanced its moral and educational interests,and his life record is an essential part of the history of Lithonia from the timeof his settlement here after the close of the war between the states.Mr. Johnson was born in Gwinett County, Georgia, July 6, 1843, and is ason of Luke and Arran (Minor) Johnson, the latter being a daughter of Lazarus Minor, a native of North Carolina, and subsequently a prominent planterand farmer of Gwinnett County, where he died before the Civil war. Thepaternal grandfather of Mr. Johnson was Nathan Johnson, also a native ofNorth Carolina, who came to Newton County, Georgia, and became a wealthyand influential planter, as well as a minister of the Baptist Church. Bothfamilies were widely known and highly respected and operated their broadacres with slave labor.Luke Johnson was reared in Newton County, Georgia, and grew up amidagricultural surroundings. When he had attained manhood he removed toGwinett County, where he passed many years as a planter, and in 1855 cameto Dekalb County, where the remainder of his life was spent and where hedied at the age of sixty-five years. He was a man of influence in his community and was highly esteemed because of his attainments, integrity andprobity of character. He was a member of the Masonic order. Mrs. Johnsondied at Lithonia in 1895. She had been the mother of nine children, of whombut two now survive: Dr. John Lexington, of Atlanta; and Julius Caesar, ofthis notice.Julius Caesar Johnson received his education in the public schools ofDekalb County and passed his boyhood and youth on his father's farm, wherehe was working when the outbreak of the war between the states called himto the ranks of the army of the Confederacy. He joined Company C, of Cobb 'sLegion, with which infantry command he served two years, or until seriouslywounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, being shot in the forehead and narrowly escaping death. Always a valiant and faithful soldier, heparticipated in numerous battles and skirmishes, and especially distinguishedhimself in a charge which his company made on a fort at Knoxville. His military service completed, Mr. Johnson returned to the home farm, where heremained while fully recuperating from; his wound. In 1866 he came toLithonia, intent on a business career, although his previous training hadall been along agricultural lines. In a modest way he established himself