# 37 Family Tradition - “Bring No Girl in Here Pregnant”

Let’s Do Genealogy:

# 37 Family Tradition
“Bring No Girl in Here Pregnant”
by
Vernon M. Herron, D. Min.


Family tradition is a genealogical tool and a clue as you begin the search for genealogical information in your home. It is defined as those stories handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation within a family. Within the context of genealogy, recounted events and relationship in an oral tradition cannot be considered genealogical data and at best clues for further research.

Researching Alexander E. Johnson (c1857-1917) and Family of Orangeburg, South Carolina reveals an interesting family tradition which is moral and economic in nature. Family tradition contends that approximately five years after emancipation (c1869), John Fogel conveyed to his former enslaved, J. Washington Johnson and his wife Nancy, land which was later subdivided among their six sons Benjamin, Henry, Lawyer, William, David and Alexander. The legend/folklore/tradition continues that when each of J. Washington Johnson’s sons married, an acre of land was provided to that son, then all family members would assist in the building of a log cabin home for the couple in question. This cooperative enterprise activated father Washington’s teachings to his sons: “Bring no girl in here pregnant” and “Bring no girl into this family unless you are properly prepared for her in every way.”

Family tradition summarizes the father’s teachings into three points: (1) when one marries, a home must be provided for the bride. (2) own something (economic) and (3) be somebody. According to the late Fred S. A. Johnson, this tradition has been recounted for five generations and has had a telling effect. Family members in all generations have revealed the moral, social, educational, economical and spiritual influence of the said tradition. From 1896 to 1993 the descendants of J. Washington Johnson have acquired land and a corporate portfolio with an accumulative total well over three-quarters of a million dollars.
(And I know, that’s right).

Research neither confirms nor determines the means by which J. Washington Johnson acquired land. No public records were found to indicate an outright purchase or as a gift. The land records of Alexander E. Johnson and his nephew Julius of Cope, SC in 1896 support the tradition that J. Washington Johnson probably did live in the same geographical location of several Fogel families in antebellum Orangeburg District.

While the means of land acquisition may remain an uncertainty, the fact that J. Washington Johnson was in charge of enough land to share with his sons remains in evidence. Further research is needed to verify the tradition. Until that is done, we only have genealogical clues but no genealogical data even though the tradition is unique and worthy to be imitated in this day of alternate life style.


This article concludes the series on “Let’s Do Genealogy.” Another subject next time.