Henry "Cooney" Johnson

Henry Johnson (March 4, 1863 - October 3, 1956)"Henry "Cooney" Johnson." Findagrave.com. 23 April 2012. Web. Accessed 24 February 2015., commonly called "Cooney", was an African-American man who lived along the Caney Fork and in the Baxter area. A 1952 article in the Tennessean newspaper referred to him as Putnam County's last living former slave at that time, but family friend Chuck Johnson disputes this characterization, saying that Cooney and his grandfather, who grew up together, were never slaves.Trotter, Megan. "Remembering 'Cooney' Johnson." Herald-citizen.com. 20 February 2015. Web. Accessed 24 February 2015.
==Early life and family==
Johnson was born in Putnam County March 4, 1863, during the Civil War, to parents who had both been slaves. His father disappeared during the strife, so he was left in the care of his mother, Mary "Mollie" Johnson, who elected to remain living on the farm of her former master, William Carol Johnson.
When Johnson reached adulthood, he moved into a house on the banks of the Caney Fork. He never married, but sometime during World War I, he met a girl named Sally. Despite having a job that paid sixty cents a day ("good money", in his estimation), he could not work up the courage to broach the subject of romance with the girl. Instead, he used his money to buy a team of mules. He later sold the mules, and deposited the proceeds in a Smithville bank, which failed during the Depression, eliminating his savings.
“If I had knowed then what I know now I’d have married Sally,” he reminisced years later.
==Relocation==
Around 1947, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the construction of Center Hill Dam, which was going to flood Johnson's homeplace along the Caney Fork. Some family friends who visited him at this time noted that he had only one can of beans in the house for food, and a truck was sent to relocate him and his meager belongings to Baxter.
==Death==
Johnson lived to his nineties, but the end of his life was plagued by poor health. He lived with his old friend, the grandfather of Chuck Johnson. In September of 1956, his health forced him to be placed in Murfreesboro's Brown's Convalescent Home, where he lived for three weeks until he died of heart disease on October 3. He was buried at Baker Cemetery near Smithville, next to his mother, who passed away in 1919 at the age of 100.
He was remembered as "a kind man who was always courteous and had plenty of tales to tell."
==References==
Category:Baxter people
Category:Baker Cemetery