Jesse and Martha J. Johnson House

2011

(The information below in italics is from the Historic Preservation Society of Durham Plaque Application for the Jesse and Martha J. Johnson House)

The Durham County Landowners of 1886 shows the Geer family owning large amounts of land. The family name Massey is listed as well. Although the L. S. Massey referenced in the deed and discussed below would have been only 5yr. at the time, there is a L. S. Massey listed owning 30 acres.

The Geer family has roots in the area of the Piedmont dating back to at least 1758, when John Geer was living in then-Rutherford County. A son, Frederick C. Geer (c 1755-c 1840) was living in then-Orange County by the early 19th century; he willed property and enslaved people to Jesse B. Geer and another Frederick C. Geer (1823-1919.) These latter two appear to have had farmhouses northeast of Durham along the Roxboro Road by the 1860s. It is this latter Fred Geer that appears to have owned the farmhouse in question, and Jesse Geer was likely his father. See http://www.opendurham.org/buildings/frederick-c-geer-farmhouse-326-east-trinity-avenue F. C. Geer sold some land to Jesse and Martha Johnson, 1121 N. Roxboro in 1889.

1897 records list Jesse Johnson as having owned a saloon. 1902 Sanborn map shows his saloon on S. Church. 1902-04 Hill directory listed the saloon at 107-109 S. Church St. (which no longer exits) and his home at 1121 N. Roxboro. As the Hill directory in 1903-04 has no further mention of a saloon, one could assume that the early efforts of prohibition forced Jesse to close the saloon. In 1905-06 the directory references a grocery store. Opendurham.org writes that his store was located at 1125 N. Roxboro St. This would have been very close to his own residence. That building continued to be home to numerous grocers over the years. See 
http://www.opendurham.org/buildings/1121-n-roxboro-st. There is also a grocer indicated early on next to the saloon. 

The map in 1907 no longer has the building that the saloon was in. The City Hall stands next to an empty space. The Sanborn maps of 1913 indicates where the residence of Jesse and Martha was, 1121 N. Roxboro, p.55.

Before he married, Jesse Johnson is listed at 1870 Pittsboro Rd, north side. On Nov. 12, 1874 he married Martha Jane Flinton. They were Married 38 years and the 1900 census shows 3 children, Albert 20, Oliver 28, Vida 6. However, the ages may not be correct as Oliver is shown to have been 31 when he passed away in 1923. 

Jesse Johnson was born 25 Oct. 1853 in Chatham County and died Nov. 25, 1912 in Durham. His mother was Martha Wright born in 1832. His father was Samuel Johnson born in 1825. He had an older brother Edward, born Oct. 6, 1851 and died Dec. 13, 1935.  After Jesse's death in 1912, son Oliver and daughter Vida lived with their mother Martha for a while at 1205 N. Roxboro.  In 1923, son Oliver died from pulmonary issues. He was 31. See NC death records. Martha continued to live at 1205 Roxboro while she kept the 1121 house and most likely rented it out. She sold the house to L. S. Massey in 1933, shortly before her death in 1935. It appears that L.S. Massey never lived at 1121 N. Roxboro after he purchased it in 1933. 

Reverend Lucius Saunders Massey purchased the 1121 Roxboro home in 1933. It appears he had the home renovated shortly after purchasing, adding the second story and converting the structure into a quad apartment structure. 
 

Rev L. S. Massey graduated from Trinity College in 1891 as he is listed in the Trinity College annual catalogue 1890-1891 and Duke University Register 1936. The Duke University Register 1936 states "Lucius S Massey has retired from the native ministry and lives at his home, Route 7, Durham. He joined the N. C. Conference of the M. E. Church South in 1891 and held many important pastorates until 1910 when he became editor of the Raleigh Christian Advocate. The paper was consolidated with the N. C. Christian Advocate in 1919 and he continued as the editor of the combined papers through 1920 when he became president of Louisburg College for one year. Following this year he was pastor at Red Springs and Hartford and then retired. He married Mary Anderson on December 23, 1891." Lucius S Massey was born December 16, 1865 in Orange County, NC. He lived in NC most, if not all of his life and died July 18, 1959 in Durham County. (findagrave.com)

Mary Anderson Massey was born in Franklin County, Virginia, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Anderson abt 1852. Early in her life the family moved to Statesville, N. C. At the age of eighteen she graduated from Mitchell College. From childhood she was always faithful in attendance and work at church. She was organist and Sunday school teacher in Broad Street Methodist Church until December 23, 1891, when she married Rev. Lucius S. Massey. Always shrinking from public notice, Mrs. Massey taught the children. and was active and helpful wherever she was needed in the parish. Twice she was honored with Life Memberships in the Woman's work and she kept up her interest in all of the work of the church as long as she lived. After a lingering illness, she passed away November 23, 1947. (Journal of the North Carolina Annual Conference of the Methodist Church [serial] (Volume 1948) online.) Interestingly, though the original owner of 1121 Roxboro, Jesse Johnson died long before his wife Martha sold the house, he was a saloon owner and L. S. Massey was on the Headquarters Committee of the 1920 Anti-Saloon League. (Anti-Saloon League Year Book 1920). 
 

Prepared by: Michelle R. Brandon 

The house at 1121 N. Roxboro was the "homeplace" of Jesse Johnson and his wife Martha. They purchased the land from FC Geer on September 15, 1899.

Johnson operated a grocery store at 1125 N. Roxboro during the early 20th century. The portion of the house visible in the above picture (the single-room deep, side-gabled portion) is original. On the 1913 Sanborn maps, there is a single story wing and ell which project west off the rear of this portion of the house.

By 1937, this single story wing and ell was replaced by a two-story, hipped-roof addition to the house. It appears that the house was by that time converted to a duplex (left and right, two-story.)

In 1949, the building was further subdivided into 4 apartments, and a 4-car garage was constructed at the rear of the property.

Mid-century CDs:

1939: Philip Friedman
1942; Troy Starnes
1948: Woodrow Mims, Leon Crabtree
1949: No entry
1950: 4 apts. Woodrow Mims, Leon K. Crabtree, Cary W. Fletcher, Charles J. Autry
 1952: 4 apts. (Helen Link, Charles Autry, Leon Crabtree, Vac.)

As of 2014, it is for sale, and has been pretty badly beat up inside. It is big (roughly 3600 sf) and sits on 0.4 acres. By mid-2014 it sold.

As of early 2016, the property has been majorly and impressively renovated and is on the market for $750,000