50.ii.b. – Eva Dent (McCarty) Johnson – Obituary.

Part 1 of 2 – Margaret Ann Swann – Do Over

By Don Taylor

As I began working on my wife’s 4^th great-grandmother, Margaret Ann Swann, I found that many of my sources were corrupt due to a software problem I had many years ago. Because of it I switched software several times and made a mess of my sources. Because of that, I needed to have a “do-over” and clean up many of my sources. I decided to start with-a cousin 3-times removed, Eva Dent McCarty Johnson. She is a good starting point because she appears in a DAR Lineage report, which provides a starting point to fix many of my broken along that line.

DAR Member #455124, Helen (Johnson) Roy’s lineage for her second Generation mentions, “Monument and tombstone, Spring Lake Cemetery, Aurora, Ill.” What a great clue to begin with. My search of Find-a-Grave found photos of Helen’s mother and her mother’s marker. It also includes a copy of her mother’s obituary. Looking at Helen’s mother’s obituary I learned:

MRS. JOHNSON, RESIDENT HERE 91 YEARS, DIES
[8-2-45]

Mrs. Eva McCarty Johnson, 91, of 920 Hardin avenue, last surviving member of the family of her father, Samuel McCarty, founder of Aurora, and one of the city’s best known women, died last night at her home.

Born in Aurora on April 30, 1854, in the old McCarty home which stood on the grounds now occupied by the K. of C. club at Main street and Lincoln avenue, Mrs. Johnson had resided here her entire life. She had long been active in civic and welfare affairs.

Mrs. Johnson was a past president of the Aurora Women’s club and of the Y. W. C. A., and a member of the board of the Old Ladies Home, now Sunnymere for about 40 years. She was a charter member of Minerva Coterie and a worshipper in the First Methodist church since childhood.

In her girlhood days she attended Center school and old Jennings seminary. She was married in 1880 to Hiram Nye Johnson, of Aurora, who preceded her in death in 1910.

She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Robert Roy and Mrs. Ward Downs, and one son, Edwin N. Johnson, all of Aurora, also six grandchildren and to great grandchildren.

Services will be held at the Downs funeral home Saturday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock, the Rev. R. M. Furnish, pastor of the First Methodist church officiating. Internment in Spring Lake cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home.

Eva Dent (McCarty) Johnson (1854-1945) – Photo courtesy Find a Grave.

Besides adding this obituary and the photo of Eva to my sources and linking them to the many facts, I corrected my other sources associated with Eva. My unique numbering system identifies Eva McCarty as person 50-ii-b. (How I get there:)

50.  3^rd Great-Grandfather – David Swayze.
50-ii.    The second child of David – Emily Ann Swayze.
50-ii-b.  The second child of Emily Ann Swayze – Eva Dent McCarty.

Family Search Profile: K4FB-QB3.
Ancestry Public Trees.