Robert Bruce Johnson

   Cause of his death was Cardiac Arrest.

  General Notes:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaschs/cemetery/southampton/pscanx2.pdf
Poplar Springs Cemetery - New Annex - City of Franklin
Beamon Street and High Street across form the Scout Shack
Plot107
ROBERT BRUCE JOHNSON
06-30-1911 - 08-11-1977
S/O JOHN R.L. AND SUSAN RAWLS JOHNSON
S-MOTHER'S OBIT

  Research Notes:

In 1972 Robert Bruce Johnson of Richmond, VA had the Robert and Dianna Rawls Family Bible which he lent to Ethel Daughtrey Ellis so that she could make copies of these vital family records. These copies were taken to the Library of Virginia where they were duplicated and placed on file with the Collection of Virgnia Bible Records. Xerox copies of family photos (tintypes) as well as birth, marriage, and death records were in the genealogy papers of Ethel Daughtrey Ellis given to me after Aunt Ethel's death. This researcher tried to trace this Robert Bruce Johnson and/or his decendents and collateral lines based on his Richmond, VA address but had little success. Through internet contact and correspondence, a connection was made with Nita Rawls Watterson, a Rawls Family Researcher living in Virginia Beach. After sharing family facts and questioning Nita about Robert Bruce Johnson, Nita indicated that she had just attended the funeral of his brother. Nita indicated she had heard of the bible but did not know of it's whererabouts and became determined to "track it down". An email from Nita Rawls Watterson indicated the bible was in the possession of the family of the brother of Robert Bruce Johnson as of 2003.
A February 2005 email from Nita: "Well, I finally have had some luck with the [Robert] Rawls Family Bible. John Lee Johnson's son has it in Charlotte, N C, however, his wife scanned the whole Bible and she is sending it to me on three discs. She said she would also make me prints because they have just bought an expensive scanner and printer. I will see what I can do with my printer. I will let you know how it turns out."

The images had been scanned as linked TIFF files and could not be readily opened. Nita send this researcher the CDs and I was able to open and save them individually. I then burned them to a CD and sent usable copies to Nita. I have since been in touch with the Library of Virginia Archives about updating the Robert Rawls Family Bible images ...

The following is some of the corresponce with the Library of Virginia:

Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:48:48 -0400
From: Renee Savits <RSavits@lva.lib.va.us>
Subject: Rawls family
To: lhagen@vt.edu
Thread-topic: Rawls family

Bo,
Thank you for sending the images and for your reply. I did check with some fellow archivists who have been here longer than I and they said that the genealogical notes have never been available online. The only way for someone to get copies of genealogical notes is to either write and request them or visit the library. We would be interested in obtaining copies of the Robert Rawls Family Bible if you could email them to me. Although they are similar to the Rawls family Bible (27982), they seem to be much better copies so possibly we could replace the scanned images we have with those other images. Please do forward those images on.
I hope to hear from you soon. If you have any more questions, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Renee


To: Renee Savits <RSavits@lva.lib.va.us>
From: "L. Bolling Hagen" <lhagen@pop.vt.edu>
Subject: Robert Rawls Family Bible
Date: Oct 19, 2005
Renee,
Thank you for your assistance with my questions regarding the Robert Rawls Family Bible that is archived at VSL.
I will attach the remaining digital images of the bible to this and other emails to follow. There are 14 images in all, of which I have already sent 5. They are:
MarriageCertificateSm.jpg;
FrontCoverSm.jpg;
CoverPageInsideSm.jpg;
MainBirthsPageSm.jpg;
PortraitsChristineDiannaJosephineBettieSm.jpg;

I will attach the other and send. I do want to let you know the background of this acquisition...
My great Aunt Emily Christine Daughtrey (1879-1976, of Nansemond Co., Va.) was the "keeper" of much of her family history. My Aunt Ethel Daughtrey Ellis had been very interested in working with Emily. In 1970, Ethel made Xerox copies of the Robert Rawls Family Bible (Robert Rawls sister, Julia Anna Rawls Daughtrey, was Emily's mother) and many other notes. Ethel and Emily took these pages to the Virginia State Library where they were notarized and cataloged. I have those original copies in my possession. In 1970, the actual bible was in the possession of Robert Bruce Johnson of Richmond, VA., grandson of Robert and Dianna Rawls.
With the passing of my mother, Inez Daughtrey Hagen (sister of Ethel), I inherited many of the family papers, including the 1970 efforts of Emily and Ethel. I cataloged, organized, documented, expanded, and published this work. Through these efforts a cousin, Nita Rawls Watterson of Virginia Beach, VA., I was able to connect and discuss our parallel work. A discussion followed where the name Robert Bruce Johnson came up and Nita related that she had just attended the funeral of his brother, John Rochelle Lee Johnson, Jr. Nita then followed the family trail until she found the bible in the hands of the wife of John Rochelle Lee Johnson, III in Charlotte, NC. That all happened in Feb 2005 and that brings us to here! It would be nice if you could reference Emily Christine Daughtrey and Ethel Daughtrey Ellis as the individuals who got this whole thing started. Also, Nita was instrumental in securing the digital images. I was able to edit these images and hopefully get them to you. I do have images that are of excellent resolution (too large to send via email) but I will send you these modified jpeg images attached. Let me know if they are NOT of sufficient quality for your archives. I can burn the higher resolution images to a CD and send but the ones I am attaching appear to be adequate. Anyway, I will attach the following to this email:

AdditionalDatesDeathsPageSm.jpg
EdgeOfCoverSm.jpg

Others to come...

Thank you for your interest. You are doing a great job of making these treasured objects available to all.

Bo

  Medical Notes:

Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014
Name: Robert Bruce Johnson (never married)
Residence: 2312 Lafayette Avenue, Richmond, VA
Occupation: retired School Teacher - Henrico Co. Schools
Gender: Male
Race: White
Age at Death: 66
Birth Date: 30 Jun 1911 in Franklin, VA
Death Date: 11 Aug 1977
Death Place: Medical College of Virginia Hospital, Richmond, Virginia
Burial: Poplar Spring Cemetery, Franklin, VA
Registration Date: 12 Aug 1977
Father: John R L Johnson
Mother: Susie Rawls
Military Status: WWII AAF
Informant: Mrs. Len Johnson - Niece-in-law [probably Lee Johnson]