A Memorable Friend

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Volunteers Helen Johnson (right foreground) and Sandra Kelly (left.)

Helen Oxley Johnson was a treasured friend of the Tennessee Room and a charter member of the Mid-West Tennessee Genealogy Society.  She loved working with genealogical records, as well as preserving information from cemeteries.  As a member of the MWTGS, she and her husband Floyd "read" and recorded the gravestones of numerous Madison County cemeteries in the project that resulted in the widely-used reference Cemetery Records of Madison County, Tennessee, Vol. I & II, as published by the Society.

         Helen also volunteered in the Tennessee Room to work on special projects like indexing the Smith Funeral Home Records, proofreading parts of the Jackson Sun obituary index, and covering the Tennessee Room during staff lunch breaks.  Helen contributed her seasoned knowledge of genealogical research techniques and a unique understanding of local records which came from having worked with then as a volunteer, both in the court house and in the Madison County Archives. She donated a set of Lambuth College yearbooks that had belonged to her father and some World War II information she acquired through her husband Floyd.  Helen also supported the Tennessee Room with monetary donations.

         Her lifelong interest in genealogy resulted in documentation to join the Mayflower Society, the Jamestowne Society, National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the National Society Daughters of 1812.

         Working with Helen in the Tennessee Room always meant an interesting day.  She interjected a sparkling sense of humor, an infectious curiosity for finding the answer to a genealogy puzzle, and a ready willingness to assist patrons with their genealogy research.

The Tennessee Room is grateful to accept a new book given by the Mid-West Tennessee Genealogy Association in memory of Helen Johnson.  This book has over 700 pages of well-organized geographical summaries and biographical sketches of early James River area families.