1889 Essex Co. (NJ) probate application for the will of Sarah L. Johnson, late of Newark (sworn 5 Jul 1889; executor Ira M. Harrison) — names her next-of-kin/heirs at law as nine nephews & nieces. She died single/childless ⇒ corroborates [p.1639] (Nathaniel Johnson's spinster daughter). Does NOT name her parents.

Transcription and notes

Standard printed Essex Co. surrogate form ("To the Surrogate of the County of Essex"), filled in by hand. Page 259 of the register (page 258 = a separate Hiram F. Dodd of Livingston application, unrelated).

Data from the document [verbatim]

• Executor/applicant named in the last will & testament of "Sarah L. Johnson": Ira M. Harrison.
• Decedent: "Sarah L. Johnson, late of the City of Newark, in the County of Essex, and State of New Jersey, deceased."
• "the next of kin and heirs at law of the said Sarah L. Johnson … are as follows" — bracketed collectively as "nephews & nieces":

• Sworn: "July 5, 1889", Essex County ss.; Ira M. Harrison "being duly sworn on his oath, says that the statements in the foregoing application for probate of Will made are true." Before Chas. [F.] Kinmon [?], M.C.C. of N.J.

(The surname "Hejbie" is written idiosyncratically; Higbie is the likely standardized form — a common Newark-area name — but recorded here as written per the verbatim rule.)

Why it matters

1. Sarah L. Johnson died SINGLE and CHILDLESS. Her heirs at law are exclusively collateral (nephews & nieces) — no spouse, no children. This is fully consistent with the [D.495] 1850 census ("Sarah L., 41, unmarried, at home") and her Find A Grave ("died aged 80 years, single," memorial 154181694, d. 11 Jun 1889 Newark, bur. Mount Pleasant Cemetery). The three records agree: a lifelong Newark-area spinster, d. 1889 aged ~80 (b. ~1809).
2. It does NOT name her parents. The application reaches one generation down (heirs = her siblings' children), not up. So it neither confirms nor refutes the [p.1639] attribution that she is Nathaniel Johnson's daughter by his 1st wife Rhoda Meeker (which rests on surname + the ~1809 birth predating Nathaniel's 1818 marriage to Nancy Crane [p.861], per [C.70]). It is consistent: a large Johnson-surnamed nephew/niece network implies several Johnson brothers, matching a Johnson-family origin.
3. The nephew/niece list is a lead, not a conclusion. The Johnson-surnamed heirs (Nathaniel, James, Thomas, Walter T., Florence M.) are children of Sarah's brothers; the married-surname heirs (Mary C. Deshler, Emma Godfrey, Mary T. Hejbie/Higbie) are married nieces. ** Cooper relevance is uncertain and probably nil: if Sarah is Rhoda Meeker's daughter, her full siblings (and thus most of these nieces/nephews) are NOT Cooper descendants. Only nephews/nieces descending from her half-sister Hannah B. Johnson [p.945] (Nancy Crane's daughter, a Cooper descendant) would carry Cooper ancestry — and the document gives no way to sort which heir descends from which sibling. Not worth chasing unless a Cooper tie surfaces independently. - Null check (2026-07-19): the nephew "Nathaniel Johnson — Colorado" was tested against the 1900 US census (33 Nathaniel/Nathan Johnsons in CO). The geographically tempting hit — Nathan Johnson, head, Altona, Boulder Co., b. Aug 1857 Iowa, wife Florilla — was excluded: his 1900 record gives both parents born in Germany**, incompatible with our NJ-born Newark Johnson family (Nathaniel Sr. b. 1779 Newark, son of Jotham). A namesake, not kin. No other CO hit is identifiable without a birth year or a father's name, so this nephew is left un-traced.

Cross-references

• p.1639 Sarah L. Johnson (the decedent) · D.495 1850 Clinton census · C.70 Nathaniel Johnson × Nancy Crane 1818
• Find A Grave report: Death/Find-a-Grave/Sarah L. Johnson (1809-1889) [154181694].md