Johnson, Otho "Tobe"
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Johnson, Otho "Tobe"
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Otho “Tobe” Johnson was a post-Civil War employee at Davidson College and later the owner of a popular cleaning and pressing establishment, one of the first black-owned businesses in Davidson, where he provided services to Davidson College students.
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Otho Johnson, commonly referred to as Tobe, was born to Lige and Dilsey Johnson on March 15, 1884. Lige and Dilsey were ex-slaves whose surname was recorded as both Johnson and Johnston in many records. He worked as a servant (early term for janitor) at Davidson College. He is included in the “College Servants” photograph with other African American employees in the 1895 student yearbook.
Tobe later became known for his cleaning and pressing business on Main Street, which is recognized as one of the first black-owned businesses in Davidson. His establishment provided services to Davidson College students. He often advertised his services in student publications such as Quips and Cranks and The Davidsonian.
Tobe resided in Davidson with his wife, Mattie and his son, Odell, who was born in 1908. In addition to running his pressing business, he was also the Secretary of the Christian Aid Society for 15 years. For the last eight years of his life, he was the Superintendent of the Methodist Sunday School. Records show that Tobe Johnson died at the age of 40 of cerebral apoplexy, which is more commonly known as a stroke. He is buried in the Torrence Chapel AME Zion Church cemetery in Cornelius, North Carolina, where his grave rests unmarked and unidentifiable. His wife, Mattie, is buried in the same cemetery.
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March 15, 1884
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November 15, 1924
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Ralph W. Johnson, David Played a Harp: A Free Man’s Battle For Independence (Davidson: Blackwell, Inc, 2000).
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Jan Blodgett, Kapil Vaudeville, and Loretta Wertheimer, ed., Shared Stores: African Americans in North Mecklenburg, vol. 1 (Davidson: Davidson College, 2017)
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1895 Quips and Cranks, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
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Reeves Temple AME Zion Collection, folder 20, Archives and Special Collections, Davidson College, Davidson, NC.
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"Marriage Certificate for Otho Johnson," in North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line], Ancestry.com
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"Death Certificate for Otho Johnson," in North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates 1909-1976 [database on-line], Ancestry.com
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"Untitled," The Davidsonian, November 20, 1924, 8.
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1910 Federal Census, Ancestry.com
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1920 Federal Census, Ancestry.com
Position: 1443 (52 views)
