ABSTRACT
Henry Johnson's (1820-1849) letter of 18 September 1848 to his wife Jane Johnson in Dungonnell, County Antrim offers a detailed account of the Irish Famine migration and of confessional tensions that emerged over the course of the voyage. The letter is extracted from a bound type script of emigrant letters from 26 May 1848 to 7 February 1888 of the McConnell family that was published by Louise Wyatt, ed. 'The Johnson Letters', Ontario History v. XI (1948), 7-52. According to Stephen Davison, 'Johnson left Ireland for Canada after being imprisoned for debt and his letters from to his wife describe his voyage to New York and his experience looking for work in Canada West. His account of the social and working conditions in southern Ontario is particularly vivid and detailed. Following her husband's urgent plea to join him in Canada, Jane left Ireland with their two children in 1849, but Henry died of cholera in Montreal, Quebec, before they could be reunited ... The originals [ of the letters] are held at the University of Western Ontario'. 1 Henry Johnson's death certificate, after he died from cholera in Montreal, was found in 1946, although an entry in a Family Bible noted the date of his death as 5 July. His death certificate is noted in the registry of Christ Church (Anglican) Montreal, as follows:
Henry Johnson died on the 4th day of July, one thousand eight hundred and forty nine, aged 29 years and was buried the same day by me.
