“I wanted my papers and wanted to go home.”
John Johnson, describing the Judd office meeting where Locke-side men claimed he settled his account and accepted only a one-acre lease.
Readers may know Hannah Johnson chiefly as “Black Hannah” from later North Tonawanda ghost stories. This collection of court records shows the historical conflict behind the legend.
The case grew out of John and Hannah Johnson’s struggle to hold the twelve-acre home they believed John had bought from Dr. Jesse F. Locke in Wheatfield, New York. After Locke died without a will, his estate, heirs, tenants, and later purchaser John Fonner treated the Johnson place as something smaller and weaker than the Johnsons said it was: not twelve acres bought, paid for, and improved, but a shanty and a one-acre sufferance. The resulting lawsuit pulled neighbors, relatives, lawyers, estate men, tenants, tax collectors, and the Johnsons themselves into sworn testimony before E. C. Sprague, the court-appointed referee, beginning in 1870. Most witnesses were examined live; Peltiah Hill’s testimony came in as a written conditional deposition.
What emerges is not only a land case, but a dense local drama: memory against paperwork, racial contempt against neighborly courage, legal maneuvering against long possession, and John and Hannah Johnson insisting that the place was theirs.
The sections below follow the printed packet’s order. Use the table of contents to jump to a document section, then open any page image in its own viewer.
Document sections
Front matter and printed index front matter scans 1–5
Pleadings: summons, complaint, and answer packet pp. 1–13 · scans 6–18
Referee report and findings packet pp. 13–16 · scans 18–21
Judgment, substitution, and notice of appeal packet pp. 17–21 · scans 22–26
Trial testimony — plaintiff witnesses packet pp. 22–37 · scans 27–42
Trial testimony — defendant witnesses packet pp. 37–78 · scans 42–83
Rebuttal, recalls, and additional proof packet pp. 78–110 · scans 83–115
Referee opinion and appellate rulings packet pp. 111–126 · scans 116–131
Addenda and exhibits addenda pp. 1–4 · scans 132–135
Peltiah Hill deposition and certification addenda pp. 5–14 · scans 136–145
John Johnson account exhibit account exhibit · scans 146–148
Appellants’ Court of Appeals brief and points appellants’ points · scans 149–165
Respondent’s brief and points respondent’s points · scans 166–172
Front matter and printed index
Front matter scans 1–5Notebook notes, the Court of Appeals title page, and the printed index to the case. These pages are unnumbered front matter in the scan, so they are not counted as packet pages.
Pleadings: summons, complaint, and answer
Packet pp. 1–13 · scans 6–18The summons, complaint, answer, and certifications that frame the dispute before testimony begins. Because the scan includes five front-matter images, packet page 1 appears as scan page 6.
Referee report and findings
Packet pp. 13–16 · scans 18–21E. C. Sprague’s report and findings. This section begins on the lower part of packet page 13, which also contains the end of the answer certification.
Judgment, substitution, and notice of appeal
Packet pp. 17–21 · scans 22–26The judgment entered on the referee’s report, the order substituting John Chadwick after Johnson’s death, and the notice of appeal to General Term.
Trial testimony — plaintiff witnesses
Packet pp. 22–37 · scans 27–42The Johnson-side proof begins on packet page 22 with surveyor Jesse P. Haines. It continues through Johnson’s recalled tax testimony before the plaintiff rests near the bottom of packet page 37.
Trial testimony — defendant witnesses
Packet pp. 37–78 · scans 42–83The Fonner and Locke-heir side begins with John Fonner at the bottom of packet page 37 and continues through the defense witness run. The main run is fully underway on packet page 38.
Rebuttal, recalls, and additional proof
Packet pp. 78–110 · scans 83–115Further proof after the initial defense witness run, including recalled witnesses, character testimony, tax evidence, exhibit references, and additional testimony returning to the central conflicts over possession, payment, and notice.
Referee opinion and appellate rulings
Packet pp. 111–126 · scans 116–131The referee’s written opinion, later judgment and appellate material, and the notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals. This section begins on packet page 111, not scan page 111.
Addenda and exhibits
Addenda pp. 1–4 · scans 132–135Supplemental exhibit material, including the map of Lot 10 and related papers attached after the main case text.
Peltiah Hill deposition and certification
Addenda pp. 5–14 · scans 136–145The written conditional deposition of Peltiah Hill and related certification material. Hill’s testimony begins on the lower part of addenda page 5.
John Johnson account exhibit
Account exhibit · scans 146–148Account material tied to Johnson’s labor and dealings with Locke. These pages matter because the case was not simply about one cash payment, but also about labor, wood, services, and a running rural account.
Appellants’ Court of Appeals brief and points
Appellants’ points · scans 149–165The Fonner-side argument to the Court of Appeals. It attacks the judgment through legal objections, especially around testimony, the alleged settlement, and whether the evidence should have supported Johnson’s claim.
Respondent’s brief and points
Respondent’s points · scans 166–172The respondent’s answer on appeal. Chadwick’s side defends the referee’s findings and the judgment recognizing the Johnson claim to the twelve-acre parcel.
