compiled by Mr. James Shepard and published in the REGISTER, Vol. 56, p. 139. Up to the present time nothing has been known concerning him, except that he appeared in Wallingford before 1692, married a nameless daughter of Nehemiah and Hannah (Morgan) Royce, and died in 1731, leaving two sons, John and Lambert.
The following record from the Dutch Church of Flatbush, L. I., adds considerably to our meagre information: "1689, July 5, Wouter Jansen widv. of Johana Rys of N. England at Wallingford, to Tryntie Henerig, wid. of Wm. Edwards, liv. Pennu (?)." Two facts are made clear by this record of our Walter Johnson's second marriage. In the first place it discloses the full name of his first wife, Joanna Royce. In the second place, taken in connection with his signing his name Janson in Wallingford deeds, it indicates Dutch blood. Moreover, it leads to the surmise that John was Walter's only child by the Royce alliance, and that Lambert was the offspring of this second marriage. At any rate, John is named in his grandfather Royce's will, while Lambert is not; and John deeds away Royce land, while Lambert does not. Moreover, late in life, Walter Johnson deeds a piece of land to his son Lambert, in consideration of which the latter is to maintain his father and mother for the rest of their lives. It looks very much as if this widow Tryntie was Lambert's mother. Yet, interesting as these discoveries are, they do not go very far toward lifting the veil that obscures the early life of Walter Johnson. The problem is made more complex by a power of attorney (Wallingford Deeds, Vol. 5, p. 454), granted in 1728 by John Benham of Kings County, N. Y., Lambert Johnson and wife Anna of Richmond, N. Y., Jacob Johnson and wife Sara of Richmond, and Evert Van Namen and wife Winefrut. John, Anna, Sarah, and Winifred were four of the children of Joseph Benham of Wallingford by his wife Winifred King of Boston. Lambert and Jacob Johnson and Evert Van Namen, husbands of the three Benham girls, lived on Staten Island, where they belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church. This document is surprising, as it proves that two Dutch Johnsons, of the same generation as Walter, married Wallingford girls; and one of them bore the same name of Lambert, which was also the name of