Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr.

Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr., (November 12, 1838 in Alabama – February 25, 1915 in Stonewall, Texas) was a cattleman and a soldier, and the paternal grandfather of future US President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Family
Johnson was raised a Baptist, but later became a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In his later years, he became a Christadelphian, following his wife and daughter.

He was the father of Texas politician Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr., grandfather of Lyndon Baines Johnson, and the uncle of Johnson City, Texas founder James Polk Johnson. He was the tenth child of Jesse and Lucy Webb (Barnett) Johnson.

After serving in the Civil War, Sam married Eliza Bunton of Caldwell County on December 11, 1867.

Career
In the late 1850s, Samuel Ealy Johnson Sr. settled with his brother Jesse Thomas "Tom" Johnson in a one-room log cabin on 320 acre that became headquarters for the largest cattle driving operation in seven counties.

Sam enlisted in Col. Xavier Debray's regiment on September 18, 1861, and served until the end of the American Civil War on the coast of Texas and in Louisiana. He was present at the Battle of Galveston and at the Battle of Pleasant Hill in Louisiana.

In the fall of 1892, Sam Ealy Johnson Sr. offered himself as the Populist candidate for Blanco and Gillespie County's seat in the state legislature.