Background
Johnson was born in Alabama, the tenth child of Lucy Webb (Barnett) and Jesse Johnson.
Johnson was born in Alabama, the tenth child of Lucy Webb (Barnett) and Jesse Johnson.
After serving in the Civil War, Sam married Eliza Bunton of Caldwell County on December 11, 1867. Sam enlisted in Colonel 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 Senior offered himself as the Populist candidate for Blanco and Gillespie County"s seat in the state legislature.
He was raised a Baptist, but later became a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).