VERSA
LAVERT JOHNSON
Born
March 15th 1878 and was the 2nd child of William Harrison Johnson and
Nancy Wood
Versa Johnson
married a Norwegian or Swede, Rongna, whose sister Necolena (same name as Thelma's
and Harriet's "Cherokee" name) Rivers was reported to be the first
woman osteopath in North Central Texas, according to Thelma. Thelma said the family called Rongna
"the foreign woman," so there must have been some tensions
there. Versa was reported to be
living in Liberty, Texas, at the time of Claud's death in March of 1949. Versa and Rongna (this is spelled
several ways--do not know which was correct) had Clinton, Vernon, Ruby, and
Ruth Thelma. Clinton became a
Customs Agent.
When
Versa was fourteen and walking home from work one day, he saw a girl with her
feet still kicking as she hanged from a tree. He was frightened and rushed the short
distance home to get his father.
When they returned, she had quit kicking. Thomas and Versa cut her down as quickly
as they could, but she was dead.
Versa worried afterward that if he had tried to get her down alone
rather than seeking his father's help, he might have been able to save her
life. To her dress was pinned a
note on which she had written a poem which said she was hanging herself because
the one she loved had left her for another. The poem became a folk song called
"The Weeping Willow Tree," according to information in the possession
of Jolene Doering, granddaughter of Venice Johnson Sanders.
The
Weeping Willow Tree
My
heart is broken. I'm in sorrow. Oh,
bury me beneath the willow,
Weeping
for the one I love. 'Neath
the weeping willow tree,
I
know I never more will meet him And
there he'll weep for me
Til
we meet in heaven above. Spread
o'er my grave a snow white lily,
Tomorrow
was our wedding day. So
to prove my love was true
God
only knows where he is. And
tell him that I died to save him
He's
gone away to love another For
his love I could not win.
And
leave me here to grieve.
He
told me he did not love me
How
could I believe it's true.
An
angel whispered softly saying
He
will prove untrue to you.