Montgomery County author to host book signing event Frank Johnson, who graduated from Cleveland High School in 1970, has dedicated years of his life to chronicling Montgomery County and the role that its citizens played in the many battles of the Civil War.
After the passing of a son in 2002, local resident Frank Johnson immersed himself into researching his family history.
In the process, he took a keen interest in the lives of soldiers from Montgomery County and the surrounding areas, all of whom played a role in the many battles of the Civil War.
Johnson, who prefers to refer to the war as “the war between the states,” is now a published author, after turning his hobby into pages and pages of historical information.
On Saturday, July 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Johnson will host a book signing event at the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, located at 1506 I-45 North in Conroe.
The event will mark one of Johnson’s first book signing events since the publication of his newest book, titled “Montgomery County, Texas, CSA.” The book will be available for purchase at the event, and is also available at
Amazon.com as well as Johnson’s personal website Frank M. Johnson .At the May meeting of the Cleveland Historical Society, Johnson spoke about his book, where he described it as an “unpublished history of the area.”
Johnson, who graduated from Cleveland High School in 1970, has resided in Montgomery County for the past 30 years, and has spent a majority of his time there researching the area. “I have been researching Confederate veterans from Montgomery County for many years,” said Johnson. “The research includes family histories dating back to the Republic of Texas and the military histories of more than 735 men and the regiments in which they served.” Johnson continued by describing this particular book as “a definitive history of Montgomery County’s involvement in the war between the states and the men from the county who served in the military of the Confederate States of America.”
A self-described history buff, Johnson has also spent many years of his life traveling to various battlefields across the country. He became a member of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans in 2006. One of his many duties within the group is to gather information about the many unmarked graves that still remain from the many wars that have shaped the nation.
“In addition to continuing my research, I am still very active in providing military markers for and preserving the grave sites of Confederate veterans in Montgomery County, as well as the surrounding counties,” said Johnson. Johnson has personally helped locate approximately 234 Confederate graves during his time with the organization.
He has used these experiences, along with the research of nearly 35,000 military records, which he has sifted through one by one, from both the Texas and national archives.
He claims that one of his favorite parts of this research was getting to see some of the many personal letters that were written by soldiers during the time of war. Many of the letters are currently on display at the San Jacinto Monument Museum.
Johnson’s book has already gained accolades from local historians, including Dr. Kameron Searle, who described the book as the “most comprehensive history of the important roles that the soldiers from Montgomery County, Texas played” in the epic conflict that became known as the Civil War.
According to Johnson, Searle’s review went on to state that “Montgomery County, Texas, CSA” is “destined to become the historical authority on this period in Montgomery County’s history for many years to come.” He also applauded the appendix to the book, which Johnson names as the part that he is “most proud of,” as it contains thorough information on hundreds of names of soldiers, as well as the military branches in which they fought during the war.
To read the full review by Dr. Kameron Searle’s, go to http://texas-history-page.
Johnson can be reached by emailing fjohnson@wt.net.
