Biography

St. Clara Sargent (who went by Clara) was one of eight members of her immediate family to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the same day in 1906. Clara was eighteen at the time, but sometime before she turned thirty she converted to the Baptist faith. In fact, the Sargent family’s faith journey took two different paths. Of the eight who were baptized LDS in 1906, five remained at least nominally Latter-day Saints, while three later became Baptists, including Clara and her sisters Gracie and Marie.

Clara and her twin sister, Eva Lena, were born 1 April 1888 to John Sargent and Nellie Gray in Golansville, Caroline County, Virginia.[1] Clara, her mother, and her six siblings, were baptized in a creek outside of Golansville and then confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 19 August 1906 by missionaries John Clement Farr and Thomas Edwin Ricks III.[2]

Clara’s original baptismal record indicates that she remained a Latter-day Saint for less than twelve years. At some point a clerk or missionary wrote in the “remarks” column of Clara’s record that she “joined [the] Baptist church before 1918.”[3] The LDS Church’s 1930 census confirms that Clara no longer identified as a Latter-day Saint.[4] Her sister Novella said that when the family became Latter-day Saints, they "were called 'White Niggers and many people we trusted as friends began to tell stories about us." Novella also recalled that they "were left out of social functions and weddings and didn't receive invitations. We were shunned because we were Mormons."[5] Perhaps such ostracism took a toll on Clara. She also may have found a welcoming atmosphere among the Baptists and certainly found parishoners who looked more like her than those in predominantly white Latter-day Saint congregations. In any case, Clara’s niece, Virginia Wright, remembered in 1986 that at some point Clara "quit going [to LDS Church services] altogether."[6]

By 1910, four years after her baptism, Clara had left home to work as a servant for the family of a physician, Frederick Morhart, in Washington, D.C.[7] Sometime between 1910 and 1915, Clara met and married a teamster named Robert Clarence Johnson.[8] The young couple made their home in Washington, D.C. where Clara gave birth to three daughters, Ruby Marie, Mildred, and Gertrude.[9] By 1930,  Robert worked as a taxi cab driver and Clara worked as a charwoman (domestic laborer) at a hotel. All three of their daughters attended school and the family made room for Robert's cousin, Eva Holland, who also lived with them.[10] In 1940,  Clara and Robert continuted to work in the same professions and they spent the rest of their lives living in Washington, D. C.[11]

Clara's beloved husband, Robert, passed away on 2 June 1953.[12] Clara lived another twenty-six years as a widow before she died on 31 December 1979 at the age of 91. (Her twin sister Eva Lena passed away in Viriginia just over one month later). The Reverend Paul W. Brown presided over Clara’s funeral  which was held at the Jon S. Thomas Memorial Baptist Church in Washington D. C.[13]

By Joseph Stuart with research assistance from Verity Johnson

Primary Sources

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Record of Members Collection. Southern States Mission. Virginia District. Microfilm 1995. Family History Library. Salt Lake City, Utah.

Clara Johnson. District of Columbia, Social Security Death Index, Social Security Administration.

“John Clement Farr.” Missionary Database. Accessed March 18, 2021.

"Johnson, Clara S." The Washington Star (Washington D.C.). 4 January 1980, A-7.

Richards, Debra E. "Open the Gates of the Temple." The Daily Universe (Provo, Utah), 12 April 1976, 3-4, 6.

"Robert Clarence Johnson." The Evening Star (Washington D.C.). 4 June 1954, 32.

"Sargeant." Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1914-1935. C.R. 4 311. Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Thomas Edwin Ricks III.” Missionary Database. Accessed March 18, 2021.

United States. 1900 Census. Virginia, Caroline County, Madison District.

United States. 1910 Census. District of Columbia, Washington, Precinct 2.

United States. 1930 Census. District of Columbia, Washington, Tract 81.

United States. 1940 Census. District of Columbia, Washington, Tract 81.

United States. Washington, District of Columbia. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Robert Clarence Johnson. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC.

United States. Washington, District of Columbia. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942. Robert Clarence Johnson. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.

Wright, Virginia K. Oral interview by Alan Cherry, 14 October 1986. Transcript. Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Oral History Project. L. Tom Perry Special Collections. Harold B. Lee Library. Brigham Young University. Provo, Utah.

[1] “Clara Johnson,” December 31, 1979, District of Columbia, Social Security Death Index, Social Security Administration.

[2] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Southern States Mission, Virginia District, Microfilm 1995, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; "Sargeant," Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1914-1935, CR 4 311, Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; “John Clement Farr,” Missionary Database; “Thomas Edwin Ricks III.” Missionary Database, .

[3] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Southern States Mission, Virginia District, Microfilm 1995, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[4] "Sargeant," Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1914-1935, CR 4 311, Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[5] Debra E. Richards, “Open the Gates of the Temple,” The Daily Universe (Provo, Utah), 12 April 1976, 6.

[6] Virginia K. Wright, Oral interview by Alan Cherry, 14 October 1986, transcript, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies Oral History Project, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

[7] United States, 1910 Census, Washington, District of Columbia, Precinct 2.

[8] United States, Washington, D.C., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Robert Clarence Johnson, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

[9] “Robert Clarence Johnson,” US World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918; United States, 1930 Census, Washington, District of Columbia, Tract 81.

[10] United States, 1930 Census, Washington, District of Columbia, Tract 81.

[11] United States, 1940 Census, Washington, District of Columbia, Tract 81.

[12] "In Memoriam," The Evening Star (Washington DC) 2 June 1954, A-30.

[13] "Clara S. Johnson," The Evening Star, 4 January 1980, A-7.

Documents

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