Robert Barbour Johnson was born on 19 August. That much we can say with some certainty. It's the date given on his application for a social security number and on his death certificate. Beyond that, well, there's a range of possible answers. His World War II enlistment card says 1905. His application for social security says 1906. (Obviously, there are incentives for making one's self older to get social security earlier). [Later update: there are also incentives for making oneself younger and some suggestion Johnson relished the idea of being a wunderkind. When his story "Far Below" was chosen as the best yarn ever published in Weird Tales, he was noted as one of the magazine's younger writer. He said that he harassed his writer friends with that for month, pointing out that lots of people say they are young, but he had written proof.] His death certificate says 1907 (as does the SSDI). His recollections for The Weird Tales Story suggests that he was born in 1909. Edan Hughes's Artists in California has him born in that year as well.
Johnson appears twice in the U.S. census. In 1930, he claimed to be 22. That census was taken in April, which would put his birth in 1907. At the time, he was living alone, in San Francisco, and so could have been fibbing about his age. Ten years earlier, though, when he was still living with his parents, his age is given as twelve. Since he was censused in January, that would again put his birth date as 1907.
So, then, he was born in 1907. But where? All the public records give his birth as Kentucky, and Johnson himself says it was Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in Christian county, which makes some sense--both of his parents died in Christian county. The one discordant note is the 1920 census, which gives his place of birth as Ohio.
Perhaps the issue could be settled with a birth certificate? No doubt. Unfortunately, Kentucky did not keep good records before 1911, and previous searches for Johson's in Christian county have come up blank. And Ohio organized them by county until 20 December 1908, and the census gives no indication what county Johnson was born in. Hopkinsville is in the far southwest corner of Kentucky, nowhere near Ohio, and so it is not even possible to check with bordering counties.
These are the problems inherent in trying to reconstruct Barbour's life. He once called himself--in homage to one of H.P. Lovecraft's stories--The Outsider. And there's a lot of truth to that.
Indeed, I am not the first to go in quest of Johnson's history. R. Alain Everts did before me, and he came up with nothing. I think I've had a little more success.
Johnson appears twice in the U.S. census. In 1930, he claimed to be 22. That census was taken in April, which would put his birth in 1907. At the time, he was living alone, in San Francisco, and so could have been fibbing about his age. Ten years earlier, though, when he was still living with his parents, his age is given as twelve. Since he was censused in January, that would again put his birth date as 1907.
So, then, he was born in 1907. But where? All the public records give his birth as Kentucky, and Johnson himself says it was Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in Christian county, which makes some sense--both of his parents died in Christian county. The one discordant note is the 1920 census, which gives his place of birth as Ohio.
Perhaps the issue could be settled with a birth certificate? No doubt. Unfortunately, Kentucky did not keep good records before 1911, and previous searches for Johson's in Christian county have come up blank. And Ohio organized them by county until 20 December 1908, and the census gives no indication what county Johnson was born in. Hopkinsville is in the far southwest corner of Kentucky, nowhere near Ohio, and so it is not even possible to check with bordering counties.
These are the problems inherent in trying to reconstruct Barbour's life. He once called himself--in homage to one of H.P. Lovecraft's stories--The Outsider. And there's a lot of truth to that.
Indeed, I am not the first to go in quest of Johnson's history. R. Alain Everts did before me, and he came up with nothing. I think I've had a little more success.
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