WILLIAM JOHNSON

WILLIAM JOHNSON, a farmer of Monroe Township, has been living in Shelby County since 1877. He was born in Yorkshire, England, September 6, 1834, and is a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Ponder) Johnson, also natives of Yorkshire, England. Until he was sixteen years of age our subject lived on his father's farm, attending to those duties usually allotted to a farmer's son. He then went to work on the railroad, and followed this business for several years. In 1855 he bade farewell to his native land and emigrated to America, settling near Galena, Illinois. He remained there about two years, and then went to Plattville, Wisconsin, where he resided until 1877. He then came to Shelby County and bought eighty acres of partially improved land in Monroe Township; there he has since lived, and has developed one of the best farms in the neighborhood. He has a frame dwelling house, attractively surrounded with shade trees, an orchard, and buildings for live-stock and grain. Mr. Johnson has added to his first purchase of land, and now owns 160 acres. All the surroundings betoken thrift and prosperity. Mr. Johnson was married at Plattville, Wisconsin, February 11, 1869, to Mrs. Barbara Morman, a widow with four sons and three daughters. Her maiden name was Augustine, and she was a native of Ohio. By this marriage one child has been born -- Emma, wife of Charles W. Neff; she was born in Plattville, Wisconsin, in 1870. Mr. Johnson is a zealous advocate of the principles of the Democratic party. Although firm in his beliefs, he is a man of broad and liberal views. His honorable dealings have won the confidence of the community in which he lives.

Source: 1889 Biographical History of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 616-617. Transcribed by Marthann Kohl-Fuhs.