History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical, Part 47

Author: Keyes, Elisha W. (Elisha Williams), 1828-1910
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Madison, Wi. : Western Historical Association
Number of Pages: 998

USA > Wisconsin > Dane County > History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical > Part 47

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Knut Jenson, a successful contractor and builder, with residence and business head quarters in the thriving city of Stoughton, was born in Norway, April 27, 1864, being a son of Jens Knutsen and Carrie Jensen. He was reared to manhood in his native land, where he was afforded the advantages of the excellent Lutheran schools and where he remained until 1884, when, at the age of twenty years he set forth for America. He came to Dane county soon after his ar- rival in the new world, and here he was employed at the carpenter's

459

BIOGRAPHICAL.

trade for three years, at the expiration of which he removed to Lodi, Columbia county, where he engaged in business for himself, as a con- tractor and builder. Reliable workmanship and honorable methods gained to him rapid advancement and he built up a prosperous enter- prise. He remained at Lodi six years and then, in 1903, located in Stoughton, in order to secure a broader field of operations. As a contractor he has here been most successful, having erected a number of fine buildings in the city and surrounding districts and having also remodeled the Stoughton water works. In politics he is a stanch Republican, fraternally he is identified with the Beavers, and both hie and his wife are members of the First Lutheran church. October 13, 1891, Mr. Jenson was united in marriage to Miss Joanna Quem, daughter of Lars and Anna Quem, of Dane county, and the children of this union are Clara, Annie, Mabel, Lena. Joseph, and Cora.

Adolph Johnson, carpenter and contractor, also operating a plan- ing mill at 138 to 142 Frances street, was born in Grenaa, Denmark. January 16, 1866. He is one of ten children of Jens and Mary (Boreson) Johnson, natives of Denmark where the father still re- sides. The mother died in 1892 at the age of fifty-two. There six of the ten children still living, only one of whom. Julia, beside the subject of this sketch ever left the native land. Julia is married and lives in Nebraska. Adolph was educated in the common schools of Denmark and served his apprenticeship in that country. From Denmark he removed to Germany, where he worked at his trade a year in each Keil and Hamburg. About 1889 he came to the United States, settling in Chicago, and worked there as a stair builder for four years. In 1893 he arrived in Madison and went into the employ of Jacob Leutscher, a contractor. He remained with him eight years and in the spring of 1902 started in business for himself. The planing mill was started at the same time. His advance has been rapid and he is now considered one of the most skilled workmen in the city. The contracts he undertakes have al- ways been most satisfactorily fulfilled. In the line of house build- ing. to which he directs his especial attention, he is exceptionally proficient. He employs from eight to twenty men the year around and does work in practically all the towns of the county. On September 20, 1897. Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Kapple, a native of Austria, and a daughter of Anton and Johanna Kapple residing on a farm in the town of Roxbury. Mrs Johnson is one of ten children, nine of whom are living. The others are Frances, the wife of Matt Loy; Joseph, who lives in Warsaw. Washington : Charles, a farmer of the town of Roxbury ;

460

HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

Anna, wife of Charles Buckles of Madison; Anton, a carpenter in Madison ; Minnie, Mrs. Charles Fuss, died at the age of twenty-one ; Frank, a carpenter, employed in the shop of his brother-in-law; Matt, on the farm; and John, a farmer in the town of Roxbury. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have no children. Both are communicants of the German Catholic church and the husband is a member of the Order of Eagles. Mr. Johnson is an honest, upright and intelli- gent workman who is rated among the best in his line of work.

Andrew P. Johnson, a prominent farmer of the town of Rutland, spent his youth and young manhood in Norway and Sweden. He is of Swedish birth and ancestry and his parents, John Anderson and Bertha Anderson, were both natives of Ellstaate, Sweden. This was also their home after their marriage and their family of seven chil- dren were born on a farm in Ellstaate. The parents are now de- ceased and the family widely scattered. Mary, the oldest daughter, lives in Norway : Andrew P. and Lewis in Rutland; Tillie, in Madi- son, Wis .; Sophia, in Norway and Charles in Michigan. The young- est son, Edwin, died in infancy. Andrew P. was born on the farm in Ellstaate, October 18, 1846, attended the common schools, and when a young man, went to the forest district of Norway, where he worked in a saw-mill until 1881. At that time he concluded to try his fortune in the west and located in Spring Lake, Mich., where he found em- ployment in the mills. After three years in Spring Lake, he crossed Lake Michigan and located in Stoughton, where he worked in a wagon-shop. Three years of farm life in the town of Dunn followed, three years more in the town of Dunkirk and then another period in the town of Dunn. His next location was Oregon, Wis. and he finally purchased, in March, 1902, a farm of two hundred acres in Rutland, which is his present home and on which he has expended much labor and money and brought it to a high state of cultivation. Mr. Johnson raises considerable stock as well as all kinds of farm produce. Mrs. Johnson was formerly Miss Louisa Torgerson, daughter of Andrew Torgerson, whose home is in Norway, and she married Mr. Johnson in 1870. Their union has been blessed with nine children ; John A. is a stone-cutter in Milwaukee ; Adolph operates a farm in Dunkirk; the next two sons, Oscar and Severson, are both deceased; Morris is a successful farmer of the town of Dunn and the younger children, Tolaf, Frank, George, and Andrew P. remain at home. The children were educated in the Rutland and Stoughton schools and the family attend the Lutheran church. Mr. Johnson is a Republican in his pol- itical affiliations but is not an active politician.

461

BIOGRAPHICAL.

C. O. Johnson, of Norwegian origin, is a prosperous farmer of the town of Vienna. His parents, Irwin and Carie (Elling) John- son, were both born in Norway and there spent their entire lives. Three sons and one daughter were born to them; and two sons, Elling, the oldest, and C. O., came to Dane county, Elling in 1850 and his brother in 1854. In 1854, Elling Johnson, went to Minne- sota and there he died in 1862. C. O. Johnson was born in Norway, July 11, 1837, attended school in his native country and came to Wisconsin when he was seventeen years of age. After a year in Dane county, he went to Minnesota to join his brother, returning to Vienna in 1858. He then went west to the Rocky Mountains and engaged in gold mining for seventeen years. He was very suc- cessful and when he became independent, he returned to the town of Vienna and purchased a farm of two hundred acres, which has ever since been his home. The buildings have been erected by Mr Johnson and many other improvements to the property have been made. Mr. Johnson makes a specialty of Clydesdale horses and short-horned cattle. Formerly allied with the Republican party, he has become independent in his political beliefs. For thirteen years, Mr. Johnson was a supervisor and for two years chairman of the township. September 25, 1878, he married Miss Carrie Johnson, daughter of Peter Johnson and sister of Nels Johnson of Vienna. Mrs. Johnson died June 15, 1904, leaving eight children. Jessie Charlotte, the oldest, was educated at the Lutheran Academy at Mount Horeb, Wis., and taught school for a year ; Irwin Percival attended the De Forest high school and the Northwestern Business College of Madison ; Edna Louisa and Clarissa Tonetta graduated from the De Forest high school and are both engaged in teaching ; Charles Elling and Willard Wallace are students at De Forest ; Archie Fremont and Cephas Clarence are the youngest of the family. They all attend the Norway Grove Lutheran church.

George K. Johnson, a native of the Hoosier state, came to Rut- land in 1878 and since that time has made it his home. He is a well- known farmer and sheep-breeder. William D. Johnson and Ann (Knight) Johnson, his parents, died in 1851 within two months of each other at Terre Haute, Ind., where they are both buried. Mr. Johnson came to Dunkirk. Dane county, Wis., with his grandfather, Richard Knight, in 1856 and settled upon a farm. Willian D. was born in New Jersey, lived in Indiana and Illinois and was a shoemaker. Mrs. Johnson was a native of England. Of their family, George is the only one living. George K. Johnson was born at Madison, Ind., November 4, 1844, attended the common schools and in August, 1862,

462

HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

enlisted as a private in the Twenty-second Wisconsin Volunteer Infan- try, Company E. The regiment was ordered south and placed under Gen. Buell's command. Mr. Johnson was captured at Spring Hill und sent to Libby Prison, but was fortunately exchanged after a cap- tivity of two weeks and rejoined his company at Nashville. He shared in the march of Gen. Sherman to Atlanta, participating in the battles of Resaca, Burnt Hickory, Kenesaw Mountain, Dallas and other smaller engagements and the siege operations before Atlanta. At Nashville, July 29, 1865, the regiment was mustered out of the service. After the close of the war, Mr. Johnson lived until 1878 at Dunkirk and at that time purchased one hundred and fifty-two acres of farm land in the town of Rutland, sections Io and II. This farm he im- proved and sold at a considerable profit in 1896. He then bought his present large farm, to which he has added many substantial improve- ments and upon which he raises fine stock, particularly registered Shropshire shcep, his flock usually numbering about two hundred head. Mr. Johnson is a Republican but does not take any part in active political life. He is a member of the Baptist church and also of the Stoughton Commandery of the G. A. R. In September, 1866, he married Miss Temperance Dimick of Dunkirk, daughter of John and Dollie (Tanner) Dimick. They came from New York to Rock county, Wis. in 1842 and afterward to Dunkirk. Four of their chil- dren are living: Harriet, in Beloit; Jerome, in Black River Falls ; Darwin at Beloit; and Temperance, Mrs. Johnson, in Rutland. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have three children; the oldest daughter, Lavinia, is the wife of Mr. Usher of Rutland; Isadore lives at home and Silas E. in Idaho, where he owns a ranch.

Grove S. Johnson was born in the town of York and has been known in Dane county for years as a successful school-teacher and farmer. The family came to Wisconsin from New York and were of colonial descent. Grove S. is the son of E. Spencer Johnson, who was born in Oneida county, N. Y. July 12, 1819, educated in New York and came to Dane county with his parents, Elias and Polly Sherman) Johnson, in 1845. Elias Johnson was born in Massachuetts in 1783 and his wife in Clinton, Oneida county, N. Y. in 1790. They took up eighty acres of wild land in the town of York in 1845, cleared and im- proved it, added twenty acres more and made it their permanent home. 'Mr. Johnson died there in 1865. Elias Johnson served in the war of 1812. His widow lived unon the farm with her family until her death in 1883, when she was ninety-three years of age. Her son, E. Spencer, attended school in New York and became a carpenter. Many of the earliest buildings in the town of York are his handiwork. His wife,

463

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Mary A. Johnson, was born at Clinton, Oneida county, N. Y. Nov- ember 6, 1812, and married Mr. Johnson in 1845. Three children were born to them; Grove S. is the oldest son; the second child, a daughter, d'ed in infancy and the youngest is a daughter, Bertha E. Grove S. was born in York township, March 9, 1846, attended the home schools, the Marshall academy and the Columbus high school. For nineteen years he was a school-teacher but finally decided to en- gage in farming. He now owns a farm of one hundred and thirty- four acres upon which he carries on general farming and stock-rais- ing business. He is a Democrat and served for a number of years as clerk of the town board. Mr. Johnson is identified with the Colum- bus Lodge, No. 75, F. & A. M.

Rev. Iver A. Johansen, the able and honored pastor of Our Sav- iour's Norwegian Lutheran church, in the city of Stoughton, was born in Norway, April 10, 1874, the place of his nativity having been Kobberdahl, Helgeland. He is a son of Johan and Anna (Arntsen) Johnansen, and in a remote way he is of Scotch descent. He was reared to the age of eighteen years in his native land, laying the basis for a liberal education in the excellent schools there maintained. In 1892 he came to America and proceeded to the city of Minneapolis, where he entered the Augsburg Seminary, where he completed the collegiate course, after which he pursued the theological course, being graduated from this department of the school as a member of the class of 1899 and being forthwith ordained to the ministry of the Lutheran church. His first pastoral charge was at Larimore, North Dakota, where he remained one year, at the expiration of which he returned to Norway, where he remained two years as a home mission- ary in the little city of Bodoe. In September, 1902, Mr. Johansen again came to the United states, locating in Stoughton, where he be- came assistant to Rev. T. H. Dahl, pastor of the First Lutheran church. When the congregation of the church of Our Saviour was formally organized, in 1903, he was chosen pastor of the church, the edifice of the same having been erected under his supervision and hav- ing been completed in 1905, the dedication taking place in the Christ- mas season. The building is a beautiful structure, erected at a cost of seventeen thousand dollars, and the parish is in a most prosperous condition, both spiritually and temporally. The church has six hun- dred communicants, and the membership is constantly increasing. The pastor is an able and earnest speaker, devoting himself with all of zeal and consecration to the work of his parish and the cause of hu- manity and enjoying the high regard of the entire community. In pol- itics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party. At Larimore,

464

HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

July 22, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Johansen to Miss Caroline Strandres, daughter of Sigve and Christine (Kron) Strandres, natives respectively of Norway and Sweden and numbered among the sterling pioneers of North Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Johansen have one daughter, Hansince Theodora.

John A. Johnson, whose name is prominently associated with the manufacturing interests of Wisconsin, as president and director of the well-known firm of Fuller & Johnson, and as founder and owner of the Gisholt Machine Company, came to the United States from his native land, Norway, in 1844. He was the eldest of five children, and was but twelve years of age when the family arrived in Milwaukee. He began life, as did many other Norwegian immigrants of that period, as a poor boy on a farm in Walworth county, and by sheer hard work and force of character achieved success. He was essen- tially a self-made man. He settled in Madison in 1861 and for several years dealt in farm :machinery. In the early eighties he joined in the organization of the Fuller & Johnson Mfg. Co., for the manufacture of farm machinery; became its first president and remained at its head until the time of his death. A few years later he also organized the Gisholt Machine Co., for the manufacture of turret lathes and ma- chine tools. The latter enterprise has expanded into one of the largest manufacturing conerns in the city and state, and has always been exclusively owned and managed by the Johnson family,-father and sons. Mr. Johnson was for a time a member of the firm of Jolin Thompson & Company, of Beloit, plow manufacturers, and thus be- came familiar with the farm implement business. From 1861 to 1869 he served as county clerk of Dane county ; also served as member of the assembly for one term, and one term as state senator, and was a member of the board of trustees of the State Hospital for the Insane. In addition to his extensive business interests, Mr. Johnson found time for considerable literary work, and was devoted to the cause of education. He was a frequent contributor to the public press, and wrote several books in the Norwegian language, which found a wide circulation among his countrymen. In 1876 he founded the J. A. Johnson scholarships at the University of Wisconsin, donating $5,000, as a perpetual fund, the annual income of which is "applied in aid of attendants at the University, who have previously attended a common school or the University, at least one year. .. . Until the year 1900, the aid thus provided for is limited to those students (without distinction of sex) of the class already described, who can read or speak, reason- ably well, one of the Scandinavian languages .... No student shall re- ceive more than fifty dollars in one year, nor shall more than two

BIOGRAPHICAL. 465

hundred dollars in the aggregate be given to any cne student." The authorities of the University were thus enabled to provide ten scholar- ships of $35 each, which were the first ever offered by the institution. Another noble charity which owes its origin to his wise beneficence is the Gisholt Home for the Aged, in the town of Burke, near Madi- son, ample provision for which was made in his last will and testament. Mr. Johnson died November 10, 1902, and in his death Wisconsin lost one of her best and most influential citizens, and the Norwegians of the country, one of their ablest representatives. He is survived by his wife, four sons, Frederick A., Carl A., Hobart S., and Maurice I .. all of Madison, Wis., and one daughter, Mrs. Ida (Jolinson) Fisk, of Champaign, Ill. The four sons are all actively engaged in the man- agement and operation of the extensive Gisholt Machine Company plant.

J. B. Johnson, an enterprising farmer of the town of Fitchburg, was born at Albion, Dane county, Wis., October 19, 1845. His par- ents, John and Ellen Johnson, were both natives of Norway who came to this country and county in 1845, settling on sixty acres in the town of Albion. Later the family moved to Jackson county, this state, where they stayed ten years. During the residence there the subject of this sketch learned the blacksmiths' trade. After a few years at the forge he went to Stoughton and engaged in the meat business with his brother Julius. Two years later he bought a farm in Rut- land and managed that for seven years. After a residence of a few years in Janesville and Evansville he returned to Stoughton and for another year was in business with his brother. When the opportunity offered, Mr. Johnson went back to farming, buying one hundred acres of the old Fox farm in the town of Fitchburg. After six years he ex- changed this property for the farm he now occupies in section 10, in the same town. He has one hundred and sixty acres devoted to gen- eral farming. Politically Mr. Johnson is active as a Republican, and has served a year on the town board and five years on the school board. Mr. Johnson is affiliated with the Lutheran church. In May, 1876, he married Isabelle Johnson, a native of Norway, and by her has had ten children, Emma (deceased), wife of Henry Roberts; Edith, wife of Frank Roberts; Oscar, Seymour, Melvin, Alma, Gladys, Julian, Isabelle and Lewis. J. B. Johnson is a type of the Norwegian farmer who has done much to exploit the resources of Dane county.

John D. Johnson is a prominent farmer of the town of York and a son of a pioneer of Dane county, John Johnson. John Johnson was born in Hudson county, N. Y. August 17, 1833, attended school in New York and came with his parents to Dodge county and then to 30-iii

466

HISTORY OF DANE COUNTY.

Dane county in 1847. His father, Silas Johnson, was a native of New York and was fifty-three years of age when he began farming in Dane county. He lived until 1878 and his wife, Polly (Smith) Johnson survived him ten years, reaching the great age of ninety-three years. John Jolinson taught school for a time in his early manhood but soon began farming and purchased a farm in the town of York, which is the present home of the Johnson family. He married Miss Emily Dodge, who was born near Utica, N. Y. and five children were born to them, of whom three are living. He was a Republican and represented the district in the Assembly for a term and also served as chairman and clerk of the town board. John D. Johnson was born July 5, 1863, in the town of York, attended the district school and a private school and the Marshall Academy. He has always been a farmer and carries on a general farming business at the old home farm. He gives particular attention to the breeding of a fine strain of Durham cattle. Mr. Johnson is a Republican and active in local af- fairs. For two years he served as treasurer of the town, for two years more as chairman of the town board and was then reelected for four years following. October 28, 1885, he married Miss Sarah Alice Norton, who was born in York 'n 1865, daughter of Miles and Sarah ( King) Norton, of Vermont. They came to Dane county in 1847, located in York township on a farm and there Mr. Norton died in 1900 and his wife in 1901. Of their five children, three are living. Mr. Norton was prominent in the township and served as member of the town board and as assessor. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were born two children ; Eunice May and James King, who are now attend- ing the Waterloo high school. Mr. Johnson is a member of the Waterloo Lodge, No. 63, F. and A. M. and a charter member of the E. F. U.

John M. Johnson, the supervisor of Blooming Grove township, is one of the representative citizens of this part of the county, where he has passed his entire life and where he is numbered among the successful agriculturists of the state. He was born on the old home- stead farm, in Blooming Grove township, March 25, 1860, and is the son of Gilbert and Betsey (Hauge) Johnson, both natives of Norway. They came from the fair Norseland to the United States, and the father was one of the pioneers of Dane county. The subject of this sketch was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and his educa- tional advantages were confined to a somewhat irregular attendance in the common schools of the day. He has never wavered in his allegiance to the great basic industry of agriculture, through the medium of which he has gained independence and distinctive prosper-

467

BIOGRAPHICAL.

ity, being the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres. Mr. Johnson has been a loyal adherent to the Repub- lican party from the time of attaining his majority, and he was elected township treasurer in 1891, serving two terms, after which, in 1893, he was elected township supervisor, of which position he has since held through successive re-elections. His long tenure of the office shows the confidence placed in him and the esteem in which he is held by the people of the community in which he has lived from the time of his birth. He and his wife are consistent members of the Norwegian Lutheran church. December 25, 1888, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Anna Dataker, daughter of John and Ingeborge (Larson) Dataker, of Stoughton, this county, and they have five children, whose names, with respective dates of birth, are as fol- lows: Ingebeld B., August 5, 1891; Ida Louisa, March 6, 1893; Joseph Clarence, August 3, 1895; Bertha Sophia, September 5, 1898; and Thomas K., May 29, 1904.

Jonas Johnson, a respected citizen of the village of McFarland, was born in Meragiar, Norway, August 8, 1828. His parents were Jens and Mary Johnson, natives of Norway. Jonas received a limited education in Norway, the minister of their parish having inculcated the idea into his parents' heads that because they be- longed to the laboring class an education was not necessary. In 1850 he arrived in Milwaukee. For eleven months he was em- ployed in a furniture factory, there working at turning bedposts. Stoughton next offered him a livelihood for a few months, and then the site of McFarland village offering possibilities for a blacksmith, he and another man opened a shop. It soon became apparent that blacksmithing was not a paying proposition, so the shop was re- modeled and made into a carpenter shop. A feed mill has since been added to the equipment. and a sixteen-liorse power engine runs the machinery of mill and shop. Mr. Johnson has all the work he can do, the people of the village appreciating the fine repairing he does. Though well along in years he keeps keenly in touch with matters pertaining to the public welfare and is conversant with all the current affairs of the state and nation. Before coming to this country he served some time in the Norwegian militia. Politically he is a Democrat, but has never aspired to office. He is not affiliated with any religious organization. In the spring of 1857 he was married but has no children. A number of years ago he purchased eight acres of land on the village site, built himself a home and has since lived there. He is well-known in the com- munity and his genius as a mechanic is highly valued.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Dane County, Biographical and Genealogical, Part 47

Author: Keyes, Elisha W. (Elisha Williams), 1828-1910 Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Madison, Wi. : Western Historical Association Number of Pages: 998

Author: Keyes, Elisha W. (Elisha Williams), 1828-1910
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Madison, Wi. : Western Historical Association
Number of Pages: 998