Henry Johnson (September 3, 1794[1] – February 27, 1868[2]) was an American farmer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was instrumental in the founding of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, and served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing eastern Kenosha County. Earlier in his life, he was a member of the New York State Legislature.
Henry Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Kenosha 1st district | |
| In office January 7, 1856 – January 5, 1857 | |
| Preceded by | Charles C. Sholes |
| Succeeded by | Frederick S. Lovell |
| In office January 6, 1851 – January 5, 1852 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Hale Jr. (Racine 4th) |
| Succeeded by | C. Latham Sholes |
| Member of the New York State Assembly from the Erie County district | |
| In office January 1, 1839 – January 1, 1840 Serving with Jacob A. Barker and Truman Cary | |
| Preceded by | Lewis F. Allen, Asa Warren, and Cyrenus Wilbur |
| Succeeded by | Seth C. Hawley, Stephen Osborn, and Aaron Salisbury |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 3, 1794 Williamstown, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | February 27, 1868 (aged 73) Somers, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Resting place | Vale Cemetery, Kenosha, Wisconsin |
| Political party |
|
| Spouse | Violata Peckham born 1793; died 1855 |
| Children |
|
Biography
editHenry Johnson was born in Williamstown, Vermont, in 1794[1] and moved to Niagara County, New York in 1810, where he became established and started a family. By 1821 Johnson had become a prominent citizen in the newly formed Erie County, New York and was elected on the Whig Party ticket to the New York State Assembly for the 1839 session.[3] In 1844 the family relocated to Southport (now the city of Kenosha, incorporated in 1850) in the Wisconsin Territory and then settled on a farm in the town of Pike (now the village of Somers in Kenosha County). At the time, this was part of a larger Racine County, since Kenosha County was established from part of Racine County as a separate entity by an act of the Wisconsin Legislature in January 1850. On April 28, 1848 Johnson attended the Whig Assembly District Convention where he was nominated for Assemblyman for the 1st Wisconsin Legislature[4] but later lost the election to the Democratic candidate Julius L. Gilbert.[5][6] The very next day April 29, 1848 Johnson attended the Whig Senatorial Convention in the Town of Salem.[7] On October 26, 1850 Johnson was again nominated for assemblyman[8][9] this time winning his election[10] for the Whig Party ticket as one of the first two assemblymen for the newly formed Kenosha County and serving, for the first of two sessions, on the Wisconsin State Assembly for the 1851 session. On October 24, 1851 Johnson was nominated for Senator by the Whig Party at their county convention at Dutton's Tavern in the Town of Paris,[11] this election he lost to the Democratic candidate John R. Sharpstein.[12]
Johnson became prominent in his new state through his farming community. On January 3, 1850 he helped bring together a number of Kenosha County farmers to create the "Farmer's Club of Southport, Pleasant Prairie, Pike, Bristol and vicinity"[13]—believed to be the first agricultural association in Wisconsin.[14]: 107 Five months later, on June 3, 1850, the club was formalized as the Kenosha County Agricultural Society with a constitution and bylaws.[15] Johnson was selected as the first president of the organization and later also served as corresponding secretary.[14]: 107 [16]: 543 As President of the Kenosha County Agricultural Society, Johnson attended a meeting in the State Assembly hall in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 8, 1851, which recommended the formation of a State Agricultural Society. Johnson took an active part in the meeting, and was appointed to a committee to draft a constitution for the State Agricultural Society. On March 12, the convention met again and approved the constitution drafted by Johnson's committee.[14]: 9–11
Between the establishment of the Kenosha Agricultural Society in Spring 1850 and the State Agricultural Society in Spring 1851, Johnson served on the 1851 session of the Wisconsin State Assembly representing Kenosha County's eastern district representing the towns of Pike (Somers), Pleasant Prairie, and Southport (Kenosha).[17] Johnson remained a Whig until the creation of the Republican Party in 1854, and on October 26, 1955 was nominated[18] and elected[19] to another term in the Assembly for the 1856 session, running on the Republican ticket.[20]
Personal life and family
editHenry Johnson was the third child of seven children born to Henry Johnson and Betsey Johnson (née Vorce). The elder Henry Johnson had served as a captain in the American Revolutionary War. Johnson's younger brother Isaac L. Johnson, niece Martha Johnson(daughter of brother Lewis), nephew Leonard Johnson(son of brother Lewis), brother-in-law Almon Tinkham(husband of sister Betsey) and several of Betsey and sister Freelove's children all relocated to Kenosha County, Wisconsin.
The younger Henry Johnson married Violata Peckham in Niagara County, New York, sometime before 1820, she died in 1855. They had seven children:
- Lavina (born 1820) married English American immigrant Frederick J. Brande, who was also a prominent Kenosha County farmer and an ally of Henry Johnson in the founding of the Kenosha Agricultural Society and State Agricultural Society.[16]: 703 Brande held a number of local offices and owned an impressive farming estate, but committed suicide in 1889 after some financial problems.[21]
- Horace M. (born 1821) became a farmer and butcher with his own estate in Sherburne County, Minnesota. He also served in the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment and 1st Minnesota Cavalry Regiment during the American Civil War.
- Hiram (born 1823) quit farming and became a teacher, then went into business in Milwaukee. He later moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he worked as secretary of the Madison Manufacturing Company.[22]
- Violata (born 1825)
- Charles H. (born 1829)
- Rebecca Maria (born 1832)
- Edwin (born 1835)
Henry Johnson died February 27, 1868.[2] Henry and Violata are buried in Vale Cemetery in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.
References
edit- ^ a b "Vermont U.S. Vital Records 1720-1908". Ancestry.com. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
- ^ a b "Died". Kenosha Telegraph-Courier. March 5, 1868. p. 2. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
- ^ Journal of the Assembly of the State of New York at their Sixty-Second Session (Report). Albany, New York: State of New York. 1839. p. 4. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ "Whig Assembly District Convention". South Port American. May 3, 1848. p. 3. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Election Results". South Port American. May 10, 1848. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Racine County Official Election Results". South Port American. May 17, 1848. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Whig Senatorial Convention". South Port American. May 3, 1848. p. 3. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ "By Speeds Line". Milwaukee Daily Sentinel and Gazette. October 28, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
Newspaper page shows the year 1850 although newspaperarchive.com lists it as 1839
- ^ "Whig Nomination". Kenosah Telegraph-Courier. November 1, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Election Returns". Kenosha Telegraph-Courier. November 15, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Whig County Convention". Kenosha Democrat. November 1, 1951. p. 3. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Kenosha County Vote". Kenosha Democrat. November 8, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Farmers Club of Southport, Pleasant Prairie, Pike, Bristol and vicinity". Kenosha Telegraph-Courier. January 11, 1850. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c Wisconsin State Agricultural Society (1852). Transactions of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. Vol. 1 (1851). Beriah Brown. pp. 9–11, 107. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ "Farmers Meeting". Kenosha Democrat. June 6, 1850. p. 3. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ a b The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin. Western Historical Company. 1879. pp. 543, 703. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ "Constitution of the State of Wisconsin" (PDF). Manual for the use of the Assembly, of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1853. p. 41. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ "Republican Nomination". Milwaukee Daily Free Democrat. October 27, 1855. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Election Returns". Kenosha Telegraph-Courier. November 8, 1855. p. 3. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ "Election Returns". Daily Free Democrat. Milwaukee. November 10, 1855. p. 2. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ "Hung Himself". Racine Journal Times. February 11, 1889. p. 3. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ Butterfield, Consul Willshire (1880). History of Dane County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical Company. p. 1004. Retrieved June 17, 2021.