E. E. JOHNSON

JOHNSON, DAVIS, SELEY, FINLEY

Posted By: Norma Nielson (email)
Date: 5/15/2004 at 20:50:31

"E. E. Johnson, a worthy native son and representative agriculturist of Adair county, owns and operates an excellent farm comprising two hundred acres of land on section 25, Washington township. His birth occurred in that township on the 5th of May, 1863, his parents being Jehu and Rachel (Davis) Johnson, both of whom were natives of Indiana. The father came to Adair county, Iowa, in 1853 and six years later wedded Miss Rachel Davis, their marriage being the thirteenth to be performed in this county. Mr. Johnson entered a tract of land and erected thereon a log cabin which he covered with walnut shingles and in which the family made their home for twenty-seven years. It was then replaced by a modern and more pretentious structure and Mr. Johnson also erected the other necessary buildings on his farm. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. In the demise of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson the community lost two of its esteemed pioneer residents. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom survive.

E. E. Johnson received his education in the common schools and remained under the parental roof until thirty-one years of age, when he was married and established a home of his own. He purchased a farm of two hundred acres on section 25, Washington township, the operation of which has claimed his time and energies continuously since and on which he has made a number of substantial improvements. In connection with the cultivation of cereals he makes a specialty of raising and feeding stock of all kinds, this branch of his business materially augmenting his annual income. He is a stockholder in the Adair Telephone Company and has long been numbered among the substantial and enterprising citizens of his native county.

In 1894 Mr. Johnson was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary L. Seley, a native of Union county, Iowa, and a daughter of W. B. and Lucretia (Finley) Seley, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. They came to Iowa in an early day, locating first in Union county, later in Adams county and subsequently in Adair county, here spending the remainder of their lives. They became the parents of sixteen children, eleven of whom are yet living. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born six children, namely: Marion, who is deceased; Elmer E.; Rachel; Ruth; Thomas; and William.

Mr. Johnson exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party and has served his fellow townsmen in the capacity of trustee and school director. His wife is a devoted and consistent member of the Congregational church, exemplifying its teachings in her daily life. They have made many friends and are accorded the hospitality of the best homes."

Source: The "History of Adair County Iowa and its People," Volume II. (Chicago, The Pioneer Publishing Company) 1915.