Johnson, J. R.

JOHNSON, AUSBAUGH, LONGWORTH

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Date: 4/15/2003 at 22:16:48

Source: "The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated" published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.

J. R. JOHNSON, M. D.

Among the prominent and successful physicians of Clinton, Iowa, who for many years has been a conscientious and skilled practitioner, is Dr. J. R. Johnson, whose name and fame is known over a wide extent of country.

The birth of Dr. Johnson was at Camanche, Clinton county, Iowa, on March 21, 1871, and he was a son of J. D. and Dicy Ann (Ausbaugh) Johnson, the former of whom was a native of England, and the latter of Iowa. She belonged to one of the pioneer families of the state, and her father was one of the early stage drivers and mail carriers in the locality of Danville, Iowa. John Johnson, who is the father of our subject, came to this country about 1870, later removing to Montgomery, Iowa. His trade was that of plow maker and as business demanded, he changed his location, but with the exception of the years included between 1874 and 1883, during which time he lived in Illinois, his home has been in the great state of Iowa. At present Mr. Johnson and family are located at Massena, Cass county, Iowa, where he conducts a general blacksmith business.

Dr. Johnson, of this biography, was one of a family of fourteen children born to his parents, eleven of whom still survive, these being: Our subject; Victor; Charles V.; Tenie; Alice; Bessie; Nellie; May; James; William and Harry.

The early education of our subject was pursued in the public schools of Illinois, but he later became an apt student at Highland Park Normal College at Des Moines, Iowa, and still later at the S. S. Still College of Osteopathy, at Des Moines, at which great institution he graduated with the degree of D. O., in 1900. Immediately after he began the practice of his profession, in Clinton, Iowa, and his success was most flattering from the beginning. His name has become known throughout the country, through his success in treating various distinguished patients, whose endorsements have been willingly and gratefully given.

The system of treatment adopted by Dr. Johnson, called Osteopathy, may thus be briefly explained. It is curing by means of mechanical manipulations. Two systems of mechanical treatment, massage and Swedish movements, have for many years been known and endorsed by the medical profession. Osteopathy is of more recent development than either of the above, and far superior to these.

The Osteopathist looks upon the human body as being in a state of health only when every organ is in place and performing its perfect work. When there is disorder, the physician of this method of treatment operates upon two lines, the first of these being to correct any malpositions or strained conditions found to exist in the framework of the body, having made a special study of the construction and being prepared to correct any defects. His second great resource lies in scientific manipulations by which the nervous system can be depressed or stimulated in whole or in part, arguing that in many instances the use of internal remedies is simply substituting an artificial force or element for one which the system itself should exert or produce. Dr. Johnson claims that Osteopathy is effective in the treatment of all classes of diseases, but is especially successful in chronic cases of constipation, dysentery, and other bowel and stomach troubles; in quinsy, tonsillitis, goiter, rheumatism, nervous disorders, blood and skin diseases, and in female troubles. That he is justified in his confidence in his system of medicine may be gathered by the volumes of unsolicited testimony he is constantly receiving.

The marriage of Dr. Johnson was at Massena, Iowa, to Miss Ida May Longworth, a resident of that place, and one child has been born to this union,--Russell, now three years of age. Both the Doctor and his estimable wife are consistent members of the Baptist church, in which he was a minister for four years at Conway, and three years at Gravity, Iowa. Dr. Johnson is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Clinton and a leading physician in the West in his chosen branch of medicine.