Johnson, W. S.

JOHNSON, DOOLITTLE, HOODLEY

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 9/1/2009 at 07:50:12

Johnson, W. S.

Those who know W. S. Johnson, well known editor and publisher of Jasper County, will readily acquiesce in the statement that there is much in his life record worthy of commendation and admiration. Like many other energetic young men who are leaving their impress upon the magnificent development of this favored section of the great Hawkeye commonwealth, he did not wait for a specially brilliant opening. Indeed, he could not wait, for his natural industry would not have permitted him to do so. In his early youth he gave evidence of the possession of traits of character which have made his life exceptionally successful and he is today admittedly one of the useful, public-spirited citizens of the locality of which this history treats; having long had its interests at heart and doing all in his power for its general progress along material, civic and moral lines, thereby becoming a molder of public opinion and winning the confidence and good will of all classes.

Mr. W. S. Johnson was born at Worthington, Ohio, October 9, 1860. He is the son of Rev. Silas and Harriet L. (Doolittle) Johnson, the father pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Worthington for a number of years, and a prominent figure in that denomination in the Buckeye State, from which the family moved to Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1862, thence to Indianola, this state, in 1867, where the subject of this sketch grew to manhood and received his education in the public schools and Simpson College, located in that city. He later attended the Iowa State University. In 1883 he read law in the office of Young & Parrish at Leon, Iowa, and the same year was admitted to the bar by the district court and he at once opened an office at Leon, where he engaged in the practice of his profession for about two years. Although he was building up a large clientele and meeting with general success, the law was not exactly to his taste and in 1885 he turned his attention to the field of journalism, purchasing the Leon Journal, of which paper he was editor and manager for six years; since then he has been owner and editor of the Express at Garden Grove, Iowa, the Pioneer at Sanborn, Iowa, and the Record in the city of Newton, having bought the latter paper in 1905 and he still continues as editor and owner. He has conducted all these popular newspapers in a manner that reflects much credit on his ability and rendered them very potent factors in the community. He has improved the mechanical appearance of each, making them the disseminators of the brightest and best news of the day, greatly increased the circulation of each and rendered them most valuable advertising mediums. His editorials are always eagerly read and have much weight on whatever topic that is taken up. These papers are easily the peer of any of their class in the state. Mr. Johnson ranks high in the estimation of his professional brethren throughout the country.

Mr. Johnson was married on May 20, 1889, at Leon, Iowa, to Julia B. Hoodley, the representative of an excellent family and a lady of many estimable traits. This union has been blessed by the birth of three children, namely: Lewis, Ruth and Bertha. Mr. Johnson is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Newton, and in his fraternal relations he belongs to the Masonic order. He has been a member of the school board of Newton for four years and he is in his second term as president of the Newton Commercial Association. If he takes pride in any one thing it is that he has never lost an opportunity to boost his own city and state. Personally he is a genial, obliging and unassuming gentleman, popular with the masses, irrespective of party alignment. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 972.