Bio of JOHNSON, Joseph Smith (b.181? d.1892), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol III, pg 421
JOSEPH SMITH JOHNSON
Although more than three decades have passed since the death of Joseph Smith
Johnson, he is still remembered by many of the older residents of Minneapolis as
one of its early and honored settlers, having taken up his abode at St. Anthony
in 1854. He had reached the venerable age of eighty-one years when called to his
final rest, in 1892, his birth having occurred at Farmington, Maine, on the 15th
of June, 181J. It was on the 23d of November, 1843, that he wedded Ann Wilder
Jewett of Pittston, Maine, who survived him for six years, passing away in 1898.
Soon after his arrival at St. Anthony in 1854, Mr. Johnson purchased one hundred
and sixty acres of land bounded by Nicollet and Lyndale avenues and extending
be­tween these streets from Grant street to Franklin avenue, including much of
Loring Park and such important residence streets as Oak Grove, Clifton,
Groveland and Ridgewcod avenues. It was also in 1854 that he built on Johnson's
Lake, Loring Park, the first house in the district outlined above, where he
lived until 1870, when he built and occupied a house on Nicollet avenue and
Fifteenth street. His efforts constituted an important element in the work of
upbuilding and development here and his record is inseparably interwoven with
the history of Minneapolis.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson became the parents of three children, namely: Annie
Kim-ball, who departed this life in 1918; Nellie M., who is the wife of Edward
P. Wells and resides on Groveland avenue in Minneapolis; and Mrs. Sara L.
Pierce, who is a resident of New York city. Of the grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs.
Johnson, Miss Marguerite Wells, Stuart W. Wells, Mrs. Nora Wells Jewett and Mrs.
Charles G. Ireys are residents of Minneapolis, and eleven great-grandchilden are
also living in this city, most of them on land included in Mr. Johnson's
purchase in 1854.