Meeker County MN Archives Biographies.....Johnson, Taylor 1832 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 9, 2020, 12:54 am Source: Alden, Ogle & Co. Author: See Below TAYLOR JOHNSON, a leading Scandinavian farmer of Collinwood township, living on section 9, was born in Sweden June 10, 1832, and is the son of John and Christina Johnson. At the age of eleven years he commenced to learn the tailor’s trade, and followed that line of business in his native land until 1858, when, with a natural desire to better his condition in life, he crossed the ocean to America. He settled in Carver county, this State, putting in his time on a twenty-acre tract that he purchased there, and in working for his neighbors, until August 20, 1862, when he enlisted in Company H, Ninth Minnesota Infantry. The next day he heard of the Indian outbreak, and took his family to an island in Clearwater Lake, where many others had fled for safety, where they camped without shelter from the rain. Three days later Mrs. Johnson went home to their little cabin in the brush, with her four children, her husband going with his regiment to Glencoe. He remained in that locality until spring, and then participated in the Sibley expedition, and was present at the hanging of the thirty-eight Indians at Mankato. In October, 1863, he, with the regiment, was ordered South, and met the enemy at Guntown, Miss. They also were engaged in the siege and capture of Mobile. Our subject was mustered out of service in October, 1865, and returned to his home. While he was absent in the army, his wife was laid up by sickness brought on by exposure, and for the last week of her illness she and her little ones were without food or fire, although it was cold winter weather. An old man hobbled over on crutches, finally, to find what had become of them, and helped them out of their distress by sawing up some wood and sending in some provisions. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Johnson removed to Minneapolis, where he was employed in lumber yards, etc., until the spring of 1869, when he came to Collinwood township and settled where he now lives. He was married November 1, 1855, to Christina Louisa Anderson, a native of Sweden, born June 12, 1835, and daughter of Andrew and Katrina Anderson. They have had eleven children, namely— Hulda, born December 11, 1856, died January 11, 1873; Frank Victor, born January 1, 1859; Abbie, born October 9, 1860; Clara, born August 3, 1862; Godfrey, born April 30, 1866, and died September 10, 1866; August, born July 24, 1867; Josephine, born October 22, 1869; Ida, born December 25, 1871, and died September 16, 1878; Alice, born April 14, 1874; Hulda, born July 9, 1876, and died April 24, 1880; and Nathaniel, born March 26, 1878. Mr. Johnson is a zealous member of the Lutheran Church. In politics he is a republican of the strict type, and is an influential citizen. His estimable wife is beloved by all with whom she comes in contact, and her home-loving tastes are abundantly testified to by the multitude of choice plants and flowering shrubs that adorn and beautify her home, and make winter lovely with summer’s perfumes and verdure. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Illustrated Album of Biography Meeker and McLeod Counties, Minnesota 1888 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mn/meeker/bios/johnson208nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/mnfiles/ File size: 3.7 Kb