Columbia County OR Archives Biographies.....Johnson, N. D. December 25, 1862 - 
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com July 4, 2010, 12:19 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 450 - 455
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     N. D. JOHNSON, who for many years has been successfully engaged in 
commercial salmon fishing, is numbered among Rainier's best known and most 
highly respected citizens. He was born in Coffey county, Kansas, on the 25th 
of December, 1862, and is a son of N. D. and Elizabeth (Brown) Johnson, the 
former born in Ohio and the latter in Pennsylvania. The father went to Kansas 
in the late '50s and took up a homestead in Coffey county, of which section he 
was a pioneer. Johnson's Ford, of which he was the first settler, was named 
for him. At the outbreak of the Civil war, he enlisted in the Seventh 
Regiment, Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, with which he served for four years. He 
took part in many of the most hotly contested engagements of the war, in one 
of which he was severely wounded, being crippled for the rest of his life. At 
the close of the war he went to Fort Scott, Kansas, and engaged in freighting, 
which he followed until his death, which occurred in about 1870. To him and 
his wife were born four children: Shepard, who, at the age of fifteen years, 
enlisted for service as a drummer boy in the Civil war, died of cholera on his 
way to the front. The others were Eunice Jane, deceased; N. D., and Rosetta, 
deceased. After the death of her first husband, Mrs. Johnson became the wife 
of Frederick C. Winchester, who also was a veteran of the Civil war. In 1875 
the family came to Oregon, locating at Rainier, Columbia county, where Mr. 
Winchester, who was a cooper by trade, engaged in making barrels for the 
salmon packers, who at that time salted and packed the fish in barrels, 
instead of canning them, as is now done. He followed that line of work at 
Rainier during the greater part of his life and his death occurred here in 
1902. His widow died in 1907. They became the parents of a daughter, Dora, who 
is deceased. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Winchester were both members of the Grand 
Army of the Republic.

     N. D. Johnson received his education in the public schools of Kansas and 
was about thirteen years of age when the family came to Rainier, where he 
attended night school. He learned the trade of a cooper, which he followed 
until twenty-one years of age, when he turned his attention to commercial 
salmon fishing on the Columbia river and has been engaged in that line of 
business continuously since — a period of forty-five years. Through his close 
application and the exercise of sound judgment in all of his affairs, he has 
prospered and is no win very comfortable circumstances, being regarded as one 
of Rainier's substantial citizens.

      On February 9, 1896, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Anna 
Moen, a native of Norway and a daughter of Knute and Ingeborg (Kandall) Moen, 
who brought their family from Norway to the United States in 1883. They 
settled near Crookston, Marshall county, Minnesota, where the father took up a 
homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of low swamp land, which he drained 
and improved and was successfully engaged in farming there during the 
remainder of his life, his death occurring on the old homestead in 1924, when 
he was ninety-two years old. Before leaving his native land he had learned the 
carpenter trade and erected all of his own farm buildings. To him and his wife 
were born six children, as follows: Andrew, who lives on the old homestead in 
Minnesota; Mrs. Johnson; Mrs. Bertha Lauggaland, of Portland, Oregon; Mrs. 
Ella Ingebretsen, of Rainier ; Ole, of Thief River Falls, Minnesota; and 
Clara, who also lives in Minnesota. The mother of these children died in 1927. 
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children: N. D., III, who graduated from the 
high school at Rainier, is now in his third year at the University of Oregon, 
where he is majoring in commercial law. Blaine Moen graduated from the Rainier 
high school in 1928 and is now in the University of Oregon.

     Mr. Johnson is a republican in his political views and has shown a 
commendable interest in public affairs. He has served as a member of the city 
council at Rainier and is a strong advocate of good schools. He and his wife 
own a nice home in Rainier, as well as six lots in a very attractive location 
in the city, commanding a fine view of the Columbia river. The spacious 
grounds which surround their house are planted to various kinds of fruit trees 
and shrubbery, while flowers are much in evidence. Mrs. Johnson is very fond 
of flowers and spends a goodly portion of her time in her garden, in the 
cultivation of which she has been very successful. She also takes an active 
interest in church work and in matters affecting the civic welfare of the 
community. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are well known throughout Rainier and have a 
large circle of warm and loyal friends, who esteem them for their genuine 
worth.

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