Mark D. Johnson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1261-1262 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				HON. MARK D. JOHNSON. 

	Hon. Mark D. Johnson, living at Mission Hill, is representative 
from the third district in the South Dakota legislature. He was born in 
Yankton county, near the town in which he resides, a son of Halvor D. 
and Berthe H. Johnson. The father was born near Lillehammer, Norway, 
and came to the United States in 1858. The mother's birth occurred near 
Gjovik, Norway, and she made the voyage to the new world in 1867. Both 
arrived in Dakota territory in 1868, traveling with ox teams as members 
of a company of forty people. They were married in South Dakota and 
have since resided within its borders. 

	Spending his youthful days under the parental roof in Yankton 
county, Mark D. Johnson there attended the public schools and afterward 
became a student in the commercial department of the State University 
at Vermillion. His attention has since been largely devoted to 
diversified farming and he is also connected with cooperative business 
interests at Mission Hill, where he is serving as vice president of the 
Farmers Elevator Company. The careful management of his business 
affairs constitutes the basic element of his growing success, his 
energy and determination finding expression in well defined plans which 
are carefully executed 

	On the 8th of June, 1895, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to 
Miss Berthe Bruget, born on the 2d of March, 1868, her parents being 
Jorgen and Olive Bruget, who were born near Lillehammer, Norway. Mr. 
and Mrs. Johnson have seven children, as follows: Hulda Agnes, whose 
natal day was March 19, 1897; Nora Otilia, whose birth occurred August 
21, 1898; Ethel Mabel, born January 1, 1900; Julia Henrietta, August 
11, 1902; Grace Edith, August 25, 1904; Merwin Burnham, April 15, 1905; 
and Ernest Alexander, born May 1, 1908. 

	The religious faith of the family is that of the Lutheran church, 
while the political belief of Mr. Johnson is that of the republican 
party. He has served as township assessor and as school officer in his 
district, and recognition of his ability and worth as a man and citizen 
came to him in his election to the state legislature for Yankton 
county. He took his seat in the general assembly during the session of 
1915 and has manifested a public spirited devotion to the general good 
in the performance of his duties.