John E. Johnson (a.k.a. Johannes Johnson, 1829 – after 1909) of Utica,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, was an American farmer and politician.

Family

Johnson was born in Norway in 1829, the son of Erick Johnson Ytre Lie ( 1802–1892) and Martha Larsdatter Johnson ( 1797 – 1873). His family immigrated from

Aurland Aurland () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestland, Norway. It is located on the south side of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The administrativ ...

, Norway to the United States in 1845. In 1866 he married Martha Venaas (1844–1883), with whom he had five children. Johnson was still living at the family homestead two miles east of Utica with his brother Haakon (1835–1911) in 1909.

Career

Johnson served as a Republican member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

for 1869 from the 1st

Dane County Dane County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin after Milwaukee County, Wiscon ...

Assembly district (the

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s of

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, Rutland, Dunn, Pleasant Springs, Christiana, Cottage Grove and Blooming Grove), succeeding Nelson Williams (also a Republican), who had successfully run for the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

. He was not a candidate for re-election, and was succeeded by fellow Republican

Carpus Loveland Carpus E. Loveland (December 16, 1828 – November 7, 1912) was an American farmer from Rutland, Wisconsin, who served one term as a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and held various local offices in his home state of New York an ...

. He is not to be confused with the John A. Johnson from Madison who served in 1857 from Dane County, the John Johnson who served in 1874 from Dane County, or the John E. Johnson from Brandon who served four terms in the Assembly in the early 20th century.

Background

A native of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, Johnson was 39 when he served in the Assembly. He was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

and

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

lands.''The legislative manual, of the state of Wisconsin; comprising Jefferson's manual, rules, forms and laws, for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference: Eighth Annual Edition''. Madison: Atwood and Rublee, State Printers, 1869; pp. 172, 176, 179
/ref>

References

People from Christiana, Dane County, Wisconsin Norwegian emigrants to the United States 1829 births 20th-century deaths Year of death missing Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature {{Wisconsin-WIAssembly-Republican-stub