Magnus Johnson (September 19, 1871September 13, 1936) was an American politician. He served in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

as a member of the

Farmer–Labor Party The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. The American entry into World War I caused agricultural prices and workers' wages to fall, while retail prices rose sharply during the war years. Consequent ...

. Johnson is the only Swedish-born person to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Biography

Johnson was born in Ed Parish near

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

, Sweden, and his family moved to

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse ( ) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population was 52,680 as of the 202 ...

, United States, in 1891. They moved to

Meeker County, Minnesota Meeker County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,400. Its county seat is Litchfield. History The Wisconsin Territory was established by the federal government effective July 3, 1836, and ...

, in 1893. He worked as a millhand and

lumberjack Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled us ...

, became a farmer, and by 1913 was the leader of the Minnesota branch of the

American Society of Equity The American Society of Equity or Farmers Equity was an American agricultural cooperative and political organization, founded in 1902, which aimed to organize farming, farmers as a "Third Power" in the United States, able to compete with capitalis ...

and Vice President of the Equity-owned Equity Co-operative Grain Exchange and Farmers' Terminal Packing Co. He served in both the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

and the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

before being elected to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

on the Farmer-Labor ticket, to fill the seat opened because of the death of

Knute Nelson Knute Nelson (born Knud Evanger; February 2, 1843 – April 28, 1923) was a Norway, Norwegian-born United States, American attorney and politician active in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served in sta ...

. Johnson served in the Senate from July 16, 1923, to March 3, 1925, in the 68th congress. He lost his bid for reelection in 1924. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1935, in the

73rd congress The 73rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1933, ...

, winning one of the

general ticket The general ticket or party block voting (PBV), is a type of block voting in which voters opt for a party or a team of candidates, and the highest-polling party/team becomes the winner and receives 100% of the seats for this multi-member distric ...

seats. Subsequently, he resumed agricultural pursuits and served as state supervisor of public stockyards 1934–1936. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Farmer-Labor nomination for

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

in 1936.Minnesota Legislators Past and Present
/ref> Johnson died in Litchfield, where he had gone for medical treatment, on September 13, 1936, and his interment is in Dassel Community Cemetery in

Dassel, Minnesota Dassel ( ) is a city in Meeker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,472 at the 2020 census. History Dassel was platted in 1869 and named for Bernard Dassel, a railroad official. A post office has been in operation at Dassel ...

. A son of his, Francis Austin Johnson (1904–1989) is the creator of the World's

Biggest Ball of Twine There are multiple claims to the world's biggest ball of twine record, all within the United States. , the ball of twine with the largest circumference is located in Cawker City, Kansas, measured at in diameter and in height. Largest ball of s ...

; the twine ball rests under an enclosed pagoda in Darwin Township, Minnesota. He is interred in the same cemetery, near his father.

References

External links

* * * , - 1871 births 1936 deaths American Lutherans Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota Minnesota state senators People from Meeker County, Minnesota Swedish emigrants to the United States United States senators from Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party United States senators Minnesota Farmer–Laborites Farmer–Labor Party members of the United States House of Representatives Leaders of the American Society of Equity 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature People from Grums Municipality {{Minnesota-MNSenate-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links