Johnson Family Correspondence

Johnson Family Correspondence

• 1891-1990 (Creation)

Consists of eight letters documenting the lives of the Johnson family from 16 July 1891 to 7 January 1906. There is also an inventory dividing up family assets and a letter about relatives of the Johnson family from Kvarnevad, and a 1990 "Bayfield County Historical Happenings" that contains excerpts of these letters.

Biographical Note

Correspondence between Hanna and Johan Johnson in Washburn, Wisconsin and Johanna Svensdotter in Sweden. They attend the Swedish church each Sunday and once each weekday. The children are taught to read Swedish at church. They are farmers and say they are doing better than they would be in Sweden. A letter dated 4 September 1894 from Washburn, Wisconsin, to Herman Johnson discusses the fires in Washburn. The losses were large, but no lives were taken.
The next letter is dated 24 March 1896 from J. Johnson in Washburn, Wisconsin, to his brother Herman Johanson. He congratulates his brother on his marriage and wishes him happiness, success, and good health. He works on his land with the help of eight men taking out timber. He will look for work building the railroad to Hinkley. He must earn money to make up for what he lost in the Washburn Bank failure.

The following letter dates 1902 from J.O. Johnson thanking Mr. Adolph Johnson (Adolf Jonsson?) in Lilla Svenstorp for his letter of 3 June 1901 and the sum of money it included. An inventory shows that on 4 January 1902 the estate of the widow Johanna Svensdotter in Stora Svenstorp was divided between members of the family. Amounts of assets, claims, expenses, and money left over to divide are included in this inventory.

The next letter is dated 25 October 1902 from John O. Johnson in Washburn to Herman Johnson. He says it has been nine years since the two brothers have spoken. He is a foreman for the railroad plant. Washburn has grown to almost 7,000 people. John Johnson’s daughter, Adele Johnson, 16, writes in a letter to Uncle Herman that she goes to school everyday and that her and her sister, Hilda prepared for confirmation last summer. She would like to be fluent in English. A letter dated 7 January 1906 from J.O. Johnson to Brother Herman Johnson says he has a seven-month old boy. They have seven boys and two girls, as well as two grandchildren. He works as a foreman on the railroad for the lumber company Foster Latimer in Mellen, Wisconsin, but still lives in Washburn where he has sixteen town lots. He does not drink and says it ruins a man’s body and soul.

The last letter is written by Arne Strang from the county library in Skaraborg dated 10 September 1985 concerning relatives of the Johnson family from Kvarnevad.