Michael Johnson (Wisconsin politician)

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Michael Johnson (January 4, 1832 – 11 February 1908) was an American farmer from Springdale, Wisconsin, who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Dane County, as well as holding various local offices.

Contents

Background

Johnson was born on January 4, 1832, in Sogn, in Bergen Stift, Norway. [1] He moved to Windsor (town), Wisconsin, in 1853. In April 1853, he married Jone Nelson Hone, who died in June 1854. Johnson later moved to Vienna, Wisconsin, before settling in Springdale in 1856, where he bought 148 acres of land. In May of that year, he married Brita Samsonsdatter, born in 1835 in Norway. Brita died 19 April 1864, leaving him with two children. He was married once more, in March 1865, to Betsey T. Lee. They had six children together. [2]

Public office

When first elected to the Assembly in 1873 from the 4th Dane County Assembly district (towns of Blue Mounds, Fitchburg, Madison, Middleton, Montrose, Oregon, Perry, Primrose, Rutland, Springdale, and Verona), Johnson had been a justice of the peace for thirteen years and town treasurer for seven years. He had been elected town chairman in 1872 and re-elected in 1873 (as he would be through 1878; and again in 1881–82). [3] As a town chairman, he was ex officio a member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors; for the 1877-78 term, he was chairman of the Board.

Johnson was elected as a Democrat, with 1,135 votes to 786 for Republican former Assemblyman Carpus Loveland (Republican incumbent Hiram Cornwell was not a candidate), and was assigned to the standing committee on roads and bridges. [4] He was re-elected in 1874 as part of the Reform Party (a coalition of Democrats, reform and Liberal Republicans, and Grangers formed in 1873, which secured the election of one Governor of Wisconsin and a number of state legislators) with 1,191 votes to 987 for former Republican Assemblyman Phineas Baldwin, and moved to the committee on assessment and collection of taxes. [5] He was re-elected in 1875 as a Reformer, with 1,155 votes to 987 for Republican Halle Steensland; and moved to the committee on state affairs. [6]

After a redistricting, he was once again re-elected in 1876 as a Reformer from the new 1st Dane County district (Towns of Berry, Black Earth, Blue Mounds, Cross Plains, Dane, Fitchburg, Mazomanie, Middleton, Montrose, Perry, Primrose, Roxbury, Springdale, Springfield, Verona, Vermont and Westport), with 2,681 votes to 1481 for Republican R. Cowdrey. He moved to the committee on state lands. [7] With the Reform Party in dissolution, he did not seek re-election in 1877, and was succeeded by Democrat John Lyle.

Personal life and later years

As of 1880, Johnson's farm in Springdale was 336 acres, with a two-story frame house and various improvements. In addition to farming, he raised livestock. [8]

In 1881, he was the Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of Wisconsin, coming in second in the general election to Ernst Timme, with 70,141 votes to Timme's 83,071, 11,643 for Prohibitionist Edmund Bartlett, and 6,747 for Greenbacker Wilson Hopkins. [9]

When it was proposed that Dane County create a separate insane asylum apart from the county's poor farm, Johnson was appointed as part of the commission which oversaw its construction (it opened in 1883) and became one of its trustees. [10] In 1891-1892, he spent some time doing land appraisal of swampland in Crawford County which belonged to the state's school lands. [11]

He was a presidential elector in 1892, voting for the successful Democratic ticket of Cleveland and Stevenson. In October 1893 the new President appointed Johnson assistant revenue collector for the second district of Wisconsin; he continued in that job until the end of January 1900.

Johnson was an active member of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, repeatedly representing his home congregation in the synod; he was elected to the synod's governing council twice, serving for six years. By the time he retired from farming in March 1893, selling his farm in Springdale and moving to Mount Horeb, he had been a justice of the peace for 26 years. [12] He died 11 February 1908 in Mount Horeb. [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Smith (Wisconsin politician)</span> American politician

Henry Smith was a millwright, architect, builder and politician who was elected a member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin from 1887 - 1889 as a member of the Union Labor Party. He also served as a Socialist member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1878. At different times, Smith ran for office on the Socialist, Greenback, Democratic and Union Labor tickets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas R. Hudd</span> 19th century American politician

Thomas Richard Hudd was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from northeast Wisconsin. He served three years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 5th congressional district from 1886 to 1889. He previously served 10 years in the Wisconsin Senate and two years in the State Assembly, and served various local offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Winans</span> 19th century American politician

John Winans was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Janesville, Wisconsin. He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 1st congressional district during the 48th Congress (1883–1885). He then served as the 25th mayor of Janesville, from 1885 to 1889. Earlier, he represented Janesville and central Rock County for six years in Wisconsin State Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Keogh</span> 19th century American politician

Edward Keogh was an Irish American immigrant, printer, Democratic politician, and pioneer settler of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served 17 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly between 1860 and 1895, representing Milwaukee's 3rd ward, and was the 37th speaker of the Assembly. He also served two years in the State Senate.

The Reform Party, also called Liberal Reform Party or People's Reform Party, was a short-lived coalition of Democrats, reform and Liberal Republicans, anti-temperance forces, and Grangers formed in 1873 in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, which secured the election for two years of William Robert Taylor as Governor of Wisconsin, as well as electing a number of state legislators.

Owen King was a lumber dealer from Helena, Wisconsin, who served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly representing part of Iowa County, being elected in 1874 as a Reform Party member, then in 1877 as a Greenbacker.

Christian Ellefson was an American farmer from the Town of Franklin, in Vernon County, Wisconsin who served two separate one-year terms as an Independent Greenback member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Joseph Hamilton was an American printer, newspaper editor, and life insurance agent from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who spent two one-year terms as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly: in 1874 as a member of the short-lived People's Reform Party, also known as the Liberal Reform Party, and in 1877 as a Democrat.

Samuel Decius Hubbard was an American farmer, livestock dealer, and politician who served four discontinuous terms over three decades as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. He also served as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War.

James Higgins was an Irish-born American farmer from Shields, Wisconsin who spent a single term, in 1876, as a Reform Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Dodge County.

Harman Grube was an American farmer from Emmet, Dodge County, Wisconsin who spent a single term as a Reform Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Henry Cook Mumbrue was an American steamboat operator, businessman, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate (1877–1878) and Assembly (1876), representing Waupaca County. He was at one point the richest resident of Waupaca County, but his riverboat business was wiped out when train lines arrived in the region. His name is often abbreviated as H. C. Mumbrue.

Frederick Moskowitt, sometimes spelled Moskowitz or Muskowitz, was an American gardener and farmer from the Town of Milwaukee, Wisconsin who served intermittently in the Wisconsin State Assembly for a total of five terms over a period from 1855 to 1878, under three different party labels: Democratic, Wisconsin Reform, and Liberal Republican.

Thomas Mohr was an American farmer and politician from Kossuth, Wisconsin, who served two one-year terms (1876-1877) as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Manitowoc County.

Donald Alexander McDonald was a steamboat owner and lumberman from La Crosse, Wisconsin, who served in both houses of the state legislature as well as being a candidate for mayor of that city.

Philo Quincy Boyden(1829–1922) was an American pharmacist from Hudson, Wisconsin, who served two one-year terms as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Guy W. Dailey was a farmer from Hudson, Wisconsin,USA, who was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from St. Croix County for a single one-year term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Wall (politician)</span> American politician

Thomas Robert Wall was an American lumberman, banker, farmer and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philo Dunning</span> American politician

Philo Dunning was an American merchant and druggist from Madison, Wisconsin, who held a number of local office, spent a single one-year term as a Reform Party member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Dane County, and served on the state fisheries commission.

John T. Lyle Jr. was an American farmer from Montrose, Wisconsin, who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and as chairman of his town.

References

  1. ↑ Official Directory. The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin. 1876. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  2. ↑ History of Dane County: Biographical and Genealogical Volume 2. Madison:Western Historical Association, 1906; pp. 470-71
  3. ↑ Sesquicentennial Committee for the 150th Anniversary of the Town of Springdale. Town of Springdale, Dane County, Wisconsin : 1848-1998[s.n.], [1998]; p. 8
  4. ↑ Turner, A. J., ed. The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin: comprising the constitutions of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin, Jefferson's manual, forms and laws for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference, etc. Thirteenth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Culver, Printers and Stereotypers, 1874; pp. 350, 457, 475, 479
  5. ↑ Bashford, R. M., ed. The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin: comprising the constitutions of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin, Jefferson's manual, forms and laws for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference, etc. Fourteenth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Culver, Printers and Stereotypers, 1875; pp. 321, 347
  6. ↑ Bashford, R. M., ed. The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin: comprising the constitutions of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin, Jefferson's manual, forms and laws for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference, etc. Fifteenth Annual Edition. Madison: E. B. Bolens, State Printer, 1876; pp. 464, 485, 490
  7. ↑ Bashford, R. M., ed. The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin: comprising the constitutions of the United States and of the state of Wisconsin, Jefferson's manual, forms and laws for the regulation of business; also, lists and tables for reference, etc. Sixteenth Annual Edition. Madison: E. B. Bolens, State Printer, 1877; pp. 452, 482, 487
  8. ↑ History of Dane County, Wisconsin: Containing an Account of its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880; pp. 412, 1231
  9. ↑ Heg, J. E., ed. The blue book of the state of Wisconsin 1882 Madison, 1882; pp. 525-26
  10. ↑ Bechtner, Paul; Gray, N.A.; Hare, A.J. "Biennial report of the Board of Trustees of the Milwaukee asylum for insane, for the two years ending September 30, 1886", p. 78, in, Governor's message and accompanying documents of the state of Wisconsin Volume II (Covers 1884/1886). Madison: Democrat Printing Company, 1887
  11. ↑ Cunningham, T. J., et al. "Biennial reports of the secretary of state, commissioners of public printing, and the superintendent of public property of the state of Wisconsin, for the fiscal term ending September 30, 1892", pp. 47, 133, in, Governor's message and accompanying documents of the state of Wisconsin Volume I (Covers 1890/1892). Madison: Democrat Printing Company, 1893
  12. ↑ History of Dane County: Biographical and Genealogical Volume 2. Madison:Western Historical Association, 1906; pp. 470-71
  13. ↑ "Michael Johnson Dies". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, WI. February 13, 1908. p. 3. Retrieved August 18, 2020– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  14. ↑ "Honor Dead Solons: Memorial for Members Who Died Since Last Session to be Held April 28" Eau Claire Leader April 18, 1909; p. 8, col. 2
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.