Santa Clara County
Biographies
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSON
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSON. Now in the eventide of his busy
life, James William Johnson is located upon his ranch of thirty-seven
acres three miles west of Santa Clara on the Alviso and Saratoga roads, and
although advanced in years is still caring for his property and taking a lively
interest in all that is going on around him. He was born in Washington county, Mo., October 9, 1829, the fourth son in a
family of five sons and six daughters born to his parents, James Clarkson
and Susanna (Hunter) Johnson, both of whom were natives of Virginia and died in
Missouri. The father brought his family to Missouri in young manhood and
located in Washington county, where he engaged as a
farmer until 1849, when he crossed the plains to California by means of ox
teams. He became a miner and continued in that work until 1867, when he
returned to Missouri and spent the remainder of his life there.
In boyhood Mr. Johnson received an education in the
primitive schools of his native state, after which he found employment on the
home farm until the year of the great exodus toward the west, when he, too,
outfitted with ox teams and as a member of the same company in which his father
traveled he crossed the plains to California. On the 16th day of September the
party arrived in this state, when Mr. Johnson went into the mines in
Eldorado county and remained until 1856, his success, though moderate, being
sufficient to justify his long continuance in the work. Deciding to return to
the employment to which he had been reared he came to Santa Clara county in the
last named year, where he rented land for six years, in 1862 purchasing an
eighty acre tract, a part of which is still in his possession, and upon which
he now lives. Ten acres of this land is devoted to the cultivation of prunes,
while hay and grain are raised on the balance.
The marriage of Mr. Johnson occurred in Santa Clara county and united him with Elizabeth P. England, a
native of Crawford county, Mo., and they are the parents of the following
children: John Hunter, deceased; Mary, Mrs. Millett, of Spokane,
Wash.; Joseph B., located in this vicinity; Kittie,
at home; and William, also located near here. In memory of the time when he
first sought a home in the state Mr. Johnson is a member of the Pioneer
Society. Politically he is a Democrat, and as an interested and capable citizen
he has often been called upon to serve the public in some official capacity,
having served for three terms as road supervisor and as school director for
twelve years.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 17 April 2016.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
1079-1080. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2016 Marie Hassard.