San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM H. JOHNSEN
For the past thirty-nine years
William H. Johnsen has made his home in the San Joaquin Valley near Tracy, and
he has been a valued factor in promoting the development and progress of this district. He was born in Holstein on October 6, 1853,
his parents being William A. and Catherine (Voss) Johnsen. The father died in Germany in 1914,
eighty-nine years old; the mother passed away in 1892, sixty-nine years old.
On his mother’s side Mr. Johnsen is
related to the famous Voss family and his second cousin, Mr. Voss, of the firm
of Bloom & Voss, famous shipbuilders of Hamburg, was at one time head
architect of Holland’s navy and was doubtless the greatest ship architect of
his time. Another cousin was John Voss,
world traveler and lecturer, who passed away in February, 1922, while on a
visit at Mr. Johnsen’s home and was, buried at Tracy.
In the land of his nativity, William
H. Johnsen was reared and his education was acquired in the public schools
there. In his twentieth year he entered
the German army, spending eight months in the carpenter’s trade and he became a
good workman in that line. In 1874 he
sailed to America, shipping as a seaman on the American vessel Franklin, at
Hamburg. From there he went to Cardiff,
England, where he subsequently sailed as a ship’s carpenter and seaman on the
ship “Gem,” and by way of Havana he made his way to New Orleans. For the next three years he was engaged on cotton
vessels, sailing from New Orleans to European ports. Leaving England in the latter part of
February, 1877, aboard the sailing vessel Samaria, where he served as ship’s
carpenter, he doubled Cape Horn and reached San Francisco July 31, 1877, and
since that time he has lived in California.
He made his first visit to the West Side of San Joaquin County in May,
1878, but continued to sail during the winter months, working as a carpenter in
San Joaquin County in the summer time; he was the only carpenter in the
Jefferson and New Jerusalem districts for several years. He now owns eighty acres of land under a good
state of cultivation and his farm is well developed, constituting a valuable
property.
The marriage of Mr. Johnsen occurred
on April 27, 1883, and united him with Mrs. Jeanette Scott, the widow of Mungo Scott, of San Joaquin County, and a native of Nova
Scotia. By this marriage there were two
daughters, Annette M. is now Mrs. Frank Nicolaysen,
and Marguerite C. is the wife of Lloyd Gerry of San Francisco. For many years Mr. Johnsen served as a
trustee of the Jefferson school district and the cause of education finds in
him a warm friend. He belongs to Summer
Lodge No. 177, I. O. O. F., of Tracy, and also has membership with the Tracy
Encampment. His is now living retired at
his ranch home near Tracy, after a busy and useful life.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
724. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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