Edwin and Clara Johnson Letters

Collection

Identifier: Mss 148

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Edwin and Clara Johnson letters consist of forty-six letters written by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson to Edward R. Sibley of Weston, Massachusetts between 1880 and 1898. His relationship to the family is unknown. The letters are a combination of original letters and typed transcriptions. All are written from their home at Hillsboro (except the first letter which was written from Fargo). The letters document very nicely the lives of a pioneer family in Dakota in the 1880s. The letters for the 1890s are not as numerous. Topics discussed are farming, family, weather, Hillsboro, the Congregational Church at Kelso, and the death of Mr. Johnson. Also included is one letter from Charles N. Johnson dated March 27, 1887, written from Willow, N.D. (located in Griggs County). In it he discusses his grain trading business. The biographical folder contains some information on Charles H. Johnson taken from the Myrtle Porterville Collection.

Dates

1880-1898

Creator

Johnson, Edwin J., 1849-1896. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The Institute owns the copyrights.

Biography

Edwin J. Johnson was born in 1849 near Milo, Maine, the son of Levi Johnson, a farmer in Piscataquis County. In the late 1870s he came to Traill County, Dakota Territory where he homesteaded in Hillsboro Township. His brother Charles H. Johnson had come to Traill County in 1876, living in Fargo by 1879. In early 1880 he married Clarista Smith at Fargo, N.D. who was also born in Maine in November 1846. The family resided for a short time in Fargo before making their permanent home at Hillsboro. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had four children, Clara Mabell, Ella, Etta, and Walter. Mr. Johnson died January 17, 1896 and Mrs. Johnson December 19, 1922. They are buried at Riverside Cemetery, Hillsboro, N.D.