Biography - Robert F. Johnson

ROBERT F. JOHNSON, who lives in Minot and is register of deeds of Ward county, is entitled to the distinction of having been a pioneer of what at present constitutes two states — first of South Dakota and later of North Dakota.

Mr. Johnson was born in Gratiot county, Michigan, December 2, 1856. His father, H. B. Johnson, was a native of the state of New York and was a farmer by occupation. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Martha A. Francis, was also a native of New York state, and her marriage to H. B. Johnson occurred in that state. They were early settlers in Michigan, being among the pioneers of that state.

Our subject was reared on a farm and received preliminary education in the public schools and learned the virtue of hard work. At the age of twenty-one years he went to what is now South Dakota and settled near Elkton, in Brookings county, in 1877. He put up a claim shanty on land to which he had filed a claim and farmed there four years, doing all his farm work with oxen. In 1883, having sold his Brookings county farm, he came to the Mouse river country in what is now Ward county. North Dakota, and took a claim fourteen miles southeast of the present site of the city of Minot. The land was unsurveyed, but he staked out a quarter-section and started farming. His father and a brother-in-law settled in the locality at the same time. Mr. Johnson had at that time two hundred dollars, with a portion of which he purchased a yoke of oxen to do his farm work. In 1887 he lost his hay, grain, stable and everything except his claim shanty by a destructive prairie fire, which destroyed many farm buildings in the locality and about one' hundred acres of fine timber. However, he soon began to prosper again, and his farm was placed in a fine state of cultivation. He conducted his farm until 1892, when he became so crippled with rheumatism that he was forced to abandon farm work. He then took charge of a section house on the "Soo Line," which he run for one year, and then for a short time ran a similar house on the Great Northern road. In 1894 he was elected register of deeds of Ward county on the Republican ticket, and has since served in that capacity, having been twice reelected.

Mr. Johnson was married, in 1887, to Miss Mary H. Strong. Mrs. Johnson was born in Iowa, the daughter of George W. Strong, a farmer of that state. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson three children have been born, as follows: Grace, born May 31, 1888; Carrie, born April 1, 1890; Ethel, born December 31, 1892. Mr. Johnson has always been active in public affairs and has done much toward the development of the material resources of the county. He has two brothers and four sisters in North Dakota, all of whom were among the pioneers of the state. The Johnson family has been prominent in all matters tending to the better interests and the upward growth of the county since its organization.

Extracted 26 Dec 2019 by Norma Hass from Compendium History and Biographies of North Dakota, published in 1900, pages 950-951.

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