Kansas

Kansas Tall Grass Prairie
photo by Franklin B Thompson www.trekearth.com 

John and Cornelia moved from Wisconsin to Kansas in 1876, settling in Hayes Township.  They traveled by covered wagon with their 5 living children.

John's children with his first wife Mary:
Frances "Frankie" (about 14 yrs)
Eugene (about 9 yrs)
Isaac (about 7 yrs)
Clarence (about 4 yrs)

Cornelia's daughter with her first husband, Richard Richardson
Ada (about 7 yrs)

Wagon ruts in Adair, Iowa

The distance from Dane, Wisconsin to Glen Elder, Kansas is 660 miles.  We don't know the exact route they followed.

Wagon ruts in Ellsworth, KS

c. 1886 Covered wagon.  Family unknown.
The size of the wagon is much smaller than we typically imagine.

1879  Minnie's Birth
Three years later, abt Sept. 8, 1879, Cornelia gave birth to a daughter they named Minnie Helena Johnson, their only child who lived to adulthood.



Children who did not live to adulthood (info from obituaries of John and Cornelia Johnson):

3 children of John and Mary A. Ray died before her death March 10, 1874.  One of those children was a son they named John Johnson, who was born about September 1859 and died before 1870.  He is listed on the 1860 census but not on the 1870 census.  These three children would most likely have been buried in Wisconsin where John and Mary seem to have lived their entire married lives.

2 children of John and Cornelia Underwood Richardson.  Her obituary says Cornelia lost two children in infancy but doesn't indicate dates.  John's obituary indicates he and Cornelia lost 2 children.

1880 Census, Hays Township, Mitchell County, Kansas

1880 Census

The family was in Hayes Township, Mitchell County, Kansas.  Hayes Township is 13 miles south of Glen Elder, KS and 20 miles southwest of Beloit, KS (google maps).

In the 1880 Census:

John is a farmer.

Cornelia keeps house.

Frances M (18 years) was at home.

Eugene W. (13 years) attended school.

Son Isaac (11 years) is listed as “Deaf and Dumb” and “Idiotic”, did not attend school and could not read or write.

Alda E. (11 years) attended school.

Son Clarence (8 years old) is listed as “Deaf and Dumb” and “Idiotic”, and did not attend school.

Minnie H. (our ancestor) was 9 months old.

1884 Hayes Township Map from Mitchell County Atlas

John Johnson's land is in Section 7.

Hayes Township, a 36 square mile area, had a population of 417 in 1890 (Henry Gannett, A Gazetteerof Kansas: Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey #154, Washington, Government Printing Office)    and in 2010 had a population of 16. (Kansas Historical Society) 

Francis "Frankie" Johnson

Tom Shaw

9 April 1881

Francis “Frankie” married Thomas Jasper Shaw.  They lived nearby in Cloud County, KS.  

Frankie and Thomas had four children, Gertrude "Gertie," Clyde, Edna, and Hazel.  Their oldest child, Gertie, was three years younger than John and Cornelia's daughter, Minnie.



Prospecting
Mining was a big pursuit in Mitchell County in the 1870's and 1880's.  John Johnson tried his hand at mining coal.

Coal miners at work. Created by Mesnel, published on Le Tour du Monde, Paris, 1867.
(Image Copyright: marzolino / 123RF Stock Photo)

MEMORIES FROM THE BLUE HILL REGIONOn the Frank Nash ranch iron was taken from the hills for a time in early Mitchell County.  Selenite is also quite abundant.  The mines were not rich enough to operate at a profit so were not fully developed. 

Here is an interesting item which appeared in the LEAVENWORTH DAILY TIMES on June 18, 1875, concerning the discovery of gold in Mitchell County.
“The greatest excitement exists here in regard to the discovery of gold in the Blue Hills situated near the forks of the Solomon River.  I have not visited the mines but have seen some of the quartz taken from them which looks very fine.  About 75 men are at work and a company numbering 60 is being organized at Beloit and a quartz mill has been sent for.  In fact the citizens are fully determined to see what there is in those hills.  There is no humbug about these mines.  They are a certainty and will prove so.  On the head waters of the Solomon gold has long been known to exist, but not in sufficient amount, it was deemed, to pay for prospecting.” 

Coal was mined for awhile in the Blue Hills of Mitchell County in early days.  The mines have long been closed.

1881 - 1882   News about John Johnson Prospecting for Coal

January 13, 1881     Cawker City Free Press
Coal items at this season are of immense importance, and symptoms, signs and indications of coal are looked upon with much interest.  Friday afternoon, John Johnson, a farmer on Carr Creek nine miles south of here, brought to our office a piece of cannel* coal which he found cropping out of a bank or hill near the bed of Carr Creek.  The vein is only a few inches thick, but Mr. Johnson, assisted by his neighbors, intends to drift into the hill far enough to learn whether the vein becomes valuable or runs out entirely.  Let us hope John Johnson has struck it.  It will be of untold value to the country.  [*coal that burns brightly and creates a lot of smoke.]

January 26, 1882    Cawker City Free Press
John Johnson, of Blue Hills, called last Monday.  Mr. J. is prospecting for coal, and stands a good show for striking a good bank of it.  He has already found considerable coal on his claim, which we know to be a very good article as we have burned some of it at this office.  John is a thrifty German farmer and has plowed nearly one hundred acres of his land during this winter.  - Oliver Stanwood

We find no more references to John Johnson prospecting for coal.  Apparently the amount of coal was limited.

1885 Census, Hays Township, Mitchell County, Kansas

1895 Census, Hayes Township, Mitchell County, Kansas

1895 Census

Eugene (27 years), Isaac (25), Clarence (23), and Minnie (15) are listed with their parents.  

Minnie, John, and Cornelia Johnson   c. 1895.
Note the bird with tall feathers on minnie's hat.

Minnie, John, and Cornelia Johnson   c. 1895.
Note the bird with tall feathers on minnie's hat.

1902 Map of Walnut Creek Township

1899
John and Cornelia moved their family from Hays Township to Walnut Creek Township. (date from obituary)  They purchased land in section 8, very near the property of Abel German.  

Three years later, Minnie Johnson, the only child John and Cornelia had together who lived to adulthood, married Ed German, one of the sons of Abel and Sabina German.

Ed and Minnie German  c.1900

14 Feb 1900

Minnie married Ed German.

Minnie and Ed became the parents of three sons, Harold, Curtis, and Millard.

Our German ancestry has been researched extensively by Douglas German and is shared at http://germanfamilygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Clarence and Mina Johnson  c.1900

28 May 1900

Clarence married Mina Strange

Clarence and Minnie had two children, John and Theodore, who died in infancy.  Four other children, Lillian, Edna, Selma, and Roswell grew to adulthood.

Clarence Johnson was deaf and attended school as a boy.  Mina was also deaf.  They used sign language and at least one of them could read lips.  Phyllis Whited told the story about Clarence and Mina bringing a teacher to live in their home so their children would learn to speak.  They are buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Lincoln, KS.  Joy Whited Fry (oldest daughter of Phyllis) remembers going to his funeral with Harold D. and Cecil German.

1900 Census, Walnut Creek Township, Mitchell County, Kansas

1900 Census for Walnut Creek Township, Mitchell County, Kansas
The 1900 Census shows:
Johnson     John
                  Cornelia
                  Eugene
                  Isaac

John and Cornelia went to Wisconsin to visit John's family.  Exact date unknown.

John and Cornelia Johnson

About 1902
John Johnson had a "stroke of paralysis" and his health deteriorated.

John Johnson's Obituary

John Johnson Obituary

John Johnson Remembrance Card

8 Apr 1904

John Johnson died.  He was buried in Walnut Creek Cemetery, Mitchell County, KS.

Originally, the grave stone had a ball on the top.  It was vandalized, and the ball taken.  These photos are from findagrave.com.

Walnut Creek Cemetery, Mitchell County, Kansas

Walnut Creek Cemetery, Mitchell County, Kansas

Note:  Abel German died 5 months later on 19 Sept 1904.

1905, 1910, 1915 Census

After John’s death, Cornelia lived with daughter Minnie and her husband Ed German and their young children in Walnut Creek Township, Mitchell County, KS.  Eugene also lived with them in 1905, when he is shown on the Census with them.

Isaac goes away After 1903 and (probably) Before March 1905 Census
Isaac went to live at the Kansas State Hospital for Epileptics.  

The 1900 Census shows him living in Walnut Creek with his parents.  The Hospital opened in 1903.  

Isaac is NOT on the 1905 Census with his sister Minnie German and her young family, where we find his mother, Cornelia, and brother Eugene.  Nor is he living with his brother Clarence Johnson.  Nor is he living with his sister Frankie Shaw.


14 February 1910
In 1909, Cornelia started legal proceedings which resulted in Eugene being declared "feeble-minded," rather than "insane."  On 14 Feb. 1910, the Mitchell County Sheriff was ordered to take Eugene "together with the accompanying warrant" to the Kansas State Home for Feeble-minded at Winfield. Due to the "peculiar circumstances connected with the case" it was a trial admission.

We don't know what problems precipitated Isaac's interment.



Cornelia continued to live with Minnie and Ed until her death.



21 July 1924
Cornelia Johnson died 21 July 1924.

Walnut Creek Cemetery, Mitchell County, Kansas

Walnut Creek Cemetery, Mitchell County, Kansas

Note:  Sabina German, wife of Abel German, also died in 1924.