Jesse Johnson
As owners of large landed estates, as substantial farmers who have brought the latent resources of the soil to productiveness, perhaps no one family in Grant County has operated so extensively as that of Johnson, one of the best known members of which is Mr. Jesse Johnson of Mill Township.
Mr. Johnson's early ancestors in America are thought to have been of Scotch origin, but hey had lived in Pennsylvania since before the Revolution, and little is known concerning the founders of the name in that State. His grandfather was John Johnson, a native of Pennsylvania, who died there when an old man. He was a farmer by occupation, and among his children was John Jr. John Johnson Jr. grew up in Pennsylvania, was married there and with his bride set out to become a pioneer in Ohio. They located in what was then Guernsey County, but on land now included in Nobel County. He was like many of the pioneers skilled in the use of his rifle, and with that he killed a great many deer, and by selling the skins and the hindquarters accumulated enough money to buy his first forty acres of wild land, paying cash for it. In that way may he be said to have laid the foundation of the large Johnson fortune as land holders. In Ohio he worked out his destiny as an early settler, and one of the shrewdest business men of his time. His hardship and experiences would make a fascinating story, if told in detail, and he was one of the strong men of his generation. He planned and planted one of the first orchards in Noble County, and that orchards was famous for miles around during his lifetime. In the meantime his children had been growing up about him, and as population was getting close in that part of Ohio he looked westward in planning homes for the younger members of the family. With this in view, in 1835, he came to Grant County, and entered half a section of land in Jefferson Township, it being his intention that this should be a place for his sons to test the quality of their characters as home builders in much the same manner as had been done some years before in Ohio. He also secured some government land in Delaware County, and as the years followed, he gradually sent one son after the other to Indiana, affording each one an opportunity to prosper. In securing large tracts of land in Indiana he was actuated not by desire for speculation, and he was never a speculator in the sense in which many were in those times, his sole ambition being to provide an outlet for the energies of his growing family. After getting land in this section of Indiana, he returned to Ohio, and he and his wife continued to live and labor in that State until they died in Noble County. Both were then at a good old age, and they lie buried side by side in Noble County. His wife's maiden name was Mary Burns, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Of their eleven children, some died young, but most of them came to Grant and Delaware County, Indiana. Of these James Johnson, a brother of Jesse, became one of the largest land holders in Grant County, owning about three thousand acres here. He is now deceased, and more complete information regarding him will be found in the sketch of his son Noah Johnson, elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Jesse Johnson was born in Noble County, Ohio, August 8, 1824. He grew up there, had a common school education, and when a young man came to Grant County, where he has applied his efforts so successfully as to accumulate a splendid estate. Mr. Johnson has not confined his investments all in one locality, and is the owner of property in several states. His home farm comprises one hundred and forty acres in Section Twenty-five of Mill Township. In the State of Missouri, he has two hundred and eighty acres, in one tract near Carrollton, and a place of one hundred and forty-six acres near Norburn, both in Carroll County. He owns one hundred hundred and seventy-five acres on the Mississinewa River, in Jefferson Township, and its improvements include a splendid barn and a good house. Another farm on which he pays taxes, embraces three hundred and ninety-six acres, all well improved and valuable property, in Monroe Township of Grant county. Near Fox Station in this county he has three hundred and forty acres, and owns one hundred and sixty acres near North Judson, in Pulaski County. While he was attending the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, he acquired by purchase, seventy-three acres in DuPage County, Illinois, and still owns that tract. Mr. Johnson has never invested in land haphazard, but always judiciously, and has selected only the most productive soil, and his chief industry has been the raising of the cereal crops and live stock, especially sheep. There are few men in the middle west who have made a more complete success as farmers and stockmen than Jesse Johnson and his name is well known among men in many localities. What he has accomplished represents a find natural ability and a long continued application of the industry and judgment which may be said to be native in the family stock.
Mr. Johnson has never married, and is spending his last years at the home place above mentioned in t he household of Mr. John Ludlow and wife. Mr. Ludlow operates this farm, and has been in charge for the last four years,. having come here from Madison County, Indiana, where he was born and reared. He was married in Madison County to Miss Alta Worley of the same county. They are the parents of four children: Eva, Edna, Wilbur and Howard.
Source: Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914, page 1057.