Peter G. Johnson
This biographical portrait is found in the "Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay, and Riley Counties, Kansas"; Chicago; Chapman Bros; 1890, pg. 802.; located in the KANSAS Room at the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library.
Peter G. Johnson, one of the most prominent Swedish farmers of Riley County, is not only popular among his own countrymen but among his adopted brethren. He at one time mingled considerably in politics, and was nominated by the Greenback party as the Representative from Riley County to the Legislature, being defeated by only one vote, and there are people in the county who believe he was fully elected. His career of industry and frugality has made him independent financially, he being the owner of 500 acres of fine land, lying on sections 6, 12 and 18, Madison Township, the homestead proper being on section 18. Mr. Johnson, however, resides on section 12. He came to America poor in purse and his present possessions are the result of his own industry and perseverance. Politically he is now in sympathy with the Union Labor party.
The subject of this sketch was born in Sweden, March 15, 1834, and is the son of John and Carrie E. Johnson, who were likewise of Swedish birth and ancestry. John Johnson was twice married, both times in Sweden. His first wife died there, and after his second marriage he, in 1856, emigrated to America, and coming directly to Kansas settled in Butler County, where he died soon afterward. By his first wife, Carrie, he became the father of two children, Peter G., our subject, and August, who is now deceased. Of his second union there were four children, Victor, ?, Christina, and Tilda. August and Victor were killed by the Indians in the Indian Territory in 1862.
The subject of this sketch is the only surviving member of his family, except a half-sister who resides in Washington. He lived in Sweden until twenty-three years of age, following farming for a livelihood and acquired a practical education in the common school. During his younger years he for some time followed the sea. In 1856 he emigrated with his parents to America and thereafter spent about eighteen months in Marshall County, Ill. In 1858 he came to the territory of Kansas, settling on a tract of land in Butler County, where he operated until 1863. We then find him in Montana, where he followed various pursuits until 1865.
In the above-mentioned year, Mr. Johnson returned to Kansas and settled in Riley County, of which he has since been a resident. In 1870 he was married to Miss Anna E. ?, this lady by her first husband, the mother of two children, Hilman and Me?. Of her union with our subject there has been but one child, Peter A. Mr. Johnson's homestead, which is dully illustrated on another page, stands as a fitting monument to his industry and his value as a member of the community.