Clark, Robert Carlton, Ph.D. "History of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Vol. 2.
Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1927. p. 40.
 
JONATHAN JOHNSON
 
     Jonathan Johnson, of Eugene, is numbered among the sturdy old pioneers of
the northwest country who performed their full part in the development of their
respective communities and are now spending the golden sunset years of their
lives in honorable retirement. He is a native of Harrison county, Ohio, and a
son of Robert and Sarah Helen (Townsend) Johnson. His paternal grandfather,
Jonathan Johnson, who was of old Virginia Quaker stock, was for twenty-seven
years a tobacco inspector in Lynchburg, Virginia, but in an early day moved to
Ohio, where he acquired a tract of land, his death occurring in that state.
Robert Johnson secured his education in the public schools of Ohio and became a
clerk in a store but later turned his attention to farming. He afterwards came
to Washington, settling in Whitman county, where his death occurred. His wife
was a daughter of Thomas Townsend, who was a prominent physician in Virginia,
and her death occurred in Ohio in an early day.
 
     Jonathan Johnson attended the public schools of his native state and at the
age of seventeen years began teaching school, a vocation which he followed
several years. In 1877 he arrived in Whitman county, Washington, and look up a
homestead and a timber claim, thus securing three hundred and twenty acres of
government land. He was successful in his operations and eventually bought more
land, becoming the owner of over a thousand acres. He was an industrious farmer
and made many substantial improvements on his property, which in the course of
time became very valuable. About 1905 Mr. Johnson sold his land in Washington
and came to Eugene in order to afford his children good educational advantages.
He bought eleven hundred acres, two miles south of Eugene, of which he has since
sold a part, and also bought one thousand acres in North Dakota, of which he has
since sold five hundred acres. In addition, he owns a number of lots and
residences in Eugene and Springfield. Starting with practically nothing when he
came west, his present prosperity stands in evidence of his persistent industry
and his sound judgment in business affairs, and he is now one of the most
substantial citizens of his community.
 
     In 1887 Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Lewis, who
was born in Roseburg, Oregon, a daughter of Jesse and Mahala (Dixon) Lewis, who
crossed the plains to Oregon in 1852, taking up a tract of government land in
Marion county. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have four children: J. Lewis, who is
operating part of his father's farm in this county, was married, but his wife
died, leaving one child, Margaret; Pearl, who is a graduate of the University of
Washington, is the wife of H. K. Coleman, of Roseburg, Oregon ; Ida, who is a
graduate of the University of Washington, is the wife of C. R. Cook, of Seattle,
Washington, and they have one child, Robert Townsend; Thomas remains at home.
 
     Mr. Johnson has always given his political support to the republican party
and has taken an active interest in everything relating to the prosperity and
progress of the coast country. He rendered effective service as a member of the
school board and as deputy assessor while living in Washington. He is a member
of the Presbyterian church and belongs to the Grange. He has been a witness of
the remarkable development of this western country, having come here before
Spokane had a railroad, and he has been an interested spectator of the evolution
of this locality from a wilderness to its present opulent condition. He
possesses to a marked degree the essential elements of good citizenship and is
accorded the highest esteem by all who know him.

     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in June 2016 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.