Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis
Pub. Co. 1893.  p. 681.
 
WILLIAM R. JOHNSON

     an Oregon pioneer of 1852, and a well-to-do farmer of Yam Hill county, was
born in Ohio, April 2, 1824.  His father, Richard Johnson, was born on the
Atlantic Ocean, of Irish parents, on the voyage to America.  He was reared in
Ohio, and married Milbrey Graves, a native of North Carolina.  They had seven
children, five of whom are now living, the subject of our sketch being the third
in order of birth.
     Our subject was reared on a farm in Indiana, to which State his parents
moved in an early day, while the country was yet wild and unsettled.  He
attended the district school at LaFayette, that State, and some time later went
to Arkansas, and was afterward married there to Miss Del Steward, an estimable
lady, the daughter of Mr. John Steward, a well-known resident of Indiana.  They
had one child, which was born in Indiana, and which they named Laura.
     By this time our subject had heard of the marvelous opportunities afforded
to settlers in Oregon, by reason of the rich soil and congenial climate and the
large donations of land bestowed on actual residents by the Government.
Accordingly, on March 24, 1852, he with his wife and child and his mother,
started with oxen, horses and three wagons, on the long journey across the
plains to Oregon.  They traveled most of the way alone, and had a safe and
pleasant trip.  They had either fish or some kind of game nearly every day,
which he procured by fishing and hunting, which he enjoyed very much.  The
teams, with which he started, brought them through to LaFayette, Yam Hill
county, Oregon, and to his donation claim, situated seven miles northwest of the
present site of McMinnville.  At that time, there was no city of McMinnville,
but there were a few good pioneers in the county, among whom he remembers Dr.
McBride, W. L. Adams, James McGiness, Dr. Sitton and Zebediah Shelton.
     He had no money, but hired money at three per cent a month, and paid Mr. M.
McGiness for his claim of 320 acres. By increasing industry and economy, he was
enabled, in time, to prove up on his land, and pay his indebtedness, since when
he has continued to reside on his farm.  He and his family resided at first in a
log cabin, which he built, experiencing the usual vicissitudes of a pioneer.
Finally, he erected their present large and comfortable residence, where he now
resides, relieved of all the hard work of the farm, which he leaves to his son
and the other young men connected with him.  To his original purchase he has
added from time to time many other purchases, until his original claim is
enlarged to 700 acres of the choicest farming land in this beautiful valley.
Besides this, he owns several other tracts of valuable land in the vicinity.
     Six more children were born in Oregon:  Alice G., wife of Mr. John
Stallcop, resides in this vicinity; Lillie H., wife of M. H. Messenger, also
resides in this neighborhood; two daughters, Agnes and Kate, are unmarried;
while the son, G. R., is at home with his father.
     The faithful wife and devoted mother died in 1869.  She was a woman of
superior ability and of rare Christian character, and was greatly lamented by
her family and friends.
     In 1882 Mr. Johnson married Miss Mary Shumway, an estimable lady, and a
native of Wasco county, Oregon.  She is a daughter of Mr. Aurora Shumway, a
well-known and highly respected Oregon pioneer.  They have two children, Lulu
and Willie, who are promising young Oregonians.
     Mr. Johnson is a Republican in politics, but takes no active part in public
affairs, desiring only the election of good men to office.
     He is a member in good standing of the I.O.O.F., in the welfare of which
society he takes a deep interest.
     Thus all too briefly is told the life of an industrious pioneer of this
great commonwealth, who was as great in the sterling qualities, which win
success, as was the great State in opportunities of soil and climate, which now
succors many on her broad bosom.
     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in September 2006 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.