Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co. 1893. p. 550. HON. W. CAREY JOHNSON came to Oregon in 1845, and is now a prominent member of the bar of his State. He is a native of Old Town, Ross county, Ohio. The event of his birth took place on the 27th of October, 1833. His father, Rev. Hezekiah Johnson, was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, and his grandfather was the Rev. Eliezar Johnson, a Baptist minister in Maryland. It is said that the progenitors of the family remained loyal to the king in the time of the Revolution. Farther back than that in the history of the family they are unable to go. Mr. Johnson's father was sent by the American Baptist Home Mission Society to Oregon in 1845, to organize Baptist Churches on the coast. He traveled all over the Willamette valley, preaching the gospel and establishing churches, and on the Fourth of July, 1847, started the Baptist Church at Oregon City. He took a donation claim three miles northeast of Oregon City, on which he resided till the time of his death, and the property is still owned in the family. He was a man of executive ability, a doctrinal preacher and a strong Abolitionist, having an intense abhorrence of every kind of oppression. He brought with him across the plains his wife and seven children, of who, five are still living: one of the daughters, now Mrs. Winston, resides at Damascus, Scott county, Mississippi; Amy Johnson, has her home on the old homestead; and Rev. Franklin Johnson, D.D., is president of the Ottawa University, Kansas; H. H. Johnson is County Clerk of Clackamas county. The father died at Oregon City in 1866. His wife died at the home of her son, W. Carey Johnson, the subject of this sketch, in 1874. W. Carey Johnson was in his twelfth year when he came to this Territory. He was sent to the public schools at Oregon City, and attended a Baptist school in that city. Later on he read law with the firm of Wait & Kelly. Mr. Wait later became Supreme Court Judge and Mr. Kelly was made United States Senator. Mr. Johnson was admitted to the bar in 1857, and began to practice his profession in his own town. He has a most lucrative practice now, that he has built up by his own efforts. He is in politics a Republican, and in 1858 was elected District Attorney, in which capacity he served one term. In 1859 he was elected City Recorder. Three years later he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for the Fourth Judicial District. 1865 and 1866 he held the responsible position of Special Attorney, under the Hon. Caleb Cushing, to investigate and settle the affairs of the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound companies. In 1866 he was elected a State Senator, to fill a vacancy, and during that session rendered valuable service as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. While in the Senate he had the privilege and power to vote upon the amendment of the constitution of the United States which abolished slavery. Mr. Johnson has been for years the Attorney of the Williamsville Transportation and Lock Company, and he was one of the founders of the Merchant's National Bank. He is a director and was for some time its vice-president. On Christmas day in 1868 he was married to Miss Josephine DeVore, a native of Illinois, and the daughter of the Rev. John J. Devore, a noted Methodist minister, prominent in the early history of the State. She is a graduate of the Willamette University, and is one of the most intelligent women in the State. They have had five children, all born in Oregon City, of whom four are living, namely: Bolfe, Nelo, Merle and Ronald. The two eldest are at Stanford University, California; one is at school at Portland, and the youngest is at home. Mr. Johnson has built a commodious residence on the Heights in Oregon City, commanding a very fine view of the beautiful country which surrounds it. In his grounds he has retained a few of the fir trees of the forest and notwithstanding his home is in the center of the city it is a romantic and beautiful spot, a fitting place in which to spend the remainder of a good and worthy life. Mr. Johnson is a consistent member of the Baptist Church, in which his father was so long prominent, and he has for many years been its clerk. He has so lived and conducted his business that he enjoys the good will and affection of a very wide acquaintance among all classes of people throughout the State. ******************* 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.