Harris Johnson

1866-1908

from Compendium of History Reminiscence & Biography of Western Nebraska, p 478, published 1909:

The gentleman herein named was one of the prosperous farmers of Cherry county, owning a farm on section 28, township 33, range 33, where he has a well improved place. Mr. Johnson was born in Moline, Illinois, in 1866, and is a son of Charles and Hannah (Gustavson) Johnson, natives of Sweden, who came to this country when young people.

When our subject was two years old his parents moved to Hamilton county, Iowa, and there their family of eight children was reared. At the age of twenty-one Harris left home and located in Cherry county, where he followed ranching for some years in the hope of benefiting his health. There he was married and he and his wife both worked on one ranch for five and a half years. In 1898 he purchased a tract on the Niobrara river, and later took an additional homestead of four hundred and eighty acres. all grazing land, and was engaged in the stock business, running about fifty head all the time. Owing to failing health he went to Colorado, hoping to recuperate, but passed away at Colorado Springs on February 29, 1908.

In 1891 he married Miss Ida Hook, daughter of John F. Hook, whose sketch appears in this work. Mrs. Johnson was born in Hamilton county, Iowa, in 1864. They have one daughter, named Alice.

For a number of years Mr. Johnson served as school director in his district, and always took an active interest in all educational matters. He was a Republican and prominent in party affairs.

Harris Johnson met Ida Hook in Cherry County, Nebraska, near Cody. He had gone out there for his health, as he had tuberculosis. He was 2 years younger than Ida. Four or five of his sisters died of tuberculosis, as well, in their teens or early twenties. He worked as a cowboy on the Churn Ranch on the White River in Cherry County, Nebraska. They were living in the sod house there (which looked like several apts) when their daughter Alice was born.

Here is a link to a copy of the 1900 Federal Census for Cherry County, Nebraska, showing Harris, age 34, Ida, age 35, and Alice, age 7. All are listed as being able to read, write, and speak English, unsurprisingly. It shows that Harris's parents were both born in Sweden, and that Ida's were born in Indiana and Illinois. Harris's occupation is given as "Rancherman."

Harris died in 1908, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they had gone by a team & wagon, again in hopes of his regaining his health. They had homesteaded there, by this time, and he was helping to rebuild a bridge. He picked up a big beam and apparently ruptured something in his lungs, and the tuberculosis became active again. Alice was 14 when he died. His wife, Ida, died on August 18, 1923.

Harris and Ida Johnson were buried in the Prairie Lawn Cemetery, in Cody, Nebraska.

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Last updated: March 2004
(Link for the Compendium of History Reminiscence & Biography of Western Nebraska updated May 15, 2019)