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GEORGE JOHNSON, retired from active life, though still residing on his large estate comprising over seven hundred acres of land in Jackson township, has made his home in Benton county since 1867. He was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1842, and is a son of Zephaniah and Rachel (Ulery) Johnson, both natives of the Keystone state, where they lived on a farm. Both died at the old home in Greene county, Pennsylvania, she in 1851 and he in 1895, at the age of nearly eighty-three.
George Johnson has two brothers and a half-sister living, namely: Stephen, of Idaho; Silas, also of Idaho, and Miss Ellen, of Pennsylvania. He was reared in his native state and attended the public schools. He enlisted en August 30, 1862, first in Company E, Ringgold Battalion, which was later recruited in the Twenty-second Pennsylvania Cavalry, in which Mr. Johnson was a member of Company F. He served until the close of the war, serving nearly three years and participating in all the engagements with his company. They spent some time under Sheridan's command in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Mr. Johnson was mustered out July 19, 1865, at New Creek Station, West Virginia. He took part in many battles but never received a wound.
At the close of the war Mr. Johnson visited a short time in Pennsylvania, and then moved to Benton county, where his aunt, Mrs. Edminster, was living. He was favorably impressed with the land and surroundings, and decided to remain permanently. He had little capital to begin with and worked ten years at the carpenter's trade, but for the past forty-two years has made his home in Jackson township. His first purchase of land consisted of one hundred and twenty acres, which has since been his home, and he has added to it as his capital increased. He has always carried on general farming, and latterly dealt largely in cattle and hogs, buying, selling, breeding and feeding them. He is one of the most successful, prominent and substantial farmers of Benton county, well known and universally esteemed. He earned his success by his industry and enterprise, and always paid close attention to his business interests. Politically Mr. Johnson is a Supporter of the Democratic party.
Mr. Johnson married, in Benton county, Ellen Robertson, who died in November, 1904, in her fifty-fifth year, leaving three daughters and five sons, all born in Benton county and all living here with the exception of one. They are Silas W., a farmer of Jackson township, married; G. W., also married and residing in Jackson township; Sarah J., Mrs. Edminster, living on a farm in Jackson township; Etta, Mrs. Scott, of Jackson township; Pearl, Mrs. Bolenbaugh; Clark L., a farmer of Jackson township, unmarried; and John, who drew a claim in the reservation of South Dakota, also married. Mr. Johnson has eleven grandchildren.
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