Louis L. Johnson ¹

  Research Notes:

Youngest son of Lauritz and Caroline Johnson. Father listed (in marriage record?) as Louis Johnson, mother as Caroline Caspison.
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From Mark Johnson 12 May 2012:
Briefly, on Louis and Anna Walters - the stories always go like this. Louis L
(referred to as Louie) married pretty badly - Anna was a real domineering
person - cold, hard, Prussian (my father would say). Louis was open, warm
and perhaps a bit too fond of the drink. He lived for some time in Princeton,
worked as a school crossing guard in his old age and was universally loved.

Except at home. He often slept in the boiler room because they would
lock him out. My dad would sneak downstairs and let Louis in, he would
sleep (sometimes sleep it off) and be gone in the morning before Anna
would find him.

I go by the old Elementary school a few times a week (we live in Princeton) and
have thought hundreds of times...........What is your damn name Louis?????
So if you think you wanted to know - well, me too!!

My mother speaks of his dignity and courage through his last days
(bladder cancer) and how much of an impression it made on her as a
young nurse.

His wife Anna I should remember (she died when I was 9) but I don't.
I know that Dad called her "Ober-Gross-muhter" because she rarely
did anything but bark out orders. Then again, my father didn't take orders
well. But even my Mom says she was tough to warm to - like a bee in a
bad mood.

I am sure she wasn't that bad but there may not have been much to love
either.
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From Mark Johnson 13 May 12012:
I grew up 1/4 mile from my grandparents Clarence and Christina's house, built on land cleared by my great grandfather Louie. A house plunked down in a forest - I remember thinking, "How could he have ever done that?" I remember asking when I was very young if
we were related to Paul Bunyan because the forest was so deep. And, as I
said yesterday, driving by the school where Louie "worked" as a crossing guard
several times a week made the whole thing an often present mystery. Who was this
man? This was more than an intellectual exercise for me and I am so happy
to get at least some of the "i"s dotted and"t"s crossed.

  Birth Notes:

Mark Johnson has two birthdates - 12 September 1875 and 12 October 1875. The first may be the birthdate, the second the christening date.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Emigrated: from Denmark to the United States, 1880.

• Census: U. S, 1900, Ford County, Illinois, United States. Census lists his mother, Caroline Johnson, widow, as living with him in Gibson City, Illilnois.

• Residence, 1900, Gibson City, Ford, Illinois, United States.

Louis married Anna Walters, daughter of Fred Walters and Dora Winakee, on 15 Nov 1899 in Illinois, United States.^{1 2}

  Marriage Notes:

Witnesses: Mary Johnson and M. I. or perhaps C. C. Johnson per Mark Johnson.
FamilySearch transcription in "Illinois, Marriages, 1815-1935" has her name as Ann Walters, and has his name as Louis Johnson, parents Louis Johnson and Caroline Caspison.