Little Falls herald., 1909-09-24

S1tiS, VI, more correctly. the adheS1On3
resulting from former operations for
appendicitis. the Amt of which occurred
fifteen years ago. He. was born in
Minnesota In 1851. the son Of poor
Swedish Immigrants.
The last notable utterance Of Gov
ernor johnson was an appeal for the
west to stand together and look out
tor its own interests. which President
Taft regarded Of sufficient Importance
to refer to in his Boston address. made
at The very time that johnson was pre-
parihg to undergo the operation which
resulted in his death. ss*s E
Nominated For Governor.
In 1904 the Democrats of Minnesota
nominated for governor country edi-
tor, the St. Peter Herald man. John
Johnson vas a pretty good country ed
ttor. too. but there were some 100 9TH
er1 In Minnesota. st. Peter is a small
town, and the Herald is small paper.
But it is not necessarily true that a
small paper in small town had a
small man at the head of it. Plenty
of instances to the contrary might be
cited, but Johnson's is enough. For
fifteen years Editor Johnson had run
the editorial end Of the HeralS. while
his partner, Henry Essler, had run the
mechanical end. Both took hand at
the business end. johnson became sec.
retary and then president of the state
editorial association. So the other edi.
tors knew him. and they liked him
johnson had served one term as a
state senator, and some Of the politi.
clans knew him and liked him too. But
F.: he was defeated tor reelection. being
a Democrat in Republican district
and when his party placed him at the
head of the state ticket he was plain
John Johnson, country editor. ~
Minnesota's normal Republican ma
tority is between 10000 and 10000
The Democrats had little or no expec
tation of electing johnson. One reason
they picked him for the candidacy was
that he was Swede and would get
the Scandinavian vote. which in Min
nesota is a considerable factor They
hoped he, at any rate. would make {
decent showing, and most of then
would have been satisfied with that
I But johnson. having accepted the nom
hatton, made systematic campaign
His opponent. State Auditor Dunn
was not altogether popular in his owr
party. Dunn's unpopularity helped
johnson, against whose record nobody
had anything to say. Johnson's popu
larity increased as Dunn's decreased
Something had to be done for Dunn
Ten days before election some boom
erang thrower in Minnesota printed
and distributed a circular setting forth
that Candidate Johnson's father had
been a drunkard and had died in the
poorhouse and that. his mother had
taken In washing. You cannot find in
Minnesota today the thrower of this
political boomerang. Most likely he is
and was then an inmate Of the asylum
for the insane. ~. 5
Some supporters o1 Johnson toe
much excited to know d golden oppor
tunity when they met it face to face
were perturbed by this circular and
urged the candidate to make strong
denial Of the statements. :
Il can't was Johnson's quiet reply.
Story Quickly Went the Rounds.
The reason be couldn't was that what
the circular said about his parents was
true. A st. Paul newspaper which
supported him sent a staff correspond.
ent posthaste to the little town of St.
Peter. The staff man investigated the
immediate antecedents of John John.
son. The repertorial assignment woult
have delighted any good newspaper
man. 1t is not often that a reporter
strikes such human interest color
The story of John johnson of St. Peter
as published in the st. Paul paper
quickly went the rounds of the Mime
sofa press; also 1t went the rounds OF
the corner groceries and the drug stores
and the country hotel Offices, where
governors are made and presidents are
prepared from the raw material.
The st. Paul reporter discovered that
Gustaf johnson. a blacksmith had EN-.
igrated from Sweden about fifty years
ago, settling in st. Peter. He had
been a heavy drinker in his native
land and came to America in the hope
that he might reform. He did reform
for few years. He married Caroline
Haden. "a Swedish girl. also an ilnmi.
grant. She was utterly alone in Amer.
lea. The blacksmith installed her In a
two room house near st. Peter. For q
few years the brawuy arms of Gustat
Johnson earned a living for the wife
and the little ones who came. John be.
ing the first baby, born in 1861. Then
recurred an attack Of the old nalady,
the old disease which in the system
OF the village blacksmith demanded
alcohol. The blacksmith became i
drunkard. Like many Others at his
unfortunate class. he went from bad
to worse" Finally the local authori:
ties placed hin, in the poorhouse, where
after some years be died. sssS SIS
Mrs. Johnson was left with nix chill.
drens to support. John waa only; twelve