The Republican journal., 1914-08-20
Obituary of Edward Johnson, Jr.

Mf. EDWARD johnson, JF.s son OF the late
Edward and Georgiana (Miller) johnson Of
Belfast and Boston. passed away quietly at thu
family summer residence. "The Homestead. ,
on Primrose Hill in this city. Saturday, Au.
gust 9Th, after q long and painful illness, re.
sulting from an affection of the stomach. Fol
the past eight years Mr.. johnson had been i
resident of Los Angeles. California. During
this period the population Of that city has
more than doubled, until it now numbers near.
ly half million people. In meeting such
changes in the various municipal plants and
public works as this rapid growth required,
and his death removes from Los Angeles q
citizen who had in his comparatively short
life of thirty-seven years accomplished much
for the welfare of his fellows, and whose fu-
ture career gave every promise of being a
brilliant one. Mr.. johnson was descended in
the ninth generation from Captain Edward
johnson. who came to this country with Cover
nor Winthrop in 1880. was founder of the
town of Woburn, Mass. and the author of the
"Wonder-W w orking Providence" the first print
ed history of New England and one of the
first books to be written on this continent
Captain Edward johnson added to his various
other activities the profession of land-survey-
or, and in 1862 he was the first white man to
ascend and survey the Merrimac River 1t is
interesting to note here that his descendant
and namesake, Edward johnson. Jr.. made sur
veys along the same river in 1899-19O The
three following generations of the family,
after Captain Edward, resided in Canterbury,
Conn.,, from which place the Rev. Alfred john
son, great grandfather of the deceased, re.
moved to Belfast in 1905, to accept a call as
the second Congregational minister of this
place. During the century which has since in
tervened the family has been prominent here.
The late Edward johnson, Sr., father of the
deceased, though passing the winter months in
Boston. resided for the greater part of his
life, during the summer. in Belfast, and was
director in the Waldo Trust company, presi.
dent Of the Belfast Savings bank, and held
other positions of trust here. The mother of
the deceased was Georgiana Parker Miller,
daughter of DR.. Erasmus Darwin and Louisa
Clarke Miller. DR.. Miller was for many years a
leading physician in Dorchester, Mass.
Edward johnson, Jr.. the subject of this no.
tice, was born in Boston, Mass, Dec 4, 1876,
but spent much of his boyhood in Belfast,
where he attended for time the city schools,
and the private school of Miss Esther c. FRYE
He later prepared at the Hale School and the
Hopkinson School, both in Boston, for the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from
which he graduated in the class of 1899, as
civil engineer. Immediately upon receiving his
degree OF Bachelor of Science, Mr.. Johnson
was given a summer vacation in Europe by
his father, which was his only visit there, and
the only long vacation he had since allowed
himself. Returning in the early autumn of
1899 he entered upon the practice of his pro-
fession. in which he was constantly engaged
until the time of his last illness. He once
crossed the Isthmus of Panama when on his
way home from engineering work he had been
doing in connection with the establishment of
the u S. Coaling Station at La Paz, Lower
California.
He had been connected with number of
important engineering projects, and had risen
rapidly in his profession, and at the time of
his death was becoming a recognized author
ity as consulting engineer. He had held va
rious positions, as follows: 1899 1860, Hydraulic
Engineer and Surveyor with the Essex Co. of
Lawrence. Mass; 19Oo-19O3. photographer, u.
being engaged along the coast of Lower Cali
fornia on board the U S. S. Ranger; 1913 1906,
Engineer in Charge. U. S. Reclamation Ser
vice at Chicago. ILL.,, and at San Francisco,
Calf. In 1906 he resigned from government
service to engage in engineering work on the
Pacific Coast, under the firm name of Johnson
& Lindley, Consulting Engineers. with head
quarters at Los Angeles, Calf In 1911, upon
the death of General Adna R. Chaffee, he was
appointed chairman of the Los Angeles Aque-
duct Investigation committee. He later be-
came a member of the Los Angeles Harbor
Commission, and on January l. 1918, he was
appointed one of the three members of the
Los Angeles Board Of Public Works. by which
the affairs of the city of Los Angeles are ad-
ministered much as by commission form of
government. 1t was under this board that the
Los Angeles Aqueduct, which brings water to
the city for domestic irrigation and power-plant
purposes, from Owens Lake and Owens River
two hundred and fifty miles away. and is the
longest and most remarkable structure of its
kind in the world, was built. In his work on
the aqueduct Mr.. johnson was obliged to take
frequently long and difficult trips into the
mountains and across the desert by automobile
and on foot. The exposure and fatigue which
he was obliged to encounter on these expedi-
tions together with the improperly cooked
food doubtless were contributory causes of his
disease. In addition to the supervision of the
work in the field, which involved the expendi-
ture of twenty-four millions of dollars, he had
under him an Office force OF from seventy-five
to one hundred draughtsmen and clerks.
For period of little over year, it had
been difficult for him to carry on his work ow
ing to ill-health, though he did not call halt
until last November, when after consulting
the best physicians in Los Angeles he passed
several months alternating between rest and
work, and tried without relief various forms
of treatment there and in San Diego. In
March he came to New York and Boston, where
he consulted the most eminent stomach spec
ialists and diagnosticians, all of whom agreed
that his trouble was not a serious one. In
spite of great suffering he accepted their ver-
dict and in Nav raturnad tO Los AnUelas fool,