My Genealogy Hound

Col. M. W. Johnson, farmer, was born in Howard County, Mo., on March 15, 1832, and was reared principally in Greene and Camden Counties. His parents, Stebbins and Jerusha B. (Mellen) Johnson, were natives of Connecticut and Massachusetts, respectively. They were married in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1825, and in 1831 removed to Howard County, Mo. Mr. Johnson was a machinist by trade, but upon coming to Missouri he engaged in the milling business, and while on a trip to St. Louis for building material he took the cholera, and died in that city in May, 1833. The mother died at the residence of her son, in Laclede County, in April, 1879, in her seventy-ninth year. They were the parents of four children, two only of whom are now living, Rhoda W. and Marshall W., the latter being the youngest of the family and the subject of this sketch. After the father’s death the family moved to Greene County, Mo., and in 1841 to Camden County, and, were among the earliest settlers of that county, locating on a farm near the Gunter Spring, which was their home till the children grew to maturity. In 1852 the subject of this sketch entered the employ of Jones, McClurg & Co., who were engaged in a general mercantile business at Linn Creek. Continuing with this firm, he became a member of it in 1858, the style now being changed to McClurg, Murphy & Co., and it prosecuted an extensive business till the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861, their business reaching the enormous figure, in that day, for an inland house, of half a million a year. When the war came, Mr. Johnson, being driven from his business and his home by marauding rebels, joined the Osage regiment of Missouri volunteers (Home Guards) an organization called into the service temporarily by Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, then commanding the Department of the Missouri. Upon the disbanding of this organization, in December, 1861, he enlisted in Company G of the Eighth Regiment Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and was appointed quartermaster of the regiment, with rank of first lieutenant, in which capacity he served till March, 1863, when the regiment was reorganized, and he was promoted to the rank and office of lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. This position he held till October, 1863, when, at the request of his former business co-partners, he resigned and took charge again of his business at Linn Creek. In January, 1863, he was united in marriage to Mary E., eldest daughter of ex-Gov. Joseph W. McClurg, and to them were born ten children: Joseph M., Thaddeus S., Frank J., Fannie J., Maggie R., Charles D., Mary B., Louise W., Emma C. and Marshall W., Jr., all now living, save Mary B., who died in early infancy. After closing his old business, which required a number of years, Mr. Johnson was engaged with ex-Gov. McClurg and others in mining, smelting and merchandising at Linn Creek till 1877. In February of that year he moved to his farm, near Lebanon, Mo., where he now resides, engaged in farming, stock growing, etc. His farm contains 280 acres, 200 of which are in cultivation, the residue in timber and pasture. He runs a dairy also, and is getting to some extent in the fruit business. He has an orchard, of his own planting, of 3,000 trees, to which he is adding yearly. He, with his eldest two sons, has also established a cattle ranch, and is opening a farm in Central Dakota. They will have more than 100 acres in crops there this year. Mr. Johnson has never held civil office, save that of county treasurer for eight years, while in Camden, and superintendent of registration for the years immediately following the war. He is a member of the G. A. R., A. O. U. W. and Select Knights.