My Genealogy Hound

SAMUEL P. JOHNS, Sr., of Sedalia, has been engaged in the lumber business uninterruptedly since the close of the war, and was interested in the same for a few years prior to the outbreak of the Rebellion. He has been very successful, is a thorough and practical business man, and has acquired a competency in strictly legitimate channels. Since 1880 he has conducted a retail lumber trade in this city, with yards located at No. 321 West Main Street, and extending through to Second Street and the railroad tracks. A large area of enclosed sheds provides a dry place for all kinds of lumber and building materials. The firm is known under the style of S. P. Johns & Sons, the partners being William M. and S. P., Jr.

The progenitors of the Johns family in the United States emigrated from Devonshire, England, with William Penn to Pennsylvania, and from that state the descendants have scattered to all portions of the country. The great-grandfather of our subject, James Johns, a member of the Society of Friends, was born in the Keystone State, and lived there and in Virginia. The next in the line of descent, John Johns, was born near Richmond, Va., and in his early manhood moved to Fayette, Pa. In 1815 he located near Brookfield, Ind., but soon afterwards moved to Warren County, engaging in farming near Lebanon. In 1840 he moved to Brazil, Ind., taking up a farm where that village is now situated. In 1869 his death occurred in Parke County, Ind., at the age of seventy-eight years. Like his father, he was a Quaker. He was drafted for service in the War of 1812.

The father of our subject, Stephen M., was born in Fayette County, Pa., in 1809, and on arriving at man’s estate engaged in farming in Preble County, Ohio, continuing there until 1849, when he moved to a place near Greencastle, Putnam County, Ind. Operating that farm until 1853, he moved to a farm near Waveland, Montgomery County. In 1860, however, he sold this farm and bought the flouring and saw mills at Mansfield, that state, which he carried on until 1868, and about 1870 moved to Christian County, Ill., settling on a farm near Pana. His death occurred in February, 1870, at the age of sixty years, as the result of a fracture of the knee, which he had sustained about ten years previously. The limb had been amputated, but blood poisoning set in. He was a Democrat until the war broke out, then became a Republican. While living in Ohio he served several years as Justice of the Peace. His wife, Sarah, a native of Preble County, Ohio, was a daughter of Samuel Parks, who was born in North Carolina. In territorial days he became a resident of Preble County, Ohio, and died on his farm, when in his seventy-ninth year. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was of Holland-Dutch descent. Mrs. Sarah Johns died in Pana, Ill., in 1893, aged seventy-eight years. She and her husband were members of the Presbyterian Church. Of their twelve children, all but one lived to mature years, and ten of the number are still living. Samuel Parks is the subject of this article; Catherine died in infancy; John served throughout the war as Sergeant of the Eighteenth Indiana Battery, and died in Nokomis, Ill., in 1873; Emanuel, residing in the state of Washington, was during the war a member of an Indiana regiment, and was captured by John Morgan, at Uniontown, Ky., but was later paroled; Lemuel is living near Greencastle, Ind., on a farm; Martha, Mrs. Tunnison, lives in Pana, Ill.; Thomas is a ph3’sician of Taylorville, Ill.; Robert is a lumberman of Pana; Owen is a grocer in Washington; Stephen M. is in the lumber business in Hutchinson, Kan.; Sarah A., Mrs. Wallace, lives in Kansas City, Kan.; and Joseph is a lumber merchant of Washington.

Born in Preble County, Ohio, September 1, 1835, Samuel P. Johns continued to dwell in that neighborhood until fifteen years of age, being a student in the district schools. Later he lived near Waveland, and attended Waveland (Ind.) Academy. After teaching district school for some time, in 1856 he moved to Terre Haute, and became a bookkeeper in a lumber office. Subsequently he was a clerk until 1860, when he located in Litchfield, Ill., and started in business for himself under the firm name of Johns & Co., having the entire management of the same. About this time he was made First Lieutenant in an independent company of State Militia, known as the Young American Rangers, and was once called to Mattoon, but otherwise was not in action. In 1865 he sold out his business and located in Pana, Ill., where he carried on the same trade until 1879, then disposing of his interest to his brother Robert, who is still in the business there. He has frequently owned sawmills in various places for the purpose of getting out hardwood lumber, and was an organizer of the Sedalia Planing Mill and Lumber Company on Second Street. This concern has a capital stock of $10,000, and Mr. Johns is now President of the corporation. Formerly he owned a branch lumber-yard at Warsaw, Mo., and one at Lexington, and at the present time has a yard at Hughesville, Mo., his manager there being Louis Manning. Mr. Johns is a Director in the Citizens’ National Bank, and is a stockholder and Treasurer of the Sedalia Building and Loan Association.

The pleasant residence of the Johns family is situated at No. 704 West Seventh Street. In Waveland, Ind., Mr. Johns and Margaret A. White were united in marriage, February 1, 1859. The lady is a daughter of William White, an Indiana farmer, and is a native of the Keystone State. The eldest child of our subject and wife, Laura A., died when in her nineteenth year; William M. is referred to elsewhere in this volume; Samuel P., Jr., was educated in the high school and at Wabash (Ind.) College, and is in business with his father and next elder brother; Robert graduated from the Wabash College in the Class of ‘94, with the Degree of B. S., and is now studying law with Judge W. S. Shirk, of Sedalia; Margaret completes the family. Mr. and Mrs. Johns are members of the Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Johns is a Ruling Elder. He is an active Republican, has twice been elected Alderman from the Third Ward, and was Chairman of the Finance Committee.