My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM M. JOHNS, one of the most active and enterprising young business men of Sedalia, is interested in several large financial concerns. In the spring of 1888 he became a partner in the firm of S. P. Johns & Sons, with which he has since been connected, and July 27, 1894, went into partnership with E. L. Looney, buying out the old lumber firm of H. B. Scott. The business has been greatly enlarged, and the yard is known as the “Old Home Lumber Company Stand.” The yard is located at the corner of Second Street and Montreal Avenue, occupying three quarters of a block, most of which is under cover. A full line of building materials is kept in stock, and an increasing trade is the result of the well directed energies of the partners.

A history of Samuel P. Johns, Sr., father of William M., appears elsewhere in this volume. Our subject was born in Pana, Ill., August 1, 1866, and received a public-school education in that place. In his fourteenth year he came to Sedalia and attended the high school and afterwards the Sedalia University. From his boyhood he had a strong desire to embark in a business career, and was not yet seventeen years of age when he induced his father to take him into his office. In the spring of 1888 he was admitted as a partner into the firm, and his ability was manifested from the start. In company with his father and brother, he owns an interest in the lumber yard at Hughesville, and he is a stockholder in the Universal Savings and Loan Company of St. Louis, being Vice-President of the local branch. He is also Vice-President of the Sedalia Land and Development Company, which was mainly instrumental in getting the Legislature to agree to the removal of the capitol.

For several years Mr. Johns has been a worker in the ranks of the Republican party, and since June, 1894, has been Chairman of the County Central Committee. In the fall of 1894 the campaign was under his management, it being the first time in the history of the county that a solid Republican ticket was elected; and he has often been called upon to serve as a delegate to county and state conventions. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, Woodmen of the World, and the Royal Tribe of Joseph.

In this city, June 3, 1891, Mr. Johns was united in marriage with one of Sedalia’s most accomplished daughters, Alice Newkirk, who was born here and who was educated at Wellesley (Mass.) College. She is a daughter of Cyrus Newkirk, the late President of the First National Bank of Sedalia. Mr. and Mrs. Johns have two children, named, respectively, Gwendolyn and Cyrus N. Mr. and Mrs. Johns have many sincere friends, to whom they delight to extend the hospitality of their pleasant home, and are members of the Presbyterian Church.