History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties

"History of Lincoln, Oneida, and Vilas Counties Wisconsin"

Compiled by George O.Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others. Printed in 1924 by H.C.Cooper. Jr. & Co., Minneapoli-Winona MN. ill. 787 pages. The first two hundred pages are history of the three counties, the remainder of the book is biographies.

Biography

Johnson, Charles H. proprietor of Sunnyside Oak Grove Farm in the town of Conover, Vilas County, and a public official of that town, was born in Sweden, June 24, 1873. He acquired a good education in Sweden and came to the United State in March, 1881, locating at Atwater, Minn., where he was engaged in farming until 1904. He attended public schools in Minnesota the second and third years after locating there and was a student at the Northwestern College of Minneapolis during the winter terms of 1900-1901. It was in 1904 that the made his first trip to Eagle River, and, locating in Vilas County, settled on 80 acres of wild land in Section 16, town of Conover, which property he has purchased in 1902. There were no buildings or improvements of any sort on his land, and civilization here was still in the pioneer stage at that time; there were no roads or schools in hs locality. The development of a farm under these conditions is a task to daunt any but the stoutest of hearts. Mr. JOHNSON was undiscouraged, however, and set to work. He engaged in a number of other enterprises to carry him along until his farm could be placed on a productive basis, one of these being the operation of a sawmill on Pioneer Lake, doing custom sawing; this mill was a great convenience to the new settlers in this pioneer region, enabling them to get out lumber for their buildings from the timber on their land. Mr. JOHNSON conducted a store at Conover village for four years and was postmaster there during that time, after having built his home and got the development of his farm started, including the setting out of a number of apple trees in the brush. After leaving Conover he operated a store at Woodstock, Minn., for a year and a half, but his health became impaired and in 1915 he returned to his farm; he has ever since devoted all his time to the operation of this property. His chief crops are fruits, strawberries, show potatoes, and grains, the place being known as Sunnyside Oak Grove Farm. Besides this farm Mr. JOHNSON owns 60 acres of meadow land on the Wisconsin River bottoms in Section 33, town of Conover. A man of unusual ability and a hard worker, he has had a very successful career, and he is accorded a deep respect throughout the community. He was the first town clerk of the town of Conover, and served in that capacity for six years; he was also the first clerk of his school district, in which office he is now serving. His present township office is that of treasurer, and he has served as such for the past seven years. Mr. JOHNSON was married to Bessie HOUL, and Mr. and Mrs. JOHNSON have six children, who were born as follows: Walter Herman, June 6, 1913; Myrtle, April 30, 1915; Esther, Jan. 19, 1917; Emil, Nov. 30, 1919; Violet, May 23, 1921; and Herbert, Dec. 28, 1922. The family attend the Swedish Lutheran Church.

Transcribed by Susan Swanson, from pages 449 (with picture), History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties Wisconsin; Compiled by George O. Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others 1924, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co

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