John Albert Johnson

John Albert Johnson (July 28, 1861 – September 21, 1909) was an American politician. He served in the Minnesota State Senate from January 1897 to January 1901. He was the 16th Governor of Minnesota from January 4, 1905 until his death on September 21, 1909. He was a Democrat.

John Albert Johnson
16th Governor of Minnesota
In office January 4, 1905 – September 21, 1909
Lieutenant	Ray W. Jones Adolph Olson Eberhart
Preceded by	Samuel Rinnah Van Sant
Succeeded by	Adolph Olson Eberhart
Personal details
Born	July 28, 1861 St. Peter, Minnesota
Died	September 21, 1909 (aged 48) Rochester, Minnesota
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Elinore "Nora" Preston ​ ​ (m. 1894)​
Profession	Politician
Signature

He was the first governor born in Minnesota to serve in office. He was only the second non-Republican governor in the previous 50 years and third since statehood. He was also first to serve a full term in the present state capitol, and the first to die in office. Johnson sought the 1908 Democratic presidential nomination but lost to William Jennings Bryan.

Biography

Governor Johnson re-election mailing card

John Albert Johnson was born on a farm near St. Peter, Minnesota on July 28, 1861.[1] The eldest child of an impoverished Swedish family abandoned by an alcoholic father, he left school at 13 to support his mother and siblings. Local Democrats, impressed with the enterprising young store clerk, asked him to join their party and edit the strongly Democratic St. Peter Herald.[2] His journalistic success attracted statewide attention and fostered political aspirations.

He married Elinor M. Preston on June 1, 1894.[1]

He failed in early campaigns for state office from his heavily Republican home county but finally was elected to the state senate in 1898, indicating his growing bipartisan appeal. Elected governor three times—in 1904, 1906, and 1908—Johnson's ability to reason and work with legislators of both parties resulted in such reform legislation as reorganization of the state's insurance department to the benefit of policyholders, reduction of railroad passenger and freight rates, and removal of constitutional restraints on the legislature's power to tax.

Johnson began his third term with reservations. His health was precarious, and he wanted to pursue a promising sideline as a public orator. When he died suddenly at the age of 48 following surgery at the Mayo Clinic, the state's citizens—whom he had served and charmed—were grief-stricken.

Legacy

Governor Johnson's funeral train leaving Rochester, Minnesota

Governor John Johnson was the first of three governors to die in office. Governor Winfield Scott Hammond was the second Minnesota governor to die in office after suffering a stroke in 1915. Floyd B. Olson was the third and most recent governor to die in office when he died of cancer in 1936.

Statues of him are prominently located on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol and on the grounds of the Nicollet County Court House. Johnson Senior High School in St. Paul is also named for him. The portion of U.S. Route 169 from Saint Peter to the Twin Cities is named in his honor.

The John A. Johnson School in Virginia, Minnesota was built in 1907.

References

1. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. XIV. James T. White & Company. 1910. pp. 164–165. Retrieved December 15, 2020 – via Google Books.
2. Schmahl, Julius. Legislative Manual Minnesota 1909. Harrison & Smith Company. p. 662.

External links

• John Albert Johnson at Find a Grave
• Minnesota Legislators Past and Present
• John Albert Johnson photos at the Minnesota Historical Society.
• Biographical information and his gubernatorial records are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.