Biographies for the State of Idaho

Biographies
"J"

J. M. JACKSON
A resident of the state of Idaho for nearly a quarter of a century, during which time he has been identified with enterprises of an extensive nature, J. M. Jackson, vice-president of the Meridian Hardware and Implement Company, at Meridian, has not only shown his versatility by successfully following both agricultural and commercial operations, but through his enthusiasm as an orchardist discovered the practicability of raising prunes in this state, this being as far back as 1891. Throughout his career Mr. Jackson has maintained a reputation for the highest integrity, and his standing in business, public and social circles is an enviable one. He is a product of the farm and a native of Sullivan county, Missouri, where he was born October 12, 1857, a son of A. G. and Sarah (France) Jackson. His father, who was born in Ohio, migrated first to Iowa and then to Missouri, and for a number of years was successfully engaged in farming and stockraising. His death occurred in the state of Washington, in 1909, when he was eighty six years of age, while his wife, a native of Iowa, to whom he was married in Missouri, passed away in Kansas in 1876, being forty-five years of age.

J. M. Jackson was the oldest of his parents' seven children, and his education was secured in the public schools of his native county. On completing his schooling, he went to Kansas with his parents, and there for six years worked on a farm, following which, in 1878, he removed to Colorado. Until 1889 he was engaged in farming in various parts of that state, with varying success, and in that year came to the northern part of Idaho, and settled on a well-cultivated tract of land, where he spent three years, during which time he experimented with different fruits, and in 1891 cultivated and shipped the first prunes from the state. This has since turned out to be a large industry, although at first it seemed that the venture would prove anything but a success, but since its feasibility has been proven, land which could formerly be purchased for a few hundred dollars an acre is now worth four times that much.

But 1892 Mr. Jackson came to the Boise valley and continued in agricultural pursuits until 1907, when he disposed of his farming interests and came to Meridian, purchasing an interest in the newly established firm of Meridian Hardware and Implement Company, a small but promising concern which was located in a store of decidedly limited proportions. This business has enjoyed a steady and healthy growth, now does a large trade throughout this part of the state, and is established in a handsome structure of its own. Mr. Jackson is vice president of the concern, with J. L. Waggoner, president, and W. W. Groves, secretary and treasurer, and all three of these officers are widely known and highly esteemed in business circles of Meridian. A man of progress and modern ideas, Mr. Jackson has been largely instrumental in extending the operations of the company, among the members of which his abilities are thoroughly recognized.

Mr. Jackson was married at Canyon City, Colorado, February 14, 1882. to Miss Delia P. Gibson, and to them there was born one child who died in infancy. Fraternally, Mr. Jackson is connected with the local lodge of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all of the chairs, and in political matters he is a Democrat, although he has only taken a good citizen's interest in matters of a public nature. Each year he joins a party of friends in an extensive outing, he being an enthusiastic and skillful hunter and fisherman. He and Mrs. Jackson are consistent members of the Christian church, and in religious and social circles have many friends in Meridian.

[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]

JOHN M. JOHNSON
For twenty-one years Mr. Johnson has been connected with the sheep and wool industry of Canyon county, and a complete record of his business activities would present a concise history of one of the largest and most important industries of Idaho. While few men of the state have at- the present time more extended interests in those resources which constitute the best wealth of Idaho, Mr. Johnson is also one of the old-timers.

Perhaps he would not consider himself a pioneer, yet he was here some four years before Idaho was admitted to the Union. Among his fellow citizens at the time of his start in this state he was only one of many, though he possessed the enterprise, the business courage and the energy which are the foundations of success. For many years past, however, he has enjoyed that position which is only accorded to the successful few. A short sketch of his career will present one of the most representative citizens of Idaho.

He was born in New York state on the 14th of January, 1852, representing one of the old colonial families. His grandfather, Darius Johnson, was a soldier of the War of 1812. The parents were John M. and Susan (Van Nostrand) Johnson. The mother, a native of New York state and now residing on Long Island at the age of ninety-two, is of Dutch extraction, the founder of her family having located in the Dutch settlements about New York not long after Hudson's discovery of the river and Manhattan island. John M. Johnson, the father, also a native New Yorker, was an expert accountant, and his death occurred at the age of forty-five. There were nine children in the elder Johnson's family, and John M., Jr., was the fifth in order of birth.

Until he was fourteen years old he lived at home on Long Island and attended the public schools. His first practical endeavor at gaining a livelihood was as printer's devil, at wages of three dollars a week. Until he was twenty-two years old he lived in New York and in Michigan, working as a clerk and in such other occupations as he could find most profitable. In 1874 he emigrated west to California, where he followed mercantile lines for ten or twelve years.

Then in 1886 he made the successful throw of destiny, when he came into Idaho. Locating at Mountain Home, he became a sheep man. His enterprise was on a small scale, for his capital consisted chiefly of credit, which a good character and promising industry had enabled him to establish. From that time to this his progress has been sure, though not without those mishaps of fortune which mark every successful life. In 1897 Mr. Johnson moved from Mountain Home to Boise, which has been his residence to the present time.

As wool buyer Mr. Johnson's business has been among the largest transacted in Idaho. Every year for a long time he has bought from two to three million pounds, a volume of trade aggregating in value from three hundred to five hundred thousand dollars annually. He has been with one firm for twenty-one years in Boston—that of Hallowell-Jones-Donald.

His other interests are equally important. He is a large land owner, and has been one of the active promoters of irrigation works in the state. Politically he is a Taft Republican, but has never been active in politics. He has held the office of senior warden in his Masonic lodge and has membership in the chapter and commandery and the Mystic Shrine at Boise. He is also affiliated with the Elks lodge at Boise, and the Boise Commercial Club.

Mr. Johnson was married at Mountain Home to Miss Carrie L. Johnson, who was born in Marysville, California, her family having been among the pioneers of that state, making the overland journey from the east during the 'fifties with ox teams and wagons. Mr. Johnson and wife are the parents of two children, George H. and Hallowell Donald.

[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]

TIMAN ADOLPH JOHNSON
The career of Timan Adolph Johnson, of Boise, manager of the Boise Produce and Commission Company, has been a continuous struggle against hardships and discouragements, constant battling to overcome obstacles that to one of a less persistent nature would have seemed too great to be beaten. However, his courageous perseverance has resulted in the attainment of a position where his past struggles may be forgotten, and, although still a young man, he holds a prominent place in the business life of Boise. Mr. Johnson was born April 2, 1876, in Jackson county, Wisconsin, and is a son of Elias and Eline (Swein) Johnson, natives of Norway. His father came to the United States in 1849, and became a pioneer farmer of Jackson county, Wisconsin, where his death occurred in 1892, when he was fifty-nine years of age. He was married in Wisconsin to Eline Swein, who came to America during the early fifties as a young woman, with her parents, she still surviving her husband and making her home at Bellingham, Washington. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, Timan A. being the seventh in order of birth.

After securing his education in the public schools of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, at the age of thirteen years Timan A. Johnson started to take a commercial course in the Black River Falls Business College. When he was eighteen years old, however, he started to work on his own account, his first salary being fifty cents per day, all sorts of hard manual labor of an honorable nature being followed by him. In 1898 he came west, on June 6th of that year landing in Boise, where his first position was that of driver of a delivery wagon for the American Grocery Company, his salary being twenty-five dollars per month. Subsequently he went to Caldwell and worked for the Central Lumber Company as bookkeeper, but after four months returned to Boise and started a little grocery establishment. This venture, however, proved a financial failure, and in a short time Mr. Johnson found himself bankrupt and was forced to start his endeavors all over again. Somewhat discouraged, but not disheartened, he secured a position with the John L. Day Company, one of his creditors, a firm which he owed $500, and worked out his indebtedness by paying over one half of his salary of fifty dollars a month. He continued to remain with that company until it was reorganized into the Boise Produce and Commission Company, and under the new organization he soon became manager, a position he has filled to the present time. He' is now one of the principal stockholders of the company, in addition to being a director in the Boise Association of Credit Men and manager of the Gem State Manufacturing Company. Formerly a Republican for a number of years, Mr. Johnson, owing to the present unsettled condition of political matters, intends to support the Democratic party. His religious belief is that of the Christian Science Church.

Mr. Johnson was married April 2, 1912, at Boise, to Mrs. Lottie M. Wilson, born in Jackson county, Wisconsin, daughter of Mrs. Edith Carter, of that state. Their pleasant residence is situated at No. 1115 North Twelfth street, in addition to which Mr. Johnson owns a fine twenty-acre fruit farm. He has no diversions of a club or fraternal nature, preferring to devote whatever time he can spare from his arduous business duties to the enjoyment of his home. An excellent example of the poor boy rising to a position of independence and prominence through the medium of his own efforts, Mr. Johnson has fully earned the respected confidence in which he is universally held, and as a man of integrity and honorable dealing has gained a reputation to be envied among his business associates.

[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]

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