The following is taken from the book “Prairie Trails to Hi-Ways” published in 1978 by the Bismarck-Mandan Genealogical and Historical Society.  The information was submitted by Lloyd J. Johnson and Emil W. Johnson. Emil is the son of Andrew and Albertina.  Lloyd is the son of Abel Johnson.

Andrew Leander Johnson was born in Orebro, Sweden, in 1853.  Andrew married Albertina Granquist.  Albertina was born Dec. 22, 1849.  In 1876, their first son, Andrew Leander, Jr., was born.  In 1879, Charles Alexander was born.  In 1881, Andrew and Albertina and their small sons left Sweden for the USA and a new life.  With them, they had little money and few clothes, but great hope and faith for the future. The voyage to New York was made in a cattle boat and it must have taken great stamina to survive the 3-week trip during which food was short.  Upon their arrival in New York, the Johnson's continued their journey by train.  Their original intention was to settle in Iowa, but the Northern Pacific Railway was promoting the settlement of North Dakota and the N.P. Agents persuaded them to settle in the Bismarck area.

When the Johnson family arrived in the Bismarck area in 1882, they started to homestead, but for some unknown reason, they let it go and moved to Mandan.  At this time Andrew worked on the construction of the railroad bridge across the Missouri River.  In 1883, a third son, Fred Emanuel, was born. It may have been work opportunities which prompted the family to leave Mandan and move to Bismarck in 1884.  Andrew worked as a section boss and helped build the old state capitol building.  It was during this time that he fell 40 feet and broke his right arm.  Improper healing, possibly due to little medical attention, was the reason that his right hand was weak and rather useless after the accident.  While the family was in Bismarck, it continued to grow first with the birth of Abel William in 1885, and then with the arrival of Frank Arthur in 1888.

In 1888, the family made another move.  They settled west of Mandan and Andrew began more active farming.  It was here that the sixth Johnson, Emil Walford, was born.  Peaceful Indians traveled through this area from reservation to reservation.  The family was afraid of Indians and when neighbors came to say Indians were on the warpath, they got the team ready and went into Mandan.  There were soldiers and much excitement and people everywhere.  They had had no time to bring anything with them and there was no place to stay, so they spent the night in the depot.  The Indians never came.  They returned home and as they neared the farm, Fanny, the dog, came out to meet them.

While the family was living in Mandan, Andrew established the Johnson homestead.  It was a quarter section located 17 miles northeast of Bismarck in Naughton township.  The homestead ground was hilly and rocky.  In order to secure the land, it was necessary to build a shack on the homestead and live on it for 5 years and then you could prove up and claim the land.  While Andrew was preparing for the move to the homestead, he would walk the 25 miles from the farm near Mandan to his new land, as he had no saddle horse.  It was some time between 1892 and 1896 that the family moved from Mandan to their homestead in Naughton township.  They rented a railroad car to move their cattle, team, and wagon to Bismarck across the river.

The Andrew Johnsons were not alone out on the prairie, as some of their friends had already established homesteads in the area; these being the Solbergs, Tryggs, Rybergs, Ericksons, Karlson, Wolfs, and the McCormicks.  The family was not long settled before Andrew acquired an additional quarter of land.  He bought this quarter for $2.50 per acre from the Northern Pacific Railway.

The house in which the family lived was dug out of a side hill. The rear wall was sandstone and the other three were board walls filled with dirt. The roof was flat, only sloping enough to permit the run-off of rainwater.  The interior of the house was made up of 3 rooms - a living room, large kitchen, and one large bedroom which served the entire family where they slept on mattresses stuffed with straw.  The home was heated by two iron coal-burning stoves - one in the kitchen and the other in the living room. At night, the house was lighted with kerosene lamps.  Later, two more bedrooms were added upstairs, reached by an open stairway.  Mr. Hinsvark built the house.

During a 3-day blizzard in 1900, the entire house was covered with snow.  In order to reach the barn from the house, it was necessary to dig a tunnel in the snow. Hay was always stacked near the barn for the cows.  It is remembered that just before this storm, Andrew had been to the coal mine for a load of coal and that after the storm, all that was visible of the sleigh and its load was the tongue of the sleigh sticking out of the snow. Another time a little calf was born and it was too cold to leave it in the barn, so Mr. Johnson carried it into the house and made a place for it in the kitchen till the weather moderated.  In 1896 Herman Gottfried was born.

On the homestead, Andrew grew crops of wheat, oats, and hay.  During harvest time, the neighbors would work together thrashing each other’s crops.  One incident which illustrates the strong man that Andrew was is during one harvest, perhaps with Engdahl or Charlie Trygg, Engdahl liked to work late, but Andrew didn't, so Andrew pitched bundles of grain so fast that he covered up the machine and then he walked the long-distance home.  Only history knows whether it was anger or a sense of humor that prompted him to do this, but it certainly shows how strong a man he must have been.  It is remembered that the boys were not always as serious about their work as their father. One time, Herman and Emil had some corn to hoe, but preferring the pursuit of boyhood fun, they didn't get it done.  Their father, not to be outsmarted, later pointed out to them a marker he had left in a row.  Another time, the boys had some beans to plant, but finding the chore too long and tedious, they buried some of the beans under a rock.  Later, their father discovered their deed when the beans began to grow!

To help with the farm work, Andrew had a team of horses.  He also kept an Indian pony for some of the lighter work.  Besides raising crops, the family had some milk cows and chickens.  The boys remember riding the Indian pony, Nellie, out to herd cows back to the barn to be milked.  All the farming was not left to the men in the family.  With her sons' help. Albertina raised a vegetable garden for family use.  She often did the milking, too, since Andrew's right hand was crippled.  Albertina would often accompany Andrew to Bismarck in the spring wagon, and while he attended to business she would sell butter and eggs.

Albertina was a good homemaker and mother and she made all the family clothes. although her sons now admit that they didn't always like the fashions she turned out for them. She liked to knit and she made stockings and mittens for the family. She had a large loom on which she wove rugs. She also made beautiful quilts. She loved plants and had a special stand full of them by the window in the living room. Andrew was a handsome man who wore a beard most of his life and who enjoyed smoking his pipe until he gave it up at age 64.  Andrew always walked a great deal and one winter, he walked 17 miles to town with a case of eggs and returned with groceries.

Religion and worship too were an important part of this homesteading family.  Andrew was a member of the Baptist Church and attended the church when it was available.  Albertina is remembered for her love of singing the hymns.  Sunday School was regularly taught in the different homestead farms.  Every Christmas there were programs during which the children had pieces to speak.  Herman remembers attending Sunday School in the Naughton School on Sunday mornings.  On the homestead, the boys attended an old rock schoolhouse out on the prairie which was a 2 or 3-mile walk from the farm.  Many times they walked barefoot, with bloody toes from bumping against stones.  School was in session 5 months out of the year - the months timed around the farming schedule.  No school was held in winter and school was stopped during harvest season.

As their children grew up and had lives of their own, Albertina and Andrew continued to farm until 1924 when Emil took over their farm. They moved from their homestead where they had worked so many long years to a small frame house in Bismarck.  Andrew died in Feb. 1932, at the age of 79.  After his death, Albertina moved back to Naughton township to live with her sons.  She died on Sept. 8, 1933, at the age of 84. They were buried in a small prairie cemetery.  Groveview Cemetery, in Naughton township not far from the prairie farm where they spent most of their lives.  As the years went by, each of Andrew and Albertina's sons struck out on their own.

Andrew Leander, Jr., left his parents' homestead and began to farm on his own land.  In 1904, he left the farm and pursued his religious life.  In 1909, he was ordained as a Baptist minister.  Andrew Jr., married Anna Ostrom at Kulm, ND.  Andrew and Anna had one daughter, Marjorie, whom they adopted.  Anna died in 1945. Andrew Jr. died May 21, 1955.

Charles began farming on his own on a quarter section in Naughton township, which was the Peter Paulson homestead.  Andrew Jr. farmed with Charles until going away to the ministry.  On Jan. 1, 1903, Charles married Ida Wick in Bismarck.  Charles and Ida had four children: Lester C., born Jan. 16, 1904; Edwin A., born Nov. 14, 1905; Isabelle J., born July 18, 1910; and Ruth E., born Dec. 24, 1919.  Charles died in 1954. Ida died on June 14, 1965.

Fred took over Andrew Jr.'s farm when he left for seminary and he was soon joined by his younger brothers, Abel and Frank.  Soon after this, Fred left the farm and entered Bethel Seminary in St. Paul.  After 4 years, he was graduated in 1918 and ordained in the Swedish Baptist Church.  On July 24, 1918, he was married to Mabel R. Anderson.  Two daughters were born to them, Bessie Mae, born Aug. 2, 1920, died Apr. 1928, and Arlis, born Oct. 25, 1925.  Fred died Jan. 28, 1953.  The exact date Mabel died is not known.

Abel had only 6 years of formal schooling.  Until he was 14, he helped his father and brothers on the farm.  Then he went to work in the summer for John Flanagan, driving his team for work on the railroad.  For this, Abel received $14 per month.  The next year, he worked for Clootens driving a team, plowing, and doing farm work.  At the age of 16, he bought his first horse for $60.  At the age of 17, he left the homestead and went to live with Fred on his farm.  With a team, Abel broke about 20 acres of new land and seeded flax.  Abel and Frank continued to farm together until 1906 when Frank left the homestead and joined them.  Abel married Evelyn Ruth Johnson on Nov. 14, 1927.  They were married in a second-floor room of Pete Johnson's farmhouse where the pastor of the Regan Church, Rev. Fosgren, lived.  Abel and Evelyn had five children: Paul Abel, born in 1928; Bessie Mae, born in 1930; Lloyd Jacob, born in 1933; Donald James, born in 1938; and Marilynn Jean, born in 1945. On Frank's farm, there was a regular telephone on the mainline, with service linking the farm with town and other farms.  There was no such phone on Abel's farm.  However, Abel and Frank sort of shared the phone as they strung a wire along the fence between the 2 farms.  The families could call one another this way.  Alfred Karlson, secretary of the phone company, complained about Abel's phone and there was a court trial, but the charge was dropped.  In 1944, Abel sold the farm and the family moved to Bismarck.  Abel passed away in 1976.  Evelyn now resides in Bellingham, WA.

Frank stayed on the homestead until 1906 when, at the age of 16, he moved to the farm which his older brothers, Fred and Abel, shared.  At this time, Frank and Fred each bought 80 acres and this increased the size of the property.  Frank married Mary Clara Erickson in 1924 at the First Baptist Church. They had two children, Edsel Frank, born in 1925, and Jeanette Arlene, born in 1930.  Frank and his family moved to their own farm in Naughton township in 1928.  In 1947, Frank sold his farm and moved his family to Bismarck.  In 1954, they moved to Salem, OR, to be close to their children.  Frank died Apr. 17, 1971, at the age of 83. Mary still lives in Salem, OR.  

Emil remained on the homestead when Andrew and Albertina moved to Bismarck in 1924.  Emil was later married.  One thing was a little unusual about their wedding.  The bride's name was Johnson, the groom's name was Johnson, the attendants were Johnson's, and the minister was a Johnson.  As Emil said, "No wonder it rained most of the day".  Emil and his wife had two daughters, Grace and Gladys, and two sons, LeRoy and Emil, Jr. (Johnny).  Emil moved his family to Bismarck in the early Thirties without money, and not very good health.

Herman was ordained to the ministry Nov. 5, 1926.  Herman was married and they had six children, David, Joseph, Daniel, Clayton, Samuel, and Esther.

Granquist Family (Home)  -  Kinstories (home)  -  Johnson Family  -  Susag Family  -  Flatau Family
  Beckman Family  -  Anderson Family  -  Stout Family  -  Walker Family  - Peterson Family  -  Morris Family  - Cauble Family