from "​Double Cousins" by Ralph Hammersborg,  A Norwegian Family Chronicle, produced in 1996

Ralph Hammersborg had asked his Mother’s cousins to write about their lives.  The cousin's stories are taken from "Double Cousins by Ralph Hammersborg, A Norwegian Family Chronicle, produced in 1996.”   Birth dates of living relatives have been removed from the original text.

1913 - Johnnie Donald Anton Johnson
born March 20, 1913, died at age 98 on April 28, 2011.
Son of Helmer and Alfrida Johnson

Written in 1996

This biography is based upon a recorded interview by the editor (Ralph Hammersborg).  It took place in a nursing home in Everett, Washington during the week before Christmas 1995.  Johnnie D was singing carols and playing his accordion in the family tradition with his band, including his wife, Ruth.  Johnnie and his band have a busy schedule playing around the Northwest at various events and homes for the elderly, particularly at Warm Beach, near Stanwood and in Everett.  It was a special time for me to get to know this patriarch of the family.  At the time of this writing, Johnnie D is the oldest living male in the family.  Johnnie D lives on Camino island.

 I was born in Binford, North Dakota.  We lived in four places around there.  I was named for my uncle on my dad's side and for my mom's uncle Anton.  I don't know where the name Donald came from.

 I first came out to Washington in 1934 to visit. I stayed until the spring of '35.  I wanted a buddy to come with me but another friend came as far as Spokane.  Uncle Johnie got me a job milking cows for a lady on the "Guide Road".   I also delivered the milk to Bellingham. Then I got another job for a guy in Lynden, on Wiser Lake.

 I worked for neighbors when I went back to North Dakota. Then we went to Minnesota, the jobs were good there.  When we came back home in the spring of '36 we decided to farm ourselves.  There was lots of land available.  Arnold and I rented all the land we could and farmed.  My dad had a tractor and it ran day and night.  But come fall, we never cut a bundle.  We were told we could have everything we cut but there was nothing to cut.

 There was nothing else to do so in 1937, Arnold and I drove out to Washington State again to visit Uncle Johnie and his family, in Ferndale. We met Harold Stortson, and one day we went to Everett and stopped at a service station.  We told the man there, we didn't have any money, did he know of any work around there.  We are farm boys from North Dakota.  The man at the gas station said there is a farm near Marysville (where Berringer Farm is now).  That farmer has a hired man who is on vacation, and he doesn't know it yet but his hired man won't be coming back.  We headed right out there and talked to that farmer and told him what we just heard.  He said, stay right there, I want to talk to someone.  When he came back, after checking out the story, he said you're hired.  We stayed for two and a half years and that's how I got my feet wet here.

 More than that, and that is how I met Vera. She was his niece.

 I started working at the pulp mill.  I worked there for 5 years.  I wanted to farm again, so I started chicken ranching.  Worked at that 11 years and went broke and went back to the mill.  I worked at the mill all together 21 years (should have been 37 years but.....)

 I worked for Weyerhaeuser from 1940 to 1945.  Then I farmed full-time until 1956.  I worked for the mill again until I retired in 1977.

 I married Vera Thompson in 1940. We had four children. Donald, a chief engineer on a Foss tug.  Allen got a Weyerhaeuser scholarship to Yale University and is now a doctor in Ashland, Oregon.  Gail graduated from the University of Washington and is in photography and research for Weyerhaeuser.  Timothy also graduated from the UW and is a recycling engineer in Longview, Washington.

Donald Arthur Johnson married Cheryl Acree, they have children: Derek Arthur, Jill LeAnn, and Kimberly Sue.
Allen Duane Johnson married Muriel Seegar, they have children: Kristen and Lisa.
Gail Edward Johnson married Terry Witt, they have children: Gail Edward Jr, Nicole Leanne, and Eric Allen.
Timothy Bruce married Cindy Wren, they have children: Courtney Anne and Lindsay Renee.

 On November 30, 1992, I married Ruth Tweeten Arnot, a retired nurse who grew up in Petersburg, Alaska.

 Memories of Grandpa and Grandma Susag:  A small cabin with a big rock out front.  When we slept there, memories of the feather beds. They had a quarter section (640 acres), but they had a few cattle and a small plot of hay that was cut with the hand scythe.

Click on a link below to continue with the JOHNSON FAMILY photos and stories.

Same links as the Home page

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