FW John out in the woods.
Many who heard the expression were astonished, but those who were present and who had lived here when Mr. John was a young man knew the full meaning of the greeting.
Mr. John is one of the pioneers of Oconto county, and a great many years ago was prominent among the then young men of the vicinity. He scarcely failed to be drawn on the jury at every term of the circuit court, and one time, as usual, he was summoned to appear at the county seat as a juror. He entered the court room, dressed in the garb of a lumberman, wearing a red sash tied around his waist, which in those days was considered essential to the efficient vocation of a lumberjack. He was in his shirt sleeves and wore high boots, and being tall, broad shouldered and as straight as an arrow, he presented a find specimen of physical manhood. On entering the court room he took a seat at the rear, and soon Richard Hall, who was then clerk of the court, began calling the roll.
Still there was no response, and Judge Cotton, who at that time presided in this circuit, inquired of Clerk Hall whether Bill John was in the court room.
“Is your name Bill John?’ thundered the judge, pointing straight at him with his finger.
“Well Mr. Frederick William John by J___s, you will take your seat in front with the rest of the jurors.” commanded the judge, suppressing a smile.
A lumberjack in dress most similar to what FW John would have been wearing.
Now if only there were more stories about Johanna that were to be found.
1 The Lena Enterprise, volume1, issue 21, page 1 column 4, 1903-10-30.
One of the fun results of researching ones ancestors is finding living relatives that you never knew existed and then meeting them and sharing stories, pictures, research, or just plain having fun.
This last weekend Dale and I decided to take the time to visit, and catch up with, my John side cousin Ron and his wife Nancy down in southern Wisconsin. The day was almost perfect (I can always do with a little bit warmer). It was warmish, sunnyish and downright nice. So we had good food, lots of laughs and even got to feed a crane. Well I did. Our next visit will not be 9 years in the future.
Nancy shared her abundance of rhubarb with us and I made some of my luscious rhubarb muffins.
Jen, Dale, and Nancy. Where’s Ron?
Here’s a pic of FW John I hadn’t seen before. Ron shared it with me. I’ll be adding this to my flickr site.
Ummm! Tasty goodness. Lots in the freezer too!
August, who has used the name Augustus at times, was the younger brother of my great great grandfather Friedrich Wilhelm Jahn. August went by the surname Johns after arriving in the United States. As I have mentioned before, regarding his military service during the Civil War, he married Mary Schaal shortly after his arrival.
The family lived in Dodge County, Wisconsin until sometime between 1880 and 1885 when they packed up the household and family of 4 girls and moved to Algona, Kossuth County, Iowa.
2 The Spirit Lake Beacon, Vol. XVII, No. 17, Spirit Lake, Dickinson County, Iowa, Friday, March 18, 1887, page 1, col. 3.
3 The Upper Des Moines: Algona, Iowa, Wednesday Dec. 10, 1890, no page, col. 3.
4 The Republican, Algona, Iowa, Wednesday, September 2, 1896, no page, col. 4.
5 Upper Des Moines Republican Algona, Iowa, Wednesday, August 1, 1917, Vol 16, No. 5, page 1 col. 5.