Johnson, Joel

Born: 1806-05-21 Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Died: 1877-05-04

Flourished: Springfield, Illinois

After traveling west to St. Louis, Missouri, Johnson found work as a boot and shoemaker. He procured leather and other materials and left for Edwardsville, Illinois, where he opened a leather shop. In April 1833, Johnson moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he operated a boot, shoe, and leather business. In 1835, he opened a hotel and stayed in that business for over forty years. In 1850, Johnson was a shoemaker in Sangamon County. In 1852, he was a stockholder in the Mechanics and Farmers Bank in Springfield, Illinois, and in 1860, he was a real estate dealer and owned real estate worth $25,000 and personal property worth $2,000

Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 30 October 1852, 3:2; Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 5 May 1877, 1:1; John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 412-13; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Sangamon County, IL, 87; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Sangamon County, IL, 219; Gravestone, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL.