Johnsono
Transcribed from "History of North Washington, an illustrated history
of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Chelan counties", published by Western
Historical Publishing Co., 1904.
OZIAS D. JOHNSON, the pioneer
jeweler and optician of Wenatchee, Chelan county, was born in Albany, Clinton
county, Kentucky, December 19, 1849. His father, John Johnson, was
also a Kentuckian, but the paternal grandfather of our subject was a native
of Connecticut, of English ancestry, which for many generations had been
prominent in the state. The mother, Mary (Wright) Johnson, was a
native of Kentucky where she still lives.
Wayne county, Kentucky, was the scene of young
Johnson's boyhood days, where he attended the public schools and was graduated
from the Kendrick Institute, at Monticello. Soon after gaining his
majority he engaged in the jewelry business, which he has followed ever
since in Kentucky, La Plata, Missouri, Wellington, Kansas, Scott City,
Kansas, Pueblo, Colorado and Seattle, Washington. In 1895 he came
to Wenatchee and associating himself with his son, J. Alvis Johnson, opened
the first jewelry store in Wenatchee. The latter died February 22,
1903.
Mr. Johnson has two brothers and one sister,
Thomas L. and Henry L., farmers in Kentucky, and Emmer A., wife of Porter
Riley, residing near Albany, Kentucky. At the latter place, February
19, 1871, our subject was married to Lavina R. Cole, a native of Albany.
Her father, James Cole, was a Kentucky farmer, who died near Albany in
1883. The father of the latter was a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts,
descended from an old English family. Mrs. Johnson has two brothers
living, Samuel, of Albany, Kentucky, and James L., of Wellington, Kansas-both
farmers. She has four sisters, living: Martha, Eliza, Margaret and
Caroline. Martha is the widow of John Dalton, Eliza, the widow of
Henry Shelly, Margaret, the wife of Isaac Lee, and Caroline, the widow
of John Balenger.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Johnson, J. Alvis, Mary M., wife of George E. Harmon, a Seattle millman,
and William H., now living at home. Mr. Johnson is a member of Riverside
Lodge No. 112 A. F. & A. M. and Wenatchee Chapter, No. 22, R. A. M.,
Astral Chapter, U. D. 0. E. S., Wenatchee, Knights of Pythias, Rathbone
Sisters, and St. John's Commandery, Knights Templar, Wellington, Kansas.
Mrs. Johnson is a devout and consistent member of the Baptist church.
Politically Mr. Johnson affiliates with the Republican party, but is not
an active partisan.
The father of our subject was a captain in
the Twelfth Kentucky Infantry, serving in the federal army. He owns
the lot and business building occupied by his jewelry store, and a substantial
residence five blocks from there, on Mission street.