Coal Memorial Tiles to Recognize Two Johnson Family Members

By Coal Memorial Committee for Hometown magazine

The Punxsutawney area has been home to many thousands of immigrants who came, found work in the mines, and then moved on to other places. Some of these former residents are easy to trace; for others, it is next to impossible to do so. The difficulties encountered in learning about these transient residents comes about when they arrived after one census and before the next one. This group of residents leaves very few records of having lived in the area. It is the rare chance that they may be found in church records, through a marriage license, an item in a newspaper, or a notice of a death. All of these are difficult to find more than 100 years after the fact. It takes diligent research of all records to piece together the history of the lives of those who were short-term residents of the Punxsutawney area. Another complication to seeking information about these former residents is the loss of the 1890 Census, leaving a 20-year gap in information about those who arrived and left primarily during the period from1880 through 1900. This was the time period of the Coal Boom in the Punxsutawney area and the highest rate of migration of workers to the area.

Pehr August Johannesson, who emigrated from Sweden, came to America in 1881. There is no record of where he lived and worked until the 1900 Census which shows him living in the Punxsutawney area.

The Randall K. Johnson family, descendants of Pehr August Johannesson have provided information to the Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society with a request for memorial tiles to be placed at the Punxsutawney Area Coal Memorial at the 2023 dedication, which will be held on Sunday, September 3.

Pehr August Johannesson left his home in

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Coal Memorial Tiles

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Sweden and arrived in the United States of America in 1881 where he began his new life as August P. Johnson. Nineteen years later, he and his family appear in the 1900 Census. They are listed as living in the Anita Precinct, McCalmont Township, in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Much of what is known about August P. Johnson’s life experience between 1881 and 1900 is learned from this census record.

* In 1883 August P. Johnson married a young woman, named Mary, who had emigrated from Sweden in 1882.

* Their marriage had lasted for 17 years.

* They were the parents of seven children, six of whom were living in 1900: Saul, 14; Ernest, 12; Nimie, 10; Fred, 8; Ruth, 5; and Esther, 1.

* Both August and his son, Saul, age 14, were listed as mine laborers. This raised a number of questions about Au- gust P. Johnson’s life. The mines in McCalmont township were not developed until 1890, so where did the Johnson family live prior to 1900?

An online search of Newspapers.com located an obituary for an August P. Johnson who died in 1925 and a Mary Anderson Johnson, who died in 1935, and had been married to A. P. Johnson, who died in 1925. The names of their children were the same. These obituaries revealed that both August and Mary were from Nora, Sweden. They were married at Houtzdale, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, shortly after her arrival in America.

Houtzdale was a rapidly growing town in the 1880s. Coal mines there produced Moshannon coal, famous for its high BTU output and low ash qualities. The BerwindWhite Coal Mining Company had several coal mining operations at that location. When the Berwind-White Coal Company opened their coal mines, West Eureka #1 and #2 at Horatio in Jefferson County in 1886, A.P. Johnson may have been one of the

Berwind-White miners who came to open them. The first coal was shipped from the Horatio mines in 1887.

It is possible that when Berwind-White Coal Company was opening their West Eureka mines # 10, #11, #12, and #13 near Anita in 1889, the Johnson family moved to McCalmont Township to work in the new mines. This would have placed the Johnson family in the Anita area when the 1900 Census was taken. The family continued to live in the McCalmont Township area for another seven years. By this time the first of their children were becoming young adults.

In 1907 the family moved to McKean County. At the time the 1910 Census was taken, August Johnson was reporting his employment as a farmer, who lived with his wife and their four younger children, Nimie, Fred, Ruth, and Esther in Wetmore, McKean, County. Saul Johnson was employed as an engineer at a glass works and was living in a household with his wife, Lulu, daughter Mary, and brother-in-law, Hugh Crossman. Ernest Johnson, was employed as a snapper in a glass factory. He was married. He and his wife, Ebba, were living with her grandparents, Sophia and Gust Lindholm, in Kane. By 1920 the family was thoroughly integrated into the American way of life. The census that year reflects the advancement of the Johnson family. Saul had moved to Youngstown, Ohio, where he was employed. August, Mary, and their youngest daughter, Esther, had moved into the town of Kane. August was working at the Window Glass Factory. Shortly thereafter Esther became ill with what was assumed to be the flu, which turned out to be tuberculosis. She was the second of their children to die.

During the decade between 1920 and 1930 the Johnson family scattered across the United States. Saul, who had left the mines for work as an engineer in a glass factory in McKean County, moved on to become a motorman on a trolley in Youngstown, Ohio. He would retire from work as a Municipal Bus Operator in Youngstown. Ernest and Fred moved to Southern California, where they opened an auto parts business and raised families. In 1923, August’s daughter Nimie died.

In 1925, August passed away. Mary lived until 1935. They left four living children and 15 grandchildren.

The presence of August P. and Saul Johnson as mine workers in the Punxsutawney area is being honored through memorial tiles, which will be placed at the Punxsutawney Area Coal Memorial in September 2023.

This article has been prepared by the Coal Memorial Committee of the Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society. Resources used in preparing his article are from PAHGS, Punxsutawney News @ Newspapers.com., and the Library of Congress. Direct comments to PAHGS, P.O. Box 286, Punxsutawney, PA 15767. A dedication for the 2023 memorial tile additions to the Punxsutawney Area Coal Memorial will take place on Sunday, September 3, 2023. Individuals desiring to honor a coal or coal-related industry worker in 2023, are encouraged to purchase their tile by June 30, 2023. A Coal Memorial tile may honor persons who worked in any aspect of the coal industry, including railroads and ancillary services. Additional information and forms may be found online at www.punxsyhistory.org or may be requested by an email to punxsyhistory@outlook.com, or calling (814) 938-2555 and leaving a message