A. W. Johnson, a farmer and worthy citizen of Hazel Dell Township, was born in Hillsboro, Washington County, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1832, the son of William and Mary (McFadden) Johnson, natives of Virginia and Pennsylvania respectively, and of Puritan and Irish ancestry. The father belonged to the old Johnson family of Indian War fame, and was a soldier in the War of 1812, in the Commissary department. He served through the entire war. At one time he was surrounded by the Indians, and was relieved by his kinsman, Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of historical fame.

During his younger days Mr. Johnson was engaged in freighting by wagon train from New York to Baltimore and other points, and after his service in the War of 1812 he was engaged in taking contracts for building and in the construction of pikes, including the national pike. About 1839 or 1840 the family removed to Ohio, spent one winter in Knox County, and then removed to Licking County, same State, where the parents finally died. Mr. Johnson, the subject of this sketch, was the ninth of the ten children of the above family. At the age of fifteen years he began the trade of glove-making, and continued in the same for three years, meanwhile devoting a part of his time to the art of tanning, and these trades he followed until 1869, at Mt. Vernon, Ohio.

In 1870 he came to Council Bluffs, arriving March 23. Renting land in Hazel Dell Township, he followed farming there for three years, and then purchased a tract of eighty acres on sections 29 and 32 of that township, all unimproved prairie, built a house there and began improvements which he has continued up to date, thus making a beautiful home. On the premises is a good orchard of about 125 trees, and there are also many shade trees. Mr. Johnson is an industrious and judicious farmer and stock-raiser; has also done much in building up the interests of this county; is a decided Republican, and has held the office of Constable. He is a self-made man, having risen to his present position by his own unaided efforts. He and his wife are exemplary members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

He was married in Ohio, October 4, 1854, to Miss Ellen Harl, a daughter of Tramel and Elizabeth (Wilson) Harl, natives of Virginia, and of English and Scotch origin. Her mother died in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and her father in 1885 in Pottawattamie. They had a family of eleven children, Mrs. Johnson being the fourth. She was born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, October 10, 1836.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of six children, namely: Hamilton, deceased; Richard M., who died at the age of nineteen years, March 15, 1874; George W., born December 27, 1858, and is now a resident of this county; William T., born June 17, 1861, and now also a resident of this county; Charles M., born May 15, 1865, and now residing in Custer County, Nebraska; and Mary E., born February 14, 1876, and is at her parental home.