William Jackson, grocer, 154 West Main St.,
was born in Cazenovia, N. Y., in 1814; was a student
in Cazenovia Seminary several years; attended Union
College when Gen. Jackson was President, and Dr. Nott
gave him the title of " General Jackson, " which has
clung to him through life. Mr. Jackson graduated from
Union in the class of 1836; came to Michigan, and
settled in Leoni, Jackson County, in 1838, and engaged
in the mercantile business. He served as Postmaster of
the town 10 years, and was twice a candidate on the
Whig ticket for the Legislature. He removed to Jackson
in 1852; was elected Mayor of the city in 1859, and is
still a resident of the city, which bears his name.
Mr. J. has quite a taste for the drama; at one time
was a member of an amateur dramatic company composed
of Jackson citizens. In 1860 Mr. Jackson built the
finest hall for public entertainments in the city,
since destroyed by fire. Most of his active life has
been spent in the grocery business, which he still
conducts. Mr. Jackson says he has escaped three great
calamities that afflict society: riches, matrimony and
politics.
Rev. Myron A. Johnson, D. D., Rector of St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, is the son of Alfred and
Drusilla (Hall) Johnson, of Massachusetts, in which
State he was born Feb. 25, 1836. His boyhood was spent
on a farm; attended school at Jacksonville and Hopkins
Academies, at Williston Seminary, Amherst College and
Harvard Law School. During those years he taught at
intervals in Jacksonville and Crescent Academies, and,
after leaving the law school, taught in Mystic Hall
Seminary, filling the chair of Latin and mathematics
one year. He then took a course in the Alexandria
Theological Seminary, graduating in 1861. On July 28
of that year, Mr. Johnson was ordained to the
Deaconate by the Bishop of Massachusetts, and preached
his first sermon at Waltham that afternoon. March 12,
1862, he was ordained to the priesthood of the Church
by Bishop Williams, of Connecticut. Rev. Johnson
labored in various missionary fields until 1867, when
he was appointed Rector of St. Peter's Church,
Bennington, Vt., where he officiated two years; then
was elected Rector of St. Peter's Church at Niagara
Falls; and during the four years of his ministration
he erected a fine church edifice for the parish. In
1874 Dr. Johnson was called to Calvary Church,
Cincinnati, OH., and after four years of labor there
became Hector of St. Paul's parish in Jackson,
Michigan, entering upon its duties in July, 1878. In
the 18 years of his clerical labors, Dr. Johnson has
not missed a Sabbath from illness or inability to
perform duty. He received the honorary degree of
Doctor of Divinity in June 1877. Dr. Johnson was
united in marriage to Miss Frances, daughter of the
late Prof. William Gordon Mitchell, on April 9, 1863,
at Grace church, Chickopee, Mass., Rev. George C.
McKnight officiating. Four sons and 1 daughter bless
this union.
Wm. H. Johnson, engineer, M. C. railroad, was
born in Genesee county, N.Y. March 7, 1839. When a
small boy his parents migrated to the vicinity of
Kalamazoo, and followed farming; when he was 9 years
old they went to Marshall, Mich. In 1856 he went on
the road as fireman, and remained in that capacity
until 1862, when he was promoted to engineer and ran
between Marshall and Michigan City. Just before coming
to Jackson he got a passenger train engine and has run
the same since. While between Marshall and Michigan
City, about 1 1/2 miles from Kalamazoo, he ran into a
fallen tree two and a half feet thick, cutting it in
two, throwing the engine into the air and turning it
bottom side up, and Mr. Johnson directly under it. How
his life was saved he can't tell; as it went over he
only remembers saying, "Oh, my God!" the tender was
turned end for end with the fireman underneath, who
came out with a bruise on one of his knees. Mr.
Johnson has been on the road 25 years, and 19 years as
engineer; has never injured a passenger through
neglect. He married for his first wife, Gernett
Sherwood, who died April 13, 1874, leaving 3 children
- Willie, Vernon and James. For his second wife he
married Agnes Dulin; she was born in July 1856. By
this union there were 4 children, 3 of whom are
living, - Blanche, Bernadett and John Henry.
John H. Jones, grocer, 113 North Jackson Street, was born in Wayne county, N. Y., in 1835; at the age of 20 years went to Attica, Ind., and clerked in his brother's drug-store two years; spent some two years at various occupations in Michigan; returned to New York in 1860, and in August, 1861, enlisted in the 160th New York Infantry. Co. C; was with Gen. Banks on his Red River expedition, participated in the battles of Port Hudson and Pleasant Hill; ascended the James river in 1864 to the front of Richmond, Va., was with Gen. Sheridan in the battles of the Shenandoah Valley; was wounded in the fight at Cedar creek, by a shot which severed the sciatic nerve of his right thigh, rendering him a permanent cripple; was taken prisoner on the field, but recaptured that night. He commanded the company from the siege of Port Hudson until wounded, but held the rank of Sergeant; was discharged in June, 1865; came to Jackson in January, 1866, and began the grocery business in the building he now occupies, two doors north, the following month. The first 10 years he had a partner; since has been sole proprietor; does a general retail trade of $25,000 a year. Mr. Jones is now serving his seventh consecutive year in the Board of Supervisors, from the first and second wards; is a stockholder in, and Secretary and Treasurer of the Bonanza Coal Company; and is a member of the A. F. & A. M, Jackson Lodge, 17. He married Miss Delia, daughter of William Langdon, an early settler in Jackson, in October 1870. They have 1 daughter and 2 sons still living.
