Westlake Hills History: The Johnson Family

Article about the Johnson family — particularly Charles Johnson and his wife Emilia Johnson.

Transcribed text

_The following text was extracted via OCR from the digitized scan held by The Portal to Texas History (UNT Libraries). OCR can introduce errors, especially on handwritten material; the canonical record links to the original scan._

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WESTLAKE IIT,LS IIISTO'?Y:THE jONSON Ar ILY.

CHARLES JOHNSON, AUSTIN INDUSTRIALIST

CHARLES J OHNSON, from

EMILIA LOESCHMAN JOHNSON, HIS WIFE

Sweden, settled in Austin in 1854, when Texas was still

young.In 1857 he married Emelia Loechman, from Germany and built the large two story house overlooking the Colorodo River in 1858.The house,an excellent example of architecture,is now the home of the American Legion. Johnson was well known for the bringing over of many Swedish people to Austin including his parents,brothers and sisters.Once there he would help them find jobs in the area. Charles Johnson is known as one or Texas first industrialists. He owned and operated a rock quarry and lime kiln. Ue also built a floating grist mill at the mouth of-Shoal Creek on the Colorodo River. The mill later washed away due to a river flood. Johnson also owned a freighting bussiness that prospered during the Cival war when he received many contracts from the government of the Confederacy for hauling much needed supplies from the coast and from deep in Mexico. Johnson was a very good freind of Sam Houston who often visited the Johnson home, which in those days was well beyond the city limits of Austinsurrounded by open farmland. When gov. Houston refused to take the oath of allagiance to the Confederacy, and resigned his office,his effects were moved to Tiuntsville by dohnsons

ill.L .awn wagons.

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WESTLAKE HILLS HISTORY: THE JOHNSON FAMILY(CONT.). Charles Johnson was never known to carry a weapon. He relied instead on fair dealing,honesty,and the golden rule. One of his eleven children, Henry, settled in Westlake Hills in the late 1800' He built the two story Johnson house that now stands on the Johnson prop- erty west of loop 360,on the corner of the loop and Westlake High drive. Henry was a farmer and owned much of the land around the house. With the help of his eleven children he farmed the area where the high school now When Henry died he left the land to his son, Frank, who continued to farm My father, Cecil M. Johnson Sr.pays that every time that he goes to a Westla football game and see's the players sipping on ice,it reminds him of the time that he was helping his uncle Frank and cousin Albert chop fodder right where the boy's now play football. They had been working all day and the temperature was about 109 degrees in the shade.My dad says"Why we didnt take any drinking water ll never know".At 11:00 A.M.my father was so thirsty he almost passed out. Then he noticed a wind mill i'- the distants and started walking towards it. As he wandered away uncle Frank called to him, "Where are you going?" .My father replied "I . eadin'over torthat well ~orca drink of water." "There aint no water in that well, "Frank said, "Come on over here and set down in the shade and cool off." This was a tremendous letdown, but my father welcomed the coolinge-:elief of t]e; shady oak. Whgi they gave up work and went on back to the house for dinner my father almost drank their well dry.

Original record: metapth1065532 on the Portal to Texas History.