Ellen and Lewis N. Johnson, 1886

Lewis N. Johnson emigrated from Tranås, Sweden to Minnesota in 1868, right after the end of the American Civil War. Lewis N. Johnson's Swedish name was Lasse Jönsson (born July 14, 1842 in Baggahuset, Tranås in Skåne, Sweden).

His Swedish name of birth was a long time a mystery. His grandson Donald Edward Johansson found old letters as late as 1940 using the surname Johansson. Donald concluded that Lewis N. Johnson came to the United States as a Johansson. For this reason the Donald E. Johnson family changed their surname to Johansson. Why was Lewis N. Johnson called Johansson in the letters? Probably nobody knows.

A central contribution to this web site is Memoirs of Mother – the dramatic story about Lewis N. Johnson and Nels Jenson families' emigration. Nels Jenson became Lewis N. Johnson's second father in law. Nels' Swedish name of birth was Nils Jönsson, and his official U.S. surname became Johnson.

Lewis N. Johnson family summary
Lewis' name in Sweden was Lasse Jönsson (born July 14, 1842 in Baggahuset, Tranås in Skåne). His first wife Anna Johnsdotter (born May 3, 1838 in Lövestad) and their two children emigrated from Tranås, Sweden in April 1868. Anna and Lasse's children were Anna (born 1864) and Nils (born 1866). The story Memoirs of mother tells that both children became ill and died on the ship at the Atlantic ocean, and that Anna Johnsdotter became ill on the ship as well, and died right after arrival at New York harbour.

Lasse Jönsson and his first wife Anna arrived America in 1868, less than a half year after Nels and Ellen Jenson with most of their children. One of the children, named Elna Nilsdotter in Sweden, who emigrated about a half year later than her parents, became Lewis N. Johnson's second wife. Elna was born on December 25, 1845 at Vollsjö in Sjöbo Municipality, Skåne County. Elna spelled her name in America Ellen N. Johnson, both before and after marriage. Lewis, Ellen and their baby settled in Maynard, Chippewa County in western Minnesota. Lewis died here on June 13, 1894. Ellen died in Swede Grove on August 5, 1936.