Lorenzo Johnson
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Lorenzo was the 12th child of 13 children. His parents, Rheuama Stevens and Didymus Johnson, and the grandparents lived in Haddam, Connecticut. He had eight brothers and four sisters. His mother was 45 years old when he was born. She died when he was 13 years old.
His father died when he was 19 years old. Lorenzo married Mary Lyman that same year. Mary had joined the church in Michigan in the year 1842. At some time Lorenzo and Mary with seven children moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. Lorenzo was baptized March 1846 when the exodus started from Nauvoo, Illinois. The family was living at Winter Quarters (1847) and at Potowatamie, Iowa (1849). He must have had to ind work and earn the means to take his family of now nine children on to Utah. A child was born in Winter Quarters and another in Potowatamie. Emily the ninth child died at age two, location unknown. Maybe only eight children went to Utah. Mary and Lorenzo received their endowments in 1855. Lorenzo must have lived the Law of Plural Marriage as the records have four other wives. In the remembrance of John Wesley Johnson (son) it states he met Louisa Collings in Springerville, Utah. I am assuming that Mary and Lorenzo were living in Springerville also, as it was from there the John Wesley and Louisa were called to help settle Monroe, Utah a few years later. Mary and Lorenzo helped settle Monroe so probable were called when their son was called. They lived in Monroe until their death. Lorenzo died April 25, 1872 in Monroe, Utah. information taken from the genealogy records
compiled by Alice Jo Cluff Ellsworth: 1997 Description of Lorenzo JohnsonLorenzo Johnson was born April 17, 1813 at Haddam, Middlesex, Connecticut. He came to Utah September 2, 1850. He married (1) Mary Lyman Johnson; (2) Ruth Sawyer Drury Davis; (3) Emma James; (4) Mary Ann Hall (Johnson Whiting). He was elected Springville City Councilman in 1857 and Mayor in 1859. He helped build a sawmill in Salt Lake City and later Spanish Fork Canyon. He was a member of the first Grand Jury in Utah County and was called to settle "The Muddy" in Southern Utah. He died April 25, 1872.
from the database: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Springville
Geni record about Lorenzo JohnsonMayor of Springville, UT, from 1859-1861, after serving as councilman for two terms. Moved to Southern Utah to colonize the Muddy River, and upon failing health retired to Monroe. He built several sawmills in Big Cottonwood Canyon in the 1850s.
from "A brief history of Springville, Utah : from its first settlement September 18, 1850 to the 18th day of September, 1900 : fifty years (1900)"
Biography of Lorenzo JohnsonLorenzo Johnson was born April 17, 1813 in Haddem, Middlesex, Connecticut to Dydimus Johnson and Rheuama Stevens. Married Emma James March 1, 1857. They had seven children: two sons and five daughters. Died April 25, 1872 in Monroe, Sevier, Utah. Buried in Monroe, Sevier, Utah.
Lorenzo’s great grandfather, Stephen Johnson, came to Connecticut before the Revolutionary War and was one of the first settlers in Middlesex County. In 1832 Lorenzo married Mary Lyman, his brother’s widow. She and her six children came with him to Utah. Lorenzo joined the church about 1837 in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1845 he moved to Nauvoo and in 1846 moved on to Garden Grove. He farmed and did odd jobs until 1852 when he started for Utah. Upon arrival he settled in Springville. In 1853 he married Ruth Sawyer. He married his third and fourth wives, Mary Ann Hall and Emma James on the same day, March 1, 1857 in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. He was elected mayor of Springville from 1858 to 1861. He was also elected councilman in 1863. He was a member of the first grand jury in Utah county. In 1868 Lorenzo was called to settle the Muddy in Southern Utah, about one hundred miles from St. George. The settlement of West Point worked hard to till the soil and raise some crops, but the water was so scarce the crops would not grow. The Indians were troublesome. After about ten years the word came that all were to be released from their call to live in West Point. Lorenzo gathered his family and returned to Springville. Lorenzo then took two of his wives, Mary Lyman and Emma James and their families and settled in Monroe. He died of pneumonia in 1872 and was buried in Monroe. from ourfamilyhistories.org
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