Jacob Johns

As printed in 1894

JACOB JOHNS. The progress made by Winona County in commerce and agriculture is largely due to the energy, perseverance and industry of its foreign-born citizens, many of whom have here gained prosperity, if not aflfluence. One of this class is Mr. Johns, a wealth and progressive agriculturist, who owns a fine estate in Hart Township. He is a native of Germany, but since his fifteenth year has dwelt within the limits of this county, with the development and history of which he has been prominently identified up to the present time.

The parents of our subject were Jacob and Maggie (Jahn) Johns, the former of whom was a native of Germany, and is now living in Winona County, having attained the age of ninety-four j'ears. Our subject was born August 5, 1842, and at the age of three years was brought by his parents to America, the journey across the ocean consuming two months. After landing in Baltimore,' Md., they proceeded to Missouri, and made their home in that state for the ensuing seven years, after which tlicy went to Hazel Green, Wis. In 1856 they came to Winona County, and settled in

Hart Township, where our subject grew to manhood and began the battle of life for himself. At the age of eighteen he began to work for farmers by the month, and was thus employed until the outbreak of the late war.

August 15, 1862, Mr. Johns enlisted as a private soldier in Company E, Sixth Minnesota Infantry, and was mustered into the service at Ft. Snelling. His first engagement was at Birch Coolie, September 2, 1862, in one of the Indian reservations, and the second battle was Wood Lake, September 23, 1862. He was mainly employed in looking after the redmen of the Northwest until the spring of 1864, when he was sent southward. He participated in the battle of Helena, Ark., and the sieges of Spanish Fort and Ft. Blakely and also took part in many other engagements of less renown. He was never wounded nor taken prisoner, and served from first to last as a private soldier. His filial discharge was dated August 19, 1865.

On his return home Mr. Johns rented land for a year, and at the expiration of that time, by strict economy and industry, he was enabled to la\' aside a sum sufficient to purchase eighty acres of land.

This property was located on section 28, Hart Township, and proved the nucleus of his present possessions. As he could afford he extended his domains, until now he is the proprietor of four hundred and forty acres. He has been equally successful as a general farmer and as a stock-raiser, and most enterprises undertaken by him have been carried through to a successful consummation. May 18. 1868,.Jacob Johns married Miss Theresa Kryzer, and they became the parents of twelve children, named as follows: Mary, Sophia, Lizzie, Emma, Annie,.Jacob, Henry, Rose, Willie, Hannah, Eddie and George. In religion Mr. Johns and family are identified with the Catholic Church. He uses his franchise in favor of the Democratic party, and has held the position of Township Supervisor and Constable, in both of winch he made a good record for himself and gave tuU satisfaction to his constituents. Socially he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

William Oarlock.

X "\ f)ILLIAMGARLOCK, deceased, was one of the most valued citizens of the county, and on his death was widely missed, but his life was a long and useful one, and the reward prepared for the righteous is surely his. His influence will long be felt, and the best interests of the comnuinitjbear the impress of his character. He was a man of sterling worth, ever true to his business, his friends and himself. He was filled with no vain ambition to stand on more exalted pinnacles, but to those who counted him as an associate in his less prosperous days he remained the same unobtrusive, warm-hearted man. He loved truth and honesty, and was opposed to anything under-handed. His affairs would always bear the light of strong investigation, and his career was ever honorable and straightforward. A close student of economic questions, he had the keen insight into the future course of commerce that can only be obtained from a careful study of business history. He was not quick to jump at conclusions, but gave due credit to the opinion of others, and when his mind was made up and a course adopted it was seldom his plans were changed or that a necessity for change existed.

William Garlock possessed many of the characteristics found in the sturdy ancestry from which he came. He had the indomitable pluck and perseverance of the Puritan forefathers, without their intolerance, and the keen-sightedness and adaptability of the later New Englanders. He was born on the 15th of January, 1818, in Montgomery,

As printed in Portrait and biographical record of Winona county, Minnesota. Containing biographical sketches of prominent ... citizens .. (1894). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.