William Whipple Johnson
Gordon, Palo Pinto County, Texas
Marker Inscription
William Whipple Johnson, the oldest of seven children, was born on October 11, 1843 in Ionia, Michigan to Ethan S. and Jane B. (Whipple) Johnson. He attended school in Ypsilanti, Michigan and in 1860 formed a business partnership with his father and his younger brother Harvey. The three men provided merchandise to the people of Ionia and within several years expanded their interests to include real estate and a hotel operation. During the Panic of 1873 and the collapse of the national economy the business suffered greatly, and the men moved from Michigan, leaving their debts behind them. By 1880, William and Harvey were in Strawn, Texas, where they opened a business in the name of Anna Fatzinger Campbell, who became William's second wife. The T&P Railroad reached Strawn that same year. William and Anna both served as postmasters, and the family established Campbell and Company, a mercantile that catered to local railroad workers. The Johnson brothers also secured a contract with the railroad to provide crossties for the line, and they created many jobs in the area for cutting cedar posts. In 1885, with the death of their three-year-old daughter Marion, William and Anna built a mausoleum on their property. There, they later interred Harvey (d. 1888) and a son, William Harvey (d. 1894). William Johnson expanded his business interests to include coal and other mining operations, and livestock trading. In 1905, he and Anna bought a 4,200-acre ranch outside of Gordon and erected a new mausoleum for their children's remains. Anna placed William's body there in 1914 and set aside money for a more permanent structure here on Salt Point. It was completed in 1923, a year after her death. The Johnsons are remembered for creating communities and business opportunities throughout Palo Pinto County. (2004)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
William Whipple Johnson left Michigan after the Panic of 1873 wrecked his family's businesses and by 1880 had reached Strawn, Texas, just as the Texas & Pacific Railroad arrived. He and his wife Anna built a mercantile serving railroad workers, won contracts supplying crossties, and expanded into coal and mineral mining and livestock across Palo Pinto County. After burying children in a series of family mausoleums, he was finally laid to rest in a permanent structure completed in 1923 on his ranch at Salt Point.
Why it matters
Johnson's rise from ruin to railroad-era entrepreneur captures how the coming of the rails and mining opened North Central Texas to new towns and livelihoods.
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Related people
- · William Whipple Johnson
- · Anna Fatzinger Campbell
- · Harvey Johnson
Related events
- · Panic of 1873
Themes & tags
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