Came to County With Parents in 1857. Settled Near Blair.

Miss Anna Matilda Johnson, who came to this county with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Johnson in 1857, died Friday, September 25, in Fremont at the ripe old age of 86 years, 7 months and 3 days, following a lingering illness.

The old home farm is located on Highway 73 and has been known as the Krogh farm for a number of years.

Deceased was born at Louisville, Kentucky, on February 22, 1856, and when a year old she, with her parents, chose this county as their home. This was twelve years before the founding of Blair and ten years before the territory of Nebraska became a state. She grew to womanhood in the surroundings of the pioneer settler and knew the sacrifices and hardships borne in those early days. The howl of the coyote, and the presence of the Indian were familiar to her.

She never married but she did her part in the call of duty. She was a member of the Congregational Church for many years and lived the part. She showed her generous spirit by adopting an orphan girl whom she treated tenderly and lovingly as she would her own, raising her to maturity and educating her.

She is survived by the adopted daughter, Mrs. Florence Wilcox, of Shelbyville, Tennessee, and two sisters, Mrs. Josephine Johnson of this city and Mrs. L.J. Gustason of Omaha and several nieces and nephews who mourn deeply her death, besides a host of old friends who will miss her.

Slowly but surely the ranks of the pioneers are thinning and ere long they will be no more and with them goes a bit of pioneer spirit and history that will be lost for ever.

Funeral services were held Monday at 2:00 p.m. from the Campbell Mortuary with Mrs. Derelle ..arber (cut off) and interment was made in the Blair cemetery.

Note: original title: “Mrs. Anna M. Johnson…” but she never married.

#2-Published in the Pilot-Tribune October 1, 1942

Miss Johnson Died Friday-Services Held for Matilda Johnson, 81 Who Came Her By Steamboat

Miss Matilda Johnson, 88, resident of Blair and Washington County since pioneer days, died Friday in a Fremont hospital following a lingering illness.

The body was returned to Blair, and funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Monday at the Campbell mortuary, Mrs. Derelle E. Barber, Pastor of the Congregational Church, officiating. Interment followed in the Blair Cemetery.

Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter D. Johnson, Anna Matilda Johnson, was born at Louisville, Kentucky, February 22, 1856. The Johnsons came to Washington County when she was only one year old, arriving here by Missouri river steamboat to become one of the earliest families to reside in this vicinity.

The family settled on the place now known as the Krogh farm, a mile south of the present site of Blair, where Miss Johnson grew to womanhood. After the father’s death, the family moved to Blair.

Surviving Miss Johnson, are her adopted daughter, Mrs. Florence Wilcox of Shelbyville, Tennessee; two sisters, Miss Josephine Johnson, of Blair and Mrs. Leatsey J. Gustason of Omaha; and a number of nephews and nieces. The late Mrs. Minnie Bugeon of Blair was a sister.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Public Library, Blair, Nebraska ~~~

FindaGrave #181038505