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CHARLES C. JOHNSON.
Courteous, efficient and painstaking, Charles C. Johnson, county clerk of Wayne county, is administering the affairs of his office wisely, conscientiously and with a thoroughness that has proved entirely satisfactory to all with whom he has business dealings. A son of A. H. Johnson, he was born in Wayne county, Illinois, on an Elm River township farm. He is of Irish ancestry, his great-grandfather, John Johnson, a native of Ireland, having immigrated to America when young, settling in Pennsylvania, where he married a a native daughter of Pennsylvania of German descent. His grandfather, George Johnson, was born in Ohio, August 24, 1826. Migrating to Southern Illinois in 1843, he settled in Wayne county, and is still living in Cisne, a venerable and highly respected man of eighty-six years. He married Nancy Trotter, who was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. She died in 1892.
Born in Wayne county, Illinois, January 10, 1860, A. R. Johnson has devoted his energies to the development of the soil, and as a farmer and live stock raiser has met with unquestioned success, his farm of two hundred and eighty acres, located in Elm River township, being one of the best improved and most desirable in that locality. Prominent in public affairs, he has held various official positions, including those of township supervisor and collector.
A. R. Johnson married Olive Brown, who was born in Flora, Clay county, Illinois, July 28, 1862, a daughter of William Brown, and granddaughter of Isaac Brown, who was of Irish descent, and for many years a resident of Ohio. William Brown, a native of Ohio, migrated to Illinois in 1854, locating in Clay county, where he lived until his death, in December, 1864. His wife, whose maiden name was Lucy J. Murphy, was of Scotch-Irish lineage, and the descendant of a family that moved from Tennessee to Illinois in pioneer days. Mrs. Lucy J. (Murphy) Brown survived her husband but a few weeks, passing away in January, 1865. Six children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Johnson, as follows: Charles C., the special subject of this brief sketch; Jaines Alvis, living in Wayne county, near Cisne; Mrs. Lucy J. Hubble, of Clay county; Mrs. Maud Hill, of Chicago, where her husband is employed as a bookkeeper; Ross Leroy, engaged in farming near Jeffersonville; and Mrs. Olive Mabel Hubble, of Wayne county.
Growing to manhood on the home farm, Charles C. Johnson acquired his education in the common schools and at Orchard City College, in Flora, Illinois. Engaging in educational work at the age of nineteen years, he taught school in Wayne county six terms, when, in March, 1902, he was made deputy county clerk. Resigning the position at the end of sixteen months, Mr. Johnson farmed and taught school for three years. In the stimmer of 1906 he was the Republican nominee for county clerk, and made a strong canvass against heavy odds for the
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nomination, which he secured. At the election be received a majority of three hundred and eighty-four votes, heading his entire ticket, a victory, indeed, for a young man of twenty-five years, with no special pull. In 1910 Mr. Johnson was re-elected to the same position, and led his ticket by two hundred and sixty votes over all other candidates, being elected by eight hundred and eighteen majority, and is now serving his second term as county clerk. He has accumulated considerable property, having two hundred and forty-eight acres of land, lying in Elm River township, northeast of Fairfield, two hundred acres being bottom land, from which he is developing a rich and fertile farm.
Fraternally Mr. Johnson is a member of Fairfield Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; and of Olney Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which he united at the age of seventeen years.
Mr. Johnson married, in 1906, Jennie W. Todd, who was born in Montgomery county, Illinois, a daughter of David J. and Sarah (Bothwell) Todd. Her father was born and reared in Ohio, and on coming from there to Southern Illinois located first in Clay county, later removing to Montgomery county. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children, namely: Lowell C. and Vernette.