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Donald B. Johnson: An Ample Life

Everything in this book is true, as far as my memory is true. There is nothing made-up that didn't actually happen or get said, except possibly for details that my memory has slightly mixed up, like dates, etc. I might even be off a couple of years on some things, but all the quotations are things I actually heard and are word for word, exactly the way I remember them. [Anything in square brackets was added in the editing process.]


Photos, text excerpts

Photographs from the Johnson family albums with excerpts from Donald B. Johnson's memoirs. Quoted material below captions is excerpted from his manuscript.


Plate 1 - The Neller-Miller Family - Donald's maternal grandparents, great aunts, great uncles.

Plate 2 - The Neller Family - Donald's maternal grandmother, great aunts and great uncles.

Plate 3 - The Miller Children - Donald's mother, maternal aunt and maternal uncles.

Plate 4 - The Edward W. Miller Family - Donald's maternal uncle, aunt and cousins.

Plate 5 - The Robert Miller Family - Donald's maternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 6 - Nellie Miller - Donald's maternal aunt.

Plate 7 - Amelia Miller - Donald's mother.

Plate 8 - The Olson-Johanson (Johnson) Family - Donald's paternal grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Plate 9 - The Johanson (Johnson) Children - Donald's paternal aunts and uncles.

Plate 10 - Bennie Johnson and his brothers - Donald's father and paternal uncles.

The rest of these plates are still under construction; the photos are not yet restored. There are 60 plates in Volume I; there are no photo plates for Volume II yet.

Plate 11 - Bennie Johnson and his siblings - Donald's father, paternal uncles and aunts.

Plate 12 - George and Nina (Overn) Johnson family - Donald's paternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 13 - Ole and Lena Johnson family - Donald's paternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 14 - Ole and Lena Johnson family - Donald's paternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 15 - Anna and William Langley family - Donald's paternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 16 - John and Mary (Storandt) Johnson family - Donald's paternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 17 - Inga and Lars Borreson family - Donald's paternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 18 - Inga and Lars Borreson family - Donald's paternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 19 - Olga and Melvin Olson family - Donald's paternal uncle and aunt.

Plate 20 - Anna Louise Olson Johanson Larson - Donald's grandmother.

Plate 21 - Anna Louise Olson Johanson - Donald's grandmother, with daughter, granddaughters, great granddaughter.

Plate 22 - Anna Louise Olson Johanson Larson - Donald's grandmother, with her second husband, Ole T. Larson.

Plate 23 - Anna and Jens Johanson's first grandchildren, Mabel and Harry Johnson - Donald's cousins.

Plate 24 - George and Nina Johnson's restaurant and store.

Plate 25 - George and Nina Johnson's picnic excursions.

Plate 26 - Visiting relatives in Wisconsin.

Plate 27 - In the footsteps of the explorers.

Plate 28 - Visiting cousins.

Plate 29 - Bennie Johnson in Ashby 1900-1920.

Plate 30 - The livery stable and house in Ashby.

Plate 31 - Bennie and Amelia (Miller) Johnson.

Plate 32 - Donald Benjamin and Marjory Nellie Johnson.

Plate 33 - The Johnson family.

Plate 34 - The neighborhood, Ashby, Minnesota, circa 1920.

Plate 35 - Ashby Public School, circa 1925.

Plate 36 - Home on the farm, circa 1924.

Plate 37 - Company on the farm.

Plate 38 - Animals in every picture.

Plate 39 - Fur farming fever.

Plate 40 - Trapping and fur farming.

Plate 41 - The Rowboat.

Plate 42 - Shearing Sheep.

Plate 43 - Horse Trading.

Plate 44 - Farming with horses.

Plate 45 - Stacking hay with horses.

Plate 46 - A visit from Aunt Ella.

Plate 47 - From horses to airplanes.

Plate 48 - Marjory.

Plate 49 - Paving a highway.

Plate 50 - "Crazy to drive a truck."

Plate 51 - Skis, hip boots and a puppy.

Plate 52 - Ski-joring, Sledding and Sleighing

Plate 53 - Wash ice and ice skating.

Plate 54 - Colts, lambs and raccoons.

Plate 55 - Horse trainer.

Plate 56 - Horseplay.

Plate 57 - California bound - 1936.

Plate 58 - Gold Fever.

Plate 59 - The Fortune Teller.

Plate 60 - Just Married.

Home Again


Full text, no pictures

This is volume 1 of 2, drafted by Donald B. Johnson before his death in 1982. It has been arranged in sections for continuity but is otherwise generally as he wrote it.


Page 1 - My Grandparents and Ancestry

Page 2 - Parents: Bennie and Amelia

Page 3 - Ashby, Minnesota, circa 1915

Page 4 - Youth In Ashby

Page 5 - Friends and Neighbors

Page 6 - Living in Town

Page 7 - School, Grades 1-3

Page 8 - The Farm, circa 1920

Page 9 - Ashby, Minnesota, circa

Page 10 - Cars

Page 11 - Roads: The Yellowstone Trail

Page 12 - Farm Life, circa 19

Page 13 - Horses

Page 14 - School, Grades 4-8

Page 15 - Farm Neighbors

Page 16 - Duck Hunters

Page 17 - Farm Life, circa

Page 18 - Ashby, 1920s

Page 19 - Horsepower

Page 20 - Fur, Fish and Game

Page 21 - The Depression

Page 22 - Working For Hire

Page 23 - Gravel

Page 24 - Hay, Feed and Grain

Page 25 - Threshing

Page 26 - Shearing Sheep

Page 27 - Horse Trading

Page 28 - Building Highway 52

Page 29 - Fun

Page 30 - California

Page 31 - Hollywood Drive-In

Page 32 - The Girl Of My Dreams

Page 33 - A Wedding and a Homecoming

End of Volume I - Start of Volume II.
(Volume II is still under construction, with photos to be added and integrated into the text.)

Page 34 - Starting A Farm

Page 35 - Starting A Family

Page 36 - Modernizing The Farm

Page 37 - The Gravel Pit

Page 38 - Hard Times

Page 39 - Cat Work

Page 40 - Raising A Family

Page 41 - Back On The Home Farm

Page 42 - Fins, Feathers And Fur

Page 43 - Away From The Farm

Page 44 - Laundry and Treasure Cove

Page 45 - My Incredible Journey To Alaska (1980)

Page 46 - My Second Incredible Journey To Alaska (1981) This is the end of Volume II text, with illustrations to come.

Page 47 - Footnotes

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