BENNETT WILLSON JOHNS
BENNETT W. JOHNS
The pioneer history of Washington is familiar to Bennett W. Johns from
active connection with the experiences of frontier life in this portion of
the state. His history forms a connecting link between the primitive past
and the enterprising present, for as early as 1853 he took up his abode in
Seattle. He was born at Dixon Spring, Smith county, Tennessee, on the 15th
of February, 1838, and is of Welsh and English ancestry. His grandfather,
Elias Johns, nobly served his country in the war of 1812. He was of the
F.F.V., was one of the wealthy planters and slaveowners of Tennessee,
being the owner of an extensive farm and a beautiful home. In his
religious affiliations he was a devout Baptist, and was one of the pillars
of his church. His son, Bennett Lewis Johns, was also a native of the
state of Tennessee, where he was born in the year 1802. For his wife he
chose Miss Elizabeth Suttles, who was born near the birthplace of her
husband, and in 1853 the family, consisting of the!
parents and ten children, started on the long and tedious journey to the
Pacific coast. Near Soda Springs, Idaho, the wife and mother died of
mountain fever, and the eldest daughter, Frances, who had become the wife
of Alexander Barnes in the east, passed away of the same disease soon
after the death of her mother, and both lie buried near the place of their
death. This was a sad bereavement to the remainder of the family, but such
was the lot of many of the brave pioneers. When they reached the Cascade
mountains the snow became so deep that they were obliged to leave the
wagons and much of their outfit, and later they engaged pack horses and
took over what they could, and later food became so scarce that they would
all have perished had not help reached them by a portion of Seattle's best
citizens, who had been sent out to relieve the weary travelers. The
children who accompanied them on this journey are here named in the order
of their birth: W.F. Johns, who is now a resi!
dent of Ocheltree, Kansas; Elizabeth, who became the wife of T.G. Grow,
and died in the fifty-sixth year of her age in California; Bennett W., the
subject of this review; Sarah, who died in King county, Washington, when
fifteen years of age; Martha T., the deceased wife of W.H. Mitchell, whose
history will be found in another portion of this work; Mary B., who
married R.H. Chase and resides in Everett, Washington; Martin R., of
Olympia; Belle, who became the wife of Martin Gilver and has also passed
away; and Nora, the deceased wife of Captain Hill.
The journey to the state of Washington was begun on the 1st of May, 1853,
and they arrived in Seattle on the 4th of November, 1853, the latter part
of the trip having been made in canoes down the White river. On reaching
his destination the father took up a donation claim in King county, nine
miles southeast of Seattle, on the Duwamish river, where he engaged in
farming and stock-raising. Two years after their arrival here the Indian
war broke out, and the family were obliged to seek protection in Seattle.
The father and two older boys were volunteers in the war, serving three
months in the First and six months in the Second Regiment, and were in the
fight at Seattle in 1856 when the Indians attacked the city. While the
family were at breakfast they were driven from their home in the suburbs,
and during that night the house was ransacked of all that the Indians
thought worth taking. But their worst misfortune was the stealing of the
winter's supply of flour. The father and t!
he boys had raised the wheat on their own land, the former sowing in the
morning as much as the boys could dig into the ground and cover during the
rest of the day. Later on this was harvested in the primitive fashion of
the time and was threshed with a flail and winnowed in the wind. Then the
precious grain was taken by Mr. Johns and Mr. John Collins and others, in
a flatbottomed scow to Olympia, where it was ground, and the flour was
then brought to Seattle and placed in A.A. Denny's store, where it
remained until the night of the Indian ravage.
With characteristic energy, however, Mr. Johns set about the task of
retrieving his lost possessions, and after residing on his farm for
several years he rented it and removed to Seattle, where he lived until
within a few months of his death, and then went to Olympia, where he made
his home with his daughter, Mrs. William H. Mitchell, until his death, in
1879, when he had reached the seventy-seventh milestone on the journey of
life.
Bennett W. Johns, the second son of this worthy pioneer, was but fourteen
years of age when he accompanied the family on the long and perilous
journey to the Evergreen state. He made the trip on horseback and drove
their loose cattle, and, although they were frequently harassed by the
Indians, who drove off their stock, they always succeeded in recapturing
the most of them. The education which he had begun in his native state was
completed in Seattle, Washington, and he remained with his father on the
farm until he was twenty years of age, after which he obtained employment
in a sawmill, having been able in the first three months to send his
father sixty dollars. Going from there to Fort Hope, British Columbia, he
engaged in mining at Puget Sound Bar, on Frazer river, and so well were
his services rewarded that he was soon able to send to his father one
hundred and four dollars in gold dust. After following the varied fortunes
of a miner for some time he turned his attention!
to the fur trade, in which he also met with success, but in 1869 he
abandoned that vocation and returned to Olympia, where for the following
fourteen years he was engaged in the sawmilling business with W.H.
Mitchell. In 1876 Mr. Johns purchased a farm of six hundred and forty
acres on Bush Prairie, since which his time has been given to the stock
business. In addition to this tract he also owns two hundred and forty
acres three miles from Olympia and a good residence in the city.
The marriage of Mr. Johns was celebrated in 1872, when Miss Mary J.
Vertrees became his wife. She was born in Illinois and is a daughter of
Charles M. Vertrees, also of that commonwealth. One daughter, Ruth, was
born to brighten and bless their home, and she is now the wife of A.S.
Kerfoot and a resident of Franklin county, Washington. Mr. Johns is a
member of the Baptist church, in which he has been an officer since the
organization of the church in this city. Mrs. Johns joined the church a
few months after its organization. In his political affiliations he has
been a life-long Republican, and has served as a school director, as a
member of the city council of Tumwater, this state, and is active in every
movement and measure intended to benefit the county of his adoption. In
his fraternal relations he is a past noble grand of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, being also a member of its auxiliary, the Rebekahs, and is
a past master workman of the Ancient Order of United !
Workmen. His long residence in Washington classes him among the honored
pioneers of the state, and he has aided in laying the foundation for the
present prosperity and progress of this portion of the commonwealth.
Prosser, William F. History of the Puget Sound
Country. Volume 2. Lewis
Publishing Co. 1903. pp. 128-30.
***
BENNETT WILLSON JOHNS
The distinction of having been the youngest soldier in the volunteer
company enlisted to defend Seattle in the Indian war of 1855-56, belongs
to the subject of this sketch, Bennett Willson Johns, who, with his
father, brothers and sisters, arrived in Seattle in 1853. Early in the
spring of that year the elder Johns, Bennett Lewis, with his wife,
Elizabeth Tuttles Johns, and their large family of children, started from
their old home in Tennessee, for the West.
When the emigrants reached Soda Springs, in Idaho, the wife and mother,
with her two weeks' old babe, were taken down with mountain fever, and
died after a few days' illness. The eldest daughter, Frances, who had
become the wife of Alexander Barnes in the East, but who, with her
husband, was also among the emigrants, was also stricken with the same
disease and followed her mother within a few days. Mother and daughter
sleep side by side in lonely graves in the wilderness.
The emigrants resumed their Western march after these bereavements, sad
and discouraged, but with no alternative but to push onward.
Owing to the delays from sickness and fatigue of the cattle, snow began to
fall by the time the train reached the Cascades, and before many days'
travel through the mountains were accomplished, it became necessary to
abandon the wagons and much of the outfit, and take pack horses with which
to continue their journey. Food became so scarce that a messenger was
dispatched ahead of the weary emigrants with a prayer for assistance, to
the settlers of Seattle. With characteristic Western generosity, the
appeal was responded to and food and comforts sent back along the trail to
relieve the distress of the emigrants. On reaching Puget Sound, the father
took up a donation claim in what is now King County, on the Duwamish
River, nine miles from Seattle, where he engaged in farming and stock
raising.
[Remainder of sketch omitted.]
Blankenship, Mrs. George E. Early History of
Thurston County Washington.
Olympia, Washington, 1914. pp. 237-40.
***
BENNETT W. JOHNS, SEATTLE PIONEER -- Came to Sound in November, 1853 --
Will Be Buried Saturday
Special to the Post-Intelligencer.
OLYMPIA, Dec. 28 -- Bennett W. Johns, who died here Wednesday and whose
funeral will take place here Saturday, was one of the first settlers at
Seattle.
He was born in Smith county, Tennessee, in 1838, the son of Bennett L. and
Elizabeth (Suttle) Johns. In 1844 the family moved to Kentucky and a year
later to Scott county, Missouri, whence, in 1853, they started overland
for Washington territory by ox team.
The party included Mr. and Mrs. B.L. Johns, nine unmarried children and
one married daughter and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Barnes. Mrs. Johns
and Mrs. Barnes died en route. The rest of the family reached Walla Walla
in October and started for the Sound. They were caught in the snow in the
Cascades and had to kill one of their oxen for food. They finally reached
Seattle November 4, 1853. There they passed the winter.
Fought in the Indian War
Next year the father located a donation claim nine miles from Seattle. In
1855 they sowed a few acres of wheat and when it was harvested it was
placed
[Photo of Bennett W. Johns here]
in a primitive scow and taken to the only flour mill in the territory at
Tumwater to be ground.
During the Indian war of 1855-6 the family moved to Seattle, while the
father engaged in military service for nine months. Bennett W. Johns
served a year during the war, the youngest man in the regiment. He was in
the Companies of Capt. C.C. Hewitt and Capt. A.A. Denny.
[Remainder of obituary omitted.]
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 28, 1905.
Go To 1857 Census: King County, Washington
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