Henry Johnson

Henry Johnson (September 3, 1794February 27, 1868) was an American farmer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was instrumental in the founding of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, and served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing eastern Kenosha County. Earlier in his life, he was a member of the New York State Legislature. Biography Johnson was born in Williamstown, Vermont, in 1794 and moved to Niagara County, New York in 1810, where he became established and started a family. By 1821 Johnson had become a prominent citizen in the newly formed Erie County, New York and was elected on the Whig Party ticket to the New York State Assembly for the 1839 session. The family relocated to the Wisconsin Territory in 1844 and settled on a farm in the town of Pike (now the village of Somers in Kenosha County). At the time, this was part of a larger Racine County, but Kenosha County was established as a separate entity by an act of the Wisconsin Legislature in January 1850. Later that same year he was elected on the Whig Party ticket as one of the first two assemblymen for the newly formed Kenosha County and served, for the first of two sessions, on the Wisconsin State Assembly for the 1851 session. Johnson became prominent in his new state through the farming community. In January 1850, he brought together a number of Kenosha County farmers to create a "Farmer's Club of Kenosha County"—believed to be the first agricultural association in Wisconsin. Five months later, on June 3, 1850, the club was formalized as the Kenosha County Agricultural Society with a constitution and bylaws. Johnson was selected as the first president of the organization and later also served as corresponding secretary. As President of the Kenosha County Agricultural Society, Johnson attended a meeting in the State Assembly hall in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 8, 1851, which recommended the formation of a State Agricultural Society. Johnson took an active part in the meeting, and was appointed to a committee to draft a constitution for the State Agricultural Society.