William H. Johnson (1806 - ?) was an American politician and farmer from Fort Atkinson,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

who spent a single one-year term as a Democratic member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

from Jefferson County during the 1849 session (the

2nd Wisconsin Legislature The Second Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 10, 1849, to April 2, 1849, in regular session. Senators representing odd numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Senators ...

), succeeding fellow Democrat Ninian E. Whiteside.

Public service

Johnson had become

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Fort Atkinson in

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

in October 1846. At the time he took office in the Assembly in January 1849, he was reported to be 42 years old, a farmer from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, and to have been in Wisconsin five years. In 1850 he was succeeded by

John K. Williams John K. Williams (1822–1880) was an American lawyer and legislator. Born on August 22, 1822, in McKean County, Pennsylvania, he studied law in Meadville, Pennsylvania and practiced law. In 1846, he moved to Shullsburg, Wisconsin Territory. Wil ...

, another Democrat.

Private life

On July 6, 1849, he is recorded as Past Grand Master of Fort Atkinson Lodge, No. 24, of the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd ...

. ''Constitution and By-laws of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, Together with the Journal of Proceedings of the Grand Lodge at Its First Annual Session, Held June 9, 1847, At the City of Milwaukee'' Milwaukee: Wilson & King, Book and Job Printers, 1847; p.22

References

{{reflist 1806 births Wisconsin postmasters Farmers from Wisconsin Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin People from Maine Year of death missing