Bishop Charles G. Johnson, an enterprising and industrious farmer, resided on Provo Bench, now Orem. He was born in Salt Lake City, November 1st, 1872 just one month after his parents, Andrew Gustave and Charlotta C. Anderson Johnson arrived from Skaraborg, Sweden, in which country they were married and converted to the Gospel.

They moved to Grantsville, Utah in December of 1872 and lived there on a farm for six years. The new son was blessed December 1, 1872 and given the name of Charles Gustave Johnson. In the fall of 1878 the family moved to Pleasant Grove for the winter and in the spring of 1879 they took up a homestead on one hundred and sixty acres of land on Provo Bench, now incorporated as the City of Orem and then known as Lindon Ward.

Here on June 22, 1881 Charles was baptized by Brother Alfred W. Harper, and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Brother John J. Slaugh the same day.

Charles was the third in order of birth in a family of twelve children who reached adult age. He supplemented his public school education by a years study at the Brigham Young University at Provo, working during the summers of his adolescent years on his father's farm.

At Church in the Lindon Ward, he became acquainted with and courted his bride, Edith Richards Ash, a daughter of Joseph William and Eliza Richards Ash, of Lindon Ward, pleasant Grove, Utah. She was born at Pleasant Grove and her mother died when she was eight months old. Her father was one of the Pioneers settlers of Pleasant Grove and he and his wife came from England in the fall of 1866.

Charles and Edith were married on March 15, 1893 and to this union the following thirteen children were born: Leona, wife of Gustave S. Omer (of Orem); Olive, wife of Wilford J. Stark (of Payson); Zina, died infancy; Harold Charles, married to Eva York (of Orem); Eliza, married Rollo M. Miller (of American Fork), she died January 30, 1951; Rosa Edith, married to John C. Baxter (of Orem); Francis Andrew, married to Mildred Monroe (of Fillmore, Utah); Ruth, died in infancy; Milton Gustave, died in infancy; Joseph Richards, married Viola Lauper (of Oakland, California); Cyril George, married Ida Mallinson (of Pleasant Grove); Virgle LaMar died at the age of 5-1/2 years of Brights disease; and Hazel Elaine, married Cecil Bullock (of Pleasant Grove).

The newly married couple rented a farm and moved to American Fork about four years then they came back to Provo Bench and built a two room house on ten acres of his father's place. His sister Louisa bought this place and Charles and Edith bought twenty acres of land and built two brick rooms of the house now owned by Harriet Bachees (of Orem).

During the years between 1893 and 1901 while working diligently to acquire a home and make their farm pay well they had five children and were a happy contented family. Mother caring for her fast growing family and trying to help Father as much as possible on the farm. They attended church in the Lindon Ward where Brother James Cabbley was bishop.

In the fall of 1901 Bishop Cabbley came to their home and asked father if he would go on a foreign mission for the Church. Father hesitated because of his financial status and Bishop Cabbley stood up and said, "Brother Charles, if you will prepare to go on a mission next spring, I promise you in 'The name of the Lord' that you will be blessed with abundant crops and financial means to go."

The crops were indeed good that year and before Father was ready to leave in the spring, Mother received her part of her father's estate (Grandfather Ash died in the fall of 1901). This with the crops from the farm which they rented. enabled Mother to care for the family and send money and

clothing to Father in the mission field. During his absence, however, Mother sacrificed a great deal to provide him with the necessary funds and clothing, and etc. and to feed and clothe her family and do the necessary work in the house and outside in the garden, caring for a cow so she had milk and butter for the children and picking berries many hours a day during the summer.

Father sailed for Sweden on the steamship, New England, on April 10th 1902 from Boston Harbor, soon after Mother discovered that I was to make my appearance in September. My sister was only nine months and couldn't walk yet, so as mother said many times she carried one in her arms and one near her heart while she went about her many daily tasks.

When Father came home from an honorable mission in 1904, I was a big, robust baby, nearly as large as Eliza and many people mistook us for twins.

Grandfather Johnson wished to build a new house on the southeast corner of his farm so Father sold their little home and twenty acres and purchased 42 acres of the old Homestead. They lived in part of the house with Grandpa and Grandma until their new home was finished.

Father carefully and systematically cultivated his land until it annually produced large and abundant crops. He planted a nice orchard and pasture and bought cows until he had a thriving dairy industry. He added to the good substantial farm buildings that were built by his father and bought more irrigation water for his land, equipped the place with electric lights. After working with untiring efforts with civil engineers to get culinary water into the town from springs above dry canyon and this failed, he put a pressure pumping system on the deep well near the house so we could have the convenience of a modern bathroom and kitchen. He bought and owned the second car in Lindon, a used studebaker, which he soon traded for a new Model R. Ford. Before he bought the car he always drove a fine team of horses with a large white top buggy in the summer and a two seated cutter sleigh in the winter time.

The large and grassy orchard and pasture in front of the home and facing the highway was the scene of many 4th and 24th of July celebrations and many happy family reunions.

He encouraged the family of Gustave Omer (converts to the Church from Sweden) to come to Utah and Gustave worked as a hired man on the farm from 1906 until 1916. He married the eldest daughter, Leona.

Farming and dairying did not constitute the extent of Father's activities, for he was an important factor in promoting and supporting many public and civic interests which have been of great value to the community as well as the source of individual gain. He was one of the directors of the Provo Bench Canal and Irrigation Company, and a director of the North Union Irrigation Company. He was president of the Johnson Sons Investment Company, which was an organization of his brothers and brothers-in-law. He was vice president of the Pleasant Grove Canning Company, of which he held office from its beginning until his death. He was a member of the Alpine School Board for 14 years and served three terms as a trustee by appointment and was twice elected for the Alpine School District comprising all of Utah County north of Provo City.

His political allegiance was given to the Republican party and for a number of years he served as a member of the County Republican Central Committee. He stood loyally for any good cause which he espoused and his position upon vital questions was never an equivocal one. He really gave his physical and mental strength to the many duties required of him.

Not only was he an active and prominent figure in the community in public and civic affairs but throughout his entire life, until he became too ill, he was an active and faithful worker in the church. He was leader in the M.I.A. and Sunday Schools of the Lindon Ward before going on his mission While there he was Presiding Elder over two separate branches of the mission. He was ordained President of the 135 Quorum of Seventy for years and a member of the Lindon 2nd Ward the day it was organized by Apostle Orson F, Whitney,

The new Ward held its various meetings in the Lindon school house until the new Bishopric, Charles G. Johnson, J. W. Gillman and Edmund Cragun, organized a building and financial committee of ward members and promoted the erection of the main part of the present Windsor Chapel. It was during the building of the chapel when Father was working there himself every spare moment, that he was severely injured. They were hoisting cement in a wheelbarrow to the roof of the building for the capping of the brick wall when the handles of a wheelbarrow caught on the scaffold father was standing on, plunging the barrow into the sub-floor with the handles sticking up and Father was hurled head downward through the beams but managed to catch hold of a cross beam and turn his feet downward, just barely missing the upright handles of the wheelbarrow. ~e suffered a terrific fall and with a broken shoulder, and numerous cuts and bruises from which he never seemed to fully recover. The Church was finally completed, paid for and dedicated during the time he was Bishop.

It was during this time that the severe Influenza epidemic raged throughout the country and most of the ward families were ill and unable to do their own cooking or outside chores. Both Father and Mother visited and helped those sick families night and day. It seemed that Mother baked hundreds of loaves of bread in our home to take to different families and Father did chores and went into their homes to administer to the sick. They were indeed angels of mercy and were blessed with health and strength in their bodies to carry on their ministrations among the sick as neither of them contracted the flu. It was while the flu was so bad that their own five year old boy, Virgil, became ill with brights disease and died December 2, 1918. The funeral had to be held outside in snowy weather as were other funerals of people who died that winter.

As a Bishop, I think he was loved and respected for his wonderful counsel and his untiring efforts to build the chapel, and see it dedicated, his donations to every project and organization in the ward and his many comforting visits to the sick and home bound.

His example to his family was one of clean, virtuous, righteous living, and we all love and honor his name and memories of his beautiful life. His name is spoken of with esteem and reverence in the surrounding communities and recently the large ash tree in front of the Windsor Ward Chapel was left standing and dedicated to his memory.

He was released as a Bishop on August 31, 1924 after nine years of service and was ordained a high councilman of the Timpanogos Stake where he served until released June 11, 1930 because of ill health.

He started to build a new home, the one now owned by Robert Wright Sr. but because of financial reverses of the Gold Crown Mining Company, in which he had full confidence and had invested a good deal of his resources from the farm and dairy, he was forced to trade the home and farm for a smaller place where he engaged in poultry raising and trucking dressed poultry to Salt Lake until he became so ill with sugar diabetes that he was forced to retire from work and remain in bed most of the time during the last months of his life. He died October 13, 1932, just before his 60th birthday and was buried in the Pleasant Grove cemetery, October 16, 1932. In his funeral service, which was the largest ever held up to that time in the chapel, his counselors and everyone taking part, paid beautiful tribute to the wonderful life he had led.

To we children his life stands before us as thoroughly honorable, lovable and trustworthy and one which we should strive to be like. In the many things that he accomplished, he was always actuated by a true spirit of enterprise and progress. spiritually, intellectually and morally and the sterling worth of his life is widely known and recognized.

His various Priesthood ordinations are as follows: Ordained a Deacon- no record. Ordained a Teacher - no record. Ordained a Priest - by Robert Thorne, October 18, 1891. Ordained an Elder - by Edward Partridge March 12, 1893, ordained a Seventy - no record available Ordained a High Priest by Apostle Orson F. Whitney, September 5, 1915. Ordained a Bishop - of Lindon 2nd Ward, September 5, 1915 - by Apostle Orson F. Whitney. Released as Bishop August 31, 1924. Ordained a High Councilman of Timpanogos Stake soon after his release as Bishop. Released from High Council on account of ill health, June 11, 1930.