Johnson, William

Born in Oeland, Sweden, in 1849, William Johnson spent six years as a sailor on international merchant vessels before arriving on the Pacific Coast in 1874 and settling in Fresno County the following year. After initially grain farming on a 640-acre tract east of Fresno, Johnson transitioned to viticulture, successfully purchasing, improving, and developing several vineyard properties near Kingsburg. In 1906, he acquired a 40-acre ranch in the Parlier district on the lower Reedley Road, establishing a highly productive orchard and vineyard planted to Muscat, Malaga, Sultana, and Thompson Seedless grapes, along with Muir peaches and prunes.

Johnson was married twice—first in 1880 to Matilda Joranson, with whom he had a son, John O. Johnson; and second in 1898 to Hilma (Danielson) Nelson, with whom he had two sons, Gust and Henry, while also raising her four children from a previous marriage (Mable, Charles, Benjamin, and Hildor). A respected pioneer resident of over forty years in Fresno County, Johnson was a dedicated Republican and a leading member of the Swedish Lutheran Church at Kingsburg, serving on the building committee for its new church dedicated in 1918.