The Johnson Family
Anne Catherine Johnson
12 December 1851, in Wexford,
county Wexford, Ireland
Samuel
Johnson
Marianne (Richards) Johnson
14 December 1930
1911:
Middletown, Ardamine, county Wexford
Bernard Richard Johnson
9 December
1895, in Dublin, Dublin North district, county Dublin, Ireland
Philip
Bernard
Johnson
Elizabeth Charlotte
Annie (Pope) Johnson
1911:
Bollarney South, Wicklow, county Wicklow
Colin Ward Johnson
27 August 1904, in Ireton, Sioux
county, Iowa, United States
Donald Goddard Johnson
Annie Margaret (Agnes)
Johnson
Dorothy Ann Ogden on 26 December 1930, in Anderson, Madison county,
Indiana. Dorothy was born on 8 November 1906, in Wisconsin, and
died on 3 April 1987, in Richmond, Henrico county, Virginia.
21 August 1971, in Boulder,
Boulder
county, Colorado, United States
1920:
Sioux county, Iowa
Donald
Goddard
Johnson
22 December 1860, in
county Wexford, Ireland
Samuel Johnson
Marianne
(Richards) Johnson
 |
|
Gravestone of Annie Margaret (Agnes)
Johnson in
Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Iowa
|
Annie Margaret Agnes on 6 April 1889, in Akron, Plymouth county, Iowa,
United States. Annie was born on 17 January 1867, in Milwaukee,
Milwaukee county, Wisconsin, the daughter of Michael Agnes and
Christina Aleft. She died on 29 July 1943, in Milwaukee, from
myocarditis, and is buried in Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Sioux
county, Iowa. The grave is
located south of the E-W entrance roads, row 27 west of Cty Road K30.
1870:
Sioux City, Woodbury county, Iowa
1880:
Preston, Plymouth couty, Iowa
Farmer
Donald emigrated
to the United States
in 1881, and was a naturalized citizen by the 1900 census.
6 June 1935, in Spirit Lake,
Dickinson County, Iowa, United States
Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Sioux county, Iowa, United States. The
grave is
located south of the E-W entrance roads, row 27 west of Cty Road K30.
1900:
Eagle township, Sioux county, Iowa
1920:
Sioux county, Iowa
Donald
Kenneth
Johnson
30 June 1897, in
Ireton, Sioux county, Iowa, United States
Donald Goddard
Johnson
Annie Margaret (Agnes)
Johnson
Evelyn Miller. Evelyn was born on 28 March 1897, and died on 11
February 1989, in Charlotte, Mecklenburg county, North Carolina.
Food Inspector
19 December 1971, at Valley Baptist Hospital, Harlingen, Cameron
county, Texas, United States, aged 74, of acute myocardial infection, a
complication of diabetes.
Valhalla cemetery, Milwaukee, Milwaukee county, Wisconsin, United
States.
1900:
Eagle township, Sioux county, Iowa
1920:
Sioux county, Iowa
1945: E. Hartford Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin (The Milwaukee Journal 10 June 1945)
1971:
2604 E. Hartford Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin (death
certificate)
Dorothy Anne
Johnson
17 January 1906, in
Iowa, United States
Donald Goddard
Johnson
Annie Margaret (Agnes)
Johnson
Chemist,
United States Army
24 February 1990, in Estes Park, Larimer county, Colorado, United States
 |
|
Gravestone of Frances Johnson in
Pleasant
Hill cemetery, Ireton, Iowa
|
The photo opposite shows that Dorothy was intended to be buried
alongside her sister Frances in Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Iowa,
but the lack of a death date on the headstone leads me to believe that
she was not actually buried there.
1920:
Sioux county, Iowa
Edward Wynne Alston Johnson
4 July 1908, in Dublin, Dublin
South district, county Dublin, Ireland
Philip
Bernard
Johnson
Elizabeth Charlotte
Annie (Pope) Johnson
Eleanor Kirkpatrick in 1936,
in Dublin South district, county Dublin, Ireland
1951
1911:
Bollarney South, Wicklow, county Wicklow
Emily Sophia (Johnson) Watson
28 May 1868, in county Wexford,
Ireland
Samuel Johnson
Marianne (Richards) Johnson
Arthur B. Watson. Arthur was
born in 1864, and was a solicitor in Dublin.
1911:
14 Belgrave Road, Monkstown, county Dublin
Emily (Johnson) Dames
9 April
1894, in Dublin South district, county Dublin, Ireland
Philip
Bernard
Johnson
Elizabeth Charlotte
Annie (Pope) Johnson
 |
|
Kenneth L. Dames
|
 |
|
Kenneth L. Dames c1952
|
Kenneth L. Dames in 1924, in
Rathdrum district, county Wicklow, Ireland. Kenneth was educated at
Oxford University where he obtained a M.A., and was headmaster at Harlow College
in Harlow, Essex, England from 1939 until 1962.
Kenneth and Emily were both keen
archers. This photo
of Emily plucking her arrows from the target during practice on 16
July 1948 is titled "Archery Champion" and notes that Mrs K. L. Dames
is a possible candidate for the British team at the annual World
Archery Championships in Dulwich.
1911:
14 Belgrave Road, Monkstown, county Dublin
Frances
Johnson
 |
|
Frances Johnson
from a group shot of China
Missionaries taken in 1890
|
15 July 1853
Samuel Johnson
Marianne
(Richards) Johnson
A trained nurse, who served as a missionary in China.
Frances sailed
for China on the Glenfruen
on 20 October 1888, as part of the
Fuh-kein Mission (p566)
of the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society (C.E.Z.M.S.). The
instructions to the group (India's Women vol 8 p292, 1888), at a
leave-taking before departure included:
You,
Miss Johnson, go to strengthen
our Fuhkien Mission. To this work six ladies are now designated, and
you will be the fifth actually in the field. We thank God that we have
been able to comply thus promptly with the request of the Fuhkien
Missionary Conference, and extend our work beyond Foochow to the
important outstations, Kucheng and Fooningfoo.
A detailed
accout of this journey of the Glenfruen
appears in the Church Missionary Gleaner,
in three parts Jan
1889, Feb
1889 and Mar
1889. The last installment mentions that, on arrival in Hong Kong "some went to start the Misses Newcombe and Miss
Johnson, C.E.Z.S. on board the Namoa,
for Fuh-Chow."
In 1890, Frances and Miss Inie Newcombe
arrived in Ciong-Bau to open work among the women in the area. (Cameos of a Chinese City by Mary E. Darley
p106) In
October 1890, Frances was the first missionary to spend a night in the
city
of Kien-Ning, a walled city sometimes referred to as the
"Jericho" of the province.
The
history of the Church Missionary Society: its
environment, its men and its work pp568 by Eugene Stock
(1899)
The first missionaries to
spend one night
within that great city were two C.E.Z.M.S. ladies, Miss Newcornbe and
Miss F. Johnson, invited by the father of their language-teacher. They
could scarcely believe that they were really there for a night, but
they found the secret in Daily Light
for the day, October 31st, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My
Spirit, saith the Lord."
The incident is also referred
to in Cameos of a Chinese City by Mary E. Darley
pp154-155
Miss Inie Newcombe and Miss
Johnson went quietly in from Ciong Bau, at the urgent request of their
language teacher, then himself an inquirer, who wished that his
women-folk should hear the Truth for themselves. They stayed two days
in his home, and were treated as honoured guests.
The
missionaries work was not
always welcomed. In 1892, The Review of the churches: a constructive quarterly,
vol 2 p276 reports that:
The house
occupied by the Misses Johnson and Newcombe, of the C.E.Z.M.S., was
attacked by a mob on April 27th, and the ladies were exposed to insults
for three hours until rescued by a Mandarin
...
We are thankful
to learn, says the Church Missionary
Gleaner, that a private letter from Miss Johnson has been
received, written since the outburst of April 27th, and reporting that
the people had quieted down again.
but
later that same year, at Kien-yang, a little further inland, a similar
incident occurred.
The
history of the Church Missionary Society: its
environment, its men and its work pp568
On October 8th [1892],
Mr. and Mrs.
Phillips were rescued by the chief mandarin from a murderous attack at
Kien-yang while their house was being covered with similar filth inside
and out. Miss Newcombe and Miss Johnson also were treated with
violence. But the riots were only temporary, and after a time all the
work was courageously carried on as before;
Frances
established a small women's hospital at a mission centre in Nang-wa,
about twelve miles from Kienningfu. She was visited there by Robert
Stewart who wrote in a letter to the CEZMS on 20 November 1894 (Robert and Louisa Stewart: in life and in death
pp103-4 by Mary E. Watson, Eugene Stock, 1895):
"There only remains to speak of the
far
North-West, where Nang-ua is the Mission centre for your ladies. It is
four days' journey over high mountains from Ku-cheng. I visited them at
the beginning of the year. and found there Miss Johnson, Miss B.
Newcombe, Miss Rodd, Miss Bryer, Miss Fleming; they have also among
them a Miss Sinclair, who has come from England independently, and is
making herself useful in various ways. These devoted ladies are living
as nearly like the native women as possible; no knives or forks are
seen in the house. I am told there is one knife kept for any unhappy
guest who cannot manage with chop sticks, and though the locality is
far from a healthy one, and our C.M.S. missionaries have one after
another felt the effects of the malaria, your ladies have wonderfully
maintained their strength. You know the kind of life they lead,
visiting from village to village, sometimes at long distances from
home, putting up, not at chapels or Christians' houses, for alas! there
are none, but in the native inn, or the house of some hospitable
heathen woman; and God is using them. It is truly invigorating to the
soul to sit down and listen to these devoted ladies telling of the
spiritual work they have themselves witnessed.
"Oh for more of
these 'women that publish the tidings.' They have, too, a little
hospital here in Miss Johnson's charge, and they have also been able to
start a small 'Station Class,' though in doing so they had to face
difficulties which were not met with in the older districts.
It
was not just chopsticks - Frances also adopted native dress as we read
in The sister martyrs of Ku Cheng (D.M.
Berry), of a time when Frances was in Foochow nursing Mrs. Rigg in
December 1893.
I think the natives must
be rather amused at the variety of our costumes Mr. Stewart in his
clergyman's clothes; Mrs. Stewart, Topsy, and I in our ordinary things
; Frances Johnson in native dress ; and Mr. Starr in a tourist's
costume, with a Norfolk jacket, knickerbockers, and magnificent plaid
stockings.
She also had a humourous outlook on the
Chinese response to Westerner's speaking poor Chinese (ibid)
Frances Johnson says that when anybody who is
beginning says anything, but in somewhat indifferent Chinese, they will
say 'How well she speaks Chinese! What is she saying?' all in one
breath.
It was the practice of the CEZMS missionaries
to take a Chinese surname which would be easier for locals to
pronounce, and Frances was knows as Song. (Cameos of a Chinese City by Mary E. Darley
p123)
In 1893, Frances wrote this report on the
mission hospital in Nang-Wa, for India's Women vol 13 pp552-555, a
publication of the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society:
NANG-WA
KIONG
NING PREFECTURE.
Our
Hospital.
BY MISS FRANCES
JOHNSON.
"God be merciful unto us and
bless
us, and cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us ; that Thy
way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations."
Last
year I was only able to tell you of one patient having been in our
hospital; even now, though it has been opened more than a year, we feel
it is only beginning to
inspire confidence. Only seventeen have ventured in, but we have
visited a good many sick in their homes. Most of the in patients have
come from a distance, some have had two days' journey. A good many had
heard of the hospital, and gained courage to come through the visits of
some of our number who have been itinerating.
Our breath was
almost taken away one day by the arrival of a party from a Yamun some three days' journey off.
It was No. 2 wife of a mandarin, escorted by her husband's nephew and
two attendants. Her visit was short, and we were not very sorry when
they decided to return home. They had consulted every Native doctor
first, and as a last hope, thought the foreigner might work some
miraculous cure. But when they found that the opium-pipe could not be
allowed, and that patience would be needed, they did not care to stay.
The patient was such a pretty, gentle-looking girl, and very frail; but
she had an unpleasant way of going into hysterics, to frighten her
attendants into giving her opium. One wonders why they were sent! I
believe every patient represents some purpose of the Master - mostly
thirsting souls, whom He brings within reach of the Water of Life. But
these were Mandarin-speakers; they did not understand us, nor we them;
we had to carry on all our communications through an interpreter, our
teachers, or by signs and gesticulations, so we could not tell them the message. No doubt the purpose
will hereafter be revealed. They seemed pleased at their reception, and
presented $2 to the hospital.
One poor old woman has left the
shelter of the hospital, we believe, for the Home above. She lived in
the place as caretaker before we took it, and having few friends and no
relations willing to receive her, was rather cast on our charity. She
listened with interest from the first. I confess I was slow to accept
her attention as genuine, it was so manifestly an idea that to "eat the
doctrine" would be profitable; but after a while we felt sure that,
whatever her original motive may have been, she really had been drawn
by the love of Christ to desire Him for herself, and was trusting in
Him for forgiveness and salvation.
We feared her death in the
hospital might frighten people away, but God has overruled it
otherwise; He inclined the heart of her daughter to come with her
husband from a distance to bury her, and so guarded us against the
accusation of our taking out her eyes, &c, to make into medicine -
a very common supposition all round. They are truly an unreasoning
people! One would think, if they could suppose us capable of such acts,
they would not give much credit to our word to the contrary; and yet
they seem quite satisfied that we are speaking truth when we deny it.
One thing often strikes me: they believe implicitly in our word, whilst they themselves
look upon lying and deceit so lightly, and are so suspicious one of
another, except in the matter of lying stories of the foreigners, which
they are prepared to swallow wholesale, no matter how absurd. The visit
of Miss Rodd and Miss Bryer to Nang-Chong in June brought in no less
than eight patients, a party of six from one village! One young woman,
in rapid consumption, has just returned to her village to die - the
sting of death gone - so happy and bright, rejoicing in the Saviour,
and looking forward to going Home to Him. Her husband came to fetch her
home rather suddenly, which prevented her being baptized before she
left. An elderly woman, too, who came with a wee daughter-in-law, in
hopes of the poor child's sight being restored - alas! a vain hope -
has, we believe, accepted the Gospel.
Another old woman about
whom we are very hopeful, came shortly after from a neighbouring
village. Her son came one day to ask if anything could be done for her
eyes. I told him I feared from his description that it was too late,
but that we should be very glad to receive her, if she liked to come on
the chance. I did not encourage him, seeing they were poor, and the
journey very expensive for them. She came. She had just heard that
there was a God Who could save her, and that she need only think of Him, and was longing for
more light; she thought there was a hope for her in her blindness, even
if her sight could not be restored. She had been a frequenter of the
temple to "naing geng," i.e.
"recite prayers," but when she lost her sight she could go no more -
and that hope of attaining
merit was gone. One day some of her temple friends came to tell her
that two foreign sisters had been to the village, and had told them
that their worship was useless and could not save them, but that there
was a God Who could save
them, and that they needed only to "think" of Him, so that would suit
her!
They had not taken in much of the Truth, and I do not
know whether they were willing to receive the message for themselves;
but it "set her longing," and
God gave her the opportunity. Very eager she was to learn to worship;
she received teaching as a little child, and continually said, "I did
not know before, but now you teach me I will worship God with a true
heart and with all my mind." Of her own accord she declared that when
she went home, she would throw away all her apparatus for the worship
of "Ho" (Buddha), "For you know," she said, "one person can only think of one thing! and if I think of God, I
can't think of 'Ho.'"
It is curious to notice how their
previous ideas of worship colour their changed faith. She was very
anxious that I should write her name on a piece of paper and burn it,
that it might go to God, and so let Him know she was a worshipper and
His disciple, and was very pleased when she learned that He already
knew and received her, and that she should have His Name signed upon
her, and be received into His Church on earth. We hope that some of us
may be able, in a short time, to visit the villages where these people
live, and if those who, we hope, have trusted in Jesus have continued
steadfast, and stood the test of confessing Christ in their homes, that
they may be prepared for baptism.
Our original first patient
came in again this year, and I believe God made this visit the means of
deepening His work in her soul. She is a very lively little person, a
great talker, and goes by the name of the "Cricket." We hope she may
one day exchange this for a "Christian name," but, so far, she has not
made up her mind to leave go of that to which from custom she is in
bondage, though indeed she was never much of a devotee. I think she has
no longer any belief in "Ho," but she believes in the truth of Jesus Christ and His
salvation.
We have great cause to be thankful to our God for
the treasure He has given us in our Bible-woman; she is earnest and
devoted, and throws herself heart and soul into winning souls for the
Master. She loves the patients, and does things for them that are not
really her work, and that no outsider would do for any money, and she
puts up patiently with all the trouble they frequently give her. She is
taking charge of the hospital while I am away in the hills for a while.
There is at present only one patient, who does not require much
nursing, skill, or attention; of course she will send for us if
anything serious comes. This place - A-Cua - is within four hours of
Nang-Wa, so I can visit the hospital now and then.
Our
hospital is not by any means built on the newest approved style; it was
just a large empty shed belonging to our house, and forming the
opposite side of the court. We had to floor it and put up a few
partitions. Our women's sitting room is by the gate opening into the
court, so that a good many women turn in as they pass along the road to
or from the town, at the end of which we are situated. The walls of the
sitting-room are made bright with scrolls, on which, in Chinese
character, are the Ten Commandments, Lord's Prayer, Creed, &c, and
between them red and green narrow scrolls with gold-paper characters.
These were presented to the women's hospital by the Rev. H.S. Phillips;
he had some money to use for something in memory of his mother, sent by
a Sunday-class of girls in England whom she had taught and interested
in missionary work, so he thought a woman's hospital would be the most
suitable place to receive the honour. We hope these scrolls may speak
to the women of the love of God, the One Father of all, Who can put His
Spirit of love and compassion into the hearts of His children in
England towards their poor sisters in heathen darkness, and unite them
all in one family.
Will all who read this pray very earnestly
that this hospital may be made a great blessing in this district, and
that our God may bring in a great many souls to know His saving health?
I think it is very encouraging work. Those who come in have a quiet
time, away from household cares and disturbances, to think over what
they hear, and to get a good grasp of the Truth. Often, too, their
minds are prepared and softened by their illness, and brought to think
of a hereafter.
About the town of Nang-Wa itself we feel very
sad; it is indeed a thoroughly corrupt place. The women are very
friendly, and have been very willing to listen, and many seemed
interested; but now we have got a little below the surface, and pointed
out to them the sin which
must be given up if they are to hope for salvation, they draw back.
There is great need for rescue work in Nang-Wa, and the large towns and
cities more particularly, and, so far, we do not see our way to doing
anything in that line.
Just now the prospect of extension is
not promising; we womenfolk are forbidden by the Consul and Archdeacon
to go to distant places till some menkind have gone first to open the
way. The C.M.S. are trying to do this at Kien-ning and Kien-yang, but
it is a hard and slow work. Just when they think things are getting
peaceful and settled, a shock of earthquake - to speak figuratively -
occurs. But though the great need of the district at present is men to
go forward and open up the ground, yet there is plenty of work for any
number of ladies too. Large and small villages, scattered thickly all
round Nang Wa, are quite ready to receive God's messengers. Those who
have heard are few in comparison with those as yet unreached. The time
is short, "the Lord is at hand."
Pray for us the prayer of 2
Thess. i. II, 12.
August 5th, 1893.
and
this follow-up report was published the following year (India's Women vol 14 pp554-557):
NANGWA.
The Women's
Hospital,
Nangwa-Ke.
Kien-Ning
Prefecture of Fu-Kien Province.
BY MISS JOHNSON.
ALTHOUGH
the second year of our work in the women's hospital at Nangwa-Ke has
perhaps not been quite so prosperous as last year, yet we would ask you
to join us in giving thanks to God for much blessing which has rested
on it. This year the number of in-patients has only been seventeen: the
falling-off is not surprising, since there has been no English doctor
during the greater part of it. Owing to serious illness, Dr. Rigg was
obliged to leave for Foo-chow, and afterwards was invalided home. He
left the hospital in charge of students, who also attend the women's
hospital, but the Natives do not think nearly so much of them as of a
"foreigner." I have not got the number of out-patients at hand, but one
hundred would be under rather than over the mark. These are not all at
Nangwa; those of us who go to stay in the villages, generally take
medicines for such simple cases as we understand ourselves. We are, of
course, expected - in virtue of being foreigners - to understand the
healing art! and we see so many cases where a very simple remedy would
give relief and avert serious consequences, that common humanity
compels to do something. Help in sickness sometimes makes the people
more friendly, and shows them that we care for and sympathise with them.
Opium smokers.
This
year two of our patients were opium cases. Among the women in this part we do not meet
with many who are victims of this vice. I am told that among the rich
it is not uncommon; where the men of the family take it, it frequently
spreads to their women-kind. Among women of immoral character it is
also common.
Our first opium patient, however, belonged to
neither of these classes. Her husband is a tailor, and had smoked opium
many years, so she, too, had fallen into the habit. She was a fortnight
in hospital. At first it was evident she was determined not to believe
anything of the doctrine which she knew we taught. She simply wished to
make use of our hospital to be cured of the effects of opium. She
listened stolidly with a look that plainly said, "You can talk away. I'm too sharp to be taken in by
you. I'm not going to be
influenced by anything you may say," but He Who, when "lifted up, will
draw all men," awakened in her heart a longing against which she could
not hold out. She confessed before long that she believed what we told
her was the truth and very much to be desired; she went so far as to
kneel in prayer with us every day, she even herself prayed, confessing
her sins and asked for pardon.
But there was a stumbling-block
to becoming a Christian which she herself soon perceived: she and her
husband were "eating the idol's rice" - they were caretakers of a
club and temple combined - and they were required to burn incense daily
to the idols. The husband having sent his wife to be cured of opium -
as an experiment - followed her example, and he too, while in hospital,
became interested and convinced of the Truth; but, alas! there they
have stopped. So far they have not come to a decision to let go almost
their only means of support and to trust God to take care of them. Both
are old, and they have no children; the man's eyes are getting too dim
to do much. One can see his wife is just longing to possess Jesus
Christ and to have His pardon and peace. It is a very sad case. In
China it needs to be desperately in earnest to obtain the pearl of
great price. Many in our own land, who have known and proved God true
for years, would hesitate to trust thus wholly; and they, poor people,
know so little about God. Yet others have tried and proved His
faithfulness. We must pray on and believe and expect for them that His
grace will conquer. No other means of livelihood, so far, seem to
offer, and we dare not lead them to trust in the foreigner for support.
"Health and Cure."
Another
patient was a poor little woman who lived in a house full of men -
father-in-law, husband, brother-in-law, and uncle - all sunk in the
vice of opium-smoking. What wonder that she, too, fell a victim? She
had had several children, who all died in infancy: the last - a boy of
a few years old - had been sold for an opium debt! She heard of Him Who
had come to set the captives free, and she longed to be delivered. Miss
Rodd and Miss Bryer - visiting her village for the first time with the
Gospel - pitied her and offered to take her back with them to Nangwa to
be cured. She got through the cure marvellously easily, looking so
cheerful all the time, a great contrast to most people under such
circumstances. It was God Who helped her, she said. She heard eagerly
the story of the Saviour's love, and went home determined by His grace
to serve and confess Him. We have heard good accounts of her. Her
brother-in-law has since been cured, and I hear her husband has also
lately given up opium-smoking. Will you join us in praying that they
may be kept, by the power of God, unto salvation?
Another
patient, daughter-in-law to the first, was converted during her stay in
the hospital. The whole family have since become Christians, but this
young woman is the brightest. She came to us when Miss Bryer was
holding her station class in an empty room of the hospital, and thus
met several other women who were either already Christians or
interested. As she expressed it, it gave the lessons so much more taste when there were several
learning together.
We feel that God's blessing has been
resting on the hospital, and praise Him for it, hoping that next year
the numbers will increase. We do not know if we shall have an English
doctor before Dr. Rigg's return in about another year. We are praying
that he may be sent back to us in the Kien-Ning District. His devotion
to his work, and kindly, sympathetic manner with the patients, make him
a great favourite.
The
new C.M.S. Hospital.
You will perhaps have heard that a new
C.M.S. hospital has been built just outside Kiong-Ning City. The old
one at Nangwa will only now be kept open as a dispensary and
opium-refuge. The C.M.S. grant was not sufficient to include a women's
part, but funds for this have come in specially, so we hope soon to
begin to build and remove up there and close our temporary hospital
quarters at Nangwa. The mandarins have requested that there be no more
building started till what has been already opened is more established,
and public feeling more quiet. The delay is not very important, as
there is a Native doctor at Nangwa, as well as at the new hospital -
one of the men trained by Dr. Rigg.
Owing to the kind help of
Miss Sinclair in the hospital, I have been able to leave it
occasionally for visiting in distant villages this year, and so have
been able to follow up some of our former patients, finding some of
them very satisfactory. One dear old blind woman is trusting in Jesus,
and has been telling others of His love. Her grand-niece said, "I, too,
worship Jesus; my aunt taught me to pray to Him."
Sept. 13th, 1894.
 |
|
The Women's Hospital in Kien-ning
|
In
1894, the womens' hospital at Nang-wa was moved to Seven Stars bridge,
a mile from Kien-Ning at the site of the new C.M.S. hospital, and, as
descibed below, the hospital was planned to move into Kien-Ning city in
1902, into a C.E.Z. building bought with money given in memory of
Frances's brother-in-law, James Stratford Collins, who had died in 1897
also working as a missionary in Fuh-kien province.
The light of the morning : the story of C.E.Z.M.S.
work in the Kien-ning Prefecture of the Fuh-kien Province, China
by Mary E. Darley (1903) p19
The
beginning of
C.E.Z. medical work among women in Kien-Ning
Prefecture was made
by Miss F. Johnson, a qualified nurse,
at Nang-Wa, while, as Dr.
Rigg describes in the foregoing pages,
the C.M.S. was also
carrying on its medical work from that
centre. But when, in 1894,
the C.M..S. Hospital was moved to
Five Li Rest House, or Seven
Stars Bridge (though there is no
bridge !), a mile outside
Kien-Ning City, it was not convenient
to have the women patients
at Nang-Wa. Miss Johnson, therefore,
transferred her work to
temporary rooms in the C.M.S.
Hospital compound, and shortly
afterwards the present Seven Stars
Bridge C.E.Z. Hospital was
built on the highest part of the
compound, where it remained
undamaged by the flood of 1900.
Miss Johnson hopes to
transfer the Women's Hospital this coming
November (1902) from
Seven Stars Bridge to the house in
Kien-Ning City, bought for
C.E.Z. work in 1899, with money given
in memory of the Rev. J.
Stratford Collins. To this house a
second storey has been added,
making it suitable for a hospital.
The cost of the adaptation has
been defrayed by the Dublin
University Fuh-Kien Mission. The
present Women's Hospital at Seven
Stars Bridge will be used for
school or station class purposes.
In
1899, during the Chinese New Year celebrations when missionary work
could not be actively carried out, Frances and Mary Darley spent six
weeks visiting the various mission stations in Fukien province. The
journey is described in Mary's book The light of the morning : the story of C.E.Z.M.S.
work in the Kien-ning Prefecture of the Fuh-kien Province, China
by Mary E. Darley (1903) pp126-135:
This year Miss Johnson and I decided to
spend some weeks in visiting the
various mission
stations throughout the Province. So
one morning we started from
Kien-Ning in a small native ratboat,
which brought us to Foo-Chow in three days,
where we received from Miss Stevens her never-failing welcome to "The Olives." Having been up-country for over a year, we thoroughly appreciated the joy of meeting our friends again,
and the accounts they gave of work in
the city, schools, hospital and
surrounding villages, were most
encouraging.
A short visit
to Foo-Chow is decidedly overwhelming.
Interviews with the tailor, curio vendor,
dentist and, probably, the photographer, are arranged without delay;
while the intervals are filled in with shopping and sending parcels
home. It means quite a little whirl of excitement, which, for us, only
subsided when we found ourselves in a house-boat on the way southwards
to the Hing-Hwa Prefecture. A night spent on board, followed by a chair
journey of a day and a half, principally through the district of
Hok-Chiang, brought us to Dang-Seng, where Miss Tabberer, Miss Reid,
and Miss Dopping Hepenstal were working and rejoicing in the blessing
given in a girls' school only lately opened,
and in the numbers of patients daily
coming to the dispensary for
treatment. From Dang-Seng, we went
to Hing-Hwa city, travelling for some hours
along stone-paved pathways, winding through flat, cultivated,
wind-swept plains, here and
there intersected by canals, the sea
glimmering on the horizon, and bare
rugged hills rising sharply from the
level stretches.
Hing-Hwa
city, in which we spent a few very pleasant
days, through Dr. and Mrs. van Someren
Taylor's hospitality, is very beautiful. Viewed from its wall, which is in splendid condition and makes a delightful walk, it
resembles a vast undulating orchard,
with the peaked red roofs of houses
appearing through the trees.
There was much of interest in
connection
with the work, especially the
medical branch, to which the
wide-spread knowledge of Christianity in Hing-Hwa is mainly due. The well- worked hospitals are large, and are greatly appreciated by the natives, who are not so superstitious and prejudiced as in other parts of the Fuh-Kien Province.
Then we visited Miss Witherby, Miss
Vulliamy, and Miss Montfort at
Sieng-Iu, the third station in
Hing-Hwa, only one day's journey from the city, but lying in far prettier and more mountainous scenery. There we saw the school for Christian women, in which they were not only learning to know their Saviour, but also to read His Word. We saw something of the work of the native pastor too ? a holy man of God named Deng,
whose life is entirely spent in
seeking to win souls for the Master
he so faithfully serves.
And so our happy three-fold visit to
Hing-Hwa passed, and we travelled
back to Foo-Chow, where we rested a
day or two, and then started north-wards,
spending the first night at Deng-doi,
a C.M.S. station worked by four ladies from Australia.
We were particularly interested in a
little school for blind boys, lately
opened by Miss Oxley, who, by means
of the Braille system, is most
successfully teaching them to read and write .
Then, continuing our journey for two
days,
we arrived at Lo-Nguong City, where
we were not only welcomed by Miss
Wedderspoon and Miss Clayton, but
also by Miss Jackson, Dr. Florence
Cooper, and Miss Blanche Cooper, who had
come in from Uong-Buang, in order to attend a conference of native workers. We should like to have seen the leper settlement, Church, and home for untainted children, but, having arranged
only to spend one night at
Lo-Nguong, we just visited the
girls' school, and the site for a hospital for women about to be built.
A walk of ten
miles, memorable because it included
the climbing of a mountain under a blazing
sun, straight up hot stone steps for nearly three hours, brought us to the bay which must be crossed in order to reach Fuh-Ning - the Prefecture allocated to the Dublin University Fuh-Kien Mission.
But the sea had no terrors for us
that
night as, comfortably sleeping our
tiredness away, we lay, rolled up in
rugs, on the floor of a fiat-bottomed boat.
We awakened next morning within sight of
the shore, ready for the chair-ride which brought us to Fuh-Ning city towards evening. We greatly appreciated the delightful welcome to the ladies' house given us by Miss Clarke, Miss Thomas, Miss Clemson, and Miss Greer.
Here a Sunday
intervened, which not only gave us
time to see over the large school for girls, the women's school, superintended by Miss Harmar, and Dr. and Mrs. Synge's hospitals, but also to see the Church, in which morning service was held, filled to over-flowing with Chinese, who listened attentively while the Rev. L. H. Star preached in their own tongue of the mighty works of God.
Then, crossing
the bay in another direction, we
came to Ning-Taik City, where there is a C.M.S. station, in which we spent a night and part of a day with Miss Boileau, Miss J. Clarke, Miss Bibb, and Miss Nicholson.
Not far from
their house and girls' school stands
the beautiful little Church, known as the Ning-Taik
Cathedral; a native clergyman having
expended upon it his thought and ingenuity for a period of twenty-five years; carving
carefully selected texts on the
woodwork of the chancel-rails,
pulpit, reading-desk, font and pillars, in the Chinese character which so lends itself to decorative purposes.
Resuming our journey, nothing could
exceed
the magnificence of the scenery,
through which the road to Sang-Iong,
in the Ku-Cheng district, led us for
two days, our senses literally feasting upon the wonderful beauty of the luxuriantly wooded mountains and valleys.
It was indeed a
privilege to visit Miss Burroughs and
Miss M. Newcombe in their native house at Sang-Iong, where they are carrying on a work which has been very richly blessed by our prayer-answering God.
Sa-Iong, the station at which we next
arrived and where we spent one night
was vacant, Miss Codrington and Miss
Locke-King not having returned from a
journey to Shang-Hai. And then, one whole day's travelling brought us to the Ku-Cheng "Olives," where we joined a delightfully large party; Miss Nisbet and her happy little "Birds' Nest" foundlings, Miss Wathen and Miss Leybourn, managing the girls' school with its sixty-six pupils. Miss Baker and Miss Ouida Jones studying the language, and Miss B. Newcombe preparing to itinerate in an outlying district.
Three days later, we were once more among our Ciong-Bau friends, and rejoicing together over the school so long desired and prayed for, now in full working order. Miss Bryer had opened it the week before, with twenty-eight girls, and it was good to see them under her care, not only learning to read the Bible, but also having many of the lessons contained therein, imprinted on their hearts.
Our exceedingly pleasant holiday
being
over, we settled down in the
Kien-Ning hospital, very thankful to
have had an opportunity of visiting the
various mission stations in the Fuh-Kien Province and of seeing something of what God was doing through and for His servants.
But during the
six weeks we had spent in going from
one spot of light to another, travelling between each through villages utterly unreached, cities hardly occupied, large districts still
lying in darkness, the great, great
need for more workers had been borne
in heavily upon our hearts.
In the summer of 1899, a
riot in Kien-Ning forced the temporary flight of Frances and the other
missionaries to Foo-Chow. The flight is recounted by Mary Darley in The light of the morning : the story of C.E.Z.M.S.
work in the Kien-ning Prefecture of the Fuh-kien Province, China
by Mary E. Darley (1903) pp158-163:
The
next afternoon, just as we had met together
for a prayer-meeting, word came that a
riot could no longer be restrained as the whole city had risen, shops were shut, and mandarins were powerless to arrest the torrents of vengeance about to fall upon the foreigners, the Ku-Cheng workers, and the native Christians.
There was no time to be lost. Our
servants
at the risk of their lives made three
attempts to procure boats for the
necessary flight, the last only
being successful.
In the meantime messages were
despatched both to Mr. Phillips in
Kien-Yang, and to Miss Rodd and Miss
Bryer in Ciong-Bau.
Shortly after
day-light, we three ladies and several
native women started down the river in four boats, and that evening arrived safely in Yen-Ping city, where there is a hospital superintended by a former student of Dr. Rigg's.
The Kien-Ning
boats would go no further, so here
we spent the night and part of the following day, while waiting to continue our journey in a great tea-barge leaving about mid-day, whose owner was willing, for a considerable sum of money. to accommodate any number of passengers.
All through that morning we stood
welcoming the fugitive Christians
who arrived at intervals. Oh the
accounts they brought! The reported murder
of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips and Miss Sears, while escaping from Kien-Yang. The cruel attack made upon the Christians in the leper settlement. The flames they had seen "reaching to the sky " of the new city Church now burnt to the ground, and many other stories, some true,
some entirely false, others
exaggerated, but then we believed
them all, and it seemed as if Satan had
gained a complete victory, and our hearts ached sorely for the Christians in Ciong-Bau and the other outlying villages.
Many of the
escapes were very wonderful. "God
brought us here, we hardly know how," some
said as they spoke of being unconscious of fear, " with hearts all peace."
Then we heard
that Dr. Rigg, Dr. Pakenham, and the
native doctors and students, had been forced
to leave shortly after our departure, and had already reached Nang-Wa.
...
Before we left Yen-Ping, Miss Rodd and
Miss Bryer joined us. Within a few
hours they had dismissed the girls'
school, arranged as far as possible
for the natives, and, starting from Ciong-Bau at evening time, had arrived after midnight at Nang-Wa, having accomplished a difficult walk of twelve miles on narrow pathways, in darkness and torrents of rain.
The remainder
of the journey to Foo-Chow was
comparatively easy. As we went quickly down the river, leaving so many of our native Christians, humanly speaking alone, to face persecution and danger, Miss Johnson gave us
a verse which greatly
helped us to leave them restfully in
our Father's care "For thus saith the
Lord of Hosts; he that toucheth you
toucheth the apple of His eye."
"Peace,
perfect peace ! with loved ones far away!
In Jesus'
keeping we are safe, and they."
Oh! So safe when overshadowed by a
love greater than the greatest any
human being can lavish upon another,
for the lesser love would shield its
object from pain, while the greater
can allow it to suffer.
There was
thanksgiving in Foo-Chow when we had
all safely arrived from the various up-country stations, and the truest joy when word came from Kien-Ning contradicting the reported murder of Mr.
and Mrs. Phillips and Miss Sears and
recounting how well the Mandarin had protected them in the Kien-Yang Yamen. And, when a few days later, they reached Foo-Chow they brought with them a correct account of all that had taken place during the riot:-the burning to the ground of the lately opened Church in Kien-Ning city, with the murder of an old Christian man found kneeling inside it; the attack made upon the leper settlement ; the ill-treating
of the leper Catechist and the
destruction of the lepers' little
Church. These, with other acts of violence,
threatenings and slaughter breathed out by an excited angry mob against all "worshipping-God people," made us realize most clearly that
all our lives had been spared only
because of the strong hand of our
God stretched out to save us.
It was not long, however,
before negotiations with the literati
of Kien-Ning led to the return of the missionaries. The men retuened
first, while three of the women missionaries, Frances Johnson, Mary
Darley and Miss Codrington went up-country, first to Ku-Cheng and then
to the Women's School in Sa-Iong. On 25 October 1899, an agreement was
signed compensating the Church for losses in the riots and allowing the
missionaries to return. Although only three weeks remained before all
the missionaries would return to Foo-Chow for the annual conference,
Frances and Mary decided to return to Kien-Ning.
The light of the morning : the story of C.E.Z.M.S.
work in the Kien-ning Prefecture of the Fuh-kien Province, China
by Mary E. Darley (1903) pp173-175:
Shortly
before this, permission had reached us
who were waiting in Ku-Cheng, to return, if we considered it worth our while to pay a
visit of three weeks' length, as we
should have to leave again when the
gentlemen went to Foo-Chow in order
to attend the Conference.
Miss Johnson and I gladly availed ourselves of the permission, and immediately made arrangements for
starting, but we found to our dismay
that coolies and sedan-chairs were
not to be hired; for those not
already engaged in carrying native Christians from distant villages to attend a Church Conference which was being held in Ku-Cheng city, expressed themselves both unwilling and afraid to attempt a journey to Kien-Ning after all that had taken place there.
We had asked
that if we were not to go, something
special might happen to hinder the plan. Was this the answer?
We longed to
see our Christians and they to see us.
The suggestion, that we might walk back entirely falling in with our own wishes, we at once acted upon it, and set out one morning for a three days' tramp over beautiful mountain
roads, hoping in the evening of the
third day to reach Nang-Wa, and from
there to go on by boat to our
hospital.
It was not an eventful journey, and the friendly attitude shewn towards us by the people in the villages which we passed through, helped to make it pleasant and gave us many an opportunity for speaking of
the Saviour to those who had never heard
of Him before. Then our joy in returning together, kept the continuous walking from becoming too wearisome, proving the truth of the old classical saying "A pleasant companion is as good as a coach."
Our only mishap
turned out so well, that we were
afterwards thankful for it.
We were delayed on the third day; but
still, by pushing on, we hoped to
arrive at Nang-Wa before nightfall.
Tired and rather foot-sore we hurried
on. It began to rain. The narrow, cobbled
pathways became slippery; our speed had
to slacken, and our hopes of reaching our destination that evening gradually faded away. Darkness was already upon us; where was the night to be spent ?
"Sisters, come
in here, in my house spend the night."
The
invitation came from a woman standing in
the doorway of a road-side cottage, who, in simple kindness of heart and pity, opened both her heart and her house to two foreigners, their load-man and servant-boy, an instance of the generous trusting hospitality so often to be met with in China.
Truly grateful to our unexpected and unknown hostess, we longed to repay her in the only way we could.
Until quite late that night she sat
up
listening to the story of a
Saviour's love. We taught her a few
sentences. She repeated them over and over again. Long before day-light the following morning she came to the loft placed at our disposal, to hear more of the things of Heaven.
As the first
streak of dawn lit up the bare and dusty
room, we left her. Upon the darkness of her life a gleam of
light from the Sun of Righteousness
had shone at last !
"Jesus, for me forgive sin, for me
forgive
sin," were the words of a little
prayer she whispered, as we parted
from her.
"
Far
and wide, though all unknowing,
Pants for Thee each mortal breast,
Human tears for Thee
are flowing.
Human
hearts in Thee would rest.
" Dare we let them die
in darkness,
When
we have the Light of God,
And the life which has been purchased
With the Saviour's
precious blood ?
Seek to win them,
Win them back through Christ to God."
"Slowly slowly," it seemed to us, went our little boat from Nang-Wa that day. About ten p.m., in bright moon-light, we once more entered the hospital standing as we had left it that eventful morning only four months before. Now strains of praise rang through the empty rooms, as two happy people, quickly uncovering the harmonium, sang the Doxology.
What a welcome
was given us upon the following Sunday
morning when, after service in our city house, a little group of Christian women gathered
around us.
"Did not our
Jesus keep you from fear, when you
first met here for secret worship ? " we questioned.
"Sisters," came the beautiful answer,
"
our hearts knew no fear, because
Jesus was together with us. Outside,
the streets, like rough tumultuous
waters, were all noise, loud voices, confusion.
Inside here, our hearts, like still, still
water, were all peace."
Frances
was still in Kien-Ning in 1916, when Mary Darley lists her as doing
"city and district work" (Cameos of a Chinese City by Mary E. Darley p27)
1 January 1928, in Rathdown
district,
county Dublin or Wicklow, Ireland, aged 74
Frances
Johnson
11 February 1890, in
Plymouth county, Iowa, United States
Donald Goddard
Johnson
Annie Margaret (Agnes)
Johnson
Doctor. A physician and surgeon, Frances practiced medicine out of her
home in Milwaukee until her death.
Frances was president of the Milwaukee branch of the Altrusa Club, a
women's service organization. There are a number of references to her
in this capacity in the Milwaukee Sentinel
and Milwaukee Journal (elected as a director
in 1946, vice
president in 1952, and president
in 1953-4)
One reference mentions a post-converntion vacation
that Frances took:
Milwaukee Sentinel 26 July 1953 page 2-D,
column 1
FOUR MILWAUKEE women,
members of the Altrusa Club, combined business with pleasure last week
as they travelled to Los Angeles, Calif., for the Altrusa International
biennial convention held Monday through Wednesday - taking their
vacations either before or after the convention.
Delegates
representing the Milwaukee club were Dr. Frances Johnson, president,
Esther Pfeiffer and June Rolleston. Dr. Anna L. Hehn, a past president,
was the alternate.
Drs. Johnson and Hehn flew to San
Francisco and then drove along the coast to Los Angeles. After the
convention, they flew to Hawaii for a 10-day vacation. Miss Pfeiffer
joined other Altrusa members for the post-convention tour to Bryce
Canyon sponsored by the international organization.
Another
curious reference mentions Frances's unusual advice at a meeting of the
Business and Professional Women's club.
Milwaukee Sentinel 9 May 1929 page 4, column 7
DAY after day we read parts of
addresses made for the benefit of women who would reduce.
Now
comes Dr. Frances Johnson and, at a meeting of the Business and
Professional Women's club, she dares to tell women in business how they
can gain weight and work hard at the same time.
"Eat plenty
of bread and butter, potatoes and pie," she says.
9 March 1972, in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, United States, aged 82
Milwaukee Sentinel 11 March 1972, part 2 page
14, column 1
Johnson, Dr. Frances
Of
2604 E. Hartford Ave., March 9, 1972, aged 82. Dear sister of Miss
Dorothy Johnson, sister-in-law of Mrs. Evelyn (Donald K.) Johnson and
Mrs. Dorothy (Colin W.) Johnson and of Robert S., Philip D., Donald S.,
Peter, Michael O. and Colin D. Johnson and Mrs Ann Sundstrom. Other
relatives also survive. Complete memorial services 2:30 p.m. Sun, at
FASS FUNERAL HOME, 3601 N. Oakland Ave. The family will receive friends
from 1:30 p.m. Sun, until time of services. In lieu of flowers,
memorials to the
Heart Association, Milwaukee Children's Hospital or the charity of
your preference appreciated.
| |
|
Gravestone of Frances Johnson in
Pleasant
Hill cemetery, Ireton, Iowa
|
Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Sioux county, Iowa, United States. The
grave is
located south of the E-W entrance roads, row 27 west of Cty Road K30.
1900:
Eagle township, Sioux county, Iowa
1920:
Sioux county, Iowa
1956: 2504 E. Hartman Ave, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin (Milwaukee Journal 16 April 1956)
1972:
2604 E. Hartford Ave, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (death notice)
Geraldine Alice Johnson
27 September 1870, in Wexford
district, county Wexford, Ireland
Samuel Johnson
Marianne (Richards) Johnson
16 May 1916, in Rathdown
district, county Dublin or Wicklow, Ireland, aged 45
1911:
14 Belgrave Road, Monkstown, county Dublin
Honor Lucretia Philippa(Johnson) Somerville
26 June 1902, in Dublin, Dublin
South district, county Dublin, Ireland
Philip
Bernard
Johnson
Elizabeth Charlotte
Annie (Pope) Johnson
Reginald Malcolm John Bellingham Somerville in 1936, in
Rathdrum district, county Wicklow, Ireland. Reginald was born on 14
February 1897, at Clermont, Rathnew, county Wicklow, the son of
Bellingham Arthur Somerville and Margaret Hall Clinch. Reginald was
previously married to Maude Gwendolyn Constance Violet Moore in 1928 in
Rathdown district, county Wicklow or county Dublin.
1911:
Newrath, Rathnew, county Wicklow
1911:
Bollarney South, Wicklow, county Wicklow
Louisa
Florence
Johnson
28 July 1858, in
Ireland
Samuel Johnson
Marianne
(Richards) Johnson
28 June 1933, in Gorey district,
county Wexford, Ireland, aged 74
 |
|
Headstone of Louisa Florence Johnson in
St
John the Apostle graveyard, Ardamine, county Wexford.
|
St John the Apostle graveyard,
Ardamine, county Wexford, Ireland. Louisa's headstone reads:
Louisa Florence
Johnson
born july 28th
1858
DIED June 28th 1933
The Plantagenet
Roll of the Blood Royal: The Clarence Volume p284 by
Melville Henry Massue Ruvigny et Raineval (1994) lists Louisa living in
Oxford, although the date of this is not known.
Mary Isabella
(Johnson) Collins
23 August
1859
Samuel Johnson
Marianne
(Richards) Johnson
James Stratford Collins on 17
February 1890
The
history of the Church Missionary Society: its
environment, its men and its work p793 by Eugene Stock (1899):
[James Collins] had married a C.E.Z. lady in
the
Fuh-kien Mission, one of two Misses Johnson of Dublin, sisters of the
present head of the Irish Church Missions to Roman Catholics there.
Missionary
in China. It seems that Mary went to China as a missionary of
the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society. She married Rev.
Collins who had gone out to China in 1887 with the Church Missionary
Society and as Mrs. Collins she is often referred to as being part of
the C.M.S. rather than the the C.E.Z.
On 31 May 1890, Rev. Collins
wrote to the The
Church Missionary Gleaner October 1890
p162 from their station in Lo-ngwong:
A foreign lady is a new species of "show,"
and
every week many women come to see Mrs. Collins, and each visit results
in an invitation to visit in return. The poor Christian women are
terribly dark and ignorant, and as a rule do not come to church at all.
9 June 1897, in
the
wreck of the Aden off Socotra in the Mahra
Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra (now part of Yemen). After being widowed
in China, Mary was returning to England on the Aden, which struck Rasradresa reef
off the island of Socotra in a storm on 9 June 1897. Three of the four
lifeboats were washed away and the last was reserved for women and
children, including Mary and her two young children. This boat was
launched but never seen again. In total,
78 lives were lost in the wreck, but 45 passengers and crew members
were rescued from the Aden 17
days later.
A memorial to Mary and her husband has been placed
in Ardamine Church, county Wexford.
In loving memory of
Rev.
James Stratford Collins. C. M. S.
drowned in Min River, China, April
20th
1897 aged 37
buried at Foo Chow
also of
Mary Isabella his wife aged 37
Ethel aged 2 and Philip aged 1 their
children
and Margaret Hogan their nurse
lost in
the wreck of the 'Aden' off Socotra June 9th 1897.
The
wreck of the Aden was reported
in the New York Times on 30 June
1897, and this more
detailed account appeared in The Daily Star
(Fredericksburg, Virginia), also on 30 June 1897:
THE WRECK OF THE ADEN
It
Resulted in the
Loss of Seventy-eight Lives,
AND FORTY-FIVE WERE RECSCUED.
Thrilling
Experiences of the Survivors, Who For Seventeen Days Were Held Captive
on a Reef, With the Vessel Gradually Breaking to Pieces
Aden,
June 30.-The Indian government's steamer Mayor [sic. actually the
Mayo], sent out in search of the missing steamer Aden, which was last
heard of when leaving Columbo June 1 for this port, has returned here
and reports that the Aden was totally lost off the Island of Socotra,
at the eastern extremity of Africa.
The captain of
the wrecked steamer, some of her officers and crew and seven white
passengers, were swept overboard and drowned very soon after she ran
ashore.
Eight women passengers, nine children, two officers
and a few of the Aden's crew succeeded in getting away from the wreck
in a boat, but they have not been heard of since and little hope is
entertained of their safety.
The Mayor saved nine of the Aden's
passengers and three of the white and 33 of the natives of the
steamer's crew. All these persons were rescued just as the Aden was
breaking up.
In
all, the drowned and missing include 25 passengers, 20 European
officers and 33 natives of the Aden's crew.
Two days after leaving Colombo the
Aden was
struck by a severe monsoon, with squalls, violent and incessant. Day by
day the weather grew thicker. At 3 o'clock on the morning of June 9 the
vessel struck upon the Rasradresa Reef, on the eastern coast of the
island of Socotra.
The engineroom was instantly flooded,
and
utter darkness ensued. Wild with panic the passengers rushed from their
cabins and fled terror stricken to the upper decks in the scantiest
clothing. The women and children screamed in freight and confusion, but
the men retained their self possession and courageously assisted the
officers and crew to do their best to save the vessel and to inspire
calmness.
But
it was soon seen that the steamer could not survive the shock, and that
the only chance for safety lay in the boats. Life belts were
distributed, distress signals given and the boats on the lee side
prepared for launching. Those on the weather side had already been
washed away. In the meantime, seeing that some hours were likely to
elapse before it would be possible to launch the boats, the passengers
gladly accepted the assistance of the crew to obtain more clothing.
The storm
continued to increase in violence. The seas washed the vessel with
terrible force. Daylight brought no relief, and only served to reveal
still further the awfulness of the situation. Misfortune followed misfortune. A lifeboat was
lowered, only to be swept away immediately, with three lascars and the
first officer, Mr. Carden. The gig was dispatched to the rescue, with
Mr. Miller, the second officer, but both boats were rapidly swept away.
The only
remaining life boat was then lowered amid a scene of intense emotion. A
cry of anguish broke from the lips even of the men when this half
capsized, throwing the sailors and the stores into the sea. After great
efforts the boat was righted and the women and children were lowered
into it, with the exception of Madames Gillett, Pearce and Strain, who
heroically decided to share the fate of their husbands, and Misses
Lloyd and Weller, who remained on board. The boat, manned by a European
crew, left in a tremendous sea and drifted rapidly out of sight.
Vast
waves still swept the wreck, dashing the people about and leaving them
almost prostrate on the deck. One by one, men, women and children,
grown too weak to withstand the repeated buffetings, were washed
overboard in sight of those who were momentarily expecting the same
fate. Among the first thus engulfed were Mr. and Mrs. Strain and their
two children; Misses Lloyd and Weller, the missionaries; Mrs. Pearce's
baby, with its Chinese nurse, and then Captain Hill, whose leg was
broken, but who had borne himself calmly and bravely. He was washed
overboard with several of the native crew.
All day the victims
were picked off one by one, until 5 o'clock in the afternoon, when
those who still survived retreated below. Many were badly hurt, and
passed the night in suspense and bodily pain, huddled in the small
cabin, which they expected would be their tomb. None of the survivors
care to talk of this terrible night.
The storm abated slightly
on the morning of the 10th, and those who were able to move began to
search for food, hunger, until then, having failed to assert itself
over more acute privations. This proved a task of the greatest danger,
as big seas were still sweeping the vessel. The fourth engineer, while
trying to procure water near the poop, was struck senseless and almost
washed overboard before he could be dragged to a place of safety.
Artificial respiration and similar expedients were resorted to, but it
was five hours before he was restored to consciousness. Mr. Pearce was
only saved from being washed overboard by the prompt action of his
dauntless wife.
The search for food resulted in their getting
very little of it, and this was shared out equally and in very small
portions. All the time desperate men kept a sharp lookout. But no
vessel was sighted until the 13th, and even then the distress signal
was not seen. On the 17th, and again on the 20th, other vessels were
sighted, but the signals either were not seen or were ignored.
These
unhappy episodes caused painful and half crazy scenes of rage among
those who had previously been self controlled. Each day it was
necessary to curtail the allowance of rations. Mrs. Gillett did the
catering and contributed greatly to the cheering up the ships company.
The
weather usually moderated in the morning, but always increased in
violence during the afternoon. Frequently a sea 30 feet high would
sweep the deck from stem to stern and carry away portions of the vessel.
On
June 25, when things were at their worst, and the food supply was
almost exhausted, Messrs. White, Kelt, Cave and Valpy bravely ventured
across the well deck to the storeroom and got a fresh supply. That
evening two steamers were sighted. One proceeded without paying any
attention to the distress signal. The other anchored under the lee of
the island. As soon as was sighted a lascar mounted the rigging and
signaled her. In reply candles burned at her portholes, and at daybreak
on the 26th, a suspense of 17 days was relieved by the spectacle of the
steamer rounding the point and heading towards the wreck. She dropped
anchor about a mile away.
A very heavy sea was still
running, but the wind had moderated slightly. With heartfelt joy,
mingled with tears of the men and hysterical sobbing of the women, they
saw the lifeboat lowered. It took her three-quarters of an hour to
reach the wreck. Everyone rushed to the broken side of the ship. It was
the lifeboat of the Indian government steamer, in charge of Lieutenants
Dobbin and Goldsmith. They skillfully avoided the tremendous wash, and
rescued all the survivors in two trips.
Every attention
was paid to them on board the Mayor. Their health is improving, and
they sailed homeward today on the steamer India.
This
account implies that Mary and her children were in the missing
lifeboat, but does not state that explicitly. However, The
history of the Church Missionary Society: its
environment, its men and its work p793 by Eugene Stock (1899)
contains the
note:
Mrs Collins sailed for England with
her two children, and joined the ill fated P. & O. steamer Aden at Colombo. On June 9th, the
ship was wrecked on the coast of the Island of Socotra. Mrs
Collins and her children were put into the one lifeboat that was
successfully got off; and that boat was never heard of again.
Norah Johnson
1897, in Dublin North district, county Dublin, Ireland
Philip
Bernard
Johnson
Elizabeth Charlotte
Annie (Pope) Johnson
1897, in Rathdown district, county Dublin or Wicklow, Ireland, aged 0
Patricia Beatrice Johnson
1904, in Dublin, Dublin South
district, county Dublin, Ireland
Philip
Bernard
Johnson
Elizabeth Charlotte
Annie (Pope) Johnson
Her name appears as Patricia
Beatrice Johnson in the birth registration index, but in the 1911
census as Norah Patricia Johnson.
1911:
Bollarney South, Wicklow, county Wicklow
-
Ireland Birth Index (2Q1904 Dublin South vol 2 p656); exact place from
1911 census
- 1911 census
Philip Bernard
Johnson
Reverend
16 October 1866, in county Wexford, Ireland
Samuel Johnson
Marianne
(Richards) Johnson
Trinity
College Dublin, receiving a B.A. in 1892, and, later, M.A.
Elizabeth Charlotte Annie Pope
in
1893, in Donegal district, county Donegal, Ireland. Elizabeth was born
in 1867, in Donegal district. Elizabeth was the daughter of Richard
Pope, M.D.
Clergyman
The Irish
Church Missions web site lists:
Rev. Philip
Bernard Johnson (Superintendent
1894-1902)
Having worked for
ICM in itinerating evangelism around Ireland, Mr. Johnson became a
curate in the Mission Church in 1892. From a missionary family
from Wexford, two of his sisters served in the Dublin University Fuh
Kien Mission in China. During his time as Superintendent over 100
adult converts were received into the Church of Ireland and hundreds of
street children, who attended the Mission Homes and Schools, were
confirmed. In 1902, when Mr. Fishe returned to ICM, Mr. Johnson
took special charge of ICM's itinerating evangelism work, visiting
Mission stations throughout Ireland. He later became the
incumbent at Wicklow for 19 years during which time he was made Canon
of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. He died in 1926.
2 July 1926, in Rathdrum district,
county Wicklow, Ireland, aged 59
1911:
Bollarney South, Wicklow, county Wicklow
Robert Edward
Johnson
17 July 1864, in Ireland
Samuel Johnson
Marianne
(Richards) Johnson
7 April 1883, in Wexford
district,
county Wexford, Ireland, aged 19
| |
|
Headstone of Robert Edward Johnson in
St
John the Apostle graveyard, Ardamine, county Wexford
|
St John the Apostle graveyard,
Ardamine, county Wexford, Ireland. Robert's headstone reads:
In
memory of
ROBERT EDWARD Johnson
SON OF SAMUEL JOHNSON
WHO DIED 7TH APRIL 1883
AGED 19 YEARS.
HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, THOUGH
HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE
Robert Samuel
Johnson
22 November 1891, in
Ireton, Sioux county, Iowa, United States
Donald Goddard
Johnson
Annie Margaret (Agnes)
Johnson
Iowa State
University, graduating as a civil engineer in 1914.
Civil Engineer. Lieutenant (Civil Engineer Corps), United States Navy.
Robert was seconded to the Royal Canadian Navy to oversee the
initial site selection and preparation of a naval air station to
protect shipping against U-boats, at North Sydney, Nova Scotia, in
August and September 1918
Naval Air Station North Sydney by Peter
Lawson pp84-5
ROBERT S. JOHNSON,
Lieutenant, Civil Engineer
Lt. Robert Samuel Johnson, son of Donald G.
and
Annie Johnson was born in 1891 near Ireton, Iowa and graduated as a
civil engineer from Iowa State College in 1914. He worked for two years
before attending the United States Naval Academy in 1917. Early in the
summer of 1918, he was given a secondment to serve with the Royal
Canadian Naval Air Service to assist in the initial development of
Naval Air Station North Sydney, in Nova Scotia. The station was to be
operated by the USN at the request of the Canadian Government.
Sadly, Lt. Johnson
contracted the Spanish influenza while in North Sydney. It was decided
that he would be immediately transported to a hospital in Ottawa,
Ontario, his home base, but pneumonia set in and he passed away on
October 13, 1918 at the age of 27.
Naval Air Staion North Sydney by Peter
Lawson pp42-3
To: Chairman, Nova Scotia
Steel and Coal, New Glasgow, N.S.
From: Deputy Minister, Canadian
Naval Service
Date: August 6, 1918
Telegram. Official request for
temporary use of North West Bar, North Sydney (Indian Point) for
purpose establishing air station for coast protection, Lieut. Johnson,
USN now lent to Canadian Naval Department in connection with air
service engineering will call on you tomorrow. Stop. Please grant use
of this property if possible. Stop. Department prepared to pay
reasonable rent for same. Stop.
13 October 1918, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, of pneumonia, a
complication of Spanish flu.
Officers and enlisted men of the United States Navy
who lost their lives during the World War, from April 6, 1917, to
November 11, 1918 p30 (1920)
JOHNSON, ROBERT
SAMUEL,
lieutenant (Civil Engineer Corps), United States Navy.
Died : At Ottowa,
Ontario.
Date:
October 13, 1918.
Cause: Disease (pneumonia).
Next of kin: Donald G.
Johnson (father), Ireton, Iowa.
Appointed from Iowa.
In a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel
Cull to the Director of Naval Services, on 15 October 1918, reproduced
in Naval Air Station North Sydney by Peter
Lawson p48:
It is deeply regretted that
Lieutenant Johnson, USN, Civil Engineer, who was seconded to the RCN to
oversee the initial site selection and preparation at North Sydney in
August and September, 1918, died (of influenza complications) on
October 13. Funerals were held on the 14 and the body taken by his
parents to Ireton, Iowa.
 |
|
Gravestone of Robert Samuel Johnson in
Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Iowa
|
Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Sioux county, Iowa, United States. The
grave is
located south of the E-W entrance roads, row 27 west of Cty Road K30.
1900:
Eagle township, Sioux county, Iowa
Samuel
Johnson
2 June 1812, in county Wexford,
Ireland
William Johnson
Frances (Tench) Johnson
Marianne
Richards on 5
November 1850 in Ardamine Church, county Wexford, Ireland, by Edward
Richards, Rector of Clonallon, county Derry. The marriage was witnessed
by S.A. Richards and J.H. Walker. Samuel is recorded as a bachelor, of
full age, a manager of a bank, of Wexford, the son of William Johnston,
a collector of customs. Marianne is recorded as a spinster, of full
age, of Ounaverra, Ardamine, the daughter of John Goddard Richards,
gentleman and Deputy Lieutenant of county Wexford.
Samuel
was manager of the Wexford branch of the Provincial Bank of Ireland
(1850, 1871). In 1899, he
is listed as a J.P. for county Wexford.
2 April 1883, in Brookville, county Wexford, Ireland, aged 70
Belfast Newsletter Thursday, 5 April, 1883
Deaths.
JOHNSON -- April 2, at Brookville, Wexford, Samuel Johnson, Esq., J.P., aged 71 years.
 |
|
Headstone of Samuel Johnson in
St
John the Apostle graveyard, Ardamine, county Wexford
|
St John the Apostle graveyard,
Ardamine, county Wexford, Ireland. Samuel's headstone reads:
In
memory of
Samuel Johnson
OF Brookville, Wexford
WHO DIED 2nd APRIL 1883
AGED 70 YEARS.
Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life:
and i will dwell in the house of
the lord for ever.
William Ward
Johnson
September 1855, in
Ireland
Samuel Johnson
Marianne
(Richards) Johnson
School teacher
8 May 1904
Plantagenet
Roll of the Blood Royal: The Clarence Volume p284 by
Melville Henry Massue Ruvigny et Raineval (1994) lists
William as having lived in Hawarden, Iowa, United States.
 |
|
Gravestone of William Ward Johnson in
Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Iowa
|
Pleasant Hill cemetery, Ireton, Sioux county, Iowa, United States. The
grave is
located south of the E-W entrance roads, row 27 west of Cty Road K30.
1900:
Eagle township, Sioux county, Iowa
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