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Isabelle Effinger and |
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Isabelle Effinger and |
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For 45 years, Edward and Lancaster shared a mutual trust, faith and growth. I am proud to secure his name in history for without his intervention in 1926, it is highly probable I would not have survived to do so. In 1912, Ed came to Lancaster to manage the Farmers Hardware Store. Two years later, he married Isabelle M. Effinger, a daughter of John Effinger who ran the old Soo Hotel. They bought a home which today is owned by Glenn Sanners. Those were happy years, a time for mutual caring and sharing not only with family and friends but also community life. Isabelle, a Royal Neighbor member, was also a faithful communicant at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Years before ecumenical became a household word, my parents had already solved it.
One particular event in Ed's life remains a constant source of inspiration to me. As did many, Farmers Hardware faced serious economic distress during America's late 1920's Great Depression. Ed struggled to remain open, realizing his store was an important link between city manufacturer and local farms. He first counter attacked by asking his employees to accept 1/2 wages until conditions improved. They, knowing his established reputation for honest fairness, readily accepted. He then gave merchandise on credit to all who asked, accepting as he did so only promises of repayment at unspecified dates or whenever people could, "How could I stand by and watch people I had known for years lose everything because they could not get a crop in the field?" he once mused during a Chicago visit in the 1950's. The natural results of such transactions became clearly evident when a few months later the store faced a 30-day foreclosure. But Edward Johnson refused to accept defeat. "I drove what seemed 50,000 miles that next month, from home to home, farm to farm. I explained what was at stake and asked people to help me whatever way they could. The first day, someone handed me a jar of carefully saved pennies and wished me well". "The money came, in pennies, nickels, dimes, $1, $5, $IO and I signed a personal note for everything. I was never too proud to ask Lancaster people for help, but best of all they seemed so proud to give it". Thus, a tiny business survived America's greatest financial turmoil because of faith returned to a man, in fullest measure.
AND he was compassionate. In 1926 after being told a tiny crib pushed to one side of an orphanage nursery contained a baby girl not expected to live, Edward demanded to see her. He and Isabelle later named their daughter, Patricia. Six years later, Isabelle Johnson died.
Ed Johnson's accomplishments are many and distinguished. He served as Lancaster's Mayor, a School Board chairman and member of its Reorganization Committee, Businessmen's Club, Civic Club and, proud of his membership at Sion Lutheran Church as well, he served as its treasurer. Proud, fervant and determined that Lancaster should progress, Edward was never too busy to take on added responsibilities for the community. A progressive thinker, he fought for Lancaster's best interests. All that he did and was as a man later proved inspirational to younger men who followed.
Tulla O. Nelson and Ed Johnson married in 1935. She was a daughter of the beloved pioneers Ane-Marie and Peter Nelson. Tulla was a valuable member of the business team which now included not only the Hardware Store but an IH Implement and Garage-Chev agency. Ever a firm believer that local people should wisely support local business, it was only natural that he sold all of his interests to Lancaster men. In 1957, the Johnson's moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, and it was there the life of a honorable man which had commenced October 4, 1887, came to a sudden halt on October 8, 1958. Kindly, honest Ed Johnson, a man who refused to give up, was brought back to Minnesota and laid to rest in the quiet land he had loved and lived in, Lancaster, a place he so proudly called "home".