A young Alfred Marem Johnson (1893-1931)

Daring Darlene to Tell

Dear FOLKS,

Today, I look forward to telling you about the younger years of my paternal grandfather, Alfred Marem Johnson. Last week's article told of Alfred's timeline and you can find that here. In today's article, I hope to go into more detail.

Alfred and his twin brother, Albert Walter Johnson were born at the family home on 2 December 1893 to the parents of William Christian Johnson and Maria Julson, near Lake Preston, Kingsbury County, South Dakota. Alfred's name was recorded as Alfred Myron Johnson on the local church's register, although as an adult he seems to have spelled his name as Alfred Marem Johnson. I transcribed Alfred and Albert's birth record in an earlier post. You can read that here.

It is not known if the twin boys were identical or fraternal and it is not knowing this, as baby Albert died from Membranous Croup on 07 February 1896. At one time, the term "croup" was primarily associated with diphtheria, a life-threatening respiratory infection and it was fatal in the case of Albert. Today, children are given a series of five doses of the vaccine to protect them against this disease. It is likely that Alfred was too young, when Albert died, to have memories of him.

For a while, the Johnson family would live at Lake Preston, and then they would move to Flandreau, South Dakota, in Moody County when Alfred was about four years old. He is included in the family there in Flandreau in the 1900 U.S. Census where his father is a well-driller and a farmer. Then, in 1905 the entire family moves from South Dakota to their new homestead in Cameron Township, Ward County, North Dakota. They moved traveled from Flandreau by train to Minot, North Dakota. In Minot, they bought some cattle that they drove by foot about 30 miles south until they reached their homestead that was situated near Douglas. Their belongings they hauled by horseback. This trek must have taken several days to complete.

The year 1905 was also the year that the town of Douglas had its beginning. The Johnsons had a big part in the town's creation. Alfred's father, William, is noted in 1906 as being one of the town's carpenters and supervisor of erecting several buildings. He also the operator of the Johnson Land Company.

The 1910 U.S. Census tells that Alfred was still in school and by then he was 16 years old. It appears that he completed the eight years of school that was available to him at the time. Perhaps it was at school that Alfred learned to play baseball.

IMAGE: Not a clear picture, but this photograph
includes members of the Douglas ball team. [1]

Caption for this picture:

Douglas ball team: Jim Brangard, Bert Peterson, Andrew Kragness, Ed Dismor, Jake Tiedeman, Otto Mite, Oliver Odegard, ?, John Abrahamson, Gilbert Abrahamson, Eddie Peterson and Alfred Johnson.

Note about the photo: Alfred may be the player sitting cross-legged in the front row, right-hand side. But I could be wrong. His facial features seem familiar....like a Johnson. Names don't line up with people on this photo, so we'll have to guess as to who is who.

Baseball was an important form of recreation and Douglas boasted a good team. Both town and farm families would go out to watch, with a huge circle of horses and rigs surrounding the ballpark. Rural families brought picnic dinners. Folks from the town of Max would come to Douglas by train; pull off on the spur track. After the game, they would take that same train to go back home again. Visitors from the town of Garrison, both players and spectators came overland. This would be an all-day outing for them. Of course, the Douglas team also traveled to the neighboring towns. [1]

Alfred was nicknamed "Leftie." That's right, easy guess as he was left-handed. My Cousin Dave, tells me that Alfred was the pitcher for the Douglas team. I enjoyed learning that. I wonder how difficult it may have been for him to get a baseball mitt at that time. But then I think of the old mitts I have seen and recall that they appeared to be flat enough to be used on either hand. Here is another possibility.

IMAGE: 1914 Reach/Spalding ambidextrous
glove, model SC... SC for Samuel Cline.

In 1911, Samuel Cline patented an ambidextrous fielders' glove for A.J. Reach Co. It would reach sports-related catalogs in 1914. You can see an article about this by clicking here.

IMAGE: A 1914 Spaulding XLA  Model.

Based on the Samuel Cline patent, here is a Spalding XLA "Either Hand" model. This example has added straps between the fingers not shown on the patent drawing and a 1" web instead of the full web. From the wear pattern, it may have been used mostly by a lefty. [2]

The Soo Line Railroad Co. started to lay track in the vicinity in July 1905 on their plan to locate a track to Minot. Soon after, the town of Douglas was being platted by the local folks as a rail stop was planned for that location. The local farmers were glad for this stop as they needed nearby transportation for their crops that would go to market. This track was planned to cut right through the Johnson family's homestead. So by the lead of his father William Johnson, the family became involved with the building of Douglas. We will discuss this again in a future article. I bring it up now because Alfred too had to have been involved to some degree.

It is not known how much Alfred helped around the homestead. We have to assume his contribution was the same as his brothers. When Alfred was seventeen he was working on a railroad track when he was injured by a railroad jack hitting him behind his ear.  This injury would be troublesome to him for the rest of his life.

IMAGE: Vintage Simplex 24A Railroad
15-ton jack, photo found on E-Bay.

To learn more about a railroad jack, I queried the internet. This may not be exactly like the jack that hit Alfred, but it is common that all are cast-iron and are very heavy. Not something I would like to get hit with. I liked this one found on E-Bay as it shows the handle vs. the lift mechanisms. Here is a link to this item, for a closer look click here.

In 1917, Alfred would enlist in the U.S. Army to serve during World War I. In my next Friday blog, I'll discuss his military assignments and service.

Thank you for joining me today. I hope you enjoy this coming weekend.

Sources:

1.) The Douglas Centennial Book Committee, "Douglas History Book 1906-2006," published April 2006 by BHG, Inc., Garrison, North Dakota, USA, page 9.

2.) "Vintage Baseball Forum," phpBB Forum (http://www.vintagebaseballgloveforum.com : accessed 26 April 2018), specifically "1914 Reach/Spaulding Ambidextrous Glove," by mikesglove, 26 November 2010.

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Copyright (c) 2018, Darlene M. Steffens