Richard Alfred Johnson (1852 - 1920)

Born 24 Sep 1852 in Bangor, Caernarvonshire, Wales

Ancestors

Husband of Harriet Riley (Shaw) Johnson — married 6 Dec 1877 in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada

Descendants

Died 26 Oct 1920 at age 68 in Toronto, Canada

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Biography

Excerpts from 'A Railway Family':

"The Founder, John Johnson:

Emigrated from Bangor in North Wales in 1856, settling in St. Mary's, Upper Canada at that time, moving to Brampton in 1857 and returning to St. Mary's in 1862. The story is told of Timothy Eaton (the Canadian Department Store Magnate) when leaving (St. Mary's) to open his store in Toronto, offered, out of respect for John, to employ his sons in his new Toronto store. The Johnsons finally settled in Toronto in the late 1860's, and, while acting as yardmaster with the Grand Trunk Railway, John was killed when struck by the John Street bridge, a low bridge at that time.

The Railwaymen's Sons:

At an age of 12 or 13 Richard Alfred became a call boy in St. Mary's. He was the fireman on the first train to run into Orangeville, ON. In Orangeville he boarded with the family of Ben Fallis (who also became a CPR engineer) in 1875-76, at which time he met Hattie Shaw, an attractive young lady who lived next door. They were married in 1877, when she was 19 and Dick was 25, and already an engineer with the Toronto, Grey and Bruce (railway). He was considered a good catch, earning $60.00 a month. In 1880 he was transferred to Teeswater, Ontario where their home, still a very fine house occupied in recent years by a pair of schoolteachers (1974) was directly across the road from the station. This was the terminus of that line, eventually taken over by the CPR. All six of their children were born in Teeswater, five surviving to adulthood, the sole survivor today (1974) being Bessie, the youngest child.

In 1986 Dick was moved to Toronto to take over the CPR Toronto to Windsor run passenger train. It is believed that the strain of the firemen of shovelling upwards of five tons of coal on the run was a factor in reducing the run to Toronto - London. Dick remained as an engineer on that run for twenty years until illness overcame him in 1916. He was selected at one time to take his train, with all tracks cleared, in a race with a Grand Trunk train. He won.

He died at his home on Coolmine Road in Toronto after a hard life. There were no vacations, no paid holidays, work on Christmas day as usual. He was often snowbound, his train was once derailed by a defective rail, and in contrast to the generally heavily built, corpulent engineers of the day, he never went over 135 pounds, but was wiry. His retirement pension, after more than fifty years of railroading, was $66.00 a month, roughly a third of his regular pay at that time."

Siblings: Robert Ellis I 1855-1861 John 1857-1925 George 1858-1922 Robert Ellis II 1862-1891 Jane Ann 1864 died at 2 mo's Thomas Bibby 1865-1953 Jane 'Jennie' 1867-1897 Charles Draycott Apr 24, 1869 Henry 1871-1893 ? Emma 1871-1901 Wilfred John 1878 died at 1 mo"

(Note Wilfred John was actually a child of Dick and Hattie, not a sibling of Dick)

Married Hattie Shaw (see images for record) Dec 2, 1877 in Orangeville Ontario. The marriage record shows that Richard's mother was 'Ann Ellen' and that Hattie's parents were Maud Jane and Joseph Shaw.

Richard lived in Orangeville, Teeswater and at 70 Coolmine Road Toronto.

Sources

• See images for 1901 and 1911 Canadian census records, marriage and death records.

• 'A Railroad Family: Family History of the Johnson Brothers in Ontario', compiled in Feb 1975 by John Miller and Bessie Johnson Miller (daughter of Richard Alfred), held by their grandson Chris Pearson.

• Canada Census, 1871," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4QZ-ZYX : 24 October 2018), Robert E Johnson in household of John Johnson, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; citing 1871; citing National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.

• Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FMNL-HVW : 10 April 2015), John Johnston in entry for Richard A Johnston and Hattie Shaw, 06 Dec 1877; citing registration , Orangeville, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,863,650.