The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Page 69

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
67
school in the Glenboro district for a
while. Entering Gustavns Adolphus
College at St. Peter, Minnesota, he
taught school during summer months
to finance his college education, this
until he graduated.
Coming to Winnipeg following
graduation, he chose to study law and
articled with the law firm of Richards
and Bradshaw. Called to the Manitoba
bar in 1900, he formed a law partner-
ship with S. J. Rothwell. He was the
first lawyer of Icelandic descent to
practice in Manitoba.
He was elected to the Winnipeg
school board in 190S, and continued
as a school trustee for four years. It
was in 1907 that he was elected to the
legislature for Winnipeg West as a
Liberal, defeating Winnipeg Mayor
Thomas Sharpe. He became an out-
spoken critic of the Conservative
government under Sir Rodmond Rob-
lin.
When in 1910 T. C. Norris became
Liberal party leader, Mr. Johnson be-
came his right hand man. In the fol-
lowing provincial election he was re-
turned as M.L.A. for West Winnipeg.
It was in 1915, following redistribu-
tion, that the Roblin government went
down to defeat and the Norris admin-
istration took over. Mr. Johnson, elect-
ed in the new riding of All Centre
Winnipeg, was successively minister of
public works and attorney-general. He
was an active promotor of progressive
social legislation and he was an elo-
quent speaker.
Mr. Johnson was an outstanding
lawyer and he represented the Prov-
ince on two occasions, in defense of
provincial rights at Ottawa and in
the Kelly case before the Privy Council
in England. He was made K.C. in 1919.
In the reorganization of the Norris
government prior to the election of
1922, Mr. Johnson withdrew from
active political life and did not offer
himself as a candidate in the election.
The characteristic energy which he
had displayed during the 15 years of
his political career had seriously under-
mined his health and made it absolute-
ly incumbent upon him that he cease
such strenuous work. He resumed his
practice of law in the firm known as
Johnson and Bergman.
His interest in human affairs con-
tinued unabated. From his earliest
days he had evinced keen interest in
Canada, an interest that endured and
grew stronger with the passing years.
Pie maintained to the last his interest
in the Icelandic people and the hi-
story of the race. In 1926 the king of
Norway conferred upon him the Order
of St. Olaf for his services to the people
of Norway. The same year, at the
Norse-American Centennial celebra-
tion in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Min-
nesota, the king of Denmark and .then
also of Iceland, conferred upon him
the Order of the Falcon, an honor
conferred by the Danish crown upon
natives of Iceland who had done great
service to their country.
In his early years in Winnipeg he
was a member of the Carleton Club,
a charter member of the Young Men’s
Liberal Club, and the first president
of the Icelandic Liberal Club.
He was married June 21, 1898, to
Aurora Frederickson. They had one
daughter and two sons, Margaret
Ethel, Mrs. T. FI. Joly, Elswood Brand-
ur and Cecil Frederick.
The Johnson family were Lutherans
and burial took place from the First
Icelandic Lutheran Church with Rev-
erend Dr. B. B. Jonsson officiating and
interrment in the family plot at Win-
nipeg’s Brookside cemetery.