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A Narrative History
of
The People of Iowa
with
SPECIAL TREATMENT OF THEIR CHIEF ENTERPRISES IN
EDUCATION, RELIGION, VALOR, INDUSTRY,
BUSINESS, ETC.
by
EDGAR RUBEY HARLAN, LL. B., A. M.
Curator of the
Historical, Memorial and Art Department of Iowa
Volume IV
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Inc.
Chicago and New York
1931
ANDREW J. JOHNSON, of Clinton, represents one of the old established
industries along the Mississippi River, the manufacture of pearl buttons. From the
standpoint of personal experience he is now one of the oldest men in that
business in Iowa.
Mr. Johnson, who is manager of the Clinton branch of the Pioneer Pearl
Button Manufacturing Company, was born in Germany, February 18, 1873. His
parents, Eilert and Mary Johnson, died when he was a child, and at the age of
sixteen he and the brother accompanied an uncle to the United States.
Mr. Johnson acquired all his formal schooling in Germany and has been
steadily at work ever since coming to this country and his industry and ability
have brought him to a place among the honored business men of Iowa. For the
first three years he was in America he worked at Concordia, Missouri. In 1892 he
went to Muscatine, Iowa, being then about nineteen years of age. After one
year on a farm he was employed for two years with the Muscatine factory of
the H. J. Heinz Company. Then, in 1895, he started to learn the business of
manufacturing pearl buttons. His apprenticeship was served in the Muscatine
branch of the Pioneer Pearl Button Manufacturing Company. For a time he worked with Mr. Boepple, originator of the pearl button industry at Muscatine. Mr. Johnson not only mastered the technic of his craft but early in his
experience showed executive ability and enterprise to take an independent part in the industry. In 1905 he established at Davenport the Tri-City Button Company.
He was at Davenport until 1909 and in 1910 he started the factory of the Fremont Pearl Button Company at Fremont, Wisconsin.
Mr. Johnson in 1919 returned to Iowa and at Lyons established the factory
known as the Clinton branch of the Pioneer Pearl Button Manufacturing Company.
Here in 1926 he installed the new cutting machines, owned and patented by
his company. These represent a great advance in the process of manufacturing,
since each machine is capable of being operated with a minimum of training
and experience on the part of the operative. At the Clinton factory only the
blanks are cut and weekly shipments are made to the main factory, now located
at Poughkeepsie, New York, where these blanks are finished into pearl buttons.
Mr. Johnson married, October 5, 1897, Miss Ida Sell, of Muscatine, daughter
of Fred and Lena Sell, farmers. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were
born six children, Louis, Arthur, Lillian, Elmer, who is deceased, Ernest
and Pearl. Mr. Johnson is a popular member of business circles in Clinton,
belonging to the Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America and the Baptist Church.
Posted at this site with Debbie's permission.
http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm
*check your facts, don't know how accurate.
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