My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE JOHNSON, proprietor of the Catasauqua Steel Works, is the oldest manufacturer in his line of business in America, and has been very prosperous, being now independently wealthy. He has worked his way up to the top from the lower rounds of the ladder, having in boyhood started in the roller mills at Pittsburg, and in succession learned every branch of the work, being rapidly promoted on account of marked ability and ambition.

The birthplace of George Johnson is in Derbyshire, England, where his birth occurred March 11, 1851. His parents were Henry and Rebecca (Robinson) Johnson. The former was born in Derbyshire, being the son of George Johnson, who was formerly engaged in the coal business in Sheffield, where he died in 1879. Mrs. Henry Johnson was born in Hastings (a suburb of London), where her uncle was at one time Mayor, and is a daughter of George Robinson, a hotel-keeper. Mrs. Johnson resides in this city with her children, enjoying a peaceful and happy old age. Henry Johnson was reared in Sheffield, and early learned the business of steel and iron work. Later he engaged in business for himself, turning his attention to the manufacture of cold-rolled steel, and in 1861 located in Pittsburg, where he built the steel works for Hussey, Wells & Co. When the Bradford Reservoir in England was destroyed in 1860 he lost his property, and landed in the New World without anything, but three years afterward he went back to his native land and settled his accounts. For a number of years he operated the steel mills for Hussey, Wells & Co., of Pittsburg, and then went to Massachusetts, building the steel works for the Whipple File and Steel Manufacturing Company at Ballard Vale, getting it in running order. Thence he went to Croton, N. Y., engaging in business for himself in the manufacture of steel and iron by the use of water-power. In 1870 he removed to Napanoch, N. Y., continuing in the same line of trade until going to Haverstraw, where he was connected with the Sampsondale Ironworks. About this time (1876) he engaged in the manufacture of cold-rolled steel, being the first to introduce this process in America,and until 1879 continued successful at that point. In the fall of 1879, coming to Catasauqua, he secured a good location, the site of the present Catasauqua Steel Works, which he had only fairly started when his death occurred, in December, 1881.

Of the ten children born to Henry and Rebecca Johnson only four are now living, our subject being the only son. Emma is the wife of J. Rutherford, of Meriden, Conn.; Mary is the wife of Noah Davis, of this city; and Ellen, Mrs. Dr. Conier, who was a missionary to China, where she was married, is a trained nurse, being a graduate of Bellevue Hospital.

George Johnson of this sketch passed his early years in England, coming to America in 1861. From the age of twelve to fifteen years he was in the Pittsburg Mills, learning the process of rolling, and becoming master of every branch of that department. At the age of sixteen years he went to Kittanning, where he staid for about nine months. With his father, he went from there to Ballard Vale and remained for three years, learning the steel and iron work in a practical manner. In 1870, going to Boston, he was in the Bay State Rail and Plate Mill for some time, thence going to Readville, Mass., where he was an employe of the New England Iron and Bridge Company. We next find him in Connecticut with the AEtna Nut and Bolt Company, and in 1874 he came to Catasauqua, being employed as a roll-turner for the Catasauqua Manufacturing Company for two years. For a like period of time he was with a firm in Haverstraw, N. Y., after which he went to Cleveland, Ohio, being in the roller mills for three years. On the expiration of that time returning to this city, our subject was employed with the old firm until about 1879, when he took charge of the Sampsondale Iron Works of Haverstraw, remaining there until the springof 1881. On account of his father’s sudden death Mr. Johnson was then summoned to this city, and finally decided to buy out the other heirs and take charge of his father’s business, which he has since done.

The Catasauqua Steel Works are the oldest of the kind in America, and are located west of the Lehigh River, on five acres of land adjoining the city. The main building is 36x174 feet, with an addition opening from it of 70x100 feet in dimensions. The works are run by steam-power, having four engines, with a capacity of three hundred horse-power. Both the hot and cold rolled steel are manufactured, and the capacity of the mills is often one hundred and fifty to two hundred tons per month, this business having been built up from its former capacity of ten tons a month.

The subject of this sketch was married near Haverstraw, N. Y., April 12, 1876, to Miss Emma L. Brower, a native of Jersey City. Her father, Francis S., was born in Waverly, N. J., and was the son of Barnabas Brower, a native of New York, and of Dutch descent. Mrs. Johnson’s father, who was in the employ of the Cunard Steamship Line for many years, later became a contractor in Jersey City, and died in New Haven, Conn., in 1891. His wife, whose death occurred in 1872, was Charity, daughter of Abraham Blaubelt, a farmer and tailor at Tappantown. N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson became the parents of seven children, four of whom are living: Ernest, George C., Ray L. and Blanche. William H., who was his father’s right-hand man, met with a most distressing death at the age of seventeen years and nineteen days, December 19, 1893. While assisting at the rolls in the mill his arm was caught and he was drawn into the machinery. This terrible accident was witnessed by his father, who was standing only a short distance away.

The beautiful home of the Johnson family, which is built on a solid rock, was finished in 1889, after over two years had been spent in its construction and in the preparation of the grounds. It is made of brick and finely finished in hardwood, being one of the most desirable homes in the city. Mr. Johnson is an active Republican, and is a member of the Masonic society. Mrs. Johnson is a faithful member of, and worker in, the Presbyterian Church of this city.