Axel Johnson (Wisconsin politician)

Axel Johnson
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Polk County district
In office January 6, 1919 – January 3, 1921
Preceded by	Carl B. Casperson
Succeeded by	George A. Nelson
In office January 6, 1913 – January 1, 1917
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Carl B. Casperson
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Burnett–Polk district
In office January 4, 1909 – January 6, 1913
Preceded by	Jens P. Peterson
Succeeded by	District abolished
Personal details
Born	(1870-05-22)May 22, 1870 Denmark
Died	September 25, 1924(1924-09-25) (aged 54)
Resting place	Mount Hope Cemetery, Turtle Lake, Wisconsin
Political party	Republican (Progressive faction)
Spouse	Carrie Lizzie Pederson ​ ​ (m. 1894⁠–⁠1924)​
Children	6
Occupation	Dairy farmer, rancher

Axel Johnson (May 22, 1870 – September 25, 1924) was a Danish American immigrant, dairy farmer, and progressive Republican politician from Polk County, Wisconsin. He represented Polk County for five terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1909, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1919). He was a key figure in Wisconsin's ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Prohibition).

Biography

Axel Johnson was born in Denmark on May 22, 1870, and was raised and educated there. He emigrated to the United States as a young man, he lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and took night classes studying agriculture. He went to work as a farm hand on a dairy farm in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. After that, he traveled the west, working in Colorado and Wyoming for two years, then spent three years in Traill County, North Dakota, working as a farm foreman.

He settled in Polk County, Wisconsin, in 1892, and purchased 40 acres of land in the town of Apple River. He subsequently purchased another 140 acres in the neighboring town of Beaver. He operated his land as a dairy farm and cattle ranch.

He became active in local affairs and was elected to several terms as town clerk, member of the school board, and justice of the peace. He helped organize the Apple River and Beaver Creamery and served as secretary and manager of that organization, and was also a stockholder and director of the Polk County Cooperative Association.

He was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1908, running on the Republican Party ticket, and was re-elected in 1910. In his first two terms, he represented the district that comprised both Burnett and Polk counties. Following the redistricting act of 1911, Polk County became its own Assembly district. Johnson was elected to represent that district again in 1912, 1914, and 1918.

In 1916, Johnson ran for Wisconsin Senate in the vacant 29th State Senate district, but lost in the primary to Algodt C. Anderson. There was also some discussion at the beginning of 1916 that the La Follette faction of the Republican party might want to run Johnson as a candidate in a primary challenge against congressman Irvine Lenroot, but that challenge was ultimately abandoned in favor of the Senate race.

During his final term in the Assembly in 1919–1920, he was chairman of the committee on State Affairs, and was one of the leaders of the prohibition movement. He led the effort in the Wisconsin Legislature to ratify the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and then worked on the passage of Wisconsin's legislation for the enforcement of prohibition.

During that session, he was also the author of the so-called "dog tax", which created a licensing requirement for owning a dog—each dog required a license, the owner would have to pay a fee for each license. The new fees created an uproar, beginning in Johnson's home county of Polk, with hundreds of dog owners declaring their refusal to pay.

Johnson did not stand for re-election in 1920.

Personal life and family

Axel Johnson was a son of Christ and Johanna (née Peterson) Johnson.

He married Carrie "Lizzie" Peterson, a daughter of Danish immigrants, on December 5, 1894. They had six children.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1908, 1910)

Wisconsin Assembly, Burnett–Polk District Election, 1908

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 3, 1908
	Republican	Axel Johnson	4,155	81.81%	+14.89%
	Democratic	F. A. Partlow	924	18.19%
Plurality			3,231	63.61%	+29.78%
Total votes			5,079	100.0%	+67.02%
	Republican hold

Wisconsin Assembly, Burnett–Polk District Election, 1910

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 8, 1910
	Republican	Axel Johnson (incumbent)	2,414	83.53%	+1.72%
	Social Democratic	C. W. Staples	476	16.47%
Plurality			1,938	67.06%	+3.44%
Total votes			2,890	100.0%	-43.10%
	Republican hold

Wisconsin Assembly (1912, 1914)

Wisconsin Assembly, Polk County District Election, 1912

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 5, 1912
	Republican	Axel Johnson (incumbent)	2,187	86.75%
	Social Democratic	C. W. Staples	332	13.17%
	Democratic	Ole S. Lee (write-in)	2	0.08%
Plurality			1,855	73.58%
Total votes			2,521	100.0%
	Republican win (new seat)

Wisconsin Assembly, Polk County District Election, 1914

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 3, 1914
	Republican	Axel Johnson (incumbent)	1,012	69.46%	−17.29%
	Democratic	Ole S. Lee	445	30.54%
Plurality			567	38.92%	-34.67%
Total votes			1,457	100.0%	-42.21%
	Republican hold

Wisconsin Senate (1916)

Wisconsin Senate, 29th District Special Election, 1916

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Republican Primary, September 5, 1916
	Republican	Algodt C. Anderson	2,851	46.68%
	Republican	Axel Johnson	1,706	27.93%
	Republican	Frank Pierce	1,551	25.39%
Plurality			1,145	18.75%
Total votes			6,108	100.0%

Wisconsin Assembly (1918)

Wisconsin Assembly, Polk County District Election, 1918

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
General Election, November 5, 1918
	Republican	Axel Johnson	1,617	68.00%	−0.74%
	Democratic	O. W. Lund	761	32.00%
Plurality			856	36.00%	-1.48%
Total votes			2,378	100.0%	-33.74%
	Republican hold