Box 1

The Johnson Family Diaries consist of five diaries and one typed transcript of the first four diaries.  The 1843 diary of William Wright recounts the journey from Union County, Pennsylvania to Freeport, Stephenson County, Illinois.  The 1882-1909 Margaret Heise Wright Johnson diaries chronicle the life of then 16 year-old Margaret as she comes of age in Illinois at the end of the 19th century.  A photograph of Margaret (undated) was found behind the cover of the first diary volume along with tracing paper drawings that are tucked into volumes 1 and 3.  The Charles E. and Alma R. Johnson diary from 1920 until 1955 documents aspects of family life on the Johnson’s Fostoria, Iowa farm.  The typed transcription is for both William Wright and Margaret Heise Wright Johnson’s diaries and also includes Johnson family genealogical information.