Ellis N. Johnson (1789-1889)
Class of 2026 – Founder
Ellis N. Johnson, of Mount Union, was one of the first settlers in what is now Alliance and celebrated his 100th birthday on April 1, 1889 – about five months prior to his death on September 15, 1889.
Born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, on April 1, 1789, he was born a month before the United States government officially began operation under the Constitution. At the time of his centennial, he was believed to be the only living Ohioan born before the nation had a president.
Upon his centennial, an article appeared in The Alliance Review, giving a sketch of his life that relayed the following facts and anecdotes:
Johnson came to Ohio in 1802 as a young man seeking opportunity on the frontier. After returning briefly to Pennsylvania to marry Dorcas Moffit in 1816, he settled permanently near present-day Mount Union in 1823. The following year he moved his family into a log cabin he built on the site where his later brick home stood. According to the article, this was the first family residence within what later became the city limits of Alliance.
Over the course of more than sixty years, Johnson served the community as a surveyor, Justice of the Peace, and notary public. He reportedly married more couples than any other man in the county. In 1841, he helped lay out the first section of Freedom, one of settlements that later became Alliance, and he maintained a strong interest in the city’s growth throughout his life.
Johnson and his family were active supporters of the Underground Railroad in Washington Township, assisting freedom seekers escaping slavery on their journey to Canada. A lifelong advocate of temperance, he organized Mount Union’s first temperance society and became known as a powerful and persuasive public speaker. Many stories circulated about the conversions he made. One of his converts was his own brother, Job Johnson, who was in the hotel business at the time.
Dorcas Johnson (1798-1835) died at the age of 36 while on a trip back to her childhood home in Washington County, Pennsylvania. In 1836, Ellis Johnson married Mary Ann Graves (1811-1889), also from Washington County, Pennsylvania.
Throughout his life, Johnson made remarkable connections to prominent figures in American history. He was acquainted with Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat, and knew members of the Blaine and Gillespie families, including Neal Gillespie, grandfather of statesman James G. Blaine, who was serving a second term as Secretary of State. Mary A. Graves, had taught the young Blaine his alphabet and first reader lessons.
Among the many famous Americans Johnson met were Henry Clay, General Winfield Scott, and President William Henry Harrison, from whom Johnson preserved a personal letter dated February 9, 1839. He also met the Marquis de Lafayette during Lafayette’s 1824 return visit to America. Johnson delighted in recounting how he once engaged the towering Scott in a friendly wrestling match and managed to throw him to the ground.
Politically, Johnson began as a Whig. After a period as a Free Soiler, he eventually joined the Republican Party. He proudly claimed to have voted in every presidential election from Thomas Jefferson onward.
His centennial celebration brought congratulatory letters and telegrams from notable public figures, including President Chester A. Arthur’s administration, former President Grover Cleveland, Ohio Governor Joseph Foraker, Pennsylvania Governor James Beaver, and James G. Blaine, who praised both Johnson’s longevity and the character he had maintained throughout his life.
According to his obituary that ran in the Stark County Democrat, published in Canton, Ellis and his brother Simon came to Ohio from Pennsylvania in 1823, built cabins, and then returned to Pennsylvania to bring their families west in 1824.
It noted that Johnson was a speaker of some note and had served Washington Township for a time as a surgeon and was several time elected mayor of Mount Union.
The obituary stated that he never had a sick day is his 100 years.
Ellis Johnson had six children with his first wife, including James M., Betty (William) Davidson, Caleb, Ellis N. Jr., John M., and Rebecca (John) Miller.
Five children were born to Johnson through his second wife, including David G., Mary (Jerry) Lee, Dorcas (Williamson) Teeters, Charles, and Ella (Lee) Grimes.
It should be noted, Ellis N. Johnson Jr. (1825-1902) was a founder Southwestern Normal School (later California University of Pennsylvania) and served as its first principal in 1852 was later a member of the state legislature from 1870 to 1874. He also was appointed to positions in the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. War Department.
It should also be noted that Mary Ann Graves Johnson, his second wife, followed Ellis into eternity just two days after his passing. They are buried in Mount Union Cemetery.