By Julie Huebel, Pierce County Historical Association
ELMWOOD, WI – I initially started down the road of this family because I thought we needed a family with Norwegian roots to cover so I picked a surname with “son” in it, which is usually a marker of a Scandinavian family. I quickly found that this family wasn’t Norwegian at all, but I thought it was an interesting story to tell since I am so fascinated with the history of surnames. I am actually familiar with the area in the “old world” that they emigrated from since it was very near where my Huebels came from and I was lucky enough to visit the area in 2019. More on where they came from in a bit.
J is for Johnson…Don Johnson, was an Elmwood School District mainstay for many years in the maintenance department. Don was born in 1937 in Elmwood to Carl and Alma (Reitz). Don married Avis Hansen in 1957 and settled in Elmwood; he retired from the School District of Elmwood in 2000. Don’s father Carl Johnson was born in 1914 in River Falls Township. He would marry Alma Reitz in 1936 and settled in Elmwood and in his early days worked for the Madson Sawmill in Spring Valley and then for 32 years worked in maintenance at the Elmwood Creamery.
Carl’s parents were Albert Johnson and Stasia Kordosky; Albert was born in an area of River Falls Township referred to as Cherma in 1885. Many of the people that settled in Cherma came from the Czech Republic, which is named for a town many of them came from, Čermná. But their name is Johnson? Well, their original last name was Jansa, which is the Czech equivalent of Johnson. (Fun Fact: in Czech tradition, a woman’s surname gets “ova” or “a” added to the end. For example, I have a distant cousin in the Czech Republic and her husband’s last name is Woth and her last name is Wothova. She wasn’t thrilled with this tradition and expressed envy over me keeping my maiden name.)
Albert’s father, Frantisek “Blacksmith Frank” Jansa, Sr. (1839-1913) and mother, Theresa (Jansa) Jansa (1839-1924) were both born in the Czech Republic. Taken from Ed Langer’s notes online: “The Franz Jansa family from Čermná came to Watertown (WI) in 1867. The Jansas had brought with them only a small chest which contained some household articles and Franz’s blacksmith tools. The Jansas stayed with Mrs. Jansa’s aunt and uncle, the Johann Roffeis family, for about a week when they first arrived in Watertown, until Johann Roffeis found them a small house. To help them set up their household, Johann Roffeis gave the Jansas a dozen eggs, a sack of flour and a rolling pin. The furnishings in the Jansa house were simple: an oven, boxes for chairs, their chest and bed. The bed was a box filled with straw and covered with blankets. From these humble beginnings, Franz Jansa was able to dramatically increase his standard of living. He worked as a blacksmith in Waterloo and Marshall, Wisconsin for 11 years, saving $3,000.00, after which the Jansas moved to Cherma in Pierce County, Wisconsin and bought a farm.”
Blacksmith Frank’s parents were Joseph Jansa (1805-1874) and Rosalie Hrabel (1809-1872/3).
