Archives West Finding Aid

The P.W. Pearson and J.W. Johnson family was a prominent family in Laramie, Wyoming and Saunders County, Nebraska. Peter William Pearson married John William Johnson’s niece, Clara Elizabeth Brodd on October 22, 1901 in Laramie, Wyoming.

J.W. (John William) Johnson was a Swedish immigrant who came to America in 1869. He was born Johan Johansson on September 6, 1843 in Alvsborg, Sweden. He worked as a farm hand in Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri. In 1872, he was hired as a head carpenter at Fort Fetterman, Wyoming and once he saved up enough money Johnson purchased a small ranch in Carbon, Wyoming in 1874. He married Matilda Hansen, who died shortly after their daughter, Tillie, was born. Johnson paid for his sister, Gustafva Brodd, and her family to come to America about the same time as when his wife died. A few years later, Johnson married Anna Dorthea Hanson, younger sister to his first wife. They had three children, Melvin, Elwood, and Evelyn, who survived childbirth. Johnson expanded his business interests to include a general store in Carbon and in 1888 the family moved to Laramie, Wyoming, where he entered the real estate business and became vice president of the Albany County Bank. He also was elected to various public offices including; Albany County Board of Commissioners, the school board, and two terms as a state senator. J.W. Johnson died on August 20, 1921 in Laramie, Wyoming.

P.W. Pearson was born on June 20, 1877 near Weston, Nebraska in Saunders County. He ran away from home as a teenager and found work for the railroad in Colorado and Wyoming. In 1899, Pearson moved to Laramie, Wyoming and worked for the Union Pacific Railroad, where he became certified as an engineer. In 1901, he married Clara Elizabeth Brodd, niece of J.W. Johnson, and they had four children, Elmer, Herman, Edna, and Irvin. In 1905, Pearson and his family moved back to Saunders County, Nebraska to take over the family farm. P.W. Pearson died on June 24, 1920.