William Lon Johnson Papers

William Lon Johnson Papers, 1912-1967

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Johnson, W. Lon, 1882-1967
Title: William Lon Johnson Papers
Dates: 1912-1967 (inclusive)
19121967
Quantity: 98 Linear feet of shelf space, (232 Boxes)
Collection Number: Cage 195 (collection)
Summary: Papers of Lon Johnson, Senator, Lieutenant Governor, and Superior Court Judge in Washington State.
Repository: Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions: This collection is open and available for research use.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

William Lon Johnson (1882 November 11-1967 July 5) was born in Spokane, Missouri. He worked for one year as a schoolteacher in Stevens County, Washington, before quiting to become a student at Eastern Washington State College. After graduating, he worked for Stevens County for two years, as Deputy Assessor and Clerk, before going to law school in 1908. That year he also married Iva Clara Dickey.

Johnson worked as an attorney in Colville, Washington from 1913-1939. He was retained by multiple corporations, including: Dominion Silver-Lead Mining Company (1915); Northwest Magnesite Company (1920); Northport Smelting and Refining Company (1922); and Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Ltd. (1926), where he was involved in the 11-year litigation brought before the International Joint Commission of Canada and the United States. Johnson was state senator for Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties, from 1919-1924. After his term, he served as Lietenant Governor of Washington State in 1925.

In 1939, he was elected as Superior Court Judge of Stevens County, and semi-retired in 1958. He died at the age of 84, in 1967, in Colville, Washington.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Papers of Lon Johnson, Senator, Lieutenant Governor, and Superior Court Judge in Washington State. The papers include correspondence, business records, professional and working papers, legal instruments, and clippings and miscellany. The papers are related to personal affairs; Johnson's political career and public service; his law practice; the Superior Court of Stevens County; the Consolidated Mining and Smelting of Trail, British Columbia; the Dominion Silver-Lead Mining Company; and the International Joint Commission (of Canada and the United States).

The correspondence contains letters to and from a long list of national and state politicians and persons of regional importance, including: Herbert Hoover, Miles Poindexter, Wesley Livsey Jones, Stephen Beasley Linnard Penrose, Clarence Daniel Martin, Roland Hill Hartley, J. Edgar Hoover, Ernest O. Holland, and Fred Thomas Dubois.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply. The literary rights in the unpublished writings of Mr. Johnson in these papers have been dedicated to the public, except that these rights are reserved to Mr Johnson's daughters, Doris Johnson Edwards and Evelyn Johnson Hawes, during their lifetimes.

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

William Lon Johnson Papers, 1912-1967 (Cage 195)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

The papers of William Lon Johnson, Attorney, Senator, Lieutenant Governor, and Superior Court Judge, were given to the Washington State University Library over the period 1963-1966 by Mr. Johnson. A further set of papers was donated after Mr. Johnson's death in 1967, and was added as an extension at the end of this collection.

Separated Materials

A duplicate copy of the International Joint Commission Trail Smelter Reference, 1928 (Cage 5087) was removed and processed as a seperate collection in 2016.

Bibliography

Described in Lon Johnson : A Register of His Papers, 1912-1966, in the Washington State University Library. Manuscripts-Archives Division, Washington State University Library; 1966.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1: Political and Public ServiceReturn to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box
1	Autobiography (1963), portraits, certificates, and miscellany.
2	Senate campaigns	1918, 1921
	Lieutenant Governor campaign: Correspondence and miscellany	1924
Box
3	A-J
4	K-Z
	Lieutenant Governor	1925-1928
	Correspondence
Box
5	A-F
6	G-K
7	L-O
8	P-Z
Box
9	Senate business, Committees
10	Salary and expenditures
11-12	Scrapbooks (microfilm), newspaper clippings, speeches, rosters, roll-calls, and miscellany
Box
13	Republican Party business and affairs Political campaigns	1927-1936

Series 2: Correspondence and Business RecordsReturn to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box
14		1912-1914
15		1915-1916
		1919
Box
16	A-G
17	H-M
18	N-Z
		1920
Box
19	A-L
20	M-Z
Box
21	American Legion and Veteran's Affairs	1920-1922
22		1921
23	Columbia Basin Project (gravity plan)	1921-1928
24		1922
25		1923
26		1924
27		1925
		1926-1928
Box
28	A-C
29	D-Q
30	R-Z
		1929
Box
31	A-F
32	G-Z
Box
33	Farm and city residence	1929-1939
		1930
Box
34	A-F
35	G-Z
		1931
Box
36	A-H
37	I-Z
		1932
Box
38	A-I
39	K-Z
Box
40		1933
41		1934
		1935
Box
42	A-S
43	T-Z
		1936
Box
44	A-L
45	M-Z
Box
46		1937
47		1938
48		1939
49		1958

Series 3: Professional FileReturn to Top

Container(s)	Description
Box
50	Abbey - Alderson
51	Allen - Anderson
52	Andrews - Auto
53	Bahm - Bartol
54	Barton - Bevins
55	Bisbee - Bosworth
56	Bouch - Bozarth
57	Bradley - Brogan
58	Brown - Bunker
59	Burcham - Butler
60	Cagle - Campbell
61	Cannon - Cartwright
62	Case - Charlton
63	Chelan - Coffin
64	Cole - Columbia
65	Colville - Consolidated District
	Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company, Ltd.
Box
66-68	Correspondence
69-82	Litigation
83-86	Reports
87-89	Appraisals
Box
90	Corbett - Crowe
91	Cuff - Curry
92	Dailey - Delaney
93	Delva - Dingle
94-95	Dominion Silver-Lead Mining Company
96	Domitrovich - Draper
97	Dronkers - Dyes
98	Earhart - Ehorn
99	Eldred - Elsaesser
100	Empey - Exley
101	Fager - Feulner
102	First - Fortune
103	Foster - Fuhr
104	Gagnon - Gillingham
105	Gilmore - Gleason
106	Gookey - Gottbeheut
107	Graham - Gwinnup
108	Haas - Hansen
109	Harbour - Harvey
110	Hatcher - Hauver
111	Hayden - Hays
112	Heide - Holbrook
113	Holford - Hubert
114	Huffman - Hyytiainen
115	Ickes - Ireland
116	Jackson - Janneck
117	Janni - Jett
118	Johnson
119	Jones - Juvet
120	Karasek - King
121	Kirk - Klement
122	Knapp - Kruchman
123	Laface - Lawson
124	Leader - Littleton
125	Lockhart - Lyons
126	McAvin - McCumber
127	McDonald - Mackey
128	McLoughlin - McWilliam
129	Madden - Malley
130	Marble - Mastling
131	Mathis - Meyers
132	Michaels - Mitchell
133	Mohler - Mowrey
134	Mulford - Myhr
135	Naff - Nelson
136	Netherlands-American Mortgage Bank
137	Neumann - Newton
138	Nichols - Niles
139	Noble - Norman
140-141	Northport Power and Light Company
142	Northport State Bank
143-144	Northwest Magnisite Company
145	Nugent - Nuse
146	Oakshott - Ogden
147	Old Dominion Mining and Milling Company
148	Old National - O'Toole
149	Paglini - Paulsen
150	Pearson - Penzig
151	Perkins - Peterson, Mabel
152	Peterson, Ole
153	Peterson, Otto - Pitman
154	Plantz - Prall, Lucretia
155	Prall, W.J. - Quinn
156	Rader - Reynolds
157	Rhinehart - Rioth
158	Roath - Rogers
159	Rose - Rotter
160	Rule - Ryan
161	Sacher - Sax
162	Schall - Scott
163	Seale - Shriner
164	Silke - Sophion
165	Spokane - State Highway
	State of Washington
Box
166	Ayers - Guenther
167	Hartley - Prouty
168	Rapp - Westensee
Box
169	Stayner - Stensger
170	Stevens - Storkan
171	Strange - Sweezy
172	Tait - Terrio
173	Terry - Thomas
174	Thompson - Townsend
175	Traders - Twenty
176	Uderman - Union
177	United - Upton
178	Van Allen - Voss
179	Waddell - Watkins
180	Weatherlow - Weitensteiner
181	Welk - Western
182	Wheatley - Winslow
183	Wold - Wynn
184	Yaeger - Zwang

Series 4: Legal FileReturn to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box
185	Instructions to juries
	Correspondence	1938-1958
Box
186	A-B
187	C-F
188	G-I
189	J
190	Johnson: Political
191	K-M
192	N-Q
193	R-S
194	T-V
195	W
196	X-Z

Series 5: Later ExtensionReturn to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box
1	Business and Professional Correspondence A-D	1939-1943
2	Business and Professional Correspondence E-K	1939-1943
3	Business and Professional Correspondence L-P	1939-1943
4	Business and Professional Correspondence Q -S	1939-1.943
5	Business and Professional Correspondence T-Z	1939-1943
6	Business and Professional Correspondence A-D	1952-1967
7	Business and Professional Correspondence E-I	1952-1967
8	Business and Professional Correspondence J	1952-1967
9	Business and Professional Correspondence K-P	1952-1967
10	Business and Professional Correspondence S-Z	1952-1967
11	Business Records and Correspondence	1920-1949
12	Business Records and Correspondence	1925-1954
13	Business Records and Correspondence	1937-1945
14	Business Records and Correspondence	1937-1952
15	Business Records and Correspondence	1949-1965
16	Professional Papers - Legal Materials	1913-1924
17	Professional Papers - Legal Materials	1960-1966
18	Professional Papers - Legal Materials	1960-1966
19	Misc. Legal Record Books
20	Misc. Legal Record Books
21	Misc. Legal Record Books
22	Business Records, Publications, and Documents	1902-1948
	Dominian Silver Lead Mining Company:
Box
23	Business Records	1949-1958
24	Misc. record Books
25	Misc. Record Books
26	Misc. Record Books
27	Misc. Record Books
28	Professional and Business Correspondence	1947-1957
29	Professional and Business Correspondence	1947-1957
Box
30	Misc. Personal Correspondence	1932-1967
31	Misc. Publications and Newspaper Clippings	1925-1967
32	Professional Books
33	Correspondence and Records Pertaining to Doris M. Johnson (daughter)	1928-1931
34	Letters of sympathy following Lon Johnson's Death	May, 1967
35	Misc. Photographs	1906-1964
	Certificates:
Box
36	U.S. Supreme Court Attorney	1928
36	Attorney and Law Counselor	1912
36	Attorney at Law	1915
36	Lieutenant Governor	1925
36	Superior Court Judge	1939
36	Superior Court Judge	1956
	Photos:
Box
Oversized	Washington State Legislature	1927
Oversized	Washington State Senate	1921
Oversized	Washington State Senate	1925

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