Henry & Gertje Johnson
Forreston, Illinois

Henry Johnson fled Germany to avoid conscription. He made the crossing in steerage because he could not afford more. When his uncle failed to meet him on the East Coast, he was invited to go to Illinois with the Huizinga family whom he had met on the ship. Henry's first job was working at a sawmill in Baileyville south of Freeport, in northern Illinois. After work on Saturday, he would walk a good distance to see Gertje Huizinga, making the return walk on Sunday. He later married Gertje, and their marriage registration is recorded in Freeport at the Stephenson County Courthouse. (recalled by Jan Hey Dean, as told by Grandma Zwaantje Johnson Holtzman, Henry & Gertje's oldest daughter)

History of My Grand Parents
by Zwaantje Johnson Holtzman
for Mrs. Ruth Hey and Family
October 12, 1943
(Click for all 8 pages)