The Johnson Family

Olga and Simon Johnson, in individual drawings (top), and together (above) in front of their house at 26 Prouty Road, Burlington.

Judith, granddaughter: "Funny family lore concerns Simon's marvelous mustache. My grandmother had beautiful long blonde hair. In the 1930s, my mother convinced her that it was old fashioned so she got it "bobbed." My grandfather came home, took one look, didn't say a word, and went in and shaved his mustache off. I never knew him with another mustache."

Simon's coffeepot (above) reads (in

Swedish): "Coffee is the best of all

earthly drinks."

The Burlington Grange (a farmers' association) celebrated its local 25th anniversary (1915-1940) with a dinner at Burlington Town Hall (above). Detail (left) shows Simon and Olga.

Family members are buried at the Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Burlington, MA:

The stone on the left (below) memorializes Simon (1883-1975), his wife Olga T. (1884-1957), their son F. Walter (1901-2005) and Walter's wife Marion B. (1908-1993).

The stone on the right memorializes Simon's sister Agda (1874-1964), F. Walter's son Robert F. (1933-1971), Robert's daughter Darcy S. (1963-1963), and Robert’s first wife, Linda T. (1940-2009),.

A flat bronze rectangular Korean War service marker on the lawn in front of the left stone honors Robert F. Johnson's military service. Robert was a son of F. Walter Sr. (Photos courtesy of John Goff)

Simon and Olga's son Frank W. Johnson as a baby, left, and as a young man, above. His

nieces said he wore his hair in that style into

his 70s, leading to their name for him: "Uncle

Old Time Movies."

Simon is the young man standing third from right in the photo above, taken around 1900 in front of the Adelov, Sweden, farmhouse before it was painted red. Simon's parents are seated, above, and also shown in the photo at right.

(All images this page courtesy of the Johnson family, unless otherwise noted.)

Simon, above, on a return trip to Sweden in 1958 after his retirement, with two of his sisters, Hilda Kristina Svensson, left, and Jenny Sophia Johansson.

Another sister Agda, left, worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy family in Marblehead, MA. Her nieces remember her as strait-laced; she did not approve of drinking alcohol or playing cards on Sundays. She never married; she regularly visited the Johnsons on Prouty Road for Sunday dinners.

Judith, granddaughter: "This was my grandfather's house and I spent many summers and holidays there. As the youngest grandchild of Simon and Olga Johnson, I was of course completely spoiled..."

Simon and Olga's daughter Lillian as a young woman, left, playing the accordion. Before she married, Lillian had a local country music radio show for which she sang and played the accordion; she could also play piano and organ. The band she put together is pictured above, right. Both photos are taken in the farmhouse parlor.

The pewter stein (right) was a gift from Olga Danielson to Simon Johnson, possibly an engagement gift. The stein is monogrammed SJ with the date, June 23, 1906. They were married March 30, 1907.