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How Writer Jack London Gave Lincoln Boy His Start

Lincoln Republican, 1 July 1909

Wanderlust was having things all its own way with Martin Johnson. The routine work of developing other people’s photographic plates and films and clerking in his father’s jewelry store in Independence, Kan., had been growing each day more irksome to the boy who had just passed from his teens to his twenties. He was not unconscious of the beauties of the paved and shady streets and the well trimmed lawns of this prosperous Kansas town, but he was tired of the monotony.
Martin spent his boyhood years in Lincoln where he still has many friends. Those who are intimately acquainted with him know how he longed to speed across the broad Kansas prairies into a new sort of world. Most of all, he longed to be on the sea – for that was the life farthest from the one he was then living.
One day he took up a magazine from the counter of a store and listlessly turned over some of its pages. How abstracted he was is shown in the fact that though he was of an age to despise a magazine for women, the name on the cover of this book was “The Woman’s Home Companion.”
Suddenly all his langor vanished. He began to read, hurriedly, eagerly; and in a few minutes threw the magazine onto the counter with an exclamation of joy and thump of his first.
“If I could be that third,” he said. “If I could be that third.”
The magazine contained an announcement of the perilous trip to be taken by Jack London, the writer with his wife and some third person not yet chosen. In a sailing vessel 47 feet long they were to circle the globe; and strange adventures were to be their stock in trade.
In another five minutes the boy was at a desk, scribbling, biting his pen, scribbling again. He was writing a letter to Jack London. His accomplishments, he told London, were chiefly that he had a reputation for making and developing pictures. What else the letter said is not stated, but there was something more – perhaps a certain personality or a bit of boyish bragging that took the noted author’s fancy. At any rate, the author’s reply to the letter of the boy from Kansas was a short telegram:
“Can you cook?”
Martin Johnson’s heart thumped so hard when he opened that little yellow envelope that it is a wonder he lived to word an answer. All his wits were needed just then – for his experience in cooking was limited to the fried eggs and coffee of camping trips. But he made his answer as laconic as London’s query.
“A little. Can learn more.”
Then he hurried to a nearby restaurant and hired out for the wages of experience. For a week he worked every minute of his waking hours in the restaurant, literally “day and night.” Soon came the order from Jack London to come to San Francisco to become the photographer, cook and crew of the Snark.
A busy, adventurous two and a half years have followed that order. The long cruise the little boat made in the islands of the Pacific until at last both London and “Mrs. Jack” were stricken with the island fever and had to give up the trip, were to the boy from Kansas like a dream that came true. At the last – as in the story books – he found himself captain of the ship.
He had enough experience to last any ordinary man a lifetime; and he sent home so many curios and heathen gods and trinkets that his room is filled with them until the congestion can only be relieved by stacking all new arrivals on the bed. After the Snark was left at Sydney, Martin Johnson set out to finish the rest of that trip around the world alone. Jack London and “Mrs. Jack” (that is the way she signs herself) sent letters of approval to the boy’s father, “J.A. Johnson, the jeweler.”
“I am just dropping you a line to let you know that Martin sailed last Wednesday on his way to Europe,” London wrote. “I cannot tell you how deep was our regret at parting with Martin. He was the only one who sailed with us from San Francisco who was with us at the finish. And he proved himself a darned fine boy, if I do say it to his own dad. I don’t know who was cut up the most in our parting – Martin, Mrs. London or myself.”
Mrs. London described the parting.
“When Martin shook hands goodbye last Wednesday he went right out the door and never looked back. I never saw him so affected. He is not much given to emotions and worrying about things or feeling blue, but he was awfully blue before he left. I came in quite cheerfully to say goodbye to him, but when he had gone out I burst into tears.”

 

Martin Johnson Takes A Bride

Lincoln Republican, 8 September 1910

Martin Johnson, a former Lincoln [missing several words] notoriety by making the famous trip to the South Sea, on the “Snark” with Jack London, has described the spirit of “wonderlust” [sic; probably should be “wanderlust”] to a superlative degree.
A few weeks ago, he was married at his home in Independence. He and his bride started at once on a two year’s honeymoon trip. They started with $10 in case. Mr. Johnson expects to give illustrated lectures of his trip with London, and Mrs. Johnson will sing between acts.
They are in Salina this week, where they are guests at the home of C.B. Jones.

 

Martin Johnson is claimed by Lincoln First

Lincoln Republican, 29 December 1921

The Topeka Capital of Dec. 26 contains an article from the pen of Mr. Martin Johnson, “Jungle Hunting with the Camera.” The Capital says in the introduction: Of the men who had gone to the far ends of the earth in search of adventure there is no more picturesque character than Martin Johnson, the Independence, Kan., boy who dreamed of adventure, and found it in the South Seas, etc. etc.”
Well, all right, Independence, Kan., we don’t blame you for claiming him, but Little old Lincoln, Kan., would like to arise to remark that Martin Johnson was a Lincoln boy long before he was an Independence boy.
In 1888 Miss Emma J. Lewis (now Mrs. Waldo Hancock of Beverly) was teaching the first grade in Lincoln, Kan., schools, and among the rest of the 90 pupils who were in and out of that first grade that year was Martin Johnson, a tot of six years. (Yes, Miss School Ma’am, there were exactly 90 different pupils in the grade that year, though never more than 60 at any one time. Yes, we are sure that you would be driven to suicide with half that number, but Mrs. Hancock seems to have survived the ordeal, as did many, many teachers in that day. We would point with pride to Martin Johnson and his writings as proof that those same pupils did good work, and laid the foundation for a good education, even in those crowded grades.)
Mrs. Hancock taught the first grade during the year 1888-89 then the second grade the year of 1889-90, therefore Martin Johnson was one of her pupils in both first and second grades. There were 17 pupils she had in both grades and Carrie Hawkins, now Mrs. Edgar Baker, who entered second grade when she entered school in the fall of 1889.
Ida Moss, now Mrs. Arthur Allison of Lincoln, and her twin brother Ellis Moss, Bertie Jones who died that year and her sister, Bess, now Mrs. Ted Herman, George Moss of Barnard neighborhood, Bert and Eddie Jones, Inez Beach, Mary O. Smith, now Mrs. L.D. Wooster, Hays, Kan., Fred Rathbun, Salina, Kan., Herbert Bergman, now in government service in [the] Hawaiian Islands, Silas Tremaine, “Buss” LaMont, Nelly Ware, whose father was principal of the schools, Robert Cogswell, older brother of Dan Cogswell, Nellie King, Maude McLain and Carrie Hawkins.
Martin Johnson was the son of J.A. Johnson who owned and operated a jewelry store in Lincoln, and A.L. Miller who worked for him and many other Lincoln people believe that Martin Johnson was born here, and even if he wasn’t he was a very small boy when the Johnsons came here. One child of the family died while here and in gratitude for the kindness shown them at that time, Mr. Johnson presented a beautiful silver cup which for many years was in the Methodist church.
So Independence, Kan., please remember that Lincoln has a prior claim to Mr. Martin Johnson. He was, as we remarked before, a LINCOLN boy before he was an Independence boy, and please don’t forget it.

 

 

Martin Johnson Items Surface  after biographers visit

Lincoln County News, 4 May 1939

The recent account in The News concerning the visit of Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Swartz in Lincoln to learn something about the boyhood days of Martin Johnson in Lincoln brought several new items of Martin Johnson lore to light.
One of the most interesting is the fact that George Hutchison then a photographer and now an abstractor, gave little Martin his first lesson in photography by showing him how to operate a small camera, thus perhaps setting the boy on the road to moving picture photography which helped make him famous.
The late Charles Anderson of Lincoln owned a watch which he bought from Martin when, as a boy of 10, he was taking care of trade in his father’s jewelry store in Lincoln. The watch has passed down to the fourth generation. The late Mr. Anderson gave it to his son, C.W. Anderson, who gave it to his son, Charles, and who gave it to his little son recently.
Another interesting item is a photograph taken of a group of children on Decoration day, 1890. Little Martin is in it, as well as some of the now middle-aged citizens of Lincoln. Herman Knoch, owner of the picture, gave it to Johnson when he was here about three years ago, but in leaving town Johnson forgot it, and it is still in Lincoln.
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