Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 197 - 198

STEPHEN M. JOHNS, the present Mayor of Mt. Hope, and managing partner of the Kansas Lumber Company at this point, is classed among the most enterprising and wide-awake business men of Sedgwick County.  He is ever ready to assist in any movement which tends to advance the interests of the community in which he resides, and is highly respected by his fellow-citizens.

      Mr. Johns was born in Putnam County, Ind., July 31, 1854, being a son of Stephen and Sarah (Parks) Johns.  The father of our subject was born in Pennsylvania, in 1804, of Scotch parentage, and when a young man emigrated to Ohio, where he made the acquaintance of Sarah Parks, who in due time became his wife.  He removed to Indiana some time after marriage, and gave his attention principally to agriculture in the Hoosier State, until 1867.  In that year he removed to Christian County, Ill., and passed the remainder of his life at Pana, where he died in the spring of 1870.  He was an honest, upright man, possessing in a marked degree those qualities which go to make up a good citizen.  The respected mother of our subject came to Kansas in 1884, and now lives in Burton.  To her and her husband were born nine sons and three daughters, one of whom died in infancy, and their son John in early manhood; he enlisted in the service of the United States in 1861 as a member of the 18th Indiana Battery, Lilly's Light Artillery, and served until the close of the conflict, attaining the rank of Sergeant.  He died in 1873, of a disease contracted while in the army.  The record of the ten children now living is as follows: Samuel P. is a lumber merchant at Sedalia, Mo.; Emanuel is a lumber merchant at Burton; Lemuel is a lumber merchant at Pawnee Rock; Thomas M. is a physician at Taylorville, Ill.; Robert is a lumber merchant at Pana, Ill.; Mattie is the wife of D. C. Tunison, a farmer of Pana, Ill.; Owen is a merchant at Farmington, Iowa; Stephen, our subject; Alice is the wife of C. G. Wallace, a telegraph operator for the Union Pacific Railway, at Kansas City, Mo.; Joseph is a lumber merchant at Cimarron, Kan.

      Our subject was educated in the common schools of his native State, which, followed by a practical training in the duties of life by his parents, has well fitted him for his present position as an active business man.  He moved from his native State with his parents to Pana, Ill., where he engaged in the lumber trade with his brother until 1883, with the exception of three years, when he was engaged with an uncle in the same business, at Terre Haute, Ind.  In 1883 he came to Kansas to take charge of the extensive business of the Kansas Lumber Company, at Mt. Hope, and in 1884 was admitted into the company as a partner.  Under his able management the business has greatly increased and is in a flourishing condition.  During his residence in Kansas his attention has not been confined exclusively to the lumber business, but for two years he engaged in a journalistic venture, as editor and proprietor of the Mt. Hope Mentor.

      In 1878, at Terre Haute, Ind., our subject was united in marriage to Miss Katie V., daughter of David and Catherine (Rapley) Smith.  She was born in Terre Haute, Ind., Feb. 27, 1859.  She is devoted to her husband's interests, and presides with genuine tact and hospitality over their charming home.

      Mr. Johns takes an active part in political and public matters; he is a tried and true Republican.  His administration of the duties of his high official position is characterized by an enlightened policy, which is well calculated to advance the interests of the town.  He has been a delegate to county conventions of his party for four years, and to the State Convention in 1888, at Topeka.  He is a member of Mt. Hope Lodge No. 230, I. O. O. F., and Tasmania Lodge No. 120, K. of P.

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