John A. Johnson | Governor
John A. Johnson | Governor
Governor John A. Johnson (1861-1909) was a baseball fan and followed many of the local players. When the Democrat ran for Minnesota governor and won in 1904, he asked one player whom he’d befriended to work for him as his assistant. With the promise that he could still play ball on weekends and vacations, the twenty-seven-year-old Billy Williams, who grew up in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, accepted the offer. Williams was the first person most visitors met when they entered the governor’s office, and he was always busy. But, less than four years later, his employment nearly came to an end when Governor Johnson died following a routine surgery. Johnson’s Lieutenant Governor, Adolph O. Eberhart, a Republican, took the executive reigns for the remaining term. Eberhart asked Williams to stay, which Williams did, retiring from his position in 1957 after serving fourteen governors consecutively over fifty-three years.
John E. Johnson, c. 1905-1945, Harris & Ewing photo. From the US Library of Congress.
Original source can be found here.
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