From Foreclosure to Prosperity. 1895 to 1910, Olivia Colony, Texas.

The Carl / Minnie Johnson farm near Olivia, Texas, circa 1910.

In early 1892, CJE Haterius, a Lutheran pastor from Galesburg, Illinois came to Texas looking for a place to locate a Swedish Colony - a place where Swedish American immigrants could develop a farming community of their own. He found his "paradise" on a peninsula between Kellar and Carancahua Bays in Calhoun County.  J. Dan Mitchell and his wife wanted to sell up their 15,000 acre Wolf Point Ranch and move to "more opportunity" and civilization in the city of Victoria, Texas.

The papers were signed. The land was surveyed and platted into sections and lots for farms (80 acres each), for a small town - named "Olivia" after Haterius's wife, and for a series of "beachfront" lots for retiring Lutheran pastors (at Preachers Point.) Haterius began advertising for settlers and they came - from Drummond Wisconsin, from Davenport, Iowa, from Swede Home, Nebraska, from Iron Mountain, Michigan. Some of them investing the last of their carefully saved funds to move to the new colony and erect a home, and buy the necessary tools. In November 1892, Haterius signed a Vendor Lien with J Dan Mitchell in order to pay for the property, both expecting that the lots would continue to sell and become a thriving community.

1893 was a good year. Settlers continued to arrive. Investors bought some of the property. The Eden Swedish Lutheran Church was formed. Among the families arriving from the lumber town of Drummond, Wisconsin were Charles and Minnie Johnson with their two small children, Jennie and Carl. They bought 1 1/2 lots (120 acres) north of the new planned town of Olivia (Section 11: Lot 8 and 1/2 of lot 7) and began to build their home.  Soon after their arrival, a daughter, Eva Maria, was born (in April).

What could go wrong?

By the end of 1894, it became clear that the amount of property sold and the payments being made for it by the present holders would not meet the payment schedule. J. Dan Mitchell took Haterius and the 39 other investor/settlers to court. By November, all had been lost. The land was ordered foreclosed upon in total. A sale for April 1895 was arranged and indeed, in April 1895 Sheriff Roemer sold the land in toto at auction with all improvements back to J. Dan Mitchell. 

At that point, some folks gave up and left. But others were more hopeful, or simply more desperate - without enough money to leave and start again somewhere else. And Truthfully - J. Dan Mitchell and his wife liked living in Victoria, and didn't want to come back to live out in the barren on the ranch. And so they came to an agreement. The first of the deeds were created on May 1, 1895. On that date  C.O. Johnson and 31 others arranged to buy the land that they had already paid for (or begun to pay for) directly from J.D. Mitchell. Other settlers would follow later in the year.  Few of these lots were bought outright. They were bought on vendor liens. If the buyer failed to make the payments, they lost the entire property. And indeed, the deed record shows many of the buyers losing the land over the next few years, and others "selling up" and moving on. 

Carl and Minnie Johnson stayed and the record shows that they prospered. The deed record shows that they purchased 1/2 of lot 7 and lot 8 of Section 11.  According to the county tax records, at the beginning of 1897 they owned 3 horses, 4 cows, and 1 wagon.  By 1900, they had 3 horses, 7 cows and a wagon. By 1905, they had 3 horses, 15 cows and 2 wagons. By 1910 they were the proud owners of 4 horses, 20 cows and 2 wagons, as well as $25.00 worth of tools. Their family grew also with the births of Oscar in 1896, Alimena in 1898, Knut in 1899 and Ellen in 1906.

Perseverance paid off in prosperity. Even today (2016) the descendants of the Johnson family continue to own the family land near Olivia.

*** Note:
When I originally posted this picture, back in November 2012 in "Water Water Everywhere and not a drop to drink", it was to discuss the role of water and sources of water in the Olivia area. I did not know for sure whose home and farm this was. Just last week the farmstead was firmly identified as belonging to the Carl/Minnie Johnson family, so this seemed like a good time to reflect on the history and experiences of these first pioneers to the area.

Identifiers:
Negative: Paulson062 (originally scanned at 1200 dpi tiff, reduced to 400 dpi jpeg for this post)
Place: Carl and Minnie Johnson home and farm in Olivia area (Calhoun County) Texas. (Section 11; lots 8 and 1/2 of 7 on the 1892 platt map).
           An earlier picture of this house can be found at: Charles and Wilhelmina Johnson pose …
           A later picture of the house can be found at: the Swedes in Texas site.
People: 
For more about the Johnson family: Charles and Wilhelmina Johnson pose with their children.
Date: circa 1907 to 1910.

Sources:
Calhoun County, Texas. Deed books.
Calhoun County, Texas. Tax records (1887 - 1910)
Calhoun County, Texas. Court record.
Johnson, Connie. Personal Communication. 2016
Eden Church Record. Olivia Texas.
Galveston Daily News (1892-1895).