A young Al Wilkes Sr., grandson of Albert J. McLean and future South Portland police sergeant, is shown helping John H. Johnson with plowing on the farm in Thornton Heights, circa 1940. Contributed / South Portland Historical Society

In earlier times, especially prior to the opening of the Million Dollar Bridge in 1916, South Portland was very much an agricultural community. Dairy farms and market gardens (gardens and greenhouses used to grow produce for wholesale and retail sales) dotted the landscape across the city. One longtime farmer in Thornton Heights was John H. Johnson, a neighbor of the Lund family (that operated Lund’s Dairy on Thornton Avenue).

John H. Johnson was born in 1864, the son of James Johnson, a farmer from Westbrook. James had many children (about 13) from a previous marriage to Ruth Libby. After Ruth died in 1856, James remarried to Betsey Roberts and they had at least four more children together: Flora (who died in infancy), Bessie, Richard and John.

Betsey died in 1867 and then James died in 1870. Their three surviving children, including John, who had just turned 6 years old, were now orphans, but their half-brother George stepped up and took them in. Their half-sister Elizabeth “Lizzie” Johnson, who was also now living with and being supported by her brother George, became the legal guardian of her half-siblings.

James had owned lands in Deering, South Portland (then known as Cape Elizabeth), and Scarborough, and there were 11 surviving children in total (combined between his two marriages) who were all heirs to the estate. Lizzie sold Bessie, Richard and John’s interest in the lands to her brother George in 1871 for $1,452, in the form of a mortgage.

The siblings appeared to have remained close and supported one another as they made their way through life. In 1884, John and his brother Richard purchased a 15-acre lot of farmland on the south side of the Saco Road (now known as Main Street) in South Portland with the financial assistance of their sisters, Lizzie and Bessie.

John married Nellie Rich in 1886 and they made their home in a house he had built on the land that fronted on Main Street. John and Nellie had four children: Howard, Esther, A. Louise, and Eleanor. In 1892, John’s sister Bessie married a farmer, Gideon Tupper, and in 1894, John’s brother Richard sold his half share in the 15-acre lot to Gideon. John and Gideon proceeded to farm the property together.

In 1896, John and Gideon divided the 15-acre property; both ended up with houses on Main Street (the Tuppers at 620 Main St. and the Johnsons at 628 Main St.), with farmland extending behind their homes, all the way back to the Boston and Maine Railroad tracks. They had a civil engineer draw up a division plan for the property in 1896. The plan shows the layout for Johnson’s farm, including his home, barn, shed, wash house, celery house and pig house. You can see the plan and other photos/images related to John Johnson and his property in the society’s Online Museum.

The Tuppers would sell their property to Albert J. McLean in March of 1900. McLean Street runs through that property now. We’ll take a look at Albert McLean in a future column.

John H. Johnson continued to farm his land for many decades. He sold the property to Archie Carignan in 1940. Carignan Avenue now runs through what used to be the Johnson farm. John died in 1942 and is buried with his wife at Stroudwater Cemetery.

John H. Johnson’s father, James, was one of the founders of the Scarborough Free Baptist Church at Eight Corners on Mussey Road. According to an early history, the church was organized on Dec. 24, 1831, and James was one of the charter members. The church was first dedicated on July 5, 1841, known as the West Cape Elizabeth Free Baptist Church, and was reorganized in 1937 under the present name, although still also commonly referred to as the Eight Corners Church.

The Johnson children and grandchildren were raised in the Baptist faith and were very active members of the church. John H. Johnson served as a deacon, trustee and church clerk, wife Nellie served as a deaconess and as the superintendent of the church school, and daughter Eleanor Nielsen served as the church pianist and organist for 65 years. Eleanor also took over the role of church clerk from her parents, keeping that position in the Johnson/Nielsen family for most of the church’s history.

South Portland Historical Society offers a free Online Museum with over 17,000 images available for viewing with a keyword search. You can find it at sphistory.pastperfectonline.com and, if you appreciate what we do, feel free to make a donation by using the donation button on the home page. If you have photographs or other information to share about our community’s past, we hope you will reach out to us. South Portland Historical Society can be reached at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society.