The Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Representative Men of Chicago, Milwaukee and the World's Columbian Exposition

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BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
eminently fitted to make a pleasant home, and to grace her social position. Systematic as she is in every department of life, the doctor accredits a large part of   his success  to  his  wife, a  fact
which he takes great pleasure in acknowledging. Two children have been born to them, William Clark and Sarah Esther, aged thirteen and eleven years respectively.
HOSMER  ALLEN JOHNSON, A.M., M.D., LL.D.
CHICAGO,   ILL.
DR. HOSMER ALLEN JOHNSON, a native of Erie County, N. Y., was born October 6th, 1822, the eldest child of Samuel Johnson and Sallie (Allen) Johnson. His family came originally from England. His grandfather, Samuel Johnson, w^as a native of Worcester, Mass. His maternal grandfather, Capt. Parmalee Allen, was a cousin of the famous Colonel Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary fame, and both he and the paternal grandfather served through the seven years of the Revolutionary struggle.
In early life his parents settled in the State of Michigan. He early evinced a decided fondness for the studies of painting and sculpture, and espe¬ cially of those scientific and literary pursuits that so characterized his later years. He prepared for college at the village of Romeo, Mich., and in 1849 graduated fi'oi^^ the literary department of the University of 'Michigan with the degree of A. B., and three years later received from his alma mater the degree of M. A. The year fol¬ lowing his graduation, he removed to Chicago and entered Rush Medical College, graduating in 1852 with the degree of M. D. One year later he became a member of the faculty of that insti¬ tution and continued in that connection until 1859, when he resigned his chair, and with Dr. N. S. Davis, Dr. Isham and Dr. David Rutter, founded the Chicago Medical College, now the medical department of the Northwestern Univer¬ sity, which institution in 1883 conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. During the first years of the Chicago Medical College, Dr. Johnson was Professor of Physiology ; later he was Professor of Pathology and Pathological Anatomy, and from 1881 until his demise, was Emeritus Professor of the principles and practice of medicine. Throughout his career Dr. Johnson was especially active in hospitals, and as attending* or consulting physician met with great success.
During the War of the Rebellion, Dr. Johnson was president of the Board of Examining Sur¬ geons, appointed by the Governor to examine and pass upon applicants for admission as army physicians and surgeons, and from 1861 to 1865 visited the seat of war and saw much of army life among the troops on the battle-field and in eamp. A man of large heart, his sympathies always went out to the suffering, and this quality, with his good judgment and known executive ability, led to his being called to many positions of responsi¬ bility and trust.
During the great fire of October 9, 1871, and after that calamity, when one hundred thousand people were rendered destitute, to be cared for and fed. Dr. Johnson was chosen one of the directors of the relief and aid society that ex¬ pended some five millions of dollars in relieving the needy, this society having the entire responsi¬ bility respecting the distribution and use of the money. During that time and for a term of six years, he was a member of the Board of Health, and for five years, from 1879 to 1884, was a member of the National Board of Health. He was honored with membership in a large number of leading societies and,often called to their presidency or board of trustees. He was a member of the American Medical Association, and of the American Association for the Ad¬ vancement of Science from 1853 until his death. For thirty-eight years he was connected with the Chicago Medical Society, and during the same period was a member of the Illinois State Medi¬ cal Society. He was one of the original mem¬ bers of the American Public Health Association and president of that organization in 1889. He also helped to organize the Chicago Academy of Sciences and was several times its president and on its board of trustees. Among other noted societies   with  which he was  identified, may be