Neptune's Needle

The War of 1812 gave him the opportunity that changed the whole course of his life. The encampment of General Harrison’s forces at Sandusky and after Commodore Perry’s victory at Put-in-Bay the occupation of Detroit gave rise to an active trade in military supplies. The needs of transportation, in turn, started ship-building along the South Shore. Johnson and his brother-in-law loaded an abandoned flatboat with potatoes which they sold to the army at Put-in-Bay and followed up this profitable adventure with a load of supplies for the army a Detroit. Other expeditions followed. Johnson now undertook to build a ship of his own, a small, primitive affair with wooden pins in place of spikes and bolts. With this venture he initiated Cleveland’s first industry of importance. His voyages were likewise the real beginning of lake navigation. He launches his first vessel, a schooner, in 1814, another in 1816, and a steamboat, the Enterprise, in 1824. After the War of 1812 he carried cargoes of merchandise from Buffalo to the small lake towns that flourished with the westward movement, and returned with cargoes of fur from the Northwest.

Johnson retired from the lake trade and ship-building about 1830, and during the remainder of his active life...he was a building contractor. Light-houses along the South Shore of Lake Erie, the first work on the government piers in Cleveland...are monuments to his successful career. ...he made one of Cleveland’s early fortunes.

Sources

Compiler

Peter Richards