On This Date in Minnesota History: September 21

September 21, 1909 - Minnesota Gov. John Albert Johnson died on this date as a result of an operation for intestinal adhesions in Rochester, Minn. He was the first governor born in Minnesota, the first to serve a full term in the present state capitol, and the first to die in office.

Minnesota Gov. John Albert Johnson¹

Two statues were erected to his memory in 1912, one in front of the capitol in St. Paul and the other in front of the courthouse in St. Peter, Minn., where he was born and buried upon his death.

Statue of Gov. John Albert Johnson at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul²

John Albert Johnson 

July 26, 1861 September 21, 1909 

Three Times Governor of 

Minnesota 

A Poor Boy A Country 

Editor A Natural Leader 

Cut Off In His Prime

The Nation Mourns His Loss 

His Life Was Gentle And

The Elements So Mixed In

Him That Nature Might Stand

Up And Say To All The World

This Was A Man 

This Monument Is Raised To

His Memory By One Hundred 

Thousand Of His Friends

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Albert_Johnson

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8374

¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Albert_Johnson#mediaviewer/File:Portrait_of_John_Albert_Johnson.jpg

²Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain September 21, 2014, 

as long as acknowledgement included.