H2415 The study's number for this person. Cite it and it will always lead here, whatever the spelling.
· A life in the study

Lew W. Johnson

Born before 1881 and died before April 1910.

Born
before 1881
Married
14 Oct 1899 Elizabeth Hegnauer Doniphan County, Kansas
Died
before Apr 1910

Life story

Sources

Sources 1–3

1 The Kansas Chief, 1899
2 The Troy Times, 1899
3 Kansas, County Marriages, 1899

Sources 4–5

4 Rockville Booster, 1908
5 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Rockville Township

Lew W. Johnson is known from a single event: on the evening of Saturday, 14 October 1899, at the Higby House in Doniphan County, Kansas, he married Elizabeth ("Lizzie") Hegnauer, the eldest daughter of the Swiss-born farmer Martin Hegnauer of Bates County, Missouri. The two papers of Troy, the county seat, reported the wedding and described the couple as "both of Missouri".1–3

Nothing more is yet known of him. In September 1908 his wife was Mrs. Lizzie Johnson, and by April 1910 she was a widow, living with her father in Rockville Township, Bates County, and working as a dressmaker; Lew had very probably died by then.4–5

Family

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Life and places

4 events · 2 places, in order
1 2
  1. Missouri, United States
  2. Doniphan County, Kansas

Hollow markers are placed approximately, at the town, county or region.

  1. 1881 Birth before 1881 proven

    How we know

    Estimated: he was of age to marry in October 1899. Neither the notices nor the index give his age.

    A groom in 1899 was very probably at least eighteen, so born before about 1881. No record of his birth or age has been found.

  2. 1899 Residence Oct 1899 Missouri, United States proven

    How we know

    The wedding notices call the couple "both of Missouri".

    Both Troy papers say that the bride and groom were "both of Missouri"; the town is not given.

  3. 1899 Marriage, with Elizabeth Hegnauer 14 Oct 1899 Doniphan County, Kansas proven

    How we know

    On the evening of Saturday, 14 October 1899, at the Higby House, to Lizzie Hegnauer, "both of Missouri", by a minister whose name is partly legible (Rev. M…).

    The Doniphan County marriage record, as indexed by FamilySearch, gives Lew W Johnson and Lizzie Hegnaner, born 1876, 14 Oct 1899; the two Troy papers report the same wedding. The bride is Martin Hegnauer's daughter Lizzie (see her profile). The county's register and licence have not been read.

  4. 1910 Death before Apr 1910 proven

    How we know

    Not found. His wife was Mrs. Lizzie Johnson in September 1908 and a widow at the census of April 1910.

    In Sep 1908 the Rockville paper named Martin Hegnauer's daughter as Mrs. Lizzie Johnson, and in April 1910 Lizzie Johnson, 34, widowed, was living with her father. That the husband of 1908 was Lew, and not a second Mr. Johnson, is probable; no other marriage of hers is known before the 1920s.

  1. 19 Oct 1899 “Hegnauer—Johnson” The Kansas Chief · as groom · O06873 proven
  2. 20 Oct 1899 “Hegnauer—Johnson” The Troy Times · as groom · O06874 proven
Also cited as evidence: 4 records filed under relatives
  1. 14 Oct 1899 Marriage “Lizzie Hegnaner”, filed under Elizabeth Hegnauer · FamilySearch proven
  2. 19 Oct 1899 Marriage notice “[Liz]zie (Miss) Hegnauer”, filed under Elizabeth Hegnauer · Newspapers.com proven
  3. 20 Oct 1899 Marriage notice “[Liz]zie (Miss) Hegnauer”, filed under Elizabeth Hegnauer · Newspapers.com proven
  4. 11 Sep 1908 Social item “Lizzie (Mrs.) Johnson”, filed under Elizabeth Hegnauer · Newspapers.com proven

The evidence

how the study knows, and what it doesn't

4 facts: 4 proven What the grades mean

What's still open

  • Not found. his parents, birth, residence in Missouri, occupation, and the date and place of his death.
  • A lead. the Doniphan County marriage register and licence, which should give his age and residence; the 1900 census (a Lew, Lewis or Llewellyn W. Johnson with a wife Lizzie, in Missouri or Kansas, perhaps in Buchanan County, across the river from Troy, where Lizzie's grandmother lived); Missouri deaths before 1910, when the state's death certificates begin, are to be sought in county records, cemetery records and newspapers.

Help wanted: 2 open questions about him →

Facts and their grades 4
Fact Date Place Grade Sources
Birth before 1881 proven 1 , 3
Residence Oct 1899 Missouri, United States proven 1 , 2
Marriage with Elizabeth Hegnauer 14 Oct 1899 Doniphan County, Kansas, United States proven 1 , 2 , 3
Death before Apr 1910 proven 4 , 5
Sources 5
  1. 1

    "Hegnauer—Johnson," The Kansas Chief (Troy, Kansas), 19 October 1899, p. 8: "Married, at the Higby House, on Saturday evening, October 14, by Rev. M[…], Mr. Lew W. Johnson and Miss [Liz]zie Hegnauer, both of Missouri"; image, Newspapers.com (newspapers.com/image/67684477).

  2. 2

    "Hegnauer—Johnson," The Troy Times (Troy, Kansas), 20 October 1899, p. 3: the same notice; image, Newspapers.com (newspapers.com/image/387341758).

  3. 3

    "Kansas, County Marriages, 1855–1911," database, FamilySearch, Lew W Johnson and Lizzie Hegnaner, 14 October 1899, Doniphan County, Kansas; bride born 1876. FamilySearch record Q293-VSQB (the bride's index entry; the groom's own entry and the record image have not been read).

  4. 4

    Rockville Booster (Rockville, Missouri), 11 September 1908, p. 8: "Martin Hegnauer of Pr[airie] City who, in company with [his] daughters, Mesdames Troy Br[own] and Lizzie Johnson, went [on a] visit to relative[s] and friends [at] Carthage, returned Satur[day]"; image, Newspapers.com (newspapers.com/image/1000726752).

  5. 5

    1910 U.S. Federal Census, Rockville Township, Bates County, Missouri, E.D. 20, page 9B, dwelling 166, family 172, lines 99–100, Martin Haganauer, 62, widowed; Lizzie Johnson, daughter, 34, widowed, born Missouri, dressmaker; citing NARA T624, roll 768; image 31111_4330351-01035; database with images, Ancestry.com.

Research notes the reasoning, record by record
  • Identity: The groom of the Doniphan County marriage record and of the two Troy notices is one man: the same names, date and bride.3, 1, 2 He is taken to be the Mr. Johnson whose widow Lizzie was in 1910; that is probable, since no other marriage of hers is known before her second, to A. J. Harden, by 1926 (see her profile).4, 5
  • Not found: his parents, birth, residence in Missouri, occupation, and the date and place of his death. The FamilySearch index row of his own entry in the marriage record has not been captured.
  • Leads: the Doniphan County marriage register and licence, which should give his age and residence; the 1900 census (a Lew, Lewis or Llewellyn W. Johnson with a wife Lizzie, in Missouri or Kansas, perhaps in Buchanan County, across the river from Troy, where Lizzie's grandmother lived); Missouri deaths before 1910, when the state's death certificates begin, are to be sought in county records, cemetery records and newspapers.
  • This profile is part of the Hegnauer one-name study.
Working notes
  • First husband of Lizzie Hegnauer, daughter of Martin: m. 14 Oct 1899 at the Higby House, Doniphan Co., Kansas (Kansas County Marriages index, O05771; The Kansas Chief 19 Oct and The Troy Times 20 Oct 1899, O06424-O06425: "Mr. Lew W. Johnson and Miss [Liz]zie Hegnauer, both of Missouri"); she was Mrs. Lizzie Johnson in Sep 1908 and a widow in Apr 1910, so he probably died before Apr 1910; parents, birth, residence and death not found; his own persona in the marriage index not yet captured
Cite this page H2415

Evidence Explained

Hegnauer One-Name Study, “Lew W. Johnson (H2415, bef. 1881–bef. 1910),” hegnauer.family (https://hegnauer.family/people/h2415-lew-w-johnson/ : accessed 28 September 2026).

Chicago (notes)

“Lew W. Johnson (H2415, bef. 1881–bef. 1910),” hegnauer.family, Hegnauer One-Name Study, accessed September 28, 2026, https://hegnauer.family/people/h2415-lew-w-johnson/.

H2415 is this person's permanent number in the study. Names get respelled; the number never changes, so the link and the citation keep working.

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