C. W. J. Johnson

C. W. J. Johnson (August 3, 1833 – January 17, 1903) was an American miner, photographer, musician, and dance instructor. His photographic work is held in the permanent collections of the Monterey Museum of Art, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Early life C. W. J. Johnson, born on August 3, 1833, in Maryland. His parents were George M. and Matilda Johnson.

Career Johnson moved to California in 1857, along the North Fork Feather River. He later worked in the silver mining area of Grass Valley by 1863. That same year he journeyed to Nevada, where he worked as a one-man band and taught dance, before returning to San Francisco in 1868.

Photographic career: 1868-1903 C.W.J. Johnson as a "one man band" playing the guitar and tuba C. W. J. Johnson Photo Parlors at the Hotel Del Monte with view of brick building with corrugated tin roof housing

On July 13, 1968, Johnson traveled to Arcata by stagecoach and stayed at the American Hotel. In Arcata, he was the director of a cornet band, as well as a music teacher and dance instructor. In 1870, Johnson took photographs of the Eureka Brass Band with eleven brass players and two drummers. Johnson then moved to Watsonville, where he partnered with Timothy A. Sullivan. Johnson married Sullivan's sister, Norah Pardon, on December 2, 1875.

With his dry-plate camera, he documented the Monterey Peninsula, California Missions, historic adobes, Farallon Lighthouse, Point Bonita Lighthouse, Point Lobos, the Chinese Fishing Village, and other popular sites.

Death and legacy View of Hotel Del Monte, an early C. W. J. Johnson's Views Of California Scenery stereoscopic card

Johnson died in Salinas, California on January 17, 1903. The Bancroft Library has a collection of Johnson's Views Of California Scenery on stereoscopic cards.

There is also a Johnson collection at the Monterey County Historical Society in Salinas, California. It has over 700 images from x , x , and x glass negatives, original prints, and stereograph views.