[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 37 (Monday, February 27, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





  HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF CIVIL WAR VETERAN ALEXANDER JOHNSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 27, 2023

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to a man who 
should have been hailed as a hero, but for too long his story was lost 
in history. Alexander Johnson was a Black Civil War Veteran who lived 
and worked in Owosso in the late 1800s, and when a group of white 
residents chased most Black folks out of town, Johnson and two other 
Black men refused to go.
  Born in Tennessee in 1833, Johnson fled slavery and made his way to 
Michigan before enlisting in a Union regiment of African Americans in 
Kalamazoo to fight in the Civil War, then moving to Canada at the war's 
end, and later returning to Michigan to settle in Owosso with his wife.
  No one knows for sure why he chose Owosso. Some historians believe 
Johnson's wife may have had family nearby. Others surmise he might have 
had connections to a home in Owosso rumored to be part of the 
Underground Railroad, and still others say that at the time, the 
growing community was a place where people of all races moved to 
explore economic opportunity. Whatever the reason, Owosso is where 
Alexander Johnson chose to put down roots, opening up a downtown 
barbershop and was, by all accounts, a well-liked businessman and 
respected member of the community.
  Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, as racial tensions 
grew and the Ku Klux Klan became active in the county. The tensions 
culminated in 1871 when 40 white vigilantes gathered together and 
attempted to drive all the Black residents out of town. There is little 
we know about this dark moment in Owosso's history, but we do know that 
Alexander Johnson was a light that would not be extinguished. Johnson 
stayed in Owosso, along with two other Black men, until he died. In 
1907 Johnson received a military burial at Oak Hill Cemetery in Owosso, 
and his story was buried with him for more than 100 years.
  There are those who seek to ignore or even wipe away the more painful 
pieces of our history, and there are those who understand that we 
cannot ever be great without acknowledging our failures, learning from 
our mistakes, and moving forward with a commitment to grow. The Owosso 
Rotary Club falls into the latter category, as they were the ones not 
just to uncover Johnson's story, but to acknowledge it and honor it as 
a piece of Owosso's history.
  Alexander Johnson was formally recognized by the Owosso Rotary on 
Veterans Day 2021 with a solemn ceremony at his gravesite. It is only 
fitting that I, too, join in paying tribute to this brave man whose 
convictions led him first out of slavery, then to fight for a country 
he believed in, to establish the life he wanted, and to stay in the 
community that he loved. May his memory be a blessing and an 
inspiration to us all.

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