The John Johnson House aka Schifferdecker Gardner’s House

The house was built by Charles Schifferdecker and is located directly west of the
Schifferdecker mansion at 422 South Sergeant Avenue. Research and restoration are
ongoing and it is believed that the structure could have also been an office for the
Schifferdecker businesses.
The original residents of this house were John Richard Johnson (1882-1946) and Louisa K.
Martens Johnson (1884-1985). Born in Sweden, John came to Girard, Kansas as a young
boy and then to Joplin at age 21. He secured a job as a gardener for Charles Schifferdecker
and soon was in charge of the extensive Schifferdecker property holdings. He married Mrs.
Schifferdecker’s niece in 1903, thus becoming a Schifferdecker heir after Charles and
Wilhelmina’s death in 1915. John became a naturalized citizen in 1920.

In John’s obituary, the Joplin Globe newspaper reported that he was orphaned at seven
years old when both parents and siblings died. However, the 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census
shows John’s father, Andres Johnson residing with John and Louisa at 419 South Jackson
Avenue! This mystery is undergoing further research and may be a story for another day.
Several years after Charles, Wilhelmina, and Wilhelmina’s mother died, the Johnson Family
moved into the Schifferdecker mansion, but it was short lived. According to Johnson
descendants, Louise was uncomfortable living at the house because she claimed to hear the
rustling of petticoats on the staircase and believed it to be the ghost of her departed aunt!