Collection: Leila Woolwine Johnson | Dodge City Public Library

Scope and Contents

This collection contains an autobiographical account of Leila Woolwine Johnson's life and her family in Dodge City Kansas, focusing primarily on the years from 1907 through the 1920s. Johnson writes about her father, Charles Woolwine, and his career as jailor, undersheriff, sheriff, businessman, and member of the local draft board during World War I. Much of the manuscript discusses the operation of the City Jail in the 1910s and various events related to prisoners. There is also a significant amount of writing devoted to family life and growing up in Dodge City during this time.

Dates

Creation: 1987

Biographical / Historical

Leila Woolwine Johnson was born in 1904 to Charles Walter Woolwine and Lou Elsie Blanch Conaway in Plymouth, Kansas. The family moved to Dodge City in 1907, where Charles Woolwine would go on to serve as night City Marshall, Jailer of the City Jail, Undersheriff, and Sheriff, as well as a member of the local draft board during World War I. Leila Johnson was a graduate of Dodge City High School in 1923 and worked as a lunchroom cook at USD 443 from 1956-1967. She was married to Nelson Johnson in 1923. She passed away on January 18, 1995.