Oscar Johnson (businessman)

Johnson first worked as a clerk in a country store.^[1]

With his brother Jackson Johnson and his cousins Edgar E. Rand and Frank C. Rand, Johnson co-founded Johnson, Carruthers & Rand Shoe Co. in Memphis, Tennessee in 1893.^[1] By 1908, they moved to St. Louis, where they co-founded the Roberts, Johnson & Rand Co. with John C. Roberts.^[2] In 1911, they acquired the Peters Shoe Co.^[2] It eventually became known as the International Shoe Company, and Johnson became its president, while his brother Jackson was its chairman.^[2] By the time of his death, the International Shoe Company had become the largest shoe manufacturing company in the world.^[2]

Johnson married to Irene Walter, the daughter of Confederate veteran Harvey Washington Walter, in 1889.^[1] They had two sons, Oscar Jr. and Lee, and a daughter, Fredonia.^[3] They resided at 28 Portland Place in St. Louis.^[3][2] They also owned a farm in Franklin County, Missouri.^[3] Additionally, they acquired Irene's family home, Walter Place in Holly Springs in 1889.^[4] He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,^[2] the Noonday Club and the Ridgedale Country Club in Ridgedale, Missouri.^[1]

Johnson died on July 28, 1916, in St. Louis, and he was buried at the Bellefontaine Cemetery.^[2] Upon his death, he was worth an estimated $2,147,742.^[3] He was succeeded as president of the International Shoe Company by his cousin Frank C. Rand in November 1936.^[5]