Johannes Van Loon was born August 17, 1841, in Oostermeer, in Freisland, Netherlands, and came to the United States with his widowed mother and her five other sons in 1855. The family settled in New Amsterdam, New York.
In 1863, Van Loon married Mary La Fleur, who also came from Holland. In 1884 he and his family settled in La Crosse, Wisconsin where he operated a floral business, and was prominent in local business and community affairs. He became known throughout the region as a horticulturist, and over the years developed several new strains of garden and flower varieties. As early as the 1880's Van Loon raised muskmelons, sheltering each plant under glass until the danger of frost had passed. He called them “Van's Best”; they were the earliest on the market, and ranked high in form, texture, and flavor. He advertised them in a unique manner, far ahead of his time. He was known also for his strawberry and current culture and for pioneer achievements in the culture of alfalfa, Golden Glow seed corn, peonies, and delphiniums. Johannes Van Loon served with the Eighth Wisconsin “Eagle” Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, He was a member of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Association, and was president of the La Crosse County Horticultural Society.
Van Loon died on April 15, 1941, just two months before his one-hundredth birthday. Mary La Fleur Van Loon had died seventeen years earlier in 1924.
