Johannes, the second son and fourth child of the celebrated Bishop D. G. Monrad, was born in Denmark August 1849 when his father was a Minister in the Danish Cabinet, shortly before he was made Bishop in the Luthran Church. Johannes became a Naval apprentice, but did not flourish in this pursuit. The photograph shows the young man of "artistic tastes" shortly before the Monrad family emigrated to New Zealand. While the family settled at Karere on the Manawatu, Johannes and his older brother Viggo worked on a second property at Patea. Precocious, even for a pioneer New Zealander, Johannes was soon carving out the farm himself and when the Bishop Monrad and his family returned to Denmark, Johannes ran the holding alone, while Viggo took over Karere. After two years he sold the Patea holding and sailed for Denmark in January 1870, marrying Marie Frederiksen there in 1872. After a brief period in America he took up farming in Bunnythorpe from 1878-1883. In 1883 Johannes finally settled in the United States, rising to be a leader in Dairy research and an authority in the dairy industry until his death in 1915.