Born in 1631 in a small town to a family of poor farmers. Johan was sent to live with his uncle, Jordan, to learn the mining trade when he was 8 years old and so that he could have a childhood free of poverty and starvation. He was taught the value of hard work and perseverance by his uncle and his work in the mines, and his uncle instilled a love of adventure in him from the many stories he would tell. When he was 26 there was a collapse in a mine that saw his uncle walk away lame, and Johan walked away with a scar across his face. He worked in the mines for the next 9 years to support himself and his uncle. Before his death, Jordan sent Johan out into the world so that he would see it before he, too, was an old man stuck in his bed. Johan buried his uncle and set out to make a name for himself as an explorer and adventurer.
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