William "Harrison"
Johnston
(1814-1872)
and
Elizabeth Owen
(1816-1899)
William
"Harrison" Johnston was born in 1814 in Pennsylvania. His parents
are unknown.
Elizabeth Owen was born on Feb. 3, 1816 in New Jersey, and migrated to Greene County, PA as a girl. It is possible that her father was Benjamin Owen and that her grandparents were John and (?) Pool Owen, of New Jersey, although this is not confirmed. These Owen individuals are mentioned in J.H. Beers & Co.'s 1893 Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County. The parents of John Owen are known to have "emigrated from Wales in the early part of the eighteenth century, and located in New Jersey," said the Biographical Record.
The date of the Johnstons' marriage is not yet known. The couple resided circa 1850 in Morris Township, Greene County, and had eight known children -- Daniel Johnston, Benjamin "Addison" Johnston, Andrew "Newel" Johnston, Cassius M. "Clay" Johnston, Emily Johnston, Mary Louise Miner, Stephen Johnston and Rebecca Johnston.
When the federal census was taken in 1850, Harrison was married and living next door to his presumed in-laws, Benjamin Owen and Aaron Owen. (Note -- Aaron is believed to have migrated from either Morris or Essex County, NJ circa 1823.)
The Johnstons made their home near Days Store, Greene County, as shown in the 1860 census, and Harrison was marked as a "Tenant Farmer" with his elder sons working as farm laborers. Tax records of the county show that Harrison had 55 acres, but in 1866 transferred the property to Isaac Clutter. By 1866, sons Addison and Newel had left home.
In the fall of 1865, Harrison paid John and Rebecca Iams a total of $2,600 for a tract of 84 acres near Wind Ridge in Rich Hill Township, Greene County. The family is enumerated there in the 1870 census, although Greene County tax assessment records show that ownership of this acreage was transferred in 1870 to W.R. Sickles.
Harrison passed away at the age of 58 on Feb. 27, 1872, of an unknown cause. No newspaper account of his death has been found in Washington newspapers. He was laid to rest in the Jacksonville Cemetery in Wind Ridge, across the road from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Elizabeth outlived her husband by more than a quarter of a century, and was close with her aged sister Emily (Owen) Jennings. She was well known as "Aunt Betsey" and made her home in Wind Ridge. In the fall of 1898, after Emily's death, Elizabeth moved into the home of her married daughter Mary Louise Miner on the Alexander Gaston farm near Houston, Washington County, PA.
At
the end of February 1899, when she was age 83, Elizabeth came down with a fatal
case of pneumonia. She suffered for 13 days, and died in the wee hours of the
morning in the Miner residence on March 13, 1899. News of her death was
telephoned to undertaker S. Knight, according to a Waynesburg Republican
article. Her remains were sent by train to Wind Ridge for burial beside her
husband. Resting for eternity in the same row of graves are Elizabeth's sister
and brother in law, Emily (1898) and Samuel Jennings (1882), and presumed Owen
relatives Aaron Owen (1888), Maria Owen (1868), Mary Owen (1892), and Mary E.
Owen 1895). It is believed that the flowers and plantings at the Johnstons'
grave were placed by their great-granddaughter, Jessie
(Miner) Schultz, who showed the location to the founder of this website in
1984.
Under the terms of Elizabeth's will, on file today at the Washington County Courthouse, Elizabeth selected her son Stephen as executor of the estate, but in turn he asked his nephew William Allen Miner to serve in this role. An inventory and appraisement of her assets totaled one cow valued at $28, a certificate of deposit worth $325, and cash of $13.60. In settling the estate, Elizabeth's son in law Andrew Jackson Miner was paid $51.84 for "board and keeping." Also receiving inheritances as their fair share of the estate were son Anderson B. Johnston, Stephen W. Johnston, Cassius M. Johnston, daughter Mary Louise Miner and grandson Frank W. Johnston.
~ Son Benjamin "Addison" Johnston (1841- ? ) ~
Benjamin "Addison" Johnston, also known as "Add," was born in November 1841. He married Sarah E. (1849- ? ), a West Virginia native, in 1874. The Johnstons had one daughter, Grace Lawton, who was born in West Virginia in 1880. The 1910 census suggests that they lost five offspring to death while in childhood.
The Johnstons must have had the wanderlust, as by 1900 they had migrated to Wyoming, and were living near Laramie City, Albany County, WY, where Add was a ranchman. Living under their roof that year was their 28-year-old nephew, Frank W. Johnston, who worked as a ranch laborer. In about 1903, it's thought that their nephew Ward C. Miner, suffering from tuberculosos, came to Wyoming to live with them and take advantage of the change in climate to find a cure.
By 1910, the Johnstons had moved again to Colorado, making their home at Louisville, Garfield County, about 21 miles northwest of Denver. Add's occupation was given as farmer on the census that year. Under their roof were daughter Grace and nephew Ward C. Miner, who must have made the move to Colorado with them.
When the federal census was taken in 1920, the widowed Add made his home with Grace and her husband, lumber store clerk Oakley R. Lawton, in San Diego, San Diego County, CA. Circa 1921, when his sister Mary Louise Miner died, he was mentioned in a Washington newspaper obituary and was living in San Diego at the time.
Add is believed to have died during the decade of the 1920s. The U.S. census of 1930 shows daughter Grace and her husband Oakley living in San Diego, with one son, Russell A. Lawton. Oakley was employed as an order clerk in a lumber yard. The census indicates that the Lawtons were married circa 1915, when Grace was 35 and Oakley 27.
~
Son Andrew Newel "Nuel" Johnston (1843- ? ) ~
Andrew Newel "Nuel" Johnston lived in Claysville, and is mentioned in the 1921 obituary of his sister Mary Louise Miner.
Newell was married twice. The identify of the first wife is not known. In about 1879, he married Jemima "Mime" (?) (1852- ? ), and they resided in Claysville.
Newell was a laborer at odd jobs. They had no children, but kept boarders in their home.
One lodger, circa 1910, was bridge works laborer Crawford Hand of West Virginia. Another of the boarders, circa 1919-1920, was John Leonard Plants. The Johnstons apparently introduced the dapper John to their grand-niece, Ollie Margaret Miner, and the match was successful, as a marriage took place in 1921.
When the federal census was taken in 1920, Newell and Jemima were retired and resided in Claysville, along with Jemima's widowed sister, Fannie J. Sampson (1846- ? ).
Newel died sometime during the decade of the 1920s. The U.S. census of 1930 shows Jemima as a 78-year-old widow in Claysville, with her 69-year-old sister Mary Hartley living under her roof. Nothing further is known.
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| Newell and Jemima in front of their home in Claysville |
~ Son Cassius Marcellus "Clay" Johnston (1846 - ? ) ~
Cassius Marcellus "Clay" Johnston was born on July 27, 1846 and also was known as "Cash." He apparently was named for Cassius Marcellus Clay, a prominent Kentucky anti-slavery crusader in the 1830s and '40s. Clay married Caroline Harris (1850-1923), the daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Gosney) Harris of West Virginia. The Johnstons had four children -- Ava Hartley and Ward Johnston and two who died young. The family first lived in Moundsville, Marshall County, WV, where Clay's occupation was as a carpenter.
By 1910, the Johnstons had migrated west to Colorado, and were living next to his brother Addison in Garfield County. The family returned to Moundsville sometime in the early 1910s.
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|
Moundsville's famous landmark, the pre-historic "mound," 79 feet high and 900 feet in circumference at the base |
Clay
died in Moundsville at the age of 72 on Sept. 2, 1918, of Bright's Disease,
known today as kidney failure. He was laid to rest in a cemetery in Cameron,
Marshall county. Handwritten notes prepared in the 1960s by Monalea (Ullom)
Miner, wife of Clay's grand-nephew Odger Miner,
list Clay and confirm that he lived in Moundsville. A bird's-eye view of Cameron
is seen at right.
Caroline survived her husband by five years. She lived by herself on Third Street in Moundsville when the 1920 census was taken. She died of a stroke, caused by hardening of the arteries, at the age of 73 on Jan. 26, 1923. She was laid to rest in Cameron.
Daughter Ava Johnston (1884- ? ) married (?) Hartley and was widowed by the age of 26 in 1910. She had one known son, Dale C. Hartley, born in West Virginia in 1906. She and her young son moved to Colorado and lived with her parents by 1910.
Son Ward Johnston (1882- ? ) married a Colorado girl, Olive O. (?) (1890- ? ). They resided in Garfield County, CO in 1920 but by 1923 had moved back to Moundsville. Nothing more is known.
~ Son Stephen W. Johnston (1856-1933) ~
Stephen
W. Johnston was a longtime farm laborer. At the age of 24, in 1880, he boarded
with his uncle and aunt, Samuel M. and Emily (Owen) Jennings in Richhill, Greene
County.
Circa 1908, when his sister's widowed niece Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Miner) Lindley needed a witness for government paperwork, Steve and brother in law Andrew Jackson Miner jointly signed an affidavit swearing that they had known her "ever since she was a little girl..."
Steve moved into the home of his niece, Emma (Miner) White, on Church Street in Washington, Washington County. At the age of 77, he died in Emma's home on Dec. 10, 1933. The funeral was held at the White residence, led by Rev. John H. Debolt of the West Washington Methodist Episcopal Church and Rev. E.A. Cole of Second Christian Church. He was laid to rest in the Claysville Cemetery, the last of his siblings to pass away.
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| A rare bird's-eye view of Claysville |
~ Mysteries ~
In the 1921 Washington Observer obituary for Mary Louise (Johnston) Miner, "William S. and Milton B. Carrel of Nineveh" were reported to be her cousins. Census records show William S. was born in 1849 and Milton in 1859. The census of 1850 suggests that William's parents were Joseph D. and Martha Carrol. Who are they?
Frank W. Johnston (1873- ? ) was born in Pennsylvania. He was a grandson of Harrison and Elizabeth (Owen) Johnston, and lived with his uncle Addison in Wyoming in 1900. He later move to Colorado, to Garfield County, next-door to his uncles Add and Clay Johnston. Who were his parents? Frank married Cora (?) Giddings in about 1907 -- it was his first marriage, and her second. The census of 1910 shows daughter Alice M. Johnston and Eunice V. Johnston in their household, along with eight-year-old stepson George "Kenneth" Giddings, who may later have been adopted and took the Johnston surname. The 1920 census of Garfield County, CO shows Frank and Cora and their six children -- Kenneth G. Johnston, Alice M. Johnston, Eunice Johnston, Mary Johnston, and twins Edith and Ethel Johnston. That year, Frank's occupation was farmer.
Copyright © 2008 Mark A. Miner