ELI JOHNSTON

Among the old and honored citizen of Linn county who have passed to their reward is Eli Johnston, who died in Mt. Vernon, December 7, 1898.  He was born in Richland county, Ohio, April 19, 1827, and could trace his ancestry back for two centuries.  His great-grandfather, Adam Johnston, and his wife, whose maiden name was Crow, came to this country from Ireland when the grandfather, William Johnston, was only four years old, and settled in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, but subsequently removed to Westmoreland county, that state, and still later to Butler county, Pennsylvania.  They had five children, all of whom were born in America with the exception of William, the others being Francis, who died young leaving no issue; Adam, John and Benjamin, all of whom lived to be old and left families.

William Johnston, the grandfather of our subject, was reared in Cumberland and Westmoreland counties, Pennsylvania.  He lived for a short time in Stark county, Ohio, but spent his last days in Knox county, that state, where his death occurred.  He wedded Mary McCandless, also a native of Ireland, who came to the United States when only a year old.  Her father was Robert McCandless, while her mother bore the maiden name of Crow.  They located in Butler county, Pennsylvania, where her father followed the occupation of a farmer until called to his final rest.  Unto William Johnston and his wife were born eleven children, namely: Francis, Polly, William, Susan, John, Isabel, Absalom, Adam, Robert, Sarah and James.  All are now deceased.

Francis Johnston, our subject’s father, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, October 1, 1794, and grew to manhood in Butler county, that state, where he learned the sickle making business under Thomas Parks.  In 1816 he married Jane Parks, the sister of his employer, and removed to Stark county, Ohio.  She sickened and died while visiting friends in 1821, leaving one son, William, who was born September 24, 1819.  In 1823 Francis Johnston was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Anna Snoddy.  Her father, George Fleming and his wife, whose maiden name was Alspaugh, were born and reared in Ireland, and on their emigration to America took up their residence in Franklin county, Pennsylvania.  They had eight children: John, Jane, Anna, William, George, Charles, Joseph and Mary.  The parents and all of their children with the exception of William and Charles, died in Richland county, Ohio.  Mrs. Johnston was born June 9, 1798, and first married John Snoddy, with whom she removed from Butler county, Pennsylvania, to Franklin county, that state, where Mr. Snoddy died leaving a widow and three children to mourn his loss.  In 1824 Mr. and Mrs. Johnston removed to Richland county, Ohio.  By their union were born nine children, namely: Mary Ann, Eli, Eliza, Robert, John, David, Sarah Jane, George and Harriet, all of whom are living with the exception of Eli, Mary Ann, Robert and Sarah Jane.  Robert died March 5, 1842, of concussion of the brain induced by a fall; Sarah Jane died of consumption June 1, 1857, and Mary Ann died in the fall of 1896.  Eliza, John, David and Harriet are all residents of Kosciusko county, Indiana; and George makes his home near Emporia, Kansas.

In the county of his nativity Eli Johnston passed the days of his boyhood and youth, and pursued his studies in a primitive school house which had neither door, window or floor.  Each pupil recited by himself as there were no classes, and the studying was done aloud.  The teacher was most proficient in the use of the birch rod.  Mr. Johnston was a student for one term at the Mansfield Academy and one at the Monroe Seminary, where his education was completed so far as schools were concerned.  In the fall of 1847 he commenced teaching school and taught every winter with exception of that of 1870, until elected principal of the Lisbon schools in the fall of 1872.

On the 13^th of March, 1856, Mr. Johnston was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Jane Reed, who died of consumption February 24, 1868.  This was doubtless one of the darkest clouds of his life as his family was broken up and his children scattered.  They had three children, namely: Allie May, born in Richland county, Ohio, January 1, 1857, is now the widow of Warren W. Richardson, mentioned below, and a resident of Linn Grove, Iowa; Elihugh R., born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, December 29, 1860; and Jessie, born in Linn county, Iowa, June 12, 1863, was married September 25, 1884, to Rev. Hadwen William, now a resident of Elwood, Iowa.  Warren W. Richardson was born in Linn Grove, near Mt. Vernon, April 21, 1853, and in childhood was known as a truthful, thoughtful and unselfish boy, and was a favorite with his companions.  He was married January 1, 1880, to Miss Allie May Johnston, who was to him a most faithful companion.  He died at his home near the place of his birth, June 14, 1896, honored and respected by all who knew him.  In 1878 he united with the Linn Grove Presbyterian church, and always took an active and prominent part in all church work, serving as superintendent of the Sabbath school and ruling elder of the church.  Upright and honorable in all things, he was found true to every trust reposed in him, and no man in the community was held in higher regard.

Mr. Johnston was again married, April 15, 1869, his second union being with Miss Harriet Varner, by whom he had one son, Francis, who was born September 24, 1870, and died December 12, 1885.  Mrs. Johnston was born in Linn county, four miles and a half from Mt. Vernon, January 23, 1843, and is a daughter of James S. Varner, who was born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, February 29, 1804, his parents being natives of the same state.  He was educated in a subscription school at Chartiers, and at the age of eighteen commenced work on the river as a boat hand, later becoming master of a keel-boat.  Still later he was a pilot on a steamer running down the Ohio river to St. Louis.  Afterward he owned and operated a small farm in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and on disposing of that, in 1842, he came to Linn county, Iowa, where he secured a claim.  Five years later he purchased more land and continued his residence here until called to his final rest, June 12, 1881, his remains being interred in Mt. Zion cemetery, Linn Grove.  He was married at Pittsburg, in June, 1828, to Miss Ann Alsip, who was born in County Down, Ireland, February 1, 1811, and came with her parents to America in 1818; the family located in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania.  She died February 22, 1875.  Of the five children born to them Caroline died in infancy.  Adeline, born June 16, 1836, married John H. Nulton of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and died February 5, 1896; Francis, born September 6, 1838, was wounded in the battle of Shiloh during the Civil war, and died in the hospital at Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, May 12, 1862.  Mrs. Johnston was next in order of birth.  Ann Eliza, born in Linn county, January 11, 1845, was married, March 14, 1866, to W. A. Karns, of Linn county, Kansas, and she died June 25, 1895.

In 1849, Mr. Johnston removed to Indiana, where he spent three years, and then returned to Ohio.  In 1853 he spent a short time in Iowa, teaching one term of school and then returned to Ohio.  In was in 1858 that he removed with his wife and child to Keokuk county, Iowa, and in the fall of the same year came to Linn county.  In 1861 he purchased forty acres of land, and to it he subsequently added eighty acres as his financial resources permitted.  Many times after the day’s work was done in the school room he went to the timber, cut his load of wood and returned to his home by moonlight, not completing his day’s work until far into the night.

With his election to the principalship of the Lisbon schools the field of his labors as an educator widened, and renting his farm he devoted his entire time to teaching.  During his second year there, in the fall of 1873, he was elected county superintendent of schools on the Republican ticket, and filled that office most creditably for eight years.  He was an able and competent instructor and displayed excellent judgment in the choice of instructor for normal institute work.  After his retirement from office he and his wife taught in the public schools of Western, this county, for two years.  The college having recently been removed to Toledo, there was a demand for a high school there, and he was chosen as teacher of the same.  The following two years were spent in traveling over the country with a team and wagon in the vain endeavor to restore the health of his son, Frank.  The family traveled all over Nebraska and Kansas, almost as far west as Colorado and as far south as Indian Territory, but death finally claimed the boy and on December 12, 1885, at the old Varner farm in Linn Grove.  Worn out by the long vigil at the bedside of his dying boy, Mr. Johnston made no effort to follow his profession except teaching an occasional term of a country school for over four years.  About two years of this time were spent in Mulvane, Kansas.

In the summer of 1889, Mr. Johnston received a commission as superintendent and Mrs. Johnston as matron of Dwight Mission, Indian Territory, this being an academy for the education of full blood Cherokee Indiana, under the management of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions.  For four years they continued this work, when feeling the weight of many years he laid down the work he had carried on so faithfully for so long a time and retired permanently from the profession.

Throughout life Mr. Johnston was an earnest and consistent Christian gentleman.  He was reared in the rugged faith of the Associated Reform church, to which his parents belonged.  He became converted in Indiana in the winter of 1850-51, under the preaching of the Rev. Clevinger of the United Brethren church, and for about eight years held membership in the Baptist church, but on coming to Iowa, in 1858, he and his wife united with the Presbyterian church at Talleyrand, Keokuk county.  Removing to Linn county, in the fall of that year they transferred their membership to the Linn Grove Presbyterian church, with which he was connected for forty years.  In the meantime, however, he was a member, temporarily, of the church at Mulvane, Kansas, and Dwight, Indian Territory.  For the long period of twenty years he was superintendent of the Linn Grove Sunday school, and as his services in that line were always in demand, he has been known to have conducted his own school in the forenoon and two others in the afternoon.  During his labors in Indian Territory he was licensed by the Presbytery of Cherokee as a lay evangelist.  He was a most entertaining companion, being fond of a good story with a point or moral to it, and few could tell one better, while his wit was of the genuine Irish kind, always ready and always pat.  His influence was great and always for good, and his sympathy, his benevolence and his kindly greeting, will long be remembered.  His duties were performed with the greatest of care, and throughout his life his personal honor and integrity were without blemish.

Source: The Biographical Record of Linn County Iowa, Illustrated, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1901, pages 210-215.

Submitted by: Carrie J. Robertson of Marion