Charles W. Johnston
Charles W. Johnston, ex- mayor of Harrod, and at present a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Allen County, was born March 18, 1857, in Fairfield County, Ohio, and is a son of Samuel and Mary (Kelsey) Johnston. The Johnston family originally came from Scotland, while our subject's paternal grandmother was of German descent. His grandparents were among the pioneers of Fairfield County, which was the birthplace of his father and mother. In 1859 his parents moved from near Bremen, Fairfield County, to the farm of 80 acres in section 11, Auglaize township, Allen County, which the father had bought in the fall of 1858. They continued to live there until the spring of 1872, when they moved to Hardin County, having bought a tract of land near Kenton on which was located a sand and gravel bank, whose product was furnished the town of Kenton in addition to the crops of the farm. Both father and mother resided on this farm during their remaining days, the father dying February 19, 1892, and the mother, July 19, 1894. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Kenton. Samuel Johnston enlisted in Company D, 180th Reg. Ohio Vol. Inf., at Lima, on September 22, 1864, and served until the close of the war. He was a strong Republican, and an ardent friend and admirer of U. S. Senator J. B. Foraker. Mrs. Johnston was a voluminous reader and brilliant conversationalist. Four children survived them, namely: Hattie A., whose husband, Professor Hufford, occupies a chair in the Ohio Northern University at Ada; Charles W.; Newton D., a prosperous farmer of Hardin County; and Edward C., who at present is in the hospital at Toledo, suffering from a severe attack of typhoid fever.
Coming to this county with his parents, at the age of two years, Charles W. Johnston may be claimed as a lifelong resident. When 15 years of age he accompanied his parents to Hardin County, and at the 17 began teaching school. He continued in that profession until 1880, teaching in the winter, and attending the Ohio Normal University at Ada, during the spring and fall terms. He pursued a full course in mathematics, which included surveying and civil engineering, and when he had almost completed the classical course became the agent of a school-book publishing house, continuing on the road for several years.
On January 1, 1888, Mr. Johnston moved to Harrod and the following fall resumed his old calling as a teacher, serving as superintendent of the Harrod Schools for two of three years. He then accepted a position as traveling salesman with Seiberling, Miller & Company, manufacturers of harvesting machinery, and later represented The Deering Harvester Company, as an expert. Later he became general agent for Aultman, Miller & Company, having charge of their branch office at Fostoria, Ohio. He retired from the road in 1903.
Mr. Johnston has been a resident of Harrod about 18 years and fully 15 years of that time has seen him closely identified with municipal government, either as councilman or mayor. Three times he has been elected to the mayoralty, form which he resigned before the expiration of his last term of account of his frequent enforced absences form the city. In 1890 he was elected justice of the peace, serving six years. So faithful and fearless has he been in discharging the trust confided to him that he was elected county commissioner in the fall of 1904, succeeding Albert Hefner, whom he defeated. This contest was a close one, as both men were exceptionally popular and each had a strong backing, resulting in the polling of one of the largest votes ever cast in the county-- in fact, exceeding the number cast for Roosevelt and Parker at the same time, the Republicans winning the day. Mr. Johnston is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, for the past two years serving as venerable consul of Harrod Camp.
Mr. Johnston was married October 10 , 1886, to Clara Groff, who is a naive of Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, and a daughter of Isaac Groff. They have two children Pansy, born August 29, 1887, and Lily, Born March 8, 1890.