James Johnston
The father of James was Charles Johnston, one of the first settlers of Mosquito Creek. He was born near Lexington, Ky., in the year 1790. He was brought by his father, Silas Johnston, to the head-waters of Mosquito Creek, within twelve miles of where James now lives, in the year 1799. Here he married Miss Nancy McCaw. After marriage he moved to Urhana, where he engaged in trade. His principal trade was with the Indians for furs, skins, etc. They lived in Urbana until the spring of 1818, when they moved to Perry Township and located on the N. E. quarter of section 21. Silas Johnston, his father, was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and also a major in the war of 1812. Charles and two of his brothers were in the war of 1812.
Charles Johnston was said to have been the first white boy that lived on the banks of Mosquito Creek. An incident is related of Silas Johnston and two of his sons who came to the head-waters of Mosquito Creek to build a cabin previous to their moving to their land. They were camped near where they purposed building their cabin. There was an Indian camp close by. One evening as they were sitting around their camp fire, a couple of Indians came to their camp. They were drunk and became quarrelsorne. Johnston’s gun stood beside a tree close by. One of the Indians started to get the gun, but Johnston anticipated him and got the gun first, drew up to shoot the Indian, but changed his mind and hit him with the gun and knocked him down. The Indians then left, but Johnston knew they would soon return with others; so they put out their fire and went and secreted themselves in the woods elsewhere until morning. They then returned to Kentucky and remalned there some nine months, when they again returned to their home in the woods. Charles Johnston was one of the early Commissioners of Shelby County. He continued to reside on his farm until about 1863, when he moved to Pemberton, where he resided until his death in 1865.
James Johnston was born in Perry Township in 1826, on the place entered by his father, Charles Johnston. His father’s family consisted of fourteen children, twelve of whom were born in Perry Township. In 1848 he married Miss Lephia Newman. By this union they have had three children, two only now living, viz., Nancy J. and Charles W. Mr. Johnston has lived in Perry Township fifty-six years, never having had a home anywhere else. He now resides on section 15, where he has a fine farm with good improvements. He commenced for himself when he was nineteen years of age. He bought his time of his father, agreeing to pay him one hundred and fifty dollars. The first money he earned for himself was by scoring timber at forty cents per day; the next was to work for ten dollars per month. In this way he made his start, working by the day and month until after he married, when he still worked at fifty cents per day for furniture to keep house with. In this manner he kept on until he had saved enough to buy forty acres of land. From this small beginning he has now got a comfortable home of 140 acres of well improved land.
History of Shelby County, Ohio; R. Sutton & Co, Philadelphia PA, 1883