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From: "Virginia Edwards" <>
Subject: Re: [US-SHIPS-PRE1820] JOHNSTON/MURRAY
Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2007 08:41:44 -0700
References: <c1d.263d253c.345dd3f9@aol.com>


Good morning, Florence --

I, too, will be away for a short time -- Nov 7 - 11, but want to respond
before then.

My Johnston family (as far as I know) has retained the Johnston spelling and
seem to have remained in the Washington County area.

The information I have about Robert and Agnes(Murray) and Agnes' brother
George, who is said to have come to Philadelphia with Robert and Agnes is
taken from a booklet entitled, "A Brief History of the Descendants of Robert
and Agnes Johnston. It was printed by the Pittsburg Printing Company in the
early 1900s, because any date of death later than 1907 is written in, rather
than being printed. The latest printed date is 1907.

The journey from Philadelphia was made in June 1780 (a trip of about a month
by wagon pulled by six or eight horses. They settled two miles from Boyce
Station near Joseph Murray who had preceded them there. Joseph Murray took
out a patent for 200 acres of land and Robert Johnston took 100 acres. It
doesn't say if Joseph Murray and the George Murray who was a brother to
Robert's wife Agness were related, but it seems likely.

More well known members of the Johnston family mention in the booklet are
William C. Johnston and Robert M. Johnston who served as missionaries in
Africa (probably connected with the Presbyterian Church as that seems to
have been the connection down through the years -- my note!). Also John
Johnston was a medical doctor in the Washington County area.

My line of descent through Robert and Agnes is through their son James (4th
child, born Allegheny County 1789, married Jane Morrow); Robert (born 1817
Peters Twp, WA County, married Rebecca Black); Richard V, (born 1848
Cannonsburg, WA Co, married Anna Weaver); Robert Black Johnston,(born 1879,
Canonsburg, married Nannie Emma Munnell); Nannie (Nani) Janette
Johnston,(born 1913, married Harold Fullick), my father.

We don't seem to have many of the names you give as common in your family.

I, too, have been to the Washington County courthouse and found
Grantee/Grantor indexes there with many entried of my Johnstons. Have you
checked Beers, J.H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington
County, PA (Chicago: J.H. Beers Co., 1893).
http://www.chartiers.com/beers-project/articles/johnston-1081.html

There is a John L. Johnston with daughters Margaret and Elizabeth. Also a
bio of Nancy Sherrard.

I am particularly interested in anything you would find about the arrival
of Robert and Agnes Johnston from Antrim in the time period prior to 1779 --
can't be more specific though it is thought they weren't in the Philadelphia
area for more than a year or two.
Robert Johnston is buried with his wife, Agnes, at Bethel Presbyterian
Cemetery in Bethel Park, Allegheny County. He was 74 years at his death,
according to the gravestone.

Here is an excerpt from the will of Robert Johnston, the immigrant
ancestor ---
"Will is filed in Allegheny County - Vol3, page 172. To son George 1/2 land
in Washington County, adjoining land of James Matthews and James Fife. To
son James - other half of said land. Tom daughters Mary, Margaret and
Agness, each $60. To daughter Jane, $60 plus one horse, saddle, 2 cows and
10 sheep. To sons Robert and John, all the land in St. Clair Township,
adjoining the land of William Douglas and Joseph Murray's heirs, James Fife
and others. "

I'll look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for responding.



Virginia



---- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 6:39 AM
Subject: Re: [US-SHIPS-PRE1820] JOHNSTON/MURRAY


> Dear Virginia,
>
> My name is Florence Johnston Jester and I do have Ancestry and would be
> happy to do some look ups for you as I have much the same brick wall re my
> Johnston family-- my great grandfather, John Johnston, was born in
> Washington
> County, PA-later went on to Ohio and then to Iowa where he is now buried.
> We have
> been searching for many years to find exactly which Johnston family in
> Washington County was his (if any). (He was born in 1817). According to
> the 1880
> census, his mother was also born in PA - his father????
>
> I do have access to a Sherrard family history- they married into the
> Johnston's that came from Ireland, sailing from County Down in the late
> 1700's and
> arriving in Delaware where several of them married, before going on to
> PA. I
> have been to Washington County, to the courthouse, and have a list of
> Johnston's who had wills or other documents- no Robert's though, John,
> Samuel,
> Alexander, William and it seems all the girls are Elizabeth, Jane or
> Sarah! (The
> parents died on shipboard-one son stayed in Ireland) For many years, we
> thought that this was our family-still might be if we could just find one
> surviving son carrying the name that we could test the DNA----!
>
> My brother and a 2d cousin are also members of the FamilyTreeDNA
> Johnson/Johnston/Johnstone surname project and we have found only two
> perfect
> matches-both of their ancestors came to this country from Ireland via
> Canada- and a
> number of other matches that would go back many more generations and one
> has his
> pedigree directly from Scotland. Some in our family still spell the name
> Johnstone; ours was spelled in the Ohio census Johnson but in Iowa where
> they
> settled and raised their family, it was almost always Johnston.
>
> I will be out of town this weekend but if you will email me what you would
> like me to look up on Ancestry on Tues, the 6th of Nov or later, I will
> see
> what I can find for you.
>
> Florence Johnston Jester
>
>
>
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