The
Johnston Family
Indian Agent John Johnston and his wife, Rachel Robinson Johnston, moved from Fort Wayne, Indiana Territory, to the upper Miami Valley in 1811. They purchased farmland near Piqua in 1804 and built a two-story log house and barn shortly thereafter.
John was appointed colonel, and served as paymaster and quartermaster for General William Henry Harrison's Army of the Northwest during the War of 1812. During the war, he began building a brick home in the Federal style.
Styling himself as a "gentleman" farmer, John served as the federal Agent to all Ohio Indians from 1812 to 1829, and negotiated many of the treaties that led to the removal of all Ohio tribes west across the Mississippi River.
Rachel took responsibility for the farm and raising 15 children. She was very active in the Piqua Bible Society and served as its president for 15 years.
The Johnston's helped to establish St. James Episcopal Church in Piqua and the first subscription school in Miami County.
John served as president of the Piqua Agricultural Society and was appointed to the State Board of Agriculture in 1846. He was also instrumental in founding the Miami County Fair.
Together, the Johnstons greatly influenced the development of the upper Miami Valley.
John and Rachel had 15 children, 14 of whom lived to adulthood.
Three of John and Rachel's five sons served in the military. They were Stephen, who served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy; Abraham Robinson, who served as a Captain in the First Dragoons of the U.S. Army, and was killed in the Mexican-American War; and James, who served as a Captain in the 9th New York Infantry and 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died in the American Civil War.
Four of the five surviving daughters would marry, most notably, Juliana to Jefferson Patterson, son of Colonel Robert Patterson and Elizabeth Lindsay Patterson of Dayton.
Seven of John and Rachel's grandsons would serve in the American Civil War. This included three sons of their eldest daughter, Elizabeth Johnston Jones. They were Major Frank Jones (6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and Aide-de-Camp to General A. McDowell McCook), Colonel William Jones (36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry), and Lieutenant Charles Jones (U.S. Navy).
Both Frank and William Jones fought at the Battle of Chickamauga, with William being killed. Frank went behind enemy lines, with Confederate permission, to find his brother's body and bring him home to Piqua for burial.
The other grandsons that served in the Civil War were four sons of Robert and Juliana Johnston Patterson. They were Captain Robert Patterson (11th and 61st Ohio Volunteer Infantry), Captain William Patterson (1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry), Private Stephen Patterson (86th Ohio Volunteer Infantry), and Private John H. Patterson (131st Ohio Volunteer Infantry).
