Johnston Family

John Johnston was among the earliest permanent English-speaking settlers of Sault Ste. Marie. Born at Craige in Antrim county (in northern Ireland) in 1762, Johnston left his home and family in 1790 to come to Canada. He remained here until 1793 when he crossed over to Sault Ste. Marie to establish himself in the fur trade near the headwaters of the St. Mary's Falls.

Johnston would make his home here for the next thirty-five years until his death in 1828. His business depended upon a close relationship with the Indians of the regions, most notably the Objibwa or Chippewas. Johnston eventually married "Susan" (d. 1843), the daughter of one of their chiefs, named Waubojeeg. Together, they would have eight children - four boys and four girls. The children were Louis (1793-1825); George (1796-1861); Jane (1800-1842), who married Henry R. Schoolcraft, the noted Indian scholar and government Superintendent of Indian Affairs; Eliza (1802-1885); Charlotte (1806-1871); William (b. 1811); Anna Maria (b. 1814); and John McDouall (1816-1895), who worked for Schoolcraft among the Indians, and later became a U.S. Indian Commissioner.