Johnston, William Agnew, 1848-1937.

William Agnew Johnston was born in Patterson Corners, near Oxford Mills, Canada West (Ontario) on July 24, 1848. In 1865, William's uncle, Hugh Agnew took him to Rockford, Illinois. In 1869 William moved to Appleton City, Missouri and studied law under attorney, E. F. Clark. He filed for U. S. citizenship in 1871. In 1880 he was elected Kansas Attorney General and was reelected to that post in 1882. Johnston became a Justice of the Supreme Court when he was elected to fill an unexpired term as Associate Justice in 1884. He was then reelected an unprecedented eight times and served a total of 50 years and seven months. He was Chief Justice from January 1903 until he retired in July 1935. He died January 23, 1937 and was known as "the Grand Old Man of Kansas".

Attorney; Kansas attorney general (Republican), 1881-84; justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, 1884-1935, chief justice after 1903. Of Minneapolis.