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*	WILLIS JACKSON Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. III_ Publ. 1917 - Page 1414
	GEORGE JOHNSON is one of the capable and progressive business men and merchants of Hamler, and senior member of the firm of Johnson & Mack, who have one of the best general merchandise stores at Hamler.  That trade extends all over the southern part of Henry County, and they have constantly studied to improve their methods and enlarge their stock of goods in proportion to the varying demands of their patronage.  Their store is on Randolph Street in Hamler and occupies a large building 26 by 85 feet.  The firm has been in existence since 1906.      Mr. Johnson was also one of the fourteen men who organized and took over the Henry County Bank in 1907.  Since then Mr. Johnson has served as president.  It is a copartnership institution, and now carries deposits averaging about $175,000 and a surplus of $20,000.  While it is not the largest or oldest bank in Henry County, there is no other banking institution which has a better record of conservative and successful management of resources to the satisfaction of all concerned.       Mr. Johnson was born in Defiance County, Ohio, Sept. 12, 1875.  He grew up in Napoleon Township of Henry County, was well educated in the schools of that city, graduating from the high school in 1894.  At the age of nineteen he began teaching, and in that occupation he proved his value and worth and continued it for seven years.  He then removed to Leipsic, Ohio, and for two years was a shoe merchant with J. F. Riser, to whom he then sold out.  In 1903 he located at Hamler and has since been active in merchandising in that city.  He and his brother, J. W. Johnson, a well known citizen of Henry County elsewhere mentioned on these pages, are joint owners in the "Round Bottom Farm," the old family homestead, and also other property.      Mr. George Johnson was one of a family of two sons and two daughters, all still living, and three married, being children of John and Flora (Bisonett) Johnson.  Further details of the family history are found elsewhere.      George Johnson was married at Napoleon June 26, 1901, to Miss Martha Konzen.  Mrs. Johnson was born in Freedom Township of Henry County Oct. 30, 1877, and was one of the younger children of Frank and Mary (Kilhoffer) Konzen.  Her parents were born in Ross County, Ohio, were married at Chillicothe, the ancient capital of the state, and during the Civil war times moved to Henry County and settled in the woods of Freedom Township.  Their first home there was a log cabin, and Mr. Konzen after years of work cleared up his homestead and made a good farm.  He died there when quite old, and his widow is now living at Napoleon at the age of seventy-five.  The Konzens were members of the Catholic Church.      Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have four children: J. Lawrence, born Apr. 14, 1902, and now a student in the Hamler High School; F. Margaret, born June 19, 1906, also in school; and Robert F., born Aug. 2, 1911; and Mary J. born Mar. 1, 1913.  The family are members of St. Paul's Catholic Church.  Mr. Johnson is a democrat, has served as councilman and village clerk at Hamler, and is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II _ Publ. 1917 - Page 795
	JOHN W. JOHNSON, at the age of thirty-five, has attained a position of leadership among the business men of Henry County, and at Napoleon is one of the largest dealers in seeds and wool.  In fact he is perhaps the oldest merchant in these lines, in point of years of continuous service, in Henry County.  For about ten years he has carried on business at Napoleon and at Holgate.      In 1910 at Holgate he began business under the firm name of Harrison & Johnson dealers in feeds, grain, seeds and wool. Their plant was burned Aug. 27, 1911.  Then followed twenty months of litigation with the insurance firms, the claims being finally adjusted with a 40 per cent discount.  In April, 1913, Mr. Johnson became associated with Yarnell Brothers in a similar line of business at Napoleon.  Since April, 1916, Mr. Johnson has been in business on his own account, and recently completed his fine plant at Railroad and North Perry streets adjoining the Wabash railway.  He has a large warehouse, stockroom for the storage of seed and wool, and an office building 20 by 60 feet. His trade territory covers all this section of Ohio and is both wholesale and retain.      John W. Johnson was born on the old Roundbottom farm in Napoleon Township of Henry County June 10, 1881.  When he was eight years of age his parents moved to Napoleon, where he grew up and received his education, and he also had the advantages of further training in the Northern Ohio University at Ada.  His first experience in business was as a clerk with Spangler Brothers & Company, and later with Ernest Spangler.  Since then he has been in business on his own account, and is actively associated with his brother, George A. Johnson in the ownership of the Roundbottom farm in section 35 of Napoleon Township.  This is one of the best farms of Henry County and lies on the east bank of the Maumee River, comprising 141 acres of well improved land with an excellent set of farm buildings.      The parents of Mr. Johnson were John and Flora (Bissonette) Johnson.  His father was born in Wayne County, Ohio, and his mother in Canada, and both are of French ancestry.  They were married in Defiance County, John Johnson's parents having died in Hancock County.  John Johnson and wife after their marriage lived for some years in Highland Township of Defiance County.  Two children were born to them there:  George A., who is now in business in Hamler in Henry County and is married and has a family; and Rosa, wife of M. A. Kuntz, who is connected with the Cooley Drug Company of Toledo.  After the birth of these two children the Johnson family moved to Napoleon Township in Henry County, where the father bought the Roundbottom farm.  This was in 1879.  On this farm John W. Johnson and a sister, Josephine, were born.  Josephine is now living with her widowed mother in Napoleon on Hobson Street.  Mrs. John Johnson is now about sixty-nine years of age.  Her husband died in Napoleon in July, 1907, aged sixty-five.  He was a Protestant, while his widow is a member of the Catholic Church.  Politically he was a democrat.      John W. Johnson was married in Detroit, Michigan, to Martha Groll who was born near Holgate in Henry County in 1883 and received her early education there, completing her training in Oberlin College.  Her parents were John C. Groll and wife, whose maiden name was Mary Yetter.  Mr. Groll was born in Germany, while his wife was a native of Ohio.  He made an honorable record as a soldier throughout the Civil war and served as county treasurer of Henry County two terms.  He is now retired and lives on Woodland Avenue in Napoleon.      Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have one son, John Howard, born in May, 1907.  Politically Mr. Johnson is a democrat, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II_ Publ. 1917 - Page 905
	PETER EMANUEL JOHNSTON.  Wherever they have gone the people of Scotland have carried with them certain striking characteristics, and these characteristics have made them useful and successful citizens.  Henry County has as one of its pioneer families a stock that originated in Scotland and on being transplanted to America they lost none of their keen intelligence, their thrift and their industry.      The old Johnston home is in Washington Township of Henry County, and on some land formerly owned by his father and grandfather Peter Emanuel Johnston is now living and giving a successful account of himself as a farmer and stockman.  He comes of a line going back for a number of generations and traced through the eldest male, to each of whom was given the name Peter.  Peter Johnston, grandfather of Peter Emanuel, was born in the Lowlands of Scotland Feb. 8, 1803.  As he grew up he was well educated, and he subsequently became a bank cashier in Scotland.  He married a Miss Liddle, of old and prominent family connections in Scotland.  Both families were very strict in their adherence to the Presbyterian faith.  While living in Scotland two children are born, Peter, Jr., and Agnes.      Peter Johnston, Jr., was born in 1842.  When he was six years of age in 1848 the little family left Liverpool, embarking on a sailing vessel, and after a long and uneventful voyage landed at Montreal, Canada, and soon afterwards came to the United States.  Arriving in Ohio Peter Johnston, Sr., bought eighty acres of Government land in section 35 of Washington Township, Henry County.  He paid the regular price of that day, $1.25 per acre.  Though he was a man of some means, perhaps more than was possessed by many of the early settlers, he had to begin life in this county in the primitive frontier fashion, living in a simple log cabin and with only few of the conveniences and comforts which the family had enjoyed back in Scotland.  Peter Johnston, Sr., was possessed of the strength and energy in keeping with his ambition to make a home in the New World and he not only cleared up most of the land which he purchased, but afterwards added another tract of fifty-five acres.  In the meantime the old log cabin home gave way to a more substantial and comfortable frame house, and in that home he died Jan. 24, 1895.  His wife had died a number of years before.  They were very strict Presbyterians, and reared their family in the same faith.  After coming to America Peter Johnston, Sr., became affiliated with the democratic party.  His daughter Agnes married Edward O'Hearn, and she died leaving a son Edward, Jr., who married Mary A. Donovan and they now live in California and have children.      Peter Johnston, Jr., grew up in Henry County, gained his education in the local schools, and subsequently became owner of his father's homestead.  There he spent a most active and earnest life, prospering as a farmer, and living honorably before all men.  He died and living honorably before all men.  He died Aug. 7, 1912.  He proved his loyalty to his adopted country by three years and three months of active service as a soldier during the Civil war.  He enlisted Nov. 21, 1861, in Company H of the Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was with his regiment continuously, through its thirteen hard fought battles, and was always ready to do his duty and take the risks and dangers incident to a soldier's life. He was present at some of the hardest fought battles in Tennessee and other states.  He went through it all without wounds or capture, and the only injury he received was loss of hearing.      On Nov. 25, 1865, a few months after the close of the war, he married Mary Heller.  She was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Mar. 8, 1847, and when quite young was taken to Providence Township in Lucas County, Ohio.  Her parents Emanuel and Mary (DeMuth) Heller spent the rest of their lives in Lucas County and both died after they attained the age of threescore and ten.  Mr. and Mrs. Heller were active in the Methodist Episcopal Church and were kind and good neighbors in every community where they lived.  Mary Johnston was reared a Methodist and was always faithful to that doctrine, though her husband was a Presbyterian.  In politics he was a republican and for several terms held the office of township trustee, being in that position at the time of his death.       A brief record of the children of Peter Johnston, Jr., and wife is: Peter Emanuel; James E., who is a veterinary surgeon at Piqua, Ohio, and married Minnie Inskeep;  Catherine is the wife of George Gerdes, a farmer in Damascus Township of Henry County, and their two children are Charles and Peter; Agnes married Angus Myles, a Washington Township farmer, and their four children are Mary, Rollo, Esther and Chester, the last two being twins; R. Emery lives on a farm in Washington Township, married Gertrude Kiger, who is now deceased, and has one son, Laird E. Arthur, who now occupies his grandfather's old homestead in Washington Township, married May Box, their children being Maude M., Russell, Marie and Roy.      Peter Emanuel Johnston was born and reared in Henry County and made the best of his opportunities to gain an education in the common schools and in the public schools of Grand Rapids in Wood County.  Since 1895 he has owned and occupied one of the farms formerly possessed by his father and grandfather, and in twenty-one years he has reached a position where he is considered among the most substantial agriculturists of the county.  His home is in section 2 of Washington Township, on the strip of land formerly belonging to Damascus Township, but separated from the main body by Maumee River, and for that reason finally being attached to Washington Township.  Mr. Johnston's farm comprises 111 acres.  It is rich and tillable soil, and his own improvements constitute a large investment.      In 1894 in Providence Township of Lucas County Mr. Johnston married Miss Phoebe Koch.  She was born in Wood County, Ohio, Sept. 21, 1872, and spent her early life in that county.  Her parents Jacob and Katherine (Schievel) Koch were both natives of Germany but were married in Wood County.  Mrs. Johnston was only three years of age when her mother died, and her father married for his second wife Caroline Shuff, a native of Ohio, and still living, her home being on a farm near Wheeler in Michigan.  Mr. Koch died Mar. 27, 1916, when nearly seventy years of age.  He and his wife were Evangelical Church people and in politics he was a republican.      Mr. and Mrs. Johnston take such price in their children.  Peter D., who was born Apr. 6, 1898, graduated from the high school in 1916 and is now starting life as a teacher; Florence L. was born May 14, 1903, and is in the eighth grade of the public schools; Lura H. was born Jan. 9, 1905, and is in the sixth grade; the youngest is Edna E. born June 26, 1910.  Mr. Johnston is a man who does his own thinking and his sober judgment as to the issues of politics has kept him strictly aligned with the republican party.  He has served two terms as trustee of Washington Township.  He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has held all the chairs in that order. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II_ Publ. 1917 - Page 851

 

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