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Preferred Citation

James D. Johnston, Papers, 1811-1911, Accession #11234, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Biographical/Historical Information

The father of James D. Johnston, Sr. was Colonel Andrew Johnston (1770-?), the youngest of three sons born to David and Nannie Abbot Johnston, in Culpeper County, Virginia, before the family settled in Giles County in 1778. Andrew Johnston became a successful merchant and owner of real estate at Pearisburg, marrying Jane Henderson of Montgomery County, Virginia, who bore him three sons and two daughters.

James D. Johnston, Sr. was a student at Emory and Henry College, where he earned degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, graduating in 1848, studied law under private tutelage and was admitted to the Giles County bar at the age of twenty-one. He later served on the Emory and Henry College Board of Trustees. Johnston also served Giles County as commonwealth's attorney for nine years and in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1877-1879. In 1855, he married Mary A. Fowler (?-1905), daughter of Dr. Thomas Fowler, of Monroe, Summers County, West Virginia and [Kizziah ?] Chapman. James D. Johnston, Sr. and Mary Fowler had the following children: Roberta P. (Johnston) Izard; Allene Johnston, James D. Johnston, Jr. (1869- ?), Sidney Fowler Johnston, and Mamie Elise (Johnston) Jameson. The Johnston family moved to Roanoke in 1891, where James D. Johnston, Jr., a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School (1891-1893) became associated with his father in the practice of law with offices in both Pearisburg and Roanoke. In 1913, he married Elizabeth Sinclair Whittle, of Martinsville, Virginia, daughter of Judge Stafford G. and Ruth Drewry Whittle.

Scope and Content Information

Bound volumes includes: "A Memorandum of the Expense of building brick house" belonging to Andrew Johnston, with some settlement notes made later by his executor (ca. 1830-1840); several memoranda & account books (1833-1848, [1854], 1862-1864); a cash memorandum book of Hale & Johnston in settling up the business, No. 1 (1860 Sep 13-1862 Feb 25); and a memorandum book re legal cases and fees (1866-1868).

Business & financial papers include several concerning Byrnside Hale & French, promissory notes, receipts, accounts, letters and telegrams (1884-1889) from bankers to James D. Johnston, and Bank of Abingdon Stock Certificates (1885). There are also individual business & financial papers folders for the East River Railroad Company, New River Railroad Company, and Norfolk & Western Railroad; Holston Salt & Plaster Company; and John L. Williams & Sons.

Correspondence from Allen Fowler, physician, includes a letter to his sister, Mrs. (Mary Ann) James D. Johnston, describing a trip by steamer Octavia up the Missouri River and into the Montana territory on his way to Helena (1867 Jun 15); to his brother-in-law, James D. Johnston, with testimony that the mission of John Chapman Snidow and himself to Lynchburg in 1865 was to attempt to prevent bringing troops into Giles County (1880 Sep 7); and asks Johnston if he wants to purchase shares in a mine in Montana [ante 1881 Feb].

Correspondence includes: a letter from William Jenks, Jr. to Andrew Johnston re the richness of the soil and opportunities in Elkhorn, Ray County, Missouri (1836 Aug 18); a partial letter from James D. Johnston while attending Emery & Henry College (1845 fall); B.L. Chance[antane ?] re collecting debts due him (1868 Sep 2); sister to Mrs. R.A. Pearis re family and local news (1869 Dec 11); and Samuel Lucas to James D. Johnston re the burial site of his grandmother, Sallie Marshall (1897 Jun 4).

Correspondence from I.C. Fowler, clerk in U.S. Courts, Western District of Virginia and speaker of the House of Delegates, 1877-1878, discusses settling an estate (1860-1862); militia movements in Southwest Virginia, to Captain J.D. Johnston, Co. [F?], Chapman's Brigade, Virginia Militia (1861 Sep 22); the reputation of banks and other business matters (1884-1911); and a possible land purchase in Dickinson County, Virginia (1887). Two letters from Johnston's cousin, David E. Johnston, discuss Edward Hale's estate (1874 May 23) and his new home in Portland, Oregon, with a post card photograph (1911 Dec 8).

Correspondence from A.S. Pearis, Wildwood, West Virginia, to her brother, James D. Johnston, chiefly concerning business matters and family news, especially the sale of some land to J. Keatley, Henry Dillion and A. Baber (1884-1889).

Legal Correspondence includes letters from H.B. Taliaferro, W.F. McClung, Azel Ford, H. Fillmore Lankford, Isaac D. Jones, Henry Dillion, S.G. Wallace, Stuart F. Lindsey, and copies of letters from James D. Johnston.

Legal Correspondence from General John Echols (1823-1896), lawyer and legislator, Staunton, Virginia, to James D. Johnston concerning his legal and financial affairs, especially the collection of debts owed to him.

Legal & Financial Papers of Andrew Johnston, guardian and father of James D. Johnston, include papers pertaining to a lawsuit, Andrew Johnston vs George N. Pearis, (1811 & 1813); memorandum of agreement (1820 Sep 6); a fragile & damaged copy of the will of Andrew Johnston (1838 Nov 3); and two sets of accounts kept by Andrew Johnston as guardian of James D. Johnston (1843-1852).

Legal Papers includes deeds, bills of complaints, agreements, debts to be collected, and land sales. Specific items of note include a mention of slaves to be sold (1856 Mar 15); an agreement to carry on a mercantile business at Pearisburg, signed by Wolf Crotchin, Lorenzo D. Hale, William Moser, and James D. Johnston during the Civil War (1864 Jan 14); and a certificate to practice law in Virginia for Stafford G. Whittle, father-in-law of James D. Johnston, Jr. (1871 Apr 28). Individual folders devoted to the settlement of two different estates include one for the estate of Edward Hale & its settlement by surviving partner, James D. Johnston, and the settlement of the estate of Thomas Fowler.

The folder of miscellaneous items include a letter from E.F.C. Klokke, manufacturer of campaign uniforms to Will[iam] Kilpatrick (1876 Jul 29); a typescript of an undated war story, "Oh McCarthy Was Dead"; a postcard photograph of a wagon drawn by [mules?]; and a one page manuscript about coat of arms.

Speeches and addresses by James D. Johnston include several addressed to fellow citizens, the grand jury, and "worthy patriarch," and are concerned with temperance (1850 Mar 19), the debt question in Virginia (n.d.) , a patriotic fourth of July speech given at Eggleston's Spring (1856 Jul 4), and a speech delivered in the Virginia legislature in response to the report of Mr. Harrison of Sussex (1878). Also included in this collection are many student essays and compositions by James D. Johnston, written while attending Emory and Henry College.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject.