Born near Glasgow, Scotland on 31 March 1858, he was educated at the St. Rollox High School and Andersolian Institute. He emigrated to Canada in 1874 and settled at Woodstock, Ontario where, in 1880, he married Jennie Edgar (c1855-1897) and had a daughter, Isabel Graham Johnston (1881-?). In 1883, he came to Winnipeg and worked as an accountant then became the right-of-way agent for the Northern Pacific Railway. He left the railway to go into the insurance business with a Mr. Jarvis and, later, with Jeffry Hall Brock and George Frederick Carruthers. In 1905, he established the Western Underwriters Association. He was a prominent member of St. George’s Presbyterian Church and, in 1894, served as President of the Manitoba Sunday School Association. He was one of the founders of the Children’s Aid Society of Winnipeg. He died at Winnipeg on 5 January 1914 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“James Johnston died this morning,” Manitoba Free Press, 5 January 1914, page 16.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 18 October 2013
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