Thomas F Johnston - Who He Was and Who He Was Not
Research note by Wesley Johnston - begun 10 Jun 2020, last updated 10 Jun 2020
https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/34820597/person/172201739292/media/b87d107c-3600-4746-8a7d-a24e928acb1a
Context and Contents
This research note addresses the accurate identification Thomas F. JOHNSTON, father of William Victor JOHNSTON and Kittie (Johnston) MULLER, both of whom were born in Nebraska. A great deal of erroneous information about him exists in online family trees, confusing him with other men. This research note contains three sections:
Who He Was (Certainty)
This section gathers definite facts about Thomas F JOHNSTON, so that we have a solid base to which we can compare other information.
1 - Thomas JOHNSTON was in Y-DNA Haplogroup I-M223.
We know this because his son William Victor JOHNSTON's son Philip Sherman JOHNSTON tested with Family Tree DNA at the 111 marker level of Y-DNA STRs.
2 - Thomas JOHNSTON was born in Ontario, Canada.
We know this because in the 1910 US Census of Thermopolis in Fremont County, Wyoming, he is recorded as born in English Canada to parents born in English Canada. See https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7884/4454910_00386/31276158 (NOTE: His age in this census is given as either 52 or 82, which is uncertain and thus is discussed in the second section below.)
3 - Thomas JOHNSTON was the father of William Victor JOHNSTON and Kittie (JOHNSTON) MULLER
We know this because in the 1910 US Census of Thermopolis in Fremont County, Wyoming, he is recorded as the father-in-law of Kittie's husband John C MULLER whose brother-in-law Victor W JOHNSTON was also living with them. See https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7884/4454910_00386/31276158
Who He Might Have Been (Possibility)
This section gathers definite information about Thomas F JOHNSTON that either is documented but uncertain or is shown in trees but cannot yet be verified or refuted.
1 - Thomas JOHNSTON was born either about 1828 or 1858.
The 1910 US Census of Thermopolis in Fremont County, Wyoming recorded his age as either 82 or 52 and showed him as the father of Kittie (JOHNSTON) MULLER (age 20) and Victor W JOHNSTON (age 22). Their ages, respectively, calculate to approximate birth years 1828 or 1858, 1890, 1888. If the age 82 is correct, he would have been 60 at the birth of this son and 62 at the birth of his daughter. As noted in the next item, there is a reasonable possibility that his wife was born about 1868. Thus the reading of the census as 58 for his age seems most likely. But we need other records to verify this. See https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7884/4454910_00386/31276158
2 - Thomas JOHNSTON was either widowed or divorced by 1910.
The 1910 US Census of Thermopolis in Fremont County, Wyoming recorded him as widowed ("Wd"). However, other trees and FindAGrave show him as having married May WILSON who the 1900 US Census of Sherman Township in Dunn County, Wisconsin shows May JOHNSTON as the divorced ("D") daughter of Ransom B WILSON. The census taker recorded her age 32, born May 1868 in Wisconsin to Vermont parents, mother of 3 children of whom 2 were then still living. All of these facts about her fit with what we see in the 1910 Wyoming census, except for Thomas F JOHNSTON showing as widowed and not divorced. These facts do offer some hope that they can be confirmed or refuted with other records.
See her in 1900 at https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7602/4120627_00133?pid=63210793
See him in 1910 at https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7884/4454910_00386/31276158
Who He Was Not (Impossibility and Error)
Many online family trees confuse this Thomas F JOHNSTON with other men. This section identifies and corrects all of those errors.
1 - He was NOT the Thomas F JOHNSTON born in Wellington County, Ontario, to George and Eleanor (KIRKBY) JOHNSTON.
We know this because the 1871 Canada Census Mortality Schedule for Maryborough Township in Wellington County shows that George and Ellen JOHNSTON and their children Thomas F JOHNSTON and Rebecca A JOHNSTON all died in the 12 months before the 2 Apr 1871 census date. Specifically, Thomas F JOHNSTON, who was born in Ontario, died of Scarlet Fever in March at age 8. See https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1578/4396750_00391?pid=406973
2 - He was NOT the Thomas JOHNSTON who died 2 Dec 1940 in Los Angeles.
We know this because the index entry shows that the Thomas JOHNSTON who died 2 Dec 1940 in Los Angeles was born 21 Jul 1858 in Michigan. And we know from the facts in section 1 that the Thomas JOHNSTON of this research note was born in Ontario, Canada. See https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=5180&h=8237478
3 - He was NOT the Pius Thomas Francis JOHNSTON born 1870 in Kansas.
Most trees do not make this confusion, but some do. We know that the 1870 Kansas man is not the right one because from the facts and possibilities in the first two sections above, we know that the right man was born in Ontario, Canada, either about 1828 or about 1858.