Wapello County IA Archives Biographies.....Johnston, Allen 1848 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 July 5, 2013, 1:10 pm

Source: See Below
Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher

ALLEN JOHNSTON.

Allen Johnston was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1848, and was a little lad
of seven summers when the family removed to Iowa, settling on a farm a mile
northeast of Blakesburg. Allen Johnston had the usual experiences of the farm
lad until nineteen years of age, when, in 1867, he left the farm and took up the
study of dentistry in Ottumwa under his brother, W. T. Johnston, who was also
agent for the Singer sewing machine. The younger brother took a greater interest
in the sale and mechanism of sewing machines than in dentistry, and, therefore,
directed his energies in that direction. From an early age he had displayed
inventive genius. In this connection a contemporary biographer has written:

"In 1862, while carpenters were working on the erection of a new frame house on
the farm, he sat watching them as they used the crank auger and chisel in making
the mortices, and he conceived the idea of putting a chisel on the auger, so
that the work of the auger and chisel would be done by the same crank at the
same time, and thus the auger would throw out all the chips made by the chisel,
forming a square hole. He explained his theory to the workmen and they thought
there was a possibility of making a tool of that kind, but their remarks were of
such a character as to discourage his saying anything further about it. Later
such a patent was taken out by other parties and became a very valuable
discovery. He was not like most boys on the farm, and although he was eager for
sports and spent much time in that way, he passed most of his leisure hours at
home working in a little shop which he had fixed up in the attic. He spent his
spare cash (which was small in amount) for too1s and chemicals, with which to
make experiments. When young he made wagons and sleds. In his neighborhood hazel
nuts were plentiful and young Johnston made a machine to hull them. He made
silver and gold rings for the neighboring children, also repaired revolvers,
guns and other implements. It was while selling sewing machines that Mr.
Johnston first began to make extensive use of his inventive power along
commercial lines. The first patent he worked on was taken out by his brother, W.
T. Johnston, in 1869, and was an embroidery attachment for sewing machines. His
second invention was a ruffler attachment, which was made by him in his
brother's dental office; they were first sold by canvassing from house to house.
As trade increased there was a demand for more room and they moved into the
third story of a Main street building, where he made tools with which to
manufacture the celebrated Johnston rufflers. The first machinery was propelled
by hand, through the aid of a large grindstone. The old grindstone was soon
replaced by an engine and more spacious quarters were taken on Court street,
where a large store room was secured. Business grew rapidly and soon thirty
hands were employed. The company was known as W. T. Johnston & Company,
consisting of W. T. Johnston, Allen Johnston, W. T. Major, J. T. Hackworth and
J. G. Hutchison. In the spring of 1871 they bought a lot in the middle of the
block they now occupy and thereon built a factory, thirty by sixty feet in
dimensions and two stories high, thinking that structure would accommodate all
the business the firm would ever have; but this was a mistake, as business
increased rapidly and they had to add to their capacity until the entire block
was covered by one solid building. In 1872 the concern was organized as a
corporation under the title of the Johnston Ruffler Company, the incorporators
being J. T. Hackworth, Allen Johnston, W. T. Major and J. G. Hutchison. The last
named gentleman sold his business after a few years and A. G. Harrow was
admitted into the corporation. The largest amount of business done by them was
during the period from 1882 to 1892. The Johnston Ruffler Company had in its
employ over five hundred employes.

"Allen Johnston took out patents on various sewing machine attachments and they
were all manufactured by the Johnston Ruffler Company until recent years. Most
of the sewing machine patents have been sold to an eastern corporation, and the
Ottumwa Iron Works, which now occupy the plant formerly operated by the Johnston
Ruffler Company and which are controlled and managed by the same gentlemen who
promoted the latter company, now manufacture other machinery patented by Mr.
Johnston. Mr. Johnston's patents for the automatic screw machines were among the
first secured for that kind of machinery. These machines were manufactured and
sold for a time by the Johnston Huffier Company and the Ottumwa Iron Works, but,
the patents having been finally sold to other parties, they ceased to
manufacture the machines. Among the many other patents taken out by Mr. Johnston
the latest and most important are machines for the manufacture of cutlery.

"Some time ago Mr. Johnston was induced to take stock in a cutlery factory and
this is what led him to make improvements on machinery of that kind. His first
patents were for grinding and polishing machines; these brought out another
condition in the department of forging, which led him to make improvements in
order to get a uniform product for the grinding machines. The result of this was
the inauguration of the manufacture of grinding machines and this led to the
designing and patenting of machines for the different operations—forging,
grinding, whetting and glazing, also machines for grinding and finishing
handles. About twenty-five patents have been taken out by Mr. Johnston, bearing
on cutlery machinery. So important have these been that they have revolutionized
the manufacture of cutlery, even in the old world. These machines are made by
the Ottumwa Iron Works and are being used in Norwich, Connecticut, and
Sheffield, England, the two greatest cutlery manufacturing centers in the world.
The Ottumwa Iron Works are now building machines for one of the most extensive
plants in Sheffield, England. In this connection an incident may be related.
Some years ago Mr. Johnston was on his way to England to make arrangements with
cutlery works there for the, introduction of his machines. On the steamer he
made the acquaintance of an Englishman, who made some inquiries as to the object
of his visit to England. Mr. Johnston replied: 'I am going there to show them
how to make cutlery.' The Englishman replied: 'Why do you mean to say that they
don't know how to make cutlery in Sheffield?' 'No,' said Mr. Johnston, 'I don't
mean that, but I am going over to show them a better and cheaper way to make
cutlery, and I am sure they will take hold of my proposition.' The result proved
to be as the latter said; the English factories were glad to take hold of the
American inventor's patents and are well pleased with their investments."

Mr. Johnston has taken about one hundred and twenty-five patents on various
lines of invention, among them those mentioned above and his more recent
achievements, hollow balls used in ball bearings and a pressed gear used in
washing machines and lawn mowers, which is made from strips of sheet metal by
compressing the metal into the shape of gear teeth.

In 1872 Allen Johnston wedded Elizabeth Wiley, a daughter of Dr. Wiley, of
Oskaloosa, Iowa, and they became parents of three children: Stella M., the wife
of F. W. Sharp, of Ottumwa, who is a partner in the Johnston & Sharp Company;
Roy W., who is also a partner; and Alice M., at home. The family attend the
First Presbyterian church, and Mr. Johnston contributes liberally to its support
and to its charities. Politically he is a republican, with no desire for office,
nor does he have any great desire to accumulate large wealth, but prefers the
pleasure which he gets from his inventions and from the success which comes in
developing his embryonic ideas into tangible assets in the mechanical world.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY IOWA
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1914


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