Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series

Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be 
reproduced without permission. 

                Johnston - Governor Of North Carolina

"Our Heritage"
By Claude Moore

Gabriel Johnston left his imprint on North Carolina during his governorship 
from 1734 to 1752. During this period the population of the colony increased
from thirty thousand to ninety thousand; Fort Johnston was built on the 
banks of the Cape Fear River; the first printing press was brought to the 
Colony; the laws were revised and there was emphasis on development. 
Johnston County (embraced what is now Johnston, Wayne, Greene and Lenoir) 
was established in 1746 and was named for the governor.

Gabriel Johnston was born in Annandale, Scotland, in 1699, and he was the 
son of John and Elizabeth Belchier Johnston. Several years ago I had the 
pleasure of going to Annandale, Scotland and visiting the old church 
cemetery and seeing the Johnston graves. Many were descendants of the Earls 
of Annandale.

Garbriel Johnston had the following brothers and sister which will be of 
interest to students of North Carolina history: Samuel Johnston who settled 
in Onslow County; Gilbert Johnston who lived in Bladen County; John Johnston
who remained in Scotland; Colonel Thomas Johnston who married Rebecca 
Woodhouse and lived in Onslow County; and Eljiabeth Johnston who married 
Thomas Kenan, settled in Duplin County, and were the progenitors of the 
Kenan family in Duplin.

Young Gabriel Johnston attended St. Andrew's University, Dundee, Scotland 
where he studied medicine, but there is no record that he ever practiced. He 
studied language and became professor of Oriental language at St. Andrew's. 
His interest in politics caused him to move to London where he engaged in 
political writing with Spencer Compton, the Earl of Wilmington, who was a 
Lord of the Treasury. It was through Compton's influence that Johnston was 
appointed governor of North Carolina to succeed Governor George Burrington.

Governor Gabriel Johnston arrived at Brunswick Town and took the oath of 
office on November 2, 1734. From the beginning there was conflict with the 
wealthy planters of the lower Cape Fear. He was determined to establish a 
new port of entry at New Town which he renamed Wilmington in 1739. 

After this date Brunswick Town gradually declined in importance. Governor 
Johnston was concerned about the lack of schools and about the indifference
in North Carolina to the Church of England, but the Assembly took no steps 
to change the situation. 

After James Davis brought the first printing press to the colony, he was 
able to get the Assembly of North Carolina to revise and have printed the 
laws of the colony.

In 1735 Governor Johnston in cooperation with the governor of South Carolina
had the boundary line run between the two colonies. He is given credit for 
the great number of immigrants who poured into the colony from Scotland, 
Northern Ireland, the German states, and from Wales. 

Governor Johnston did everything possible to encourage commerce, agriculture
and industry in the colony. He encouraged the raising of silk worms, the 
growing of grapes for wine, and the raising of indigo, rice, flax and hemp.

Governor Johnston first settled on a plantation in Bladen County, north of 
Elizabethtown called "Brompton." During his governorship he acquired 25,000 
acres of land in several counties and 103 slaves. Governor Johnston married 
(first) Penelope Galland, the stepdaughter of Governor Charles Eden and they
lived on a plantation called the "Eden House," just across the river from 
Edenton. They had one daughter, Penelope, who married John Dawson of Edenton.

After the death of his wife, Governor Johnson married Frances Butler, and 
after his death, she married John Rutherford. Governor Johnston died in 
July, l752. An abstract of his will is recorded in Grimes' Abstracts of 
Wills, 1690-1760."

(References: "Historical Sketches of North Carolina" by Wheeler, "Chronicles
of the Cape Fear River" by James Sprunt and "Five Royal Governors" of North
Carolina by B. P. Robinson.)

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