BIOGRAPHY: Thomas B. JOHNSTON, Cambria County, PA 

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lynne Canterbury and Diann 
Olsen. 

Portions of this book were transcribed by Clark Creery, Martha Humenik, Betty 
Mirovich and Sharon Ringler.

USGENWEB ARCHIVES (tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives 
remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in 
accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of 
providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by 
anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities 
so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic 
pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including 
copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to 
uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb 
Archives to store the file permanently for free access. 
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ 
____________________________________________________________

From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria 
County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 357-8
____________________________________________________________

THOMAS B. JOHNSTON, ex-city superintendent of the schools of Johnstown, is a son 
of William Henry and Ann Eliza (Brown) Johnston, and was born in Brownsville, 
Fayette county, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1851.
     The Johnstons are of Irish descent, the paternal grandfather being a native 
of the Emerald Isle, where he received a liberal education and prepared himself 
for the Presbyterian ministry. Realizing that the opportunities for advancement 
were quite limited in his own country, when quite a young man he emigrated to 
America and located about five miles from Brownsville, making the place his 
permanent home. He died at the advanced age of ninety-four years.
     William Henry Johnston (father) was born near Brownsville in 1817. He 
received his education in the common and subscription schools of Fayette county, 
and on leaving school learned the trade of a carpenter. He was the principal 
contractor and builder in that locality, having erected many of the finest 
buildings in this section, among which was the fine stone church erected by the 
Episcopal congregation of Brownsville.
     He was a republican in politics ad a leader in his party in local affairs, 
and during his lifetime held many of the borough offices, and was an active and 
influential member of the Episcopal church.
     He was an unusually muscular man of commanding appearance, and, while 
strong in his convictions, was very liberal in his estimate of his fellow-men, 
and enjoyed, to an unusual degree, the confidence and respect of the community 
in which he lived. He died in Brownsville in 1891, at the age of seventy-four 
years.
     Mr. Brown, the maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a 
native of Hagerstown, Maryland, and came to Brownsville at an early day, being 
one of the pioneers of that section. He was a chair-maker, and carried on his 
business in an old log-house that is still standing, and is now in the 
possession of his daughter, who is the mother of our subject.
     Thomas B. Johnston was reared in Brownsville, and received his elementary 
education in the public schools of that place, and after graduating from the 
common school he taught one term in a country school. He possessed a strong 
desire for knowledge, and realizing the advantages of a liberal education, he 
entered Washington and Jefferson college, graduating from that institution in 
1875. On leaving college he was elected principal of the Brownsville public 
schools. He conducted these schools for four years, and in the summer of 1881 
came to Johnstown as the first borough superintendent, which position he held 
until the borough was made a city, in 1890, when he was elected first city 
superintendent. He continued in this position until the summer of 1896. Mr. 
Johnston's long term of service as superintendent of the Johnstown schools is 
the greatest attestation of his success in the educational field, having held 
this position continuously for fifteen years.
     He is a member of the Episcopal church, and in politics affiliates with the 
Republican party. He is a member of the order of F. and A. M.
     In 1892 he married Mrs. Anna M. Hay, of Johnstown. Mr. Johnston is a 
public-spirited man, of strong intellect and marked ability as an educator, as 
the high standing of the schools of the city of Johnstown strongly evidences.