Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Johnston, John (Indian agent)

JOHNSTON, John, Indian agent, b. in Ballyshannon, Ireland, in March, 1755; d. in Washington, D.C., 19 April, 1861. His parents emigrated in 1786 to Cumberland co., Pa. John served with Gen. Anthony Wayne in his campaign against the northwestern Indians in Ohio 1792-'3, was clerk in the war department and agent for Indian affairs thirty-one years. For eleven years he was a canal-commissioner for Ohio, and he served throughout the war of 1812 as paymaster and quartermaster. In 1841-'2 he was commissioner to treat with the Ohio Indians for their removal. He was president of the Historical and philosophical society of Ohio. His “Account of the Indian Tribes of Ohio” appears in the 5th volume of the “American Antiquarian Society's Collections.”