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biography
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Johnston, Smith Archibald, an attorney-at-law of Pittsburgh was born in Hopewell township,
Beaver County, July 18, 1839, son of Archibald and Mary (Mackrell) Johnston. His grandfather, James Johnston, who was born in the County Antrim, Ireland, came to this country in 1822,
settling at Bower Hill, now a station on the Chartier Valley Railroad. Here he purchased a farm, upon which he resided until 1830. Then he moved to a farm in the township of Hopewell,
on which he spent the rest of his life. Archibald Johnston's father was born in the County Antrim, Ireland , April 1, 1810. He was a boy of twelve when his father brought him to this country,
and he grew to manhood in Pennsylvania. At the age of fourteen he began to learn the machinist's trade with Evans & Co., of Pittsburg . After serving an apprenticeship of seven years,
he was engaged as an engineer on a river steamboat for a quarter of a century. In the meantime he purchased the farm of Dr. James Rodgers in Beaver County, adjoining that of his father,
and there spent his last days. He was not an enthusiastic politician, but he favored the Whig and afterward the Republican party; and he voted for Fremont at the time of his nomination.
His death occurred April 11, 1882. He was married on his twenty-first birthday to Mary, daughter of Henry Mackrell, both of whom were natives of the County Derry, Ireland. Mr. Mackrell,
who was then a widower, came to this country with his daughter when she was sixteen years old, and settled in Pittsburg. After her marriage he lived with her until 1840, the year of his
death. She and her husband were members of the United Presbyterian Church. They were the parents of eight children, six of whom attained maturity, namely: James, now deceased; Agnes,
the widow of Stephen Lawson, of Shousetown, Pa.; Smith Archibald, the subject of this sketch; Marshall, a resident of Pittsburg; Sarah E., deceased, who was the wife of William Springer, of this city; and Thomas D., also of Pittsburg.
Smith Archibald Johnston acquired his rudimentary education in the public schools of Hopewell. Afterward, in 1851 and 1852, while boarding with an aunt in Pittsburg, he attended the
Ralston School in this city. Subsequently he took a course in a private school in Scottsville, Beaver County, and then entered Beaver Academy, at that time a noted institution of
learning, presided over by Dr. Mateer, since a missionary in India. In his eighteenth year he engaged in the profession of teacher in Logstown, Beaver County, Pa., where he remained
about twelve months. Then he taught for a year at Coraopolis, for two years in Green Tree Borough, and for two years in West Liberty Borough. While so employed he was entered as a law
student in the office of Nathaniel P. & G. L. B. Fetterman, of Pittsburg. Registered on April 20, 1860, he was admitted to the bar July 18, 1863. Knowing that a young lawyer could
expect but a limited patronage, with a precarious income, he took charge of his old school in Green Tree Borough, devoting his spare time to such legal matters as his neighbors brought
him. After a time he was obliged to engage the assistance of his cousin, Henry C. Mackrell, now of Brooklyn, N.Y., who had been admitted to the bar two years before Mr. Johnston, for
the business demanding attention during school hours. On December 1, 1863, having resigned his school, he opened an office, with his cousin as colleague; and the firm of Mackrell & Johnston
managed a fair practice for two years. Mr. Johnston was then alone until April, 1869, when James P. Johnston (no relation) became his associate. The partnership of Johnston & Johnston
was in existence until 1872. Then Mr. Smith A. Johnston was associated for five years with Charles S. Fetterman and J. B. Flack, under the style of Fetterman, Johnston & Flack. Mr. Flack
retired first, and then Mr. Fetterman, who was appointed to the bench. The latter, however, resumed his relations with Mr. Johnston after nine months; and their subsequent association lasted
until 1882, when it was dissolved. Mr. Johnston was next associated with his brother, Marshall Johnston, until February, 1894, since which time he and his son, Charles M., have practised together
under the firm name of S. A. & Charles M. Johnston. They have an extensive and lucrative business, including all kinds of civil practice. In addition to his legal work Mr. Johnston
attends to extensive mining interests in Texas, where he spent a large part of 1895. Mr. Johnston has been the president of the San Carlos Coal Company since its organization, and was active
in establishing both that and the Rio Grande & Northern Railroad Company. The railroad, the first enterprise of the kind in that section of the country, includes a line connecting Chispa,
on the Southern Pacific Railway in Jeff Davis County, and San Carlos in Presidio County. The coal is bituminous, and finds a ready market near the mines. Mr. Johnston is an active Republican,
and has been a delegate to a number of party conventions. He represented the Fifth Ward of Allegheny in the Common Council four years, from 1874 to 1878; and he was in the Pittsburg Common Council
from 1882 to 1884, serving on the Water Commission and on the Committees on Pavements and Wooden Buildings. He was made a Mason in St. John's Lodge No. 219, of Pittsburg, and belongs to Duquesne Chapter;
he is a charter member of the Americus Club; Past Master Workman of Centre Avenue Lodge, No. 124, A. O. U. W., which he has represented in the Grand Lodge; and he belongs to the Order of the Golden Chain
and to the Ancient Essenic Order. An accomplished linguist, he speaks German especially well. In 1878 he spent three months in Europe, visiting the Paris Exposition and points of interest in England and France.
Mr. Johnston was married December 25, 1860, to Julia, daughter of William Burtt, of Green Tree Borough. Her uncle, Andrew Burtt, who was the author of Burtt's Grammar and the principal of the
Ralston School from 1852 to 1883, was considered a very superior teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have had four children — Andrew Burtt, Charles M., Howard Fetterman, and Mary M. Andrew Burtt died
September 22, 1894, aged thirty-two years. Mary M. died in infancy. Charles M. Johnston studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar in September, 1890. The other son, Howard F., was admitted to
the Texas bar at El Paso, and is at present secretary of the Rio Grande & Northern Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston are members of the Smithfield Methodist Episcopal Church.
Biographical review: containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania. Boston: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1897, Author: Anonymous.
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