Like all too many Johnston/es I'm looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack with both of my hands tied behind my back. My interests are: 1. Francis "Frank" Johnston, b. ca. 1805 in Ireland, married Frances "Fanny" Hud ca. 1825 and went to Upper Canada settling in Prescott Co. ca. 1827. I believe that Frank and Fanny were married in Ireland; however, others claim that Fanny was born in Upper Canada. It's anyone's guess at this time. Oral family history regards Fanny with a chuckle - she was a "social climber" and told anyone who would listen that her husband was English...not Irish or Scottish. Frank was a successful farmer but died fairly young from a heart condition - in his early 50's. 2. Robert "Red Robin" Johnston, b. ca. 1807 in Ireland, went to Upper Canada ca. 1832. My gggrandfather married Mary "Mae" Frances McQueen. 3. Archibald "Archie" Johnston, b. 1815 in Ireland, went to Upper Canada ca. 1832 with Robert above who was either his brother, cousin or uncle - take your choice as oral family history is very divergent on this. We have no locations in Ireland for any of the Wee Three; however, various sources of oral family history have them coming from all over the island - Ballymena, Londonderry, Tarra, Co. Donegal and Co. Cork being mentioned. To make matters even more frustrating is that in the 1920's 2 of my Dad's aunts visited Ireland, found all of our Johnston kin buried (none surviving), made a journal containing their burial details, and now no one knows what happened to the journal or where the 2 sisters visited. Ca. 1905-1910 a sailor came to my ggrandfather's farm searching for a Johnston. He had been hired by a solicitor in Ireland. The last of our Johnstons had died leaving no surviving kin in Ireland and a small estate. He may have been a pub owner. My grandfather moved about this time to a better farm in Clarence Twp., Russell Co., Ontario, Canada, on what is now Johnston Road. I refer to the above as the "Wee Three" as all were said to have been tall with my gggrandfather coming in at 6'-5" - the same height as my son incidentaly. All owned farms in Upper Canada within walking distance of each other. Oral family history indicates that their father was born in Scotland, moved to Ireland, married, raised a family and died in Ireland - no locations though. Y-DNA testing has us as Danish Viking who settled in Scotland. A Y-DNA cousin has his Danish Viking Johnstones placed at Poldean (a large farm in Scotland) and as members of the Old Gang of Wamphray who fought successfully at Dryfe Sands. When Poldean passed from Johnstone ownership ca. 1743 the family seems to have split up and moved on within a generation or so. Most of my newfound Y-DNA cousins have their ancestors leaving Scotland about this time and going to England, Ireland, Upper Canada, and the U.S.A.. We have Y-DNA testing linking Robert and Francis but no oral family history. We have oral family history linking Robert and Archibald but no Y-DNA testing. Robert and Archibald are said to have come across with another family member who died during the voyage or shortly after landing in Quebec. We have no name for the deceased. I have had some very good luck in finding old family photographs and have restored some. The Johnston Family Album may be viewed at: http://www.pbase.com/cjmax/photo_restoration&page=all Robert "Red Robin" Johnston and Mary "Mae" McQueen had 16 children of whom 13 survived, and I'm fortunate to have photographs of Red Robin, Mae and 11 of their children. If any of the above sounds familiar or you have any information on any of the above, please, don't be bashful, contact me...ASAP... :-) Cliff. Johnston "May the best you've ever seen, Be the worst you'll ever see;" from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay

I would like to add to my original posting that the Assessment Roll of 1834 for Upper Canada shows a Catherine Johnston living with Francis and Frances Johnston and the Assessement Roll of 1835 shows a Thomas Johnston living with Francis and Frances Johnston. Both Catherine and Thomas are recorded only once. I have no other information on them. Cliff. Johnston "May the best you've ever seen, Be the worst you'll ever see;" from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cliff. Johnston" <moments-in-time@houston.rr.com> To: <irl-antrim@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 9:25 AM Subject: [IRL-ANTRIM] JOHNSTON/E, Francis, Robert & Archibald - The "Wee Three" > Like all too many Johnston/es I'm looking for the proverbial needle in a > haystack with both of my hands tied behind my back. My interests are: > > 1. Francis "Frank" Johnston, b. ca. 1805 in Ireland, married Frances > "Fanny" Hud ca. 1825 and went to Upper Canada settling in Prescott Co. ca. > 1827. I believe that Frank and Fanny were married in Ireland; however, > others claim that Fanny was born in Upper Canada. It's anyone's guess at > this time. Oral family history regards Fanny with a chuckle - she was a > "social climber" and told anyone who would listen that her husband was > English...not Irish or Scottish. Frank was a successful farmer but died > fairly young from a heart condition - in his early 50's. > > 2. Robert "Red Robin" Johnston, b. ca. 1807 in Ireland, went to Upper > Canada ca. 1832. My gggrandfather married Mary "Mae" Frances McQueen. > > 3. Archibald "Archie" Johnston, b. 1815 in Ireland, went to Upper Canada > ca. 1832 with Robert above who was either his brother, cousin or uncle - > take your choice as oral family history is very divergent on this. > > We have no locations in Ireland for any of the Wee Three; however, > various sources of oral family history have them coming from all over the > island - Ballymena, Londonderry, Tarra, Co. Donegal and Co. Cork being > mentioned. To make matters even more frustrating is that in the 1920's 2 > of my Dad's aunts visited Ireland, found all of our Johnston kin buried > (none surviving), made a journal containing their burial details, and now > no one knows what happened to the journal or where the 2 sisters visited. > > Ca. 1905-1910 a sailor came to my ggrandfather's farm searching for a > Johnston. He had been hired by a solicitor in Ireland. The last of our > Johnstons had died leaving no surviving kin in Ireland and a small estate. > He may have been a pub owner. My grandfather moved about this time to a > better farm in Clarence Twp., Russell Co., Ontario, Canada, on what is now > Johnston Road. > > I refer to the above as the "Wee Three" as all were said to have been tall > with my gggrandfather coming in at 6'-5" - the same height as my son > incidentaly. All owned farms in Upper Canada within walking distance of > each other. Oral family history indicates that their father was born in > Scotland, moved to Ireland, married, raised a family and died in Ireland - > no locations though. Y-DNA testing has us as Danish Viking who settled in > Scotland. A Y-DNA cousin has his Danish Viking Johnstones placed at > Poldean (a large farm in Scotland) and as members of the Old Gang of > Wamphray who fought successfully at Dryfe Sands. When Poldean passed from > Johnstone ownership ca. 1743 the family seems to have split up and moved > on within a generation or so. Most of my newfound Y-DNA cousins have > their ancestors leaving Scotland about this time and going to England, > Ireland, Upper Canada, and the U.S.A.. > > We have Y-DNA testing linking Robert and Francis but no oral family > history. We have oral family history linking Robert and Archibald but no > Y-DNA testing. Robert and Archibald are said to have come across with > another family member who died during the voyage or shortly after landing > in Quebec. We have no name for the deceased. > > I have had some very good luck in finding old family photographs and have > restored some. The Johnston Family Album may be viewed at: > http://www.pbase.com/cjmax/photo_restoration&page=all Robert "Red > Robin" Johnston and Mary "Mae" McQueen had 16 children of whom 13 > survived, and I'm fortunate to have photographs of Red Robin, Mae and 11 > of their children. > > If any of the above sounds familiar or you have any information on any of > the above, please, don't be bashful, contact me...ASAP... :-) > > Cliff. Johnston > "May the best you've ever seen, > Be the worst you'll ever see;" > from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRL-ANTRIM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Cliff What other Canadian information have your found on the three brothers in Canada? - Death certificatees, Census entries, newspaper reports of their deaths, etc. Even on reports of the 50th or 100th aniversiary of the County may have something on where the family came from in Ireland. You did not say what religion they were? Check the local County history to see if any other famileis or Minister's came in this period. This MAY give you the general background to see where your family came from. So if the county history says that people from Belfast, Ballymoney, etc came in certain years, those towns regions maybe an starting point. Mike Boyd Brisbane ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cliff. Johnston" <moments-in-time@houston.rr.com> To: <irl-antrim@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2007 1:25 AM Subject: [IRL-ANTRIM] JOHNSTON/E, Francis,Robert & Archibald - The "Wee Three" > We have no locations in Ireland for any of the Wee Three; however, > various sources of oral family history have them coming from all over the > island - Ballymena, Londonderry, Tarra, Co. Donegal and Co. Cork being > mentioned. To make matters even more frustrating is that in the 1920's 2 > of my Dad's aunts visited Ireland, found all of our Johnston kin buried > (none surviving), made a journal containing their burial details, and now > no one knows what happened to the journal or where the 2 sisters visited. > > Ca. 1905-1910 a sailor came to my ggrandfather's farm searching for a > Johnston. He had been hired by a solicitor in Ireland. The last of our > Johnstons had died leaving no surviving kin in Ireland and a small estate. > He may have been a pub owner. My grandfather moved about this time to a > better farm in Clarence Twp., Russell Co., Ontario, Canada, on what is now > Johnston Road. >