John Johnston portrait

Portrait of Colonel John Johnston, ca. 1820. This image is one in a series of photographs documenting the restoration of the original oil painting. This photograph was taken after restoration was completed. The painting is a bust portrait of Johnston (1775-1861) that was done in Philadelphia. He is seen wearing a black suit with a white shirt and black cravat. Johnston was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States at age 11. He participated in Anthony Wayne's assault on Native Americans living in the Northwest Territory during the early 1790s. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Johnston to be the Indian Agent at the trading agency in Fort Wayne, Indiana Territory. From 1811 until 1829, he served as the agent at the newly-established agency at Piqua, Ohio. Johnston helped negotiate the Treaty of Upper Sandusky in 1842, which resulted in the Wyandot Indians selling their land and moving west of the Mississippi River. Johnston played an important political and social role in Ohio as well. He was a strong advocate of the Whig Party. With his wife, Johnston formed the first Sunday school in Miami County. He helped found Kenyon College and also served on the board of trustees of Miami University. He published one of the earliest histories of the Native Americans that once called Ohio home. He died in 1861 in Washington, D.C