10/30/2025
John Johnston was an Indian agent at the last Fort Wayne. He moved to Piqua, Ohio, 25 miles north of Dayton, in 1811. Allen County didn't become a county until April 1, 1824. Nonetheless, an interesting look at life in early SW Ohio, which was likely very similar to life in Fort Wayne at the time. Added the two-part post and the nearly full-page newspaper article it is from to the John Johnston page: https://www.acgsi.org/genweb/people/john-johnston-family-of-allen-county-indiana.html,
Post 1 — REMINISCENCES, Part 1, Of Mrs. Rachel Johnston Davies Who Was Born NEAR THIS CITY, DEC. 7, 1812,
The Piqua Daily Call Piqua, Ohio • Friday, December 08, 1899
And Who is Therefore 87 Years Old. – Interesting Incidents in Her Early Life, as to the Customs of the People and Other Matters About the Pioneer.
I was born Dec. 7th, 1812, in a log cabin, on what was then known as the Greenville Road, now the McMacken farm on the Versailles Pike.
Afterwards my father built a large, two-story, hewed log house. In 1811 he moved to Upper Piqua, on what is known as the Johnston farm. They were among the first to build log cabins on the farm. They cut the logs in the woods, then took them to a saw mill and made them into lumber; he made a board kiln and dried the lumber; they split the shingles, which covered the house, in the woods, by hand.
Then he built a hewed log barn, which still remains there. Father set out a big orchard, consisting of elegant fruit trees of all kinds. In winter we dried the peaches, apples, cherries, pears and plums. Then we had a maple grove and made our own molasses and sugar.
We raised our own cattle, sheep, etc., cured our beef, pork, and bacon; tanned our own leather; we sowed the flaxseed; pulled the flax; laid it on the grass to bleach; then broke it in a brake; then scotched it with a wooden knife; then mother put it through the hackle and spun it into yarn, and an old woman wove it into cloth, which supplied the family.
The wool taken from the sheep was brought home, carded and spun, and made into blankets and coverlids. Mother colored the yarn and had it made into coverlids, sending them to Dayton to be woven.
To be continued
Image by Thomas K Wharton
