James Rusling JOHNSTON ¹

   User ID: P00050811.

  General Notes:

Janice Orth, who descended from Isaac and Hannah's daughter Florence, had
a written note that Hannah's parents were Irish, French, Scotish, Irish
(again) and Dutch. Note: This is not entirely correct as Hannah's
Grandmother, Hannah (Rusling) Johnston, was born in England.

James was a farmer and owned a large farm near Knoxville, Illinois. He
moved to Knoxville, Ill, before his parents moved there in 1844. In
1867 he and his family moved to Marion County, Iowa. Some references
stated that he died in Knoxville, Illinois. However, The "History of
Marion County, Iowa" is correct and he died in Marion County, Iowa.
"Cemeteries of Marion County" lists him as a Mason. (see reference 4
below)

Nancy and James were farmers owning 64 acres of land on Sec. 18 with a
post office address as Durham, Iowa in 1867. In 1875, they owned about
58 acres unless the rest of the 64 acres was in the names of N.J. and
C.J. (These names were probably Nancy Johnston and Clarinda Johnston.)
The History of Marion County tells about Durham, "Durham is located on
the line of the C., B., & Q. Railroad. Durham is in Clay Township. It
was laid out by C.H. Durham and William Harvey, in November, 1875. It
contains a post office, two general stores, depot, grain house, shoe
shop, blacksmith shop, and church."
Durham no longer exists in the year 2000. However, nearby Harvey, Iowa,
does exist. The History of Marion County describes Harvey as, "located
on the C., R. I. & P.R.R. it was laid out by James Harvey, S. Wright, and
E.G. Doughman, in September, 1876. It contains a depot, grain house and
grocery store. It has a population of twenty."

James and Nancy are both buried in Brekenridge Cemetery in the English
Settlement area, near Durham, Clay Township, and Harvey, Iowa, and east
of Knoxville, Iowa. Their burial plots are in block 2, row 4, and stone
5. They are in the north section in the center, four (4) lots in from the
North. Breckenridge was once know as McMillan Cemetery. It is located
in Section 13 of East Knoxville Township on highway 92 about 5 miles
southeast of Knoxville. The History of Marion County reads, "The cemetery
is named after Mr. Samuel Breckenridge who deeded an acre of ground for a
cemetery in the English Settlement. In 1866 the citizens cleared the lot
and seeded it down to grass; the ground having been previously enclosed
with a fence. In 1868, funds were contributed in the vicinity for the
purpose of adorning the grounds. Some forty evergreen trees were
purchased and set out." Their daughter Clarinda was buried in
Breckenridge, also.

The Breckenridge Cemetery lists names (as listed in the cemetery record)
which look to probably be James and Nancy's children. However, one
listed, Hannah Johnston Miers is not buried there, but in Graceland
Cemetery in Knoxville, Iowa. The others are not researched as of March,
2000: Ancel, Clarinda (Clarinda is buried there), Clarrissa, Edward C.,
Elner, and Nancy A. Breckenridge Cemetery (once known as McMillan
Cemetery) is in Section 13 of East Knoxville Township on/near Highway 92
southeast of Knoxville about 5 miles.

Nancy moved with her parents to Warren County, Ohio, when fourteen years
of age, where she lived until 1844, when they moved to Knox County,
Illinois. Then," in 1867 she came with her husband to Marion County,
Iowa and in 1869 they moved to their present place". (see reference 3
below)

A birth year for Nancy was given as 1818 in the "History of Marion
County, Iowa" published in Des Moines, Iowa, by Union Historical Company,
Birdsall, Williams & Co., 1881. Nancy's and James' daughter Hannah's day
of birth is listed as the 6th and Ellen's name is Elner in "History of
Marion County, Iowa". Also, her daughter Janetta is named Gennett and
her son Ancil is spelled Ancel in this reference. Another discrepency
is that Nancy A.'s death date is listed as the same date as her birth.
This should have been her birth date instead. She died much later per a
family note, see notes for Nancy Adaline.

Edward and Hannah Johnston, James' parents, owned four (4) lots in the
town of Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois, 10 acres in the country plus160
acres of farm land in the country in Knox County. The four (4) lots and
the 10 acres were to go to Edward's executors of his will, Hannah, his
wife, and James, his son. His son also was to receive a forgiveness of a
$300 demand note held by Edward against James. Edward's daughters were
each to receive 80 acres of land in the county.

See "The Rusling Family" book for more. Author: James F. Rusling,
published 1907. Available in 1999 from Higginson Book Co., Salem, Mass.

These are Lucille (Miers) Webster's Great, Great Grandparents.

Margaret Young Rice lists their marriage date as 1835. Lucille Webster
has it as 1936 from Velta Miers Kunkel.

Reference: The data about the Rusling and Fowler families has been
obtained from (1) Velta Miers Kunkel, and from (2) "The Rusling Family".
When I (Lucille Miers Webster) was a little girl, Grandma (Lulu) Miers
had told me about the book and I finally traced it down and got a copy.
It is written by James Fowler Rusling, A.M., L.L.D., who is actually
decended from Hannah Miers' brother Gershom. This James is Gershom's
son. The book was published in 1907 by J.B. Lippincott Co.,
Philadelphia. A copy can be purchased in 1999 from Higginson Book Co. at
E-mail: higginsn@cove.com or mail to 148 Washington Street,
P.O. Box 778, Salem, MA 01970.
(3) "History of Marion County, Iowa" published in Des Moines, Iowa, by
Union Historical Company, Birdsall, Williams & Co., 1881.
(4) Cemeteries of Marion County, Iowa, 1776-1976 book by Marion Co.
Genealogical society, published by R.C. Booth Enterprises, Harlan, Iowa,
with a publication date of 1974, pages 230 and 237. Per Duane Jones of
near Attica, with a Bussey, Iowa address, Wynona Davis walked the
cemeteries to gather the data in them. She was Lucille Webster's 8th
grade English teacher in Knoxville, Iowa, and gave Lucille an excellent
background in English. (5) Marion County Atlas, 1875, Indiana Township
75 North, Range 18 West of 5th Principal Meridian. ARR & Sectional Map
published by Harrison and Warner, 31 S. 6th Street, Philidelphia, PA.
(6) Data gathered by Lucille (Miers) Webster and data from Margaret
(Young) Rice at Prairie Queen Farm in Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois,
April 15, 2000. Margaret is descended from Hannah (Rusling) Johnston's
daughter Mary (Johnston) Young. (7) Will of Edward C. Johnston written
July 20, 1847 with his wife Hannah and his son James Rusling Johnston as
executors. Lucille (Miers) Webster copied the original which is owned by
Margaret Young on April 15, 2000. The will is also indexed in the
General Index to Estates, Knox County, Illinois, as listed in the Knox
County Genealogical Society Quarterly 1975-76, Vol. 4, Spring 1976, No.
2, compiled by Mildred Doubet, as found in the Galesburg, Illinois, city
library on April 15, 2000. (8) Map of Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois
dated 1861showing lots and housing additions to the town, as found in
the Galesburg, Illinois, city library on April 15, 2000. (9) Cemetery
Stones for James Rusling Johnston and Nancy Stephens, Breckenridge
Cemetery, Marion County, Iowa, east of Knoxville, Iowa, on old highway
92. (10) Telecon between Lucille Miers Webster and Janice Orth who
descended from Lucille's grandfather Joseph Freeman Miers' sister
Florence. February 9, 2002.

James married Nancy STEPHENS on 1 May 1836 in Warren County, Ohio. (Nancy STEPHENS was born on 20 Apr 1819 in Warren County, New Jersey, USA, died on 25 Mar 1897 in Knoxville, Iowa and was buried in Breckenridge Nr. Knoxville, Marion County, Iowa, USA, "Breckenridge Cemetery, Block 2, Row 4, Stone No. 5.)