John Johnston (merchant)

On September 2, 1817, Johnston married Margaret (née Taylor) Howard (1784–1879). She was a widow of Rhesa Howard Jr., himself a nephew of William Few, signer of the U.S. Constitution from Georgia whose brother-in-law was U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.^[4] Margaret, the daughter of John Taylor and Margaret (née Scott) Taylor, had four siblings who, likewise, married two grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, and a nephew of founding father Roger Sherman, signer of the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Declaration of Independence from Connecticut. Together, John and Margaret were the parents of:

• John Taylor Johnston (1820–1893),^[5] who married Frances Colles (1826–1888), the daughter of Harriet (née Wetmore) Colles and James Colles, a prominent merchant in New York and New Orleans.^[6][7]
• Andrew Taylor Johnston (1821–1821), who died in infancy.
• James Boorman Johnston (1822–1887), who married Mary Hoppins Humphreys. He commissioned the Tenth Street Studio Building at 51 West 10th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. They were the parents of artist John Humphreys Johnston.
• Margaret Taylor Johnson (1825–1875), who married John Bard (a grandson of Dr. Samuel Bard) in 1849 and became founders of Bard College.^[8]
• Emily Proudfoot Johnston (1827–1831), who died in infancy.

Johnston, who suffered from gout, died on April 20, 1851, at his residence, 7 Washington Square in New York City.^[2]

Through his son John Taylor, he was the grandfather of Emily Johnston (1851–1942) (wife of Robert W. de Forest);^[9] Colles Johnston (1853–1886); John Herbert Johnston (1855–1931),^[10] Eva Johnston (wife of Henry Eugene Coe);^[11] and Frances Johnston (wife of Pierre Mali, the former Belgian Consul-General in New York).^[12]

• John Johnston at Find a Grave
• Portrait of Johnston by Rembrandt Peale at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.