Edward Johnstone was born at Kingston, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1815, one of the twelve children of Alexander Johnstone, who came from Ireland in 1796, and Elizabeth (Freame) Johnstone. Admitted to the bar at twenty-two, he went by way of Mineral Point, Wisconsin, to Burlington, served as a clerk in the territorial legislature, and was named one of three commissioners on the "half-breed" land titles, which brought him to Montrose and in 1839 to Fort Madison. He was speaker of the house for two terms, United States district attorney under President Polk, judge of Lee County from 1851, and a member of the 1857 constitutional convention. He married Elizabeth V. Richards in April, 1849, and in 1868 moved the family to Keokuk to manage the Keokuk Savings Bank, which he led until his death on May 17, 1891. Their son Alexander E. Johnstone, born at Fort Madison in 1856, became the bank's president in 1898. Every fact below is cited to a public-domain Lee County history.
Where the family starts
Alexander Johnstone and Elizabeth (Freame) Johnstoneborn 1772Most recent in our records
Alexander E. Johnstoneborn 1856Tap a name to jump to that person.
Parents of Judge Edward Johnstone
Lawyer, legislator, Lee County judge and banker
HON. EDWARD JOHNSTONE.
[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]
two eldest sons were educated in the United In 1839 Mr. Johnstone was elected to
States Military Academy, West Point, New the legislature, and for two successive terms
York, and served in the regular army, was speaker of the house. In 1840 he was
.Another son. William V. Johnstone, was the elected to the council, and during President third governor of Pennsylvania, Another.
As printed in the source2. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
President, Keokuk Savings Bank
ALEXANDER E. JOHNSTONE.
Alexander E. Johnstone, son of Edward and Elizabeth V. R. Johnstone, was born at Fort Madison, Lee county, Iowa, June 5, 1856, and in September, 1868, the family moved to Keokuk, when he was a lad, not yet reaching his teens. He attended the public schools of Keokuk and later was a student at the Iowa State University. Returning to Keokuk he entered the employ of Taber & Company, large lumber dealers, in April, 1875, and in 1878 acquired an interest in this establishment with which he continued until the latter part of 1894. From this date until 1898 he was not engaged in any active business.
As printed in the source1. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
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