Charles Johnston to Frances Steptoe Johnston Royall, May 7, 1832

 Engraving: Saint-Mémin portrait of Charles Johnston, 1808 (National Portrait Gallery) 

[Charles Johnston at Botetourt Springs, Virginia to Frances Steptoe Johnston Royall at Lynchburg, Virginia, May 7, 1832. James Ambler Johnston Papers, Section 5. Virginia Historical Society. This is my rough, annotated transcription from a copy graciously provided by William Myers. Extra paragraph breaks inserted for easier reading.]

My dear Child,

I rec’d by the last mail the enclosed letter from Francis. Previous to which I had written him that I had provided a situation for him with Col. Shanks and that if he would return I would view what had passed as a youthful indiscretion and every thing should be buried in the deepest oblivion. Whether or not he will return time alone can determine.

When I lately wrote the Dr. how happy I was at having provided for all my boys but Julius little did I dream that there would be this sad exception.

I am getting very uneasy about James, not having rec’d the scrape of a pen from him since about the first of March, his last letter being dated so long ago as the 14^th of Feb’y. What can have prevented him from writing for such a length [of time?] I cannot conceive after having at first been so punctual.

The girls have shewed me your late letters to them in which you complain that they have not given you information as to a certain affair. Having guessed at what it is to which [you] allude I am now able to satisfy your curiosity on that point by telling you that Doct’r Dillon asked and obtained my consent on [F]riday last. As Mary does not know of my having made this communication to you I wish you not to mention it untill [until] you hear of it from some other quarter unless it be in confidence of the Dr. and Charles.

Edward & Ann have set out this morning to Fauquier. Tell the Doct’r I have not yet been able to get a wagon to take down his oil but that he may depend on my not losing sight of it.

                                                       Your ever affectionate father

                                                              Ch. Johnston

[Charles Johnston (1769-1833)

Frances Steptoe Johnston Royall (circa 1807-after 1850), who married Dr. James Townes Royall (1797-1860) in 1825. Hence, references to “the Doct’r.”

Francis = Francis Duchouquet Johnston (1814-circa 1833?), named for a French Canadian trader connected to Charles Johnston’s frontier adventures. He may have died in Cumberland, Maryland. Information about his life and death is sketchy -- and made all the more mysterious by this letter.

Col. Shanks = probably David Cary Shanks (1793-1833), who was born in Botetourt County and is buried in Salem, Virginia.

Julius = Julius Dandridge Johnston (1811-1851), another mystery. He apparently took off for Missouri, where he married Neville Constance Christy (1810-?) on December 10, 1834, in St. Charles. But they were back in Virginia when their children were born: Virginia Neville Johnston (1835-1869) and Martha Louise Johnston (1837). The older daughter married Beverly Holcomb Robertson (1827-1910), a US Army officer, in St. Louis in 1856. Robertson joined the Confederacy and became a brigadier general in the cavalry.

As for Julius Dandridge Johnston, presumably after the death of his wife, he became a Jesuit and died at the age of forty in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he is buried.

James = James Steptoe Johnston (1808-1895). Would marry Louisa Clarissa Bridges Newman (1808-1847), circa June 4-6, 1834, in Jefferson County, Mississippi. 

Dr. Dillon = John Gillam Dillon (1806-1835)

Mary = Mary Morris Johnston would marry Dr. Dillon on October 9, 1832.

Charles = Charles Pickett Johnston (1802-1852), died in Mississippi -- details sketchy. 

Edward & Ann = Edward Pickett Johnston (1798-1893) had married Anne Smith Chilton (1810-1893) on January 5, 1832.

Engraving of Charles Johnston by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (1770-1852): National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Link here.]

[Many thanks to Sue Davis, William Myers, Mary Davy and Sally Young for their ongoing research collaboration.]