Person:Vernon Johnston (1)

BIRTH: BIRTH RECORD: State of Montana Certificate of Delayed Birth Registration, State File No. 16018. "Vernon Weydemeyer Johnson born March 18, 1903 at Marston (now Fortine) Flathead (now Lincoln) Montana". Father: Roscoe Johnston, white, born 1872, Michigan. Mother: Mabel Weydemeyer, white, born Cass City, Michigan, 1877. Date record filed: 7 Dec 1942.

CENSUS: WEYDEMEYA, WARREN (1910 U.S. Census) IDAHO , LATAH, W MOSCOWAge: 0, Male, Born: MISeries: T624 Roll: 225 Page: 209 215 227 Weydemeyer, Warren, head, w, m, 63, m1, -, -, -, MI, NJ, NJ, -. -, English, fruit grower, OA, -, -, yes, yes, -, O, F, F, 2, 0, 0.

                                   Hattie, wife, w, f, 52, m1, 25, 3, 1, MI, NJ, NJ, -. -, English, housekeeper, ?, -, -, yes, yes, -, -, N, G.
              Johnson, Mable, dau, w, f, 32, m1, 12, 2, 2, MI, MI, MI, -, -, English, -, -, -, -, -, yes, yes
                             Rosco C., son in law, m, w, 36, m1, -, -, MI, Canada, Canada, -. -, English, none, -, -, -, -, yes, yes
                             Harry, son, m, w, 10, s, -, -, -, MI, MI, MI, -. -, English, -, -, -, yes, 6, yes, yes, yes.
                             Vernon, son, m,w, 6, s, -, -, -,  MT, MI, OH, -. -, English, -, -, -, -, -, yes, yes, yes.
             Marston, Bert, partner, m, w, 33, s, -, -, -, MI, WI, ?, -. -, English, -, -, -, -, -, yes, yes.

JOHNSTON, ROSCO C (1920 U.S. Census) OREGON , LINCOLN, N TOLEDO PCTAge: 47, Male, Race: WHITE, Born: MISeries: T625 Roll: 1495 Page: 135 73 73 Johnston, Rosco C., head, O, M, m, w, 47, m, -, -, -, -, yes, yes, B. Mich., f. b. Maine, m. b. Canada, English, yes, farmer, general, O.A., 61. Mable H., wife, -, -, f, w, 42, m, -, -, -, -, yes, yes, she & parents b. Mich., yes, none. Vernon, son, -, -, m, w, 18, s, -, -, -, yes, yes, yes, b. *Mich., parents b. Mich., yes, none. Weydemeyer, Warren, father-in-law & partner, m, w, 72, Wd, -, -, -, -, yes, yes, b. Mich., parents b. NJ, yes, none. Philetus, R., X, -, -, m, w, 81, Wd, -, -, -, -, yes, yes, he & parents b. NJ, yes, none, Johnson, Matilda R., mother, -, -, f, w, 75, Wd, Un, Un, -, -, yes, yes, b. Canada, LC, f. b. England, English, m. b. England, English, yes, none. Resides Pioneer Road.

• obvious mistake by census taker - well documented he was born in Montana.

1930 United States Federal Census <http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6224&enc=1> 956 87 133 Johnson, Vernon W., head, R, 30, -, no, m, w, 27, no, yes, Montana, Michigan, Michigan, -, 88, -, -, -, yes, salesman, retail dry goods, 4590, W, yes, -, no. Hope S., wife, -, -, -, no, f, w, 23, m, 18, no, yes, Minn., Minn., S Dak., -, 64, -, -, -, -, yes, none Harold V., son, -, -, -, no,m, w, 3 9/12, s, -, no, -, Oregon, Montana, Minnesota, -, 97, -, -, -, -, -, none. Howard B., son, -, -, -, no,m, w, 2 6/12, s, -, no, -, Oregon, Montana, Minnesota, -, 97, -, -, -, -, -, none. Elrad Ave., Marshfield. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

HISTORY: LIFE SKETCH: Vernon Weydemeyer Johnston, second son, second child of Roscoe Conklin Johnston and Helen Mabel Weydemeyer, was born in Marston, Flathead County, Montana, 18 March 1903. Dad's father, Grandfather Weydemeyer, and Great-Uncle Philetus Weydemeyer had all moved to Montana from Michigan some time around 1900 to take up homesteads. They had originally plannned on claiming land near Flathead Lake, but upon arrival found all the good land gone. They looked up north in the Tobacco Valley country and settled in the Marston area. Dad's father was employed in railroad construction while they were in Montana. In either 1907 or 1908 Dad's family moved by train to Moscow, Idaho area. Great Uncle Philetus' family stayed on the homestead near Marston where his descendants still live today. Grandpa and Grandma Weydemeyer moved to Moscow with Dad's folks and they were to all stay together until they all eventually died in Toledo, Oregon. They had a small ranch of 30 acres at the foot of Moscow Mountain, 20 acres of which were in apples. In 1912 they moved into town, near the University of Idaho, where they ran a boarding house for college students. While at the boarding house, Dad's Grandmother Johnston also lived with them and his Aunt Anna worked at the college as a nurse. Dad never forgot his years growing up in Moscow. I can remember him telling about how he and his brother Harry used to sneak into the college basketball games. Several of the students boarding with them played on the basketball team and they would ask the boys if they would like to go to the game. Of course they boys said yes. Well, the students at that time wore long topcoats and raincoats that came almost to the ground. Just before they got to where the tickets were taken, the boys would get in under a couple of the students coats, walk very carefully so as not to trip the students, and continue clear down into the dressing room. When the players got suited up, they would run up to the basketball floor with them and then go sit in the stands and watch the games. Dad remained a staunch University of Idaho basketball fan for his entire life. Another of Dad's stories: One day he and Harry took a .22 rifle to do a little squirrel hunting and just happened to hike the 9 miles along the railroad tracks to Pullman, Washington where a track meet was being held. A couple of the students from their boarding house were there and saw them. Of course the boys hadn't told their folks anything about going to Pullman. The students called the boys folks and told them they were at the track meet, bought them some supper, and took them home on the train. Of course their dad was waiting for them at the railroad station in Moscow, madder than a hornet. He was really going to lay on some punishment when he got the boys home. When they got to the house, the boys' Grandma Johnston reminded their Dad of some of his youthful escapades and the punishment was forgotten. Dad also had fond memories of riding a pony (which was actually a work horse) to school when they lived out on the ranch. In 1914 the "migratory itch" took hold and the families boarded a train for Portland, Oregon. Dad remembers they arrived in Portland when World War I started. Dad said he could remember his mother waking him up in the morning to look out the train window to see the Columbia River. The women and boys rode in a regular coach and their dad and Grandpa Weydemeyer rode in a boxcar they had rented for their team, wagon, and household goods. They lived in Linton, a suburb of Portland, and his dad worked in the West Oregon Sawmill, taking care of the horse barn. In 1915 they moved to a 10 acre loganberry farm a couple of miles south of Salem where they were going to make their fortune. Things didn't turn out too well -- the boys and Grandpa Weydemeyer took care of the berries and their dad had to take a job with the Inland Empire Railroad, so he was gone from home most of the time. Dad remembers they had a 12-inch snowfall that winter in Salem. He can also remember his father coming home at Thanksgiving and Christmas time, getting off the train at night and hiking the 2 miles to the berry ranch, bringing home a turkey for the holiday. In 1916 they made their final move. They had purchased an 80 acre place and the house, which is still lived in, was at the junction of hiway 20 and the old Pioneer Road. The women moved to Toledo by train and the boys and their father and grandfather Weydemeyer and a cat made the trip by horse and buggy in 2 days. Dad remembered they camped overnite at Airlie (near Monmouth) and the cat went up a tree and they had a heck of a time getting it to come down. The first couple of years they were in Toledo, Dad's father worked for the county road crew driving team and operating a Fresno. Dad attended 8th grade at the old Stanton School which was located near where the golf course is today. There was no direct road to the school - he walked approximately 1 1/2 miles on a trail. Dad attended high school in what used to be called the Stanton School, the one that was located on the highest hill in town (Toledo). He took a lot of courses his first two years and graduated in 3 1/2 years. One year Dad & Harry rented a room above the Bootery (a shoe store in Toledo)and for 2 years Dad worked for Van Cleves in their general store for room and board. His last year in high school he walked to school from the ranch. Dad trained for track but they never had a track meet. He was on the football team (they had to borrow one student from grade school to get 11 players) and they played Newport and Siletz. One May Day, dad showed up at school with enough flowers to decorate the entire school in great style. It turned out he had swiped them from the best flower gardens in town! Another prank he pulled in high school was this: the typewriters used in typing class had rubber covers over all the keys so the students couldn't look at the keys while typing. Well, dad pulled all the covers off and hid them. He also told about the time he was in a high school play. They were presenting it in Waldport, and their mode of transportation was a railroad handcar. Everytime they came to a hill, the boys would have to jump off and push it over the top. Dad graduated from high school in 1921. He then worked at quite a variety of jobs. His first job was with a bridge gang for Southern Pacific Railroad. The workers lived in an old baggage car and had a Chinese cook. The next year he was working with the Portland-Seaside Railroad line, falling dangerous trees along the right-of-way. This was the job where he got his springboard logging experience. That winter he got homesick and returned home. In the spring of 1923 he got a job building road between Burnt Woods and Harlan. He was loading scrapers. The workers camped out in tents not far from Burnt Woods. In either 1924 or 1925 he got a job in the Bootery in Toledo. On Oct. 18, 1925, Dad married our mother, Hope Sophronia Hackett. They apparently got seriously acquainted sometime after he got out of high school. On July 19, 1926, their first child, Harold Vernon was born, and the second, Howard Vincent, on Oct. 10, 1927. In 1929 Dad was laid off at the booter due to the effects of the depression. He held a number of short-time jobs: Penneys in Marsfield (now known as Coos Bay), Spaulding Sawmill in Salem, and he sold popcorn out of a popcorn stand at Klamath Falls. In 1931 C. C. Weems ofthe Associated Store got in contact with Dad and hired him as deliveryman (truck for grocery store). Oh, one job I forgot to mention was a "get rich quick" scheme he and his brother Harry tried. They figured there was big money to be made drilling pitch. At 50 cents a gallon, it wouldn't take long to make their fortune. Well, it turned out their top day was 15 gallons, so that didn't last long. In the meantime, his third child, Dona Alice Hope was born July 18, 1934. Dad continued working for the Associated Store until 1941 when he went to work for the Post Office. His starting wage was 65 cents an hour. In 1933 they moved to the home on the East Corvallis Hiway. Dad purchased his present home in Toledo in (can't remember date). In April 1970 he retired from the Postal Service. After retirement, he and mother made 2 trips to Canada, and numerous others around the country. He enjoyed boating tremendously until his best friend, Lawrence Erickson, was killed in a boating accident. On December 1, 1979, his wife, Hope, pased away. In October 1980 he re-married, marrying Florence (nee Derrick) Johnston, his brother Harry's widow. On May 14, 1981 Dad collapsed while taking a walk and died a short time laer a the hospital in Newport. (talk given by Howard Johnston at funeral of Vernon Johnston).