View source for John Johnstone (mayor)

{{short description|American politician}}
{{Lead too short|date=May 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name                = John Johnstone
|image               = 
|imagesize           = 
|smallimage          =
|caption             =
|order               = 32nd [[Mayor of New York City]]
|term_start         = 1714
|term_end           = 1719
|governor           = 
|predecessor        = [[Caleb Heathcote]]
|successor          = [[Jacobus Van Cortlandt]]
| office2           = Member of the [[New York General Assembly]]
| term_start2       = 1709
| term_end2         = 1710
| predecessor2      = 
| successor2        = 
| office3           = New York Provincial Council
| term_start3       = 1720
| term_end3         = 1723
| predecessor3      = Samuel Staats
| successor3        = William Provost
| office4             = [[New Jersey General Assembly#List of past Assembly Speakers|Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly]]
| term_start4         = 1721
| term_end4           = 1722
| predecessor4        = [[John Kinsey (New Jersey politician)|John Kinsey]]
| successor4          = [[William Trent (Trenton)|William Trent]]
| governor4           = [[William Burnet (administrator)|William Burnet]]
| office5             = [[New Jersey General Assembly#List of past Assembly Speakers|Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly]]
| term_start5         = 1725
| term_end5           = 1729
| predecessor5        = [[William Trent (Trenton)|William Trent]]
| successor5          = [[John Kinsey, Jr.]]
| governor5           = [[William Burnet (administrator)|William Burnet]], [[John Montgomerie]]
| state_assembly6     = New Jersey
| district6           = [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey|City of Perth Amboy]]
| term_start6         = 1710
| term_end6           = 1714
| preceded6           = Thomas Gordon
| succeeded6          = Thomas Farmar
| alongside6          = John Reid
| state_assembly7     = New Jersey
| district7           = [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey|City of Perth Amboy]]
| term_start7         = 1721
| term_end7           = 1732
| preceded7           = John Harrison
| succeeded7          = [[Andrew Johnston (New Jersey politician)|Andrew Johnston]]
| alongside7          = Andrew Redford, Samuel Leonard, [[Andrew Johnston (New Jersey politician)|Andrew Johnston]]
| birth_date          = {{Circa|1661}}
| birth_place         = [[Ochiltree]], Scotland
| death_date          = 3 September 1732
| death_place         = [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey|Perth Amboy]], [[Province of New Jersey]], [[British America]]
| resting_place       = [[St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Perth Amboy, New Jersey)|St. Peter's Episcopal Church]]
| nationality         = [[Scotland|Scottish]]
| residence           = 
| profession          = Druggist, physician
| spouse              = Euphame Scot
| children            = 13 including [[Andrew Johnston (New Jersey politician)|Andrew Johnston]]
| relations          = [[David Johnston (merchant)|David Johnston]] (grandson)
}}
 
'''John Johnstone''' ({{Circa|1661}} &ndash; 3 September 1732) was the 32nd [[Mayor]] of [[New York City]] from 1714 to 1719.<ref name="Severance1917">{{cite book |last1=Severance |first1=Frank Hayward |title=An Old Frontier of France: The Niagara Region and Adjacent Lakes Under French Control |date=1917 |publisher=Dodd, Mead |page=298 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVAOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA298 |access-date=28 October 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
An associate of [[George Scot of Pitlochie]], he was a [[druggist]] from [[Edinburgh]] and emigrated to the [[Thirteen Colonies]] in 1685 aboard the ''Henry and Francis''. Scot himself died on board the ship.<ref>''[http://www.hrvh.org/exhibit/aa07/education/hh/Cast_of_Characters.pdf Hidden Heritage - the Story of the Reverend James Murphy: Cast of Characters]''</ref>

In New Jersey, he was known as Dr. Johnstone.

In 1686, Johnstone was granted a tract of 500 acres by the [[East New Jersey]] Proprietors on account of his wife and another 30,000 acres in 1701. In spite of his investment in East New Jersey land, John Johnstone eventually settled in New York and was elected to the [[New York General Assembly]], serving in 1709 and 1710. Between 1710 and 1714 Johnstone represented [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey|Perth Amboy]] in the [[New Jersey General Assembly]].<ref>''Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey'', date: various (pre 1950)</ref> By 1714 he was mayor of New York City, in which office he served until 1716.

He was first recommended to the Crown for the New York Provincial Council by Governor [[Robert Hunter (governor)|Robert Hunter]] in 1715 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Samuel Staats.<ref>''Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Volume V''; Edited by E. B. O'Callaghan, M. D.; Weed, Parsons and Company, Printers; Albany, New York, 1855; p. 437</ref> Johnstone was finally appointed in 1720, but by 1722 Hunter's successor, [[William Burnet (administrator)|William Burnet]], complained that Dr. Johnstone had "without any leave obtained under the Hand and seal of any Governor or president, now resided for above two years last past in New Jersey", and asked for his removal from the Council.<ref>''Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Volume V''; Edited by E. B. O'Callaghan, M. D.; Weed, Parsons and Company, Printers; Albany, New York, 1855; p. 649</ref> In July 1723 he was replaced by William Provost.<ref>''Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Volume V''; Edited by E. B. O'Callaghan, M. D.; Weed, Parsons and Company, Printers; Albany, New York, 1855; p. 697</ref>

Governor Burnet had first-hand knowledge of Johnstone's New Jersey residency, as he served as governor of both New York and New Jersey simultaneously. John Johnstone had returned to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1721, again representing Perth Amboy.<ref>''Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey'', date: various (pre 1950)</ref> He served as Speaker for most of that time, from 1721 through 1722, and again from 1725 through 1729, with the interim occupied by [[William Trent (Trenton)|William Trent]]. He remained in the Assembly until his death on September 3, 1732.<ref>''New Jersey Colonial Documents, Archives of the State of New Jersey, First Series, Vol. II''; Daily Advertiser Publishing House, Newark, New Jersey, 1882. p. 119</ref>

==Marriage and children==
In 1686, Johnstone was married to Euphame Scot, the daughter of [[George Scot of Pitlochie]]. Together, they were the parents of Euphemia Johnston, Isabel Johnstone, Katherine Johnstone, John Johnston, Jr., Margaret Johnston, [[Andrew Johnston (New Jersey politician)|Andrew Johnston]], William Johnstone, Janet, James Johnstone, George Johnston, Lewis Johnston, Isabel Johnstone, and Mary Johnston.

==Death==
Johnstone died on 3 September 1732 in [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{S-bef | before=[[Caleb Heathcote]]}}
{{S-ttl | title=[[List of mayors of New York City|Mayor of New York City]] | years=1714–1719}}
{{S-aft | after=[[Jacobus Van Cortlandt]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{PreConsolidationNYCMayors}}
{{Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, John}}
[[Category:1660s births]]
[[Category:1732 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century mayors of places in New York (state)]]
[[Category:18th-century New Jersey politicians]]
[[Category:Mayors of New York City]]
[[Category:Members of the New Jersey General Assembly]]
[[Category:Scottish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies]]
[[Category:Politicians from Perth Amboy, New Jersey]]
[[Category:People from Middlesex County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Politicians from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Members of the East New Jersey Provincial Council]]
[[Category:People from Ochiltree]]
[[Category:Pharmacists from New York City]]
[[Category:Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly (colonial period)]]
[[Category:18th-century American pharmacists]]
[[Category:18th-century members of the New York State Legislature]]