Margaret Johnston, 1840-1898

Daughter of Robert "Red Robin" Johnston and Mary "Mae" Frances McQueen. Very interesting is the spelling of her last name written on the reverse of the holder: "Johnstone". This is the same spelling that her uncle Archie tried so hard to keep; however, government beaurocrats kept dropping the "e" officially making us blind Johnstons [as we have no 'e] ;-)

Original tintype image captured on December 8, 1874.

Photographer: William McConnell of Plantagenet, Ontario, CANADA

Maggie was a special person. She suffered from the after-effects of a brain-damaging, high fever/temperature as a child, but she learned to weave and help out on the farm. Her speech impediment, stuttering, led to the nickname "Gaggy" which she did not like, and led to more than one fight. She was quick with her fists. She must have had some endearing qualities because her brother James looked after her until her death, and her brother Robert kept this photograph of her with him.

Maggie was known by all as a scrapper. She loved a good fight and was often heard to say that she never felt better than after a good fight. She must have been a real character ;-)

The original tintype image and the other 3 in this series are in an advanced state of deterioration. I tried to salvage as much as possible without altering the basic character of the photograph. When I pulled out enough detail in the images, the backgrounds just weren't there (they really weren't there to start with - the emulsions were too far gone), so for the sake of uniformity I went to their father's image and copied parts of his background into theirs. I think that it worked out pretty good as it ties them all together. The holders presented a special problem. They have discolored somewhat with age; however, as the design is embossed, lightening the color takes away from the embossed details in the photograph. I chose to utilize the lightest shade present, restore the rest of the holder image and use the same holder image for all 4 images in this particular group.