William Alva Johnston, 1892-1975

According to our Johnston family custom, Uncle Alvie was called by his second name as there were still a couple of living, older, William Johnstons in the area.

Uncle Alvie was my Dad's uncle, and a very accurate shot with the rifle. I used to hear lots of stories about Uncle Alvie's hunting prowess - including the time that he got busted and had his rifle confiscated - something about the wrong time of year for hunting...perhaps the game warden read the calendar wrong? Certainly no Johnston of ours would hunt out of season ;-)

When Alvie's brother, Clifford, was alive they used to go to the area's turkey shoots where they did very well for the family :-) They were 2 of the best shots in the county.

This photograph was taken in the 1920's at a lumber camp in Northern Ontario. Uncle Alvie is cradling his trusty Winchester in his arms - either a .38-55 or .32-40. He had both. The man beside Alvie is the camp cook. Alvie was the prime provider of meat for the camp.