Andrew Johnston (December 20, 1694 – June 24, 1762) was a politician from

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,4 ...

, who served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

and the

New Jersey Provincial Council The New Jersey Provincial Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under colonial rule until it was replaced by the New Jersey Legislative Council under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776. History The Provincial Council was estab ...

Early life

Andrew Johnston was born on December 20, 1694, to John Johnstone (1661-1732) and Euphame Johnstone (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Scot). His maternal grandfather was George Scot of Pitlochie. The children of John Johnstone dropped the final "e" from their name. His elder brother, John Johnston, was the father of prominent merchant and politician

David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...

Career

Until approximately 1717/8, he was a merchant in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, subsequently relocating to

.''Contributions to the Early History of Perth Amboy and Adjoining Country''; William Adee Whitehead; D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1856; p. 72 Johnston represented the City of Perth Amboy with his father in the ninth

(1727–1729 Legislative Session). After the elder Johnstone's death in 1732, Andrew Johnston took his father's seat in the tenth Assembly for the 1733 seating. After this, the Assembly did not meet until 1738, when Governor Lewis Morris called new elections and the eleventh Assembly was seated. Johnston would serve in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth Assemblies (1738–1744), and was Speaker during the twelfth and thirteenth. (1740–1744)''Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey'', date: various (pre 1950) After his service in the General Assembly, on June 19, 1745, Johnston was appointed a member of the New Jersey Provincial Council, where he would serve until his death. In 1747, Andrew Johnston was serving as

Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey The Current Mayor of Perth Amboy is Helmin Caba, who was elected on December 15, 2020 after defeating Wilda Diaz and was sworn in on January 1, 2021. Perth Amboy, New Jersey is governed under the Mayor-Council system of municipal government under t ...

. In 1748/9, he was named Treasurer of the College of New Jersey.

Perth Amboy Constituency

In 1702, the royal instructions to Governor Viscount Cornbury named the Town of Perth Amboy as a constituency, apportioned two members to the New Jersey General Assembly. In 1718, Perth Amboy was granted

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

; the same apportionment continued until the adoption of the

New Jersey Constitution The Constitution of the State of New Jersey is the basic governing document of the State of New Jersey. In addition to three British Royal Charters issued for East Jersey, West Jersey and united New Jersey while they were still colonies, the sta ...

of 1776, which apportioned the entire

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, thereby abolishing separate representation for cities.

Personal life

He married Catherine Van Cortlandt, the daughter of

Stephanus Van Cortlandt Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor's ...

(1643–1700) and Gertruj Van Schuyler. Van Schuyler was the daughter of

Philip Pieterse Schuyler Colonel Philip Pieterse Schuyler or Philip Pieterse (1628 – 9 May 1683) was a Dutch-born colonist landowner who was the progenitor of the American Schuyler family. Early life Philip Pieterse Schuyler was born in Amsterdam, Holland in the Republ ...

(1628-1683) and the older sister of

Pieter Schuyler Pieter Schuyler (17 September 1657 – 19 February 1724) was the first mayor of Albany, New York. A long-serving member of the executive council of the Province of New York, he acted as governor of the Province of New York on three occasions ...

(1657-1724), the first

mayor of Albany From its formal chartering on 22 July 1686 until 1779, the mayors of Albany, New York, were appointed by the royal governor of New York, per the provisions of the original city charter, issued by Governor Thomas Dongan. From 1779 until 1839, may ...

. Together, Andrew and Catherine had: * John Johnston * Stephen Johnston * Anne Johnston * Gertrude Johnston * Catherine Johnston * Margaret Johnston * Elizabeth Johnston * Mary Johnston * Euphemia Johnston, who married her first cousin, John Johnston, a Colonel of the New Jersey Provincial troops at the capture of

Fort Niagara Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes. The fort is on the river's e ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

in 1758. Andrew died on June 24, 1762, in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Andrew 1694 births 1762 deaths Mayors of Perth Amboy, New Jersey Members of the New Jersey General Assembly Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly American people of Scottish descent People from Middlesex County, New Jersey Members of the East New Jersey Provincial Council Politicians from New York City People of colonial New Jersey