OCTOBER, 2019: SCROLL DOWN FOR AN INTERESTING UPDATE TO THIS STORY.
The Johnston Mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery in Queens is bigger than many houses. It functioned not just as a crypt but as a full chapel. Conspicuously visible to drivers on the nearby Kosckiuszko Bridge, this great tomb makes an appearance in “The Godfather” (See my then-and-now analysis of the funeral scene of that movie here).
The story behind this structure is interesting. The tomb is occupied by prince and pauper alike.
John Johnston, the head of the dry goods firm of J. & C. Johnston, Broadway and Twenty-second-street, and one of the best known merchants of this city, died of heart disease Sunday evening at his residence, 7 West Fifty-third-street. He was born on the banks of Lake Erne, County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1834, and came to America in 1847. Settling in New-York, he obtained a situation with Ubsdell & Pierson, engaged in the dry goods trade on Canal-street, remained with them for 17 years, during which time his sterling qualities secured him rapid promotion, and in 1864 left their employ and, with capital saved during his term of service, started the present house of J. & C. Johnston, on the corner of Ninth-street and Broadway. The depreciation of values following the close of the war caused widespread mercantile disaster during the earlier years of the firm’s existence, but Mr. Johnston’s able management and rare financial ability carried it safely through this very critical period, which saw the downfall of many old-established houses.
The firm, which included Charles Johnston up to 1880, when he died, was uniformly successful, as was also the branch house of Johnston & Reillys, which was established in Albany, and this success was mainly due to the business ability, consummate tact, and unbending integrity of the gentleman who has just passed away.Personally Mr. Johnston was a public-spirited, open-handed gentleman, greatly beloved by his employes, some of who have been with him since the firm began business, 23 years ago, and have watched its growth from its humble beginnings. He was noted for his public spirit, his generous, though unobtrusive gifts to deserving charities, and his friendship for his employes in his large business. He was entirely self-educated, but was a diligent and discriminating student. History, literature, and mathematics were the favorite pursuits of his leisure hours, and of the last two he had attained a knowledge seldom possessed by those outside the ranks of professional scholarship. The affection which he bore to his brother Charles was remarkable, and for some years after the latter’s death he could not divert his mind from his loss, and as a consequence much of the responsibility of the business has been borne by Robert A. Johnston, the youngest brother, who has been connected with the house since 1864. The business will be continued on the same principles upon which its now deceased projector founded it.The funeral will take place to-morrow morning at 8 o’clock, when solemn requiem high mass will be celebrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral by Mgr. Farley. Mr. Johnston was a Trustee of St. Patrick’s Parish for many years past, and were it not that Archbishop Corrigan will have to sing the requiem mass at the funeral of Vicar-General Quinn later Wednesday morning he would have been pleased to take part at Mr. Johnston’s funeral. The interment will be in the family chapel in Calvary Cemetery.
John Johnston died May 17, 1887, seven years after brother Charles and seventeen years before his other brother Robert A. Johnston. John Johnston’s full obituary from the New York Times (which I transcribed) appears to the right, and summarizes the life and fortunes of a man much loved and respected by his peers.
John Johnston led the J. & C. Johnston company, and the J. & C. Johnston department store at Broadway and Twenty-Second Street was a popular source for dress silks and other fabrics. The store was among the most successful of its time, prospering during an era when similar companies frequently went bankrupt.
The fortunes of J. & C. Johnston took a turn for the worse after John Johnston’s passing. Responsibility for the company passed to Robert A. Johnston, at whose helm the business failed. The bleak account of Robert A. Johnston’s demise, also transcribed from a New York Times obituary, recounts a spectacular fall from grace:
“Mr. Johnston possessed millions when the business came to him through the death of his brothers, but he lost all in a few years, and in 1888 the house went out of existence. He retired to his palatial home at Mount St. Vincent, on the Hudson. Later the place was sold at foreclosure and the house burned, the owner having a narrow escape. Since then he had lived alone in a barn on the property, refusing charity. He was found sick with pneumonia and insane ten days ago.”
This obituary makes tantalizing reference to the mighty structure that has fascinated me for years: “[Robert Johnston’s] body … will be immured in the magnificent family mausoleum built many years ago at a cost of $300,000 in Calvary Cemetery.”
The dismal circumstances of Robert Johnston’s death did not cost him a space in the family mausoleum. The mausoleum’s presence today echoes the success and personal fortunes of the Johnston name while housing the man who wasted it.
This story may interest me far more than anyone else, but it is nice to share for anyone else interested in the story behind the great Johnston Mausoleum at Calvary. I have several photos of the structure at the Johnston Mausoleum section of my Cemeteries and Graveyards photo series.
UPDATE, October, 2019: Because this page, posted over 11 years ago, continues to attract a regular stream of visitors I did some new research into the Johnston mausoleum, and made a surprising discovery. In April, 1956, as reported by the New York Daily News and other sources, it was discovered that looters raided the Johnston mausoleum and strewed the remains of John Johnston about the inside of the structure. None of the other bodies in the tomb were disturbed.
The full report from the Daily News includes some details about the mausoleum’s interior, including the presence of 30 vaults (only 5 in use) and the presence of an altar and life-sized statues of Christ and two saints. At the time of the discovery it was thought the raid had occurred months earlier. I find no follow-up stories to indicate that the perpetrators or their motives were ever identified. Also left unanswered is what became of John Johnston’s remains. Are they even still in the mausoleum?
Other interments include Charles Johnston, who died May 13, 1880, before the mausoleum was completed and his remains moved there in 1882; Robert Johnston, who died May 3, 1904; Charles McArthur, died November 12, 1913; and Terence McManus, died December 23, 1947.
Johnston Mausoleum Raided
I have read your account of the Johnston Family in USA and would like to read any recent information you have on the same. My father, John Johnston, RIP, Co Fermanagh, N Ireland, was a descendent of the Johnston Family you have written about. There was a newspaper article (printed in an Irish newspaper) published when a legacy was sent back to The Johnston Family in Boho, Co Fermanagh in the early 1900’s. I have read this but do not have a copy and would dearly love one. My father and his siblings received the legacy and it improved their lives immensely. It was a Godsend when farming was the lifeblood of their community. I have only heard stories of how the older generations managed their farms and admire their intelligence when education was limited to say the least. There were hard times and my father was the youngest member of five, whose parents both passed away when he was approximately five/seven years old. His aunt and uncle reared the family.
As I grew up, I only heard short accounts of emigration and how my father learned of his ancestors being in New York. As a proud member of this family, I would like to be able to tell my children about their Grandfather and his family history. Myself and my brother are the only two remaining members of the family to still carry the Johnston name. This is why I would like to know more and keep the name of my father and his family alive in my lifetime.
Any articles you have would be welcome.
Thank you for your time, Kathleen
Kathleen – It’s exciting to hear from you! I had done no small amount of research into the Johnston brothers, and your message could motivate me to resume that project. I had found a handful of articles in various newspapers of the day, with one front-page story about the mighty mausoleum at Calvary. I, too, would be interested in seeing the article you mention from the Irish paper in the early 1900s, and any other materials you can point us to.
I read on another website that the Johnston Mausoleum which is made of Quincy granite cost $50,000.00 when construction started in 1880. By 1883 it still had not been completed and the cost had risen to $67,000.00. The final cost was $100,000.00 making more sense than $300,000.00 which was an exorbitant amount of money at that time.
I read that source, too, though off hand I can’t recall where it was. An old newspaper archive, I think? I have seen widely varying accounts of what the Johnston tomb cost, but none of the sources had any citations for their numbers, so I am not sure what to believe. I have also done some new research into the structure the past many months but have yet to collate it or add it to these pages.
I’ve always wondered who the Johnston’s were.
I’m a funeral director and get to Calvary often.
First Calvary is my favorite cemetery. I too
wander around, it’s such a peaceful place
especially in the spring. Thanks for your info.
Larry I’m a funeral director to, I’m in Glasgow Scotland. Today I was carrying out a funeral in Boho in Co. Fermanagh and I came across a tomb in the church yard of The Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Boho and I asked local people as it seem to be the only tomb as all the other graves were earth graves. The local people told me the story of John Johnston in the U.S. and how the tomb in America was like a small church and referred to a picture they had seen in a book and that is why I googled it when I arrived back home it seams he came from humble beginnings and made his fortune in America and was one of the success stories of emigration.
Desmond maguire of Glasgow Scotland
Thi sounds like a case for History Detectives on PBS. Sorabji, have you contacted them? They can do a very thorough job and it seems worthy that they may accept this as an assignment.
If you search the Brooklyn Eagle http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Default/Skins/BEagle/Client.asp?Skin=BEagle&AW=1338909918640&AppName=2&GZ=T
for “j & c johnston” you will be rewarded with 36 ads and articles. Interestingly in 1889 the entire stock was purchased by Jordan & Marsh a Boston dry goods firm.
I would like to know if anyone has been able to trace this Johnston family and if there are any living male descendants. I coordinate a Johnston family group who is researching our line which goes back to Sir Adam Johnston in Scotland. Our group site is here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JohnstonsOfSirAdam/
We have hired a genealogist in Scotland to assist us and welcome aboard any and all new Johnston/e Cousins.
I was in Boho Co. Fermanagh carrying out a funeral in the church yard and the Johnston crypt is still there a local lady said it was still in use and there where Johnstons still in Boho and that they will be interred there. I hope this is of help and the parish is The Sacred Heart, Boho Co. Fermanagh. John Johnsons name is on the crypt it reads
JOHN JOHNSTON
BROADWAY NEW YORK
and because it was the only crypt in the cemetery and with reference to New York that is why I enquired who told me the story of the Johnston’s in the U. S.
I am a descendant of Robert A Johnston and Chalres and John. Robert Johnston did not disgrace the family name and die a pauper as he left his fortune of £92,500 to his family back in Aughakeeran Boho/ Derrygonnelly, Co Fermanagh, Ireland.
Johnstons and Caldwells were the early settlers in that part of Fermanagh.
Caldwells came from Ayrshire: where was Sir Adam from? I would not be suprised if it were the same region of Scotland.
Nick
THANKS FOR THE INFO. FOR YEARS I HAVE BEEN INTRIGUED WITH THAT MASOLEUM. TODAY I CLIMBED UP THE HILL TO SEE IT. NOW ITS NICE TO KNOW A LITTLE HISTORY ON WHO IS BURIED UP THERE.
TKS
i am descended from a james johnston of wamfray who was also descended from sir adam de johnstoun of annandale dumfriesshire scotland .
I was at Calvary last week. I attempted a 360° panoramic picture of the valley of the Mausoleums. It’s not perfect but you might enjoy. I *think* this link will work:
https://goo.gl/photos/MrKah4PnKnsVumeq6
john johnston left money for perpetual care ,i contacted the calvary office years ago and sent a cousin over to see it thats why they are cleaning it up.