James Johnston, Jr. had a long career at the Aetna Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, starting in 1902. Listed as a stenographer in 1909, by the mid-1930s he was agency supervisor of the company’s the southern department. Johnston’s 1907 house, an example of the American Foursquare house form, is at 15 Elm Street in East Hartford. Johnston held a number of public offices in East Hartford, including city clerk, fire commissioner, and serving on the board of education. According to an article that appeared in the Hartford Courant, July 18, 1940, James Johnston of 15 Elm Street protested that he and several others had been ignored by the 1940 Census. An checkup reveled that the East Hartford division might have missed as many as 300 persons.
James Johnston, Jr. House (1907)