A gathering of an unknown family. The family enjoyed music as musical instruments are prominent in the photo.

These three men all have the same name: William A. Ashbrook. The oldest man on the right was born in 1824 and is 86 years old in this photo. Most people knew him as “Uncle Billy”. The man in the middle was known as Congressman William A. Ashbrook. He was born in 1867 and is 42 years old in this photo. The youngest man on the left was called Will Ashbrook. He was born in 1888 and is 22 years old in this 1910 photo. He was the nephew of the congressman and the grandson of “Uncle Billy”.

These three photos of Mary E. Babcock show her at different stages of her life, such as 17 years of age in the first photo.

Mary Elizabeth Babcock (1908-1998) was born in Marengo, Ohio, but moved to Johnstown when she was nine years old and spent most of her life in the Johnstown community. Her father, Thomas W. Babcock, was a prominent broker and school board member in the village. Mary graduated from Johnstown High School in 1925, after which she attended Denison University and graduated from The Ohio State University in 1930. Miss Babcock taught for 18 years in the public school systems in Ohio and California. She is the founder of the Mary E. Babcock Foundation which is devoted to beautification, culture and education in Johnstown. She always engaged in a wide range of charitable, educational and community interests in Johnstown, Ohio. Her legacy of the Mary E. Babcock Library became a reality on February 13, 2006. She died on June 12, 1998 at her Johnstown residence at age 90.

The family of Mahala Green Butt gather for a reunion. Someone in the front row holds Mahala’s picture. Mahala Green, the first white child born in Monroe Township, arrived on September 15, 1807. She passed away on December 5, 1884.

On August 16, 1906 the Green Reunion had an ox roast with 3,000 people in attendance. The Green and Willison families were celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the 1806 first settlement in Monroe Township by George Washington Green, their family patriarch.

Friends and family of Doctor J. H. Mattingly gather in front of his house to celebrate his 48th birthday on August, 23, 1908. Dr. Mattingly’s house , 23 South Oregon Street, still stands today.

An interior view of the Johnstown Bank which graced the corner of South Main and Phalen Place for many decades. Pictured in the photo, from left to right, are: C.V. Armstrong, Emma Butt Parsons, Ms.Thurston, Kitty Johnson, William A. Ashbrook, and C.L. McCracken. The wall clock now hangs in the Babcock Library.

Left Image: Cats happily lap a little spilled milk as a rural couple pose for the camera.

Right Image: Two young lads enjoy swishing their feet in the dirt street of South Main Street. Boys are unidentified. Era is early 1900. Buildings in the downtown are frame.

A unidentified family poses for a photo. Grandma and Grandpa, sitting in chairs outside their log cabin, are surrounded by several generations dressed in their Sunday best clothes.

Boys attending Sunday school at the Methodist Church in 1912.

Pictured are:

Row. 1: Charles Frederick, Ross Lewis(maybe), Raymond Scovell, Gail Smith. Row 2: Edward Martindale, Victor Martindale, Gail Butt, Clinton Hoover, Paul Neff. Row 3: Albert Tippett, Amil Butt, Wilbur Patterson, Carroll Stephens, Roland Rutledge, Purl Miller.

The first Campfire Group, organized in 1914 by Bernice Limbaugh.

Pictured are:

Row 1: Grace Shipley Rowe, Pauline McKinney Johnson, Alice Egan Stark, Verna Gorsuch Stroup. Row 2: Martha Preston Conway, Lois Stephens Benedict, Edith Dresbach, Edna Shipley. Row 3: Edith Evans, Florence Grubb Benoy, Pauline Burke Hollinshead, Bernice L Limbach, Pauline Wyeth Fozzy, Nellie Gorsuch Harris.

Byron Ashbrook and his son Alfred, ride a steel wheeled tractor in the 1930’s.

A club of young boys.

Pictured are:

Raymond Scovell, Albert Tippett, Clinton Hoover, Ross Lewis, CP Charles Frederick, Bernard Baker, Charles Crow, Eddie Martindale, Bernard Carter.

1913 Baseball Team: Row 1: Charles Frederick, Albert Tippett, Paul Neff. Row 2. Leon Lake, Fred Thompson, Clint Hoover,Pares Rowe, Harry Rowe, Harold Bishop. Row 3: Harold Butt, Cart Hoover, Amil Butt.

Two young men out for a drive with the horse and buggy. Seen behind the buggy are storefronts for Frederick’s Hardware, McCurdy’s Variety Store, and the Johnstown Building and Loan.

William A. Ashbrook and the staff of the Johnstown Independent.

From left to right: Odessa Needles Johnson, Frederick Neely, Jr., Cloyce Montgomery, Frederick Neely, Sr., Ralph E. Priest, William A, Ashbrook. Sr., Edward McKenzie, Mildred McClish, Grace Kidner, Clarence(Bill) McKenzie, Emma Galbraith, Arthur Bailey, Lylle Piper, Howard L. Johnson.

A gathering of ten well-dressed ladies and one gentleman. The women’s hats are quite fabulous.

Classmates gather. People are unidentified. This could be a graduation picture.

Jolly Bird, the horse with trainer and sulky.

Train tracks always need repair. Quite a large crew works on the rail line.

Track repair by a work crew in front of the Johnstown Depot.

Plays and skits were popular in Johnstown. The cast of an unnamed production creates a fanciful atmosphere.

Mrs. Rose Piper, a laundress, had all the latest equipment to keep clothes clean. Laundry required long hours and hard work.

Left Image: How lovely these women and children look in their summer white frocks. The entrance to a welcoming front porch provides the setting for the photograph.

Right Image: Well dressed ladies enjoy an outing. A few climbed the tree and most likely had a great fun doing so.

Dr. Oliver Bigelow (1759 -1817) Dr. Oliver Bigelow, surgeon in the American army during the Revolutionary War, was the founder of Johnstown. In 1786 he married Esther Harding and they had 7 children. In 1810 Oliver paid $10,000 for 4000 acres from John Brown. John had received the land as payment for his service in the Revolutionary War. Oliver planned to build a town and began mapping streets, alleys, a town square and a cemetery. In 1813 Oliver Bigelow finished laying out this little village and decided to donate the streets and alleyways and the public square and incorporated it as Johnstown. Dr. Bigelow became the first practicing doctor of medicine in the village and even served as mayor. His daughter Eunice, almost sixteen years old, died in Johnstown on April 16, 1816. On November 5, 1817 Oliver Bigelow, aged fifty-eight, died and was buried in the village cemetery, now known as Bigelow Cemetery.

Center Image: Oliver Bigelow’s gravestone as it once appeared in the early 1900’s

Left and Right Images: Front and back of the gravestone as it appears today at Bigelow cemetery.