Johnston Family Papers

Jasper Johnston was born in 1844 in Veazie, Maine. He married Clara Jane Whiting in 1867, and the family moved to Bangor in 1874. Starting in the 1860's Jasper Johnston worked on several dams and bridges, including Chesuncook, North Twin, and Ripogenus. He worked for a time as superintendent for H.P. Cummings Construction Company, located in Ware, Massachusetts. His last job, in 1914-1915, was at Riley Dam for International Paper Company. He died in 1918 in Bangor.

Jasper's son Percy was born in 1868 in North Newport, Maine. In his early teens, Percy Johnston began training as a dam builder with his father. He had charge of the West Branch log drive for several years and then was in charge of dam construction and river improvement for Great Northern Paper Company. When concrete began to be used in dam construction, he built many large storage and power dams in Maine.He was superintendent of construction on Aziscohos Dam, erected on the Androscoggin River between 1909-1912, and worked on dams at Madison, Shawmut, Pittsfield and Rumford, Maine. He also worked as vice-president of the H.P. Cummings Construction Company. He died in 1928 in Bangor.

Donald Percy Johnston was born in 1896 in Bangor. A civil engineer, he attended the Bangor schools, Coburn Classical Academy, and the University of Maine, and graduated in 1921 from Norwich University in Norwich, Vermont. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War I. While still in high school, he had his first summer job working on Riley Dam with his grandfather. Before joining the Bangor Water Department as assistant superintendent in 1934 he worked as an engineer on various dam, powerhouse, bridge and building construction projects. In 1950 he became superintendent of the Water Department, later the Bangor Water District, retiring in 1963. The Johnston Pumping Station is named for him. Donald Johnston died in 1979.