Limestone Magnate George W. Johnson - New Castle PA

George W. Johnson was born in 1847 on a farm near Sharon in Mercer County. At the age of ten he moved to Clinton and began doing odd jobs for a coal company. When he reached adulthood he managed a general store and then became involved in the limestone business at Wampum. In 1868 he married Elizabeth Ann Osborn and they raised two sons named William and Charles Johnson. He later founded the G. W. Johnson Limestone Company in New Castle and also acquired interests in the coal, iron, and milling industries. Over time he acquired considerable limestone mining properties in various states and by the end of the century was the largest limestone dealer in the world. In 1901 he founded the American Car & Ship Hardware Manufacturing Company, which soon became the successful Johnson Bronze Company. His two college-educated sons joined him in business, and son Charles married well-known philanthropist Grace Phillips – the daughter of prosperous oil executive Thomas W. Phillips. George Johnson was an extremely wealthy man when he passed away in New Castle in October 1919, but unfortunately he had outlived his wife and both of his sons. (c1900)