Johns Family Archives

Item set

Title: Johns Family Archives
Description: Most of the photographs in this collection were taken by Alfred Johns, educational missionary of the Canadian Methodist Mission. Johns was the first mathematics professor at the newly established West China Union University, Chengdu, Sichuan, when he and his wife Myrtle Madge Johns arrived in West China in 1910.
Abstract: Brief Statement about Alfred and Myrtle Johns
By Ken Johns

My grandparents, Alfred and Myrtle Johns went to Chengdu in 1910 as newly married 26 year olds from the farm lands of south west Ontario.. Alfred had studied mathematics at university and Myrtle had school teaching experience. They went to China without any knowledge of the language but once they were fluent enough, Alfred taught mathematics at the University in Chengdu. Myrtle taught school for a while but in 1913 began a family with the birth of my father, Martin Johns, in 1913. Another child came along in 1915 and they returned to Canada for a one year furlough in 1917 before going back to China. By the time they left china for the last time in 1925, there were five children in the family. The church authorities were unwilling to let the children return to China in 1926 due to an uncertain political situation so my grandparents remained with their family in Canada.

My grandfather eventually became a Mathematics Professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. He was known as a caring teacher throughout his long career.

Alfred died in 1959 and Myrtle in 1977.
Creator: Alfred Johns
Date Created: 1910 - 1925
Location: Sichuan and Hubai provinces in China, and locations on travel routes to West China
Event Records: 1910-1911 Johns' First Yangtze River Journey; 1911 Johns' Mt. Omei Trek; 1911-1912 Nationalist Revolution Evacuation; 1912 Famine Relief
Provenance: These photographs have remained in the Johns family through three generations. Ken Johns inherited them from his father, Martin Johns, oldest son of Fred and Myrtle. Ken Johns digitized the images and transcribed the captions.
Source: Courtesy of Ken Johns
References: Martin Johns. 1992. Bamboo Sprouts and Maple Buds: Being Memoirs of a Life Begun in China in 1913 and Transplanted to Canada in 1925. Hamilton: Martin Johns
Access Rights: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Captain and Crew of a Yangtze River Houseboat, 1911
Shot from the back end of a houseboat looking toward the bow, five crew members pose while the captain stands with his back facing the camera, looking towards the companion houseboat, said to be the one with fellow missionaries aboard, which is stuck on a sandbar. Note the rope extending up into the cliffs where the trackers are using it to pull the boat.
17 Rapids through a Narrow Pass of the Yangtze River Gorges
A lone missionary wearing a pith helmet stands on a rocky shore next to a narrow passage of water between two cliff faces.
16 Rapids with Missionary Standing on Rocky Shore
A lone missionary wearing a pith helmet stands on a rocky shore overlooking a river rapids with mountains in the background. Passengers or crew members on the bows of both boats watch the procedure.
09 Johns' and Abreys' Houseboat Beached for the Night between Hankow and Ichang
Houseboat with sail down anchored at a rocky shoreline with a calm Yangtze River and rocky opposite shore in background. Inscription on the back describes the scene. The location is likely the first overnight stop on the houseboat after leaving the steamboat at Hankow (current Wuhan), which would have been near present day Yanziwo, Hubei. Frederick William Baller wrote grammar books with Wade-Giles romanization.
19 A Chinese Cemetery with a Wealthy Man's Grave in Foreground
Scene shows a hillside covered with graves. In the foreground is a very large mausoleum with three tiers, said to be the grave of a wealthy man. A lone leafless tree stands on the grave partially obscurring a mountain range in the background behind.
14 Trackers Pulling Johns's and Abrey's Houseboats
A large group of men called "trackers" on a rocky shoreline pull a junk (Chinese houseboat) up river by means of long ropes. These trackers are probably the crew of the junk who would also row the boat when conditions permitted. Further up river in the Yangtze Gorges, up to 100 additional local trackers were needed to get the boats through the rapids.
11 Houseboat Stuck on Sandbar with Military Men in Foreground
Seven men with various guns and amunition stand on the shore in the foreground. In the background dozens of men are attempting to dislodge a large houseboat from being stuck on a sandbar. A group of passengers stand on board awaiting the outcome. The boat flies a Canadian flag of that time period.
10 Two Houseboats on Yangtze with Four Missionaries
Two houseboats are seen anchored on the shore with two missionaries standing in foreground - Gordon Jones on right and unknown on left. Two missionary women are on the boat on the left. Also on that boat can be seen a Chinese mother and child, and many crew members on the deck. Similarly, the crew on the right boat are out on the deck, probably preparing and eating a meal.
13 Village on the Yangtze River with Smoke Rising
This image, which bears the caption "Yangtze Village on River," portrays a village with copious amounts of smoke rising and a pagoda in the background. Is this the normal smoke from evening hearth fires, or a tragic event of warfare or banditry?
Houseboats Beached on Shore Near Cliff
Many houseboats are beached on a shore with a large looming cliff behind. Many people stand near the boats and on the shore. Some of the boats have flags, including one American one. The same location as in AEJ_12.
Houseboat Crew Working when Moored for Night
In the foreground manual laborers carry buckets and perform other duties for the boat, crew and passengers on the nightly stopover. The houseboat has laundry drying on a line between the mast and cabin, as well as mats covering the deck. In the background a building sits about a quarter way up the steep incline of the opposite shore. The same location as in AEJ_12.
Houseboat Moored for Night
In lower right corner of the image is a houseboat on the very calm waters of a very narrow portion or branch of the Yangtze River. In the background is a rocky shore and steep cliff with an elevated building on the left and a pagoda on the peek in the upper right. The same location as in AEJ_14.
Yangtze River Boats at Shore
A group of four houseboats are at the edge of a rocky shoreline on the Yangtze River. The opposite shoreline is visible in the background. This is the upper Yangtze above Ichang during the Johns's first trip to West China.
1910-1911 Johns' First Yangtze River Journey
Alfred and Myrtle Madge Johns of the Canadian Methodist Mission took their first trip to West China leaving Vancouver on the Empress of Russia in 1910 and travelling up the Yangtze River in December 1910 through January 1911. Alfred took photographs of scenes and stops along the way, documenting their progress from Shanghai up through the Yangtze Gorges to Chongqing in great detail.
12 A Chinese Gunboat on the Yangtze
A boat with flags is parked at the river shoreline where several women are washing their clothes in the water. The boat has several flags folded above the cabin. Steep cliffs are seen on the opposite shore in the background.
The Riverboat Captain Getting a Haircut
A Chinese riverboat captain is seated and posing in the formal posture of the upper classes, while a man at his side prepares to cut his cue. Following the 1911 declaration of liberation, men stuggled in the decision to cut their cues, a symbol of imperial domination. If the revolutionaries were not successful, having no cue would be a visible sign of siding with the rebels. Both men wear padded cotton gowns. A man in the background appears to be carrying some food on a tray. The scene takes place on the riverbank.
The Riverboat Captain with His Son and Crew
A group of Chinese stand on a rocky shore. The man in the center is the riverboat captain of the Service's boat. He is holding the Johns' captain's infant grandson, who wears a hat with protective talismans. On his right stands the Johns' captains daughter wearing a white side-closing gown. The two men wearing caps are the Chinese language teachers of the Johns and Services.
Row of Houseboats Tied to Shore on the Yangtze River
A group of four houseboats are at the edge of a rocky shoreline on the Yangtze River. The opposite shoreline is visible in the background. This is the upper Yangtze above Ichang during the Johns's first trip to West China.
06 Sailboat on Lower Yangtze River
Small sailboat with two crew members in the waters of the lower Yangtze where it is wide and calm. The flat countryside of the opposite shoreline is visible in the background.
04 Vaccination Party on Yangtze Steamer
Three rows of tightly packed missionary men, women and children pose with their sleeves rolled up while having their smallpox vaccinations on board a steamer on the Lower Yangtze. One man appears to be having a dose of chlorophorm to put him out during the vaccination. Most of the others are smiling proudly for having gotten their shots.
03 Women's Missionary Society Party Aboard the Empress of Japan, 1910
Members of the Canadian Women's Missionary Society (WMS) on Board the Empress of Japan enroute to begin their missionary careers in West China. Top row: Misses V. Shuttleworth and Mabel E. Thompson. Middle top row: Miss Mary Totten Smith. Middle lower row: Misses Alice L. Estabrook and Brooke? (could this be Miss M.L. Perkins?). Bottom row: Misses Olive M. Turner and Ethel McPherson. Miss Perkins was an unmarried female missionary sponsored by the Canadian Methodist Mission while all the others were sponsored by the Women's Missionary Society. Records are not clear as to the identity of the woman in the middle lower row.
02 Canadian Missionaries Aboard the Empress of Japan, 1910
Six Canadian missionary couples on board the Empress of Japan enroute to begin their missionary careers in West China. Top row: Rev. Thomas Bateman, Dr. David McKinley, Alfred Johns, Fred Abrey, Gordon Jones. Middle row: Mrs. Elsie Abrey, Mrs. Myrtle Johns, Dr. Omar Kilborn, Dr. Retta Kilborn, Mrs. Susie Mabel McKinley. Front row: Mrs. Clara Jones, Roland Kenneth Kilborn, Mrs. Alice Bateman. The Kilborns are the only seasoned missionaries in the group.
Mrytle & Fred Johns Wedding Full Portrait
Full figure portrait of Alfred and Myrtle Madge Johns on the occasion of their wedding at UsborneTwp, near Exeter, ON.
Mrytle & Fred Johns Wedding Portrait
Upper body portrait of Alfred and Myrtle Madge Johns on the occasion of their wedding at UsborneTwp, near Exeter, ON.