Johnston, William Agnew, chief justice of the Kansas supreme court, was born at Oxford, Ontario, Canada, July 24, 1848. Matthew Johnston, his father, was a Scotch-Irishman, the old home of the Johnston family being near Edinburgh, Scotland, and a brother of Matthew was a judge of the courts of that city. Judge Johnston's mother, whose maiden name was Jane Agnew, was a native of Belfast, Ireland. He was educated in the common schools until he was sixteen, when he came to the United States and studied in an Illinois academy. He then went to Missouri and taught school for three years, studying law in the meantime as opportunity afforded. Mr. Johnston was admitted to the bar in 1872, and selected Minneapolis, Kan., as a location for the practice of his profession. He entered actively into local politics, and in 1876 was elected to the upper branch of the state legislature. He was a member of the state senate in the sessions of 1877 and 1879. In 1880 he served as assistant United States district attorney and the same year was nominated for attorney-general of Kansas by the Republican party and elected. He was reëlected in 1882 and two years later was appointed associate justice to fill the unexpired term of Judge Brewer. In 1888 he was elected associate justice; was reëlected in 1894 and again in 1900 and on Jan. 10, 1903, became chief justice by seniority, which position he still holds. No one has ever contested an election with Judge Johnston since his first term, and in 1900 he was renominated by acclamation. Naturally possessed of a judicial mind, he has served with uprightness and honesty during the twenty-six years he has occupied a seat on the supreme bench.