George Johnson

About the time that Canada was establishing nationhood, two brothers, Charles and George Johnson were growing up in Layton, a hamlet located at the intersection of sideroad 18 and the 2nd of Brock. Each graduated from Port Perry High School and gained distinction after graduation from Loyola University’s School of Dentistry in Chicago. For a time, the brothers practiced dentistry in partnership in a Chicago practice. In this work, George was revered for his development of new and acclaimed denture technology. However, his health failed and in 1910, he returned to a quieter, rural life in Blackwater near his childhood home in Brock.

After high school graduation, for a short while, George had undertaken business studies in Bellville, then worked in the lumber industry, an enterprise that was booming at the time. Seemingly, he never lost his fascination with this business because after his departure from Chicago and relocation in Blackwater, he established a sawmill. Undoubtedly, aside from his business interest, the mechanical nature of operating a mill would have appealed to his reputed technical savvy. The mill provided much needed lumber for the community and George also offered dental services to the locals. While regaining good health, George showed no interest in returning to Chicago. It was in Blackwater that he raised his family. In 1951 at age 84, Johnson died at Blackwater, a place he loved.