WILLISTON, HOWARD (1868-1960)

WILLISTON, HOWARD, jeweler and optometrist; b. Newcastle, 31 Jul 1868, s/o Edward Williston and Sarah Jane Mignowitz; brother of Edward Perley Williston; m. 1890, Ida Elizabeth Moss, of Chatham, formerly of Nova Scotia; d. Newcastle, 21 Dec 1960.

The youngest child of his parents' family, Howard Williston took over management of a jewelry store in Newcastle in 1889 from his future father-in-law, Myer Moss. The business was later known as H. Williston & Co., jewelers and optometrists, and he conducted it until his retirement in 1931.

Williston grew his own vegetables and kept hens and was respected as an authority on gardening and poultry breeding. He was secretary for many years of the Newcastle Agricultural Society and later of the Northumberland Agricultural Council. In 1942 he was among the incorporators of the Northumberland Co-Operative Creamery Ltd.

Williston was elected to the Newcastle Town Council in 1900. In 1916 he was among the first trustees of the Miramichi Hospital Board, and he was secretary of the Miramichi Cemetery Association. He was an active member of the Masonic order, being worshipful master of Northumberland Lodge in 1915. Prior to the formation of the United Church in 1925 he was a Sunday school teacher and senior steward of the Methodist church in Newcastle. He and his wife, Ida E. Moss, had a daughter, and a son: A Beaumont Williston, who succeeded to the jewelry business.