Johnston was born Annie Julia Fellows on May 15, 1863, the daughter of Albion Fellows, a Methodist minister at
Trinity, and Mary Erskine Fellows. She had a brother, Erwin, and two sisters, Lura and Albion. She attended the
University of Iowa for one year, returned to Evansville, taught school for three years, then became a private secretary. She married a cousin, William Levi Johnston. He was a widower with three children, Rena, John, and Mary. Rena died in 1899 and John in 1910 or 1911. Johnston moved to
Pewee Valley in 1898, The Beeches was built in 1901 by "Mamie" Craig Lawton, widow of
Gen. Henry Ware Lawton, who was the only general killed during the Spanish–American War. Members of the Craig family inspired 12 characters in the "Little Colonel" stories. Annie Fellows Johnston died at her home in Pewee Valley on October 5, 1931. The Little Colonel series was her 13-book collection beginning with
The Little Colonel (1895). It was made into a movie starring
Shirley Temple in 1935 featuring
Lionel Barrymore and
"Bojangles" Robinson. An assessment of her achievements in connection with her induction into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame says, "Her work is now considered anachronistic, depicting Reconstruction Era South still transitioning from the Civil War, and must be taken in the context of the times..." ==Works==