William Preston Johnston.
Soldier, scholar, poet and educator.
A Sketch of his noble career.[Died, with mind serene, ‘in perfect peace with God,’ July 16, 1899, at the residence of his son-in-law, Hon. Henry St. George Tucker, ‘Col. Alto,’ Lexington, Va., Colonel William Preston Johnston, President of Tulane University, New Orleans, La. It may be of interest to note that he died in the same bed in which he was born, at the residence of his maternal grandfather, Colonel William Preston, Louisville, Kentucky, and in the same house in which his first wife expired suddenly, fourteen years before, when seated in the drawing room, while on a visit to the late Judge J. W. Lea, who was also a native of New Orleans. The so-lamented deceased had for many years proven himself a zealous member of the Southern Historical Society. He was present, as the delegate from the State of Kentucky, at our Southern Historical Convention, which assembled August 14, 1873, at the White Sulpher Springs. He was appointed a member of the ‘Committee on Business,’ and reported the vital resolutions framed by the committee. Their adoption was the reorganization of the Southern Historical Society, its permanent establishment at Richmond, the garnering of invaluable materials of history, and the continuous publication of the important serial of the Society. Colonel Johnston was appointed by the convention a member of the Executive Committee of the Society. ‘In person Colonel Johnston was tall—over six feet—graceful, elegant in manners, and the most lovable of gentlemen.’ Soldier, lawyer, author, and poet, his crowning glory was as an educator, and an enduring monument to his memory is Tulane University, at New Orleans, Louisiana. The following sketch is compiled from the New Orleans, La., Times-Democrat, of July 17, 1899.] While Colonel Johnston's character, mind and learning, together with his executive ability, sufficiently explain his success as an educator,
