JOHNSTON
JOHNSTON
district attorney for Armstrong county, holding
the office until the expiration of Governor Wolf's
first term ; was a representative in the state legis-
lature, and during a great financial crisis he pro-
posed the issue of relief notes, for the payment
of which the state pledged its faith, and though a
majority of the legislature were politically op-
posed to him t!ie measure was adopted and gave
immediate relief. He was state senator and pres-
ident of the senate in 1847 and upon the resig-
nation of Governor Francis R. Shunk, July 9,
1848, Mr. Johnston succeeded him as governor of
Pennsylvania, and was elected for the full term
of three years from Oct. 2, 1849. He favored
a protective tariff, and during his administration
tli8 records of the colonial and state governments,
which liad been in a confused condition, were
publislied in twenty -eight volumes as " Colonial
Records" and " Pennsylvania Archives," and pre-
served a vast number of original papers of incal-
culable value. He was nominated for governor
in 1852, but was defeated by a small majority by
William Bigler and retired from office, engaging
in the manvifacture of iron, in boring for salt, in
the production of oil from bituminous sliales, and
in refining petroleum. He was president of the
Alleghany Valley railroad. During the civil war
he was active in organizing troops. He was
appointed by President Johnson collector of tlie
port of Philadelphia, but was rejected by the
senate. He died in Pittsburg, Pa., Oct. 25, 1872.
JOHNSTON, William Pollock, educator, was
born in Harrison county, Ohio, Jan. 26, 1839 ;
son of Samuel P. and Eleanor (Thomson) John-
ston ; grandson of Nathan Johnston ; a descend-
ant of Archibald Johnston, Lord W^arriston, bar-
rister, of Edinburgh, Scotland, one of the Scotch
commissioners at the Westminster assembly of
divines at London that framed the Westminster
confession of faith. He was educated in the
public schools and at Geneva college, then in
North wood, Ohio, and was graduated from Jeffer-
son college. Pa., in 1858. He attended the Re-
formed Presbyterian Theological seminary at
Allegheny, Pa., and was licensed and ordained
by the presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian
church in 1864. He was pastor at Baltimore,
Md., 1864-73; made a trip to Europe in 1868;
was pastor at Washington, Iowa, 1873-81 ; and
was principal of Washington academy, 1879-81.
He was professor of Latin and English literature
in Geneva college, Beaver Falls, Pa., 1881-90;
and in 1890 became college pastor, professor of
philosophy and English literature, and president
of that institution. He was elected a member of
the American Historical association, and of the
American Academy of Political and Social
Science. He received the degree of S.M. from
Washington and Jefferson college in 1882 and
that of D.D. from Grove City college. Pa., in
1891. The Bright Side of Things, The Individual
and Society, and The Dialect were among the
subjects of popular lectures which he delivered
in various cities.
JOHNSTON, Williain Preston, educator, was born in Louisville, Ky., Jan. 5, 1831 ; eldest son of Gen. Albert Sidney and Henrietta (Preston) Johnston ; grandson of Dr. John and Abigail (Harris) Johnston of Washington, Kj"., and of Maj. William Preston of Louisville, Ky. He received his early education in the Western Mili- tary institute, Georgetown, K3\,and was grad- uated at Yale in 1852. He was graduated from the Louisville Law school, in 1853, and practised in his native city. Upon the outbreak of the civil war he entered the Confederate States army a& major of the 1st Kentucky infantry, and was subsequently promoted lieutenant-colonel. He was appointed an aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel on the staff of President Davis, was cap- tured with President Davis and confined at Ibrt Delaware, and on his release went to Canada. In 1866 he returned to Louisville and resumed the practise of law. He was professor of history and English literature at Washington and Lee- university, Lexington, Va., 1867-74, and a lec- turer on the history and science of law there, 1875-80. He was president of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural College at Baton Rouge, La., 1880-83, and in 1883 he was selected to organize an institution of learning for the higher education of the white youth of Louisiana, under the terms of Paul Tulane's donation aggre- gating $1,000,000, which resulted in the founda-
ulane university
^^^^A "^^ 0«1-EANS,
tion of Tulane University of Louisiana. He was
president of the institution, 1883-99, and in 1900
Edwin A. Alderman, D.C.L., president of tiie
University of North Carolina, succeeded to the
presidency of Tulane. In 1886 the H. Sophia
Newcomb memorial college was founded by Mrs.
Josephine Louise Newcomb as a memorial to her
daughter and devoted to the higlier education of
young women, and it was made auxiliary to the
university. He was appointed a regent of the
Smithsonian Institution in 1891. Washington
and Lee university conferred upon him the hon-
