Person:William Johnston (105)

Watchers
     
Col. William Preston Johnston
m. 1829
  1. Col. William Preston Johnston1831 - 1899
  2. Henrietta Preston Johnston1832 - 1906
m. 7 Jul 1853
  1. Mary Duncan Johnston1855 - 1894
  2. Henrietta Preston Johnston1858 - 1900
  3. Rosa Duncan Johnston1858 - 1929
  4. Albert Sidney Johnston1861 - 1885
  5. Margaret Wickliffe Johnston1864 - 1922
  6. Caroline Hancock Johnston1866 - 1895
m. 24 Apr 1888
Facts and Events
Name[1] Col. William Preston Johnston
Gender Male
Birth[1] 5 Jan 1831 Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Education? 1852 Yale University, New Haven, New Haven County, ConnecticutGraduated
Marriage 7 Jul 1853 New Haven, Connecticut(his 1st wife)
to Rosa Elizabeth Duncan
Census[3] 1860 Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Census[4] 1870 Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia
Census[5] 1880 Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia
Marriage 24 Apr 1888 Avery Island, Iberia Parish, Louisiana(his 2nd wife; no issue)
to Margaret Henshaw Avery
Death[1][2] 16 Jul 1899 Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Burial[1] Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Civil War Confederate Army Officer. The son of Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, he graduated from Yale University in 1852, and from the University of Louisville Law School in 1853. He practiced law in Louisville until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he entered the Confederate Army. He served as Major of the 1st Kentucky (CSA) Infantry until the mustering out of that regiment. In May 1862, he became aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel to President Jefferson Davis. He served in that position until the end of the war and was captured with President Davis near Irwinville, Georgia, 10 May 1865. Released after several months confinement in the Prison at Fort Delaware, he resided in Canada for nearly a year following his release before returning to his law practice in Louisville. In 1867 he was invited by Robert E. Lee, then president of Washington University in Lexington, Virginia, to become a professor of history and English literature. He accepted and remained at what became Washington and Lee University until 1877. During that time he wrote a biography of his late father, The Life of Albert Sidney Johnston (1878). In 1880, he became president of Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. In 1884, he became the first president of Tulane University in New Orleans. He was the author of several volumes of poetry and was a contributor to numerous periodicals. He died in 1899 at the home of his son-in-law, Henry Tucker, in Lexington, Virginia.


Jefferson County, Kentucky, 1860 census:[3]

Johnston, W. P. 30 yrs Farmer (real estate = $125,000; personal estate = $15,000) b. Kentucky
      Rosa 28 yrs b. Louisiana
      May 5 yrs b. Kentucky
      Henrietta 4 yrs b. Kentucky
      Rosa 2 yrs b. Kentucky
Duncan, Mary 35 yrs b. Louisiana
      Lawson 25 yrs b. Louisiana
      Alex 23 yrs b. Louisiana
Johnston, Henrietta 26 yrs b. Kentucky
Young, Eliza 40 yrs Servant b. Ireland
Black, Charlotte 18 yrs Servant b. Kentucky

Rockbridge County, Virginia, 1870 census:[4]

Johnston, W. P. 39 yrs "Professor at Washington College" (real estate = $8,000; personal estate = $2,500) b. Kentucky
      Rosa D. 38 yrs Keeping House b. Louisiana
      Mary D. 15 yrs At Home b. Kentucky
      Henrietta P. 14 yrs At Home b. New York
      Rosa D. 11 yrs At Home b. Kentucky
      Albert S. 9 yrs b. Kentucky
      Margaret W. 6 yrs b. Virginia
      Caroline P. 4 yrs b. Kentucky
Duncan, J. N. 43 yrs Laborer b. Louisiana
      Lawson 36 yrs Laborer b. Louisiana
Johnston, G. 13 yrs Attending School b. Texas
[+ 6 other unidentified persons, possibly members of Rosa's family, and 5 servants]

Rockbridge County, Virginia, 1880 census:[5]

Johnston, William P. 49 yrs Professor b. Kentucky (parents, b. Kentucky)
      Rosa D. 48 yrs Wife Keeping House b. Louisiana (parents, b. Louisiana/New York)
      Mary D. 25 yrs Dau b. Kentucky (parents, b. Kentucky/Louisiana)
      Rosa D. 21 yrs Dau b. Kentucky (parents, b. Kentucky/Louisiana)
      Margaret W. 15 yrs Dau At School b. Kentucky (parents, b. Kentucky/Louisiana)
      Caroline H. 13 yrs Dau At School b. Kentucky (parents, b. Kentucky/Louisiana)
Duncan, John N. 54 yrs Bro/law b. Louisiana (parents, b. Louisiana/New York)
      Lawson L. 46 yrs Bro/law b. Louisiana (parents, b. Louisiana/New York)
Johnson, Sarah [BLACK] 26 yrs Servant Cook b. Virginia (parents, b. Virginia)
Brooks, Charlotte [BLACK] 24 yrs Servant House Servant b. Virginia (parents, b. Virginia)
      Harry [BLACK] 5 yrs Servant b. Virginia (parents, b. Virginia)
References
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Find A Grave.
  2. Kentucky, United States. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com [database on-line], 2007).
  3. 3.0 3.1 Jefferson, Kentucky, United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule
    p. 931, dwelling/family 1401/1401.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Rockbridge, Virginia, United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule
    p. 503A, dwelling/family 483/483.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Rockbridge, Virginia, United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule
    ED 65, p. 42C, dwelling/family 583/633.
  6.   U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865.

    Enlisted [date not given]. Mustered out, 14 May 1862 at Richmond. Commissioned an officer, Co. S, 1st Kentucky Infantry. Apparently a lieut. colonel at end of the War.

  7.   Cincinnati Daily Inquirer
    p. 3, 4 Aug 1865.

    Release of Colonel William Preston Johnston from Fort Delaware -- But Two Prisoners Remaining

    Fort Delaware has ceased to be a prison for the incarceration of "rebels," as all of these unfortunate men, excepting two, have been released. Last week Colonel William Preston Johnston, aid [sic] of Jefferson Davis, was released by order of the President, and there remains now in prison only Colonel Lubbock, of Texas, also an aid, and Burton N. Harrison, private Secretary of Mr. Davis. Colonel Preston Johnston is a son of General Albert Sidney Johnston, and is a native of Kentucky. He has been an aid and confidential friend of the President of the late Confederate States since 1862. He is now at the Clifton House, Canada. ---N.Y. Daily News, July 28.

  8.   New York Commercial Advitiser, 18 Jul 1867, p. 4:
    p. 4, 18 Jul 1867.

    ---Among the Yale commencement visitors to New Haven is William Preston Johnston, one of the staff of Jeff. Davis, and a son of Gen. A. S. Johnston, who was accounted the ablest general in the rebel army. Colonel Johnston was graduated in 1852, and is now Professor of English Literature in Washington College, Lexington, Va. He is "reconstructed."