Col. Willia
Johnston
I I
A great railroad builder, believer in re¬
ligious equality, statesman of ability and
a man in whom the people of the state im¬
posed tlic* utmost confidence.
JUDGE WILLIAM GASTOX
has become immortal in the his¬
tory of Carolina for the great
service he rendered in the Constitu¬
tional Convention of 1S35 when he was
successful in his efforts to remove the
political disabilities of those who, like
himself, professed the Roman Catho¬
lic faith. Rut Gaston’s labors still left
the .fows under similar disabilities,
as the constitution, even as amended in
1835, still debarred from holding pub¬
lic office nil who did not believe in
the truth of the Protestant religion.
When President Lincoln called
upon North Carolina for troop? to aid
in -uhjugnting the Southern States
which had seceded, the hitherto pro¬
nounced Union sentiment in North
Carolina quickly swung the other way,
and the ]>coplc voted to call a conven¬
tion to determine whether the state
should join its sister Southern States
in seceding from the Union. William
Johnston was a delegate from Meck¬
lenburg County to this convention
which adopted the Ordinance of Seces¬
sion on May 20, 1S6I, and his is one
of the names affixed to this ordinance.
Attends Convention
While on his way to attend the
convention, thinking upon the work
it should undertake, lie meditated
upon the fact that one military com-
nn.v from Charlotte included eleven
Iebrowe; and he concluded that if
those of t bn t faith wore good enough
to die for their country, they wore
good enough to hold public office, lie
therefore introduced into the conven¬
tion and became responsible for the
passage of an amendment to the con¬
stitution which removed the political
disabilities of the Hebrew race in our
state. If Johnston had done no more
than this, his name should go down
in our history as one of its illustri¬
ous sons who rendered the state dis¬
tinguished service.
Colonel Johnston was horn in 1817
in what i- now Gaston County. His
ancestors lived in that section from
early Colonial days, one of his grand¬
fathers having served as Colonel of
the Continental Line during the Revo¬
lution, and another having seen simi¬
lar service with the rank of Captain.
Johnston was graduated from the
tttj It. C. LAWRENCE
University in 1840, in the class with
Governor Tod R. Caldwell, Judge Wil¬
liam M. .Shipp and Calvin II. Wiley,
who later became our lir-st State Su-
lcrintendont of Public Instruction.
Ie then entered the law school of
Chief Justice Richmond M. Pearson
at “Richmond Hill” and had the dis¬
tinction of being the first graduate of
that school which thereafter became so
famous us the nursery of the Caro¬
lina l»ar. He then located at Char¬
lotte for the practice of his profession,
but soon abandoned it for a sphere of
much larger usefulness.
Murphey Gives Approval
Judge Archibald
Г).
Murphey 'a was
the first voice raised in favor of tin*
establishment of a system of internal
improvements in our state; and Gov¬
ernor John M. Morehead was the fir«t
to translate the vision of Murphey in¬
to the reality of accomplishment, for
he constructed a system of railroads
which linked the mountains with the
м*а.
Roth these men were lawyers, as
was Johnston; and Johnston now un¬
dertook a service fairly compnrablo
with that accomplished by Morehead.
In 1848, the only two railroads
which had been constructed in tho
state wore the Raleigh and Gaston,
Id ween Raleigh and the Roanoke
River; and the Wilmington and Wel¬
don, linking the points of those names.
The favorite method then in use to
facilitate transportation was the es¬
tablishment of “plank roads” and the
state itself owned stock in numerous
such enterprises.
Soon after Johnston’s entry upon
hi* career at Charlotte, his evident
business and managerial ability
caused his election as president of
140 Million Dollars. Jefferson
Standard Life Insurance
in force in North Carolina
the Charlotte and Taylorsville plank
road. Thereafter Johnston, the law¬
yer. disappeared; and the figure of
Johnston, the builder, loomed large in
the life of the state. His service in
building this plank road, and the
smallness of the cost nt which he ac¬
complished his results, not only sur¬
prised his stockholders, hut demon¬
strated the eminent lit tie*» "f their
president for this character of public
service. Following his leadership in
several similar enterprises, he was
elected as president of the Atlantic.
Tennessee and Ohio, now the branch
of the Southern Railway between
Charlotte and Taylorsville. Under the
management of Johnston this line bad
been completed a? far a- Statesville
when the outbreak of the war in 1 SGI
precluded its further extension at that
time, lie also became president of the
Charlotte and South Carolina Rail¬
road between Charlotte and Columbia.
Appointed Commissary General
In 1801, Governor Ellis was so im¬
pressed with the executive genius of
Johnston, that he appointed him as
Comini-sary General of North Caro¬
lina troop? with the rank of Colonel.
The duties of this position he ably
filled for several months, but he
reached the conclusion that lie could
render the state more service in the
management of the two railroad prop¬
erties than in furnishing supplies to
the army, lie therefore reigned ns
Commissary General, ami thereafter
devoted his entire time and attention
to managing the affair* of the two
railroads above referred to, together
with his own property interests which
by that time were becoming extensive.
In IS02 there was an election for
Governor. As the war was in progress,
no political convention* were held, hut
representatives from several counties
around Mecklenburg brought out the
name of Colonel Johnston ns a candi¬
date, whereas similar meetings nt
other points named Zobulon R. Vance,
who was then with the Con federate
army as Colonel of I ho 2<>th North
Carolina. There was no campaign;
Vance remained in tho field at tho
head of his regiment: Johnston re¬
mained at hi? office in Charlotte look-
( Continued on page twenty)
7
