Joseph Forney Johnston (Late a Senator from Alabama) Memorial addresses Delivered in the Senate and
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.
Joseph Forney Johnston was an American soldier, statesman and politician. He was United States Senator from Alabama from 1907 to 1913.
Background
Joseph Johnston was born on March 23, 1843, at "Mount Welcome" in North Carolina, United States, the son of William Johnston, a physician, and Nancy (Forney) Johnston. He was a descendant of Gilbert Johnston, who settled in North Carolina in 1745 and was a brother of Gabriel Johnston.
Education
Johnston attended the rural public schools in North Carolina during his youth. At the age of seventeen he removed to Talladega, Alabama, where he attended a military academy.
Career
Joseph Johnston enlisted as a private in the 18th Alabama Regiment on April 21, 1861. He served through the war, rose to the rank of captain in the 12th North Carolina Regiment, and was wounded at Chickamauga, Spotsylvania Court House, New Market, and Petersburg. After the war he read law with his kinsman, William Henry Forney, at Jacksonville, Alabama, was admitted to the bar in 1866, and began practice at Selma, Alabama. In 1884, when it was a town of only three thousand, he went to Birmingham to become president of the Alabama National Bank. There he identified himself with the growing financial and manufacturing interests and devoted his initiative and foresight to the development of the region.
In 1887 Johnston became first president of the Sloss Iron and Steel Company, which was the pioneer iron manufacturing company in the Birmingham district. For a number of years he was chairman of the state Democratic executive committee. He became an advocate of free silver and in 1896 was elected governor in order to unite the white voters of the state, who for years had been divided between the Democratic and Populist parties. He prided himself upon the efficiency of his administration in collecting taxes and economy in spending them, on the increased expenditures for the public-school system, and on the encouragement of outside capital to invest within the state. During his second term he lost prestige with his party because he, at first, approved a revision of the constitution to eliminate the Negro from politics but, later, called a special session of the legislature to repeal the act providing for the constitutional convention.
In 1899 Johnston led a movement to sell to the Sloss Sheffield Company a large tract of the coal lands granted to the University of Alabama by the federal government. A bitter controversy ensued in which attacks were made against him due to his previous connection with the Sloss interests, but the record shows no evidence to substantiate the charges of corruption. The University trustees were seriously divided on the issue but finally refused to make the sale.
Johnston returned to his law practice in Birmingham and made an unsuccessful campaign against John T. Morgan for a seat in the national Senate. On August 6, 1907, at the death of Edmund W. Pettus, he became senator for the remainder of the latter's term. In 1909 he was elected for a full term during which he died at Washington.