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James T. Johnston
Gender:
Male
Born:
July 4, 1797
Died:
February 28, 1877
Home Town:
Savannah, GA
Later Residences:
Alexandria, VA
Marriage(s):
Jane Sandford Johnston (February 1817)
Biographical Notes:
James T. Johnston was the son of leading Savannah, GA merchant Matthew and his wife Mary Elizabeth (Evans) Johnston.
His sister Eliza A. Johnston attended Litchfield Female Academy between 1806-1811 and married James Morrison, a Litchfield Law School graduate of 1809. Morrison later served as mayor of Savannah.
Johnston's cousin Bellamy Crawford Robertson was also a Litchfield Female Academy student between 1808-1811.
His sister Eliza A. Johnston attended Litchfield Female Academy between 1806-1811 and married James Morrison, a Litchfield Law School graduate of 1809. Morrison later served as mayor of Savannah.
Johnston's cousin Bellamy Crawford Robertson was also a Litchfield Female Academy student between 1808-1811.
Quotes:
While at Litchfield Law School, Johnston fell in love with Litchfield Female Academy student Euphemia F. Blanch of Paramus, NJ. She rejected him "after having given him by the pleasure with which she received his attentions before his declaration great encouragement to be accepted."
Mary Pierce wrote that Johnston was "a foolish unprincipled youth," who "threatened to kill himself" after the rejection. His classmates sat up with him all night to prevent his suicide and he left Litchfield the next morning. He then wrote his Litchfield friends "frenzied letters." He wrote Anna Pierce Brace, asking her to show the letter to Euphemia, "thinking that if there were a spark of affection in her heart such extravagant attachment would awaken it, and move her to save him."
Anna ...
[more]
Mary Pierce wrote that Johnston was "a foolish unprincipled youth," who "threatened to kill himself" after the rejection. His classmates sat up with him all night to prevent his suicide and he left Litchfield the next morning. He then wrote his Litchfield friends "frenzied letters." He wrote Anna Pierce Brace, asking her to show the letter to Euphemia, "thinking that if there were a spark of affection in her heart such extravagant attachment would awaken it, and move her to save him."
Anna ...
[more]
Education
Years at LLS:
1816
Other Education:
New York Theological Seminary
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Religious Calling
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
- Jane Sandford Johnston
Wife - Elizabeth Johnston Morrison
Sister
LFA (1806-1807,1807,1809-1811) - Mary Evans Johnston
Mother - Matthew Johnston
Father
Related Objects and Documents
Other:
The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation. Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Handwritten list by William Samuel Johnson, "Catalogue of the Students at Law in the school at Litchfield Conn. at & after Aug. 15th 1817..", Connecticut Historical Society, Johnson Family Papers, 1722-1863, Box - Johnson Papers.
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849.
"Litchfield, September 2 1816 Tribute of Respect," Connecticut Herald, vol XIII, iss. 49, 3, September 17, 1816.
"Married," Commercial Advertiser, vol. XX, iss. 7551, 2, September 5, 1817.
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849.
"Litchfield, September 2 1816 Tribute of Respect," Connecticut Herald, vol XIII, iss. 49, 3, September 17, 1816.
"Married," Commercial Advertiser, vol. XX, iss. 7551, 2, September 5, 1817.
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