History of Randolph-Macon College, Virginia / The Oldest Incorporated Methodist College in America

by Richard Irby

Professors Corprew, Jones, Blackwell, and La Garde severally submitted their resignations.

The duty of removing the College and preparing the buildings and premises at Ashland, and making other necessary arrangements, was devolved on the "Executive Committee, which consisted of Richard Irby, Dr. N. Head, D'Arcy Paul, Thomas Branch, and Rev. T. S. Campbell.

THOMAS CARTER JOHNSON.

In Memoriam.

Colonel Thomas C. Johnson was born near Lynchburg, Va., on the 22nd of March, 1820. He was converted and joined the Methodist Church in his seventeenth year. In 1842 he graduated with the highest honors of his class at Randolph-Macon College. In the fall of the same year he was married to Martha R. Scott, daughter of H. B. Scott, of Nelson county, Va., and was soon after appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in the Female Collegiate Institute in Buckingham county. This position he filled ten months, when he removed to Potosi, Washington county, Mo., whither the parents of his wife had preceded him. Here he accepted a position in a classical school, in the meantime assiduously prosecuting the study of law. He was soon after admitted to the bar, and took a position with the foremost in the ranks of the profession in his district. The year 1849 was an eventful one. He conceived the idea of building the Iron Mountain railroad, and suggested it to the people of the county. He was by them nominated and elected to the General Assembly for the purpose of securing the passage of a bill for the establishment of that road.

In June, 1849, the cholera raged in Potosi. He was stricken down, and, while violently ill, his wife and infant daughter died of this disease. The following winter he served in the Missouri Legislature, and secured the passage of the bill for the Iron Mountain road. He was subsequently largely concerned in developing and mapping the entire railroad system in that State.

In 1851 he removed to St. Louis, and was appointed land agent and attorney for the Pacific railroad. In the year 1853 he was married, the second time, to Pattie B. Scott, eldest daughter of Rev. Robert Scott, deceased, of the Virginia Conference. He was elected in 1858 a member of the Missouri State Senate from the city of St. Louis. In this body he at once took a prominent position, and was a member of nearly every important committee of the body. In the session of 1860-'61 he was chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, at that time the most important committee of the Senate.

He was decidedly conservative in his views, and anxious to secure the preservation of the Union, if it could be done consistently with the rights of the South; but when the Peace Congress proved a failure, the Crittenden Compromise was rejected, and Virginia seceded, he became a secessionist, and was heart and soul with the South throughout the struggle. His position and opinions on the vexed question forced him to leave Missouri. Without hesitation he sacrificed all for his principles, left his family in St. Louis, and joined the forces under General Sterling Price, on whose staff he served for two years as volunteer aid. Being convinced that the many reverses in that department, at that period, were due in a great measure to lack and inferiority of transportation, he called the attention of the authorities at Richmond to this point. He was soon after authorized to establish the Confederate Transportation Works at Columbus, Ga. To this important interest he directed his whole energies, and succeeded in establishing one of the best arranged, most extensive and complete machine shops in the Confederacy. This position he retained until the close of the War, when he removed with his family to Montgomery, Ala., and returned to the practice of law. While there he was elected to the Presidency of Randolph-Macon College. On reaching Virginia and entering upon his duties he found great difficulties in his path. But with characteristic energy he at once addressed himself to the task of re-establishing the College. Nearly two years of unremitted toil, under the most discouraging circumstances, convinced him that success could never crown his efforts at that location. He felt that to make the College a success it must be removed to a more accessible point. Fortunately, just at this juncture of affairs, the hotel property at Ashland was thrown upon the market. With his quick foresight, Colonel Johnson realized the importance of securing this eligible location.

It was not to be expected that the removal of the College would be accomplished without strong opposition on the part of some of its warmest friends. But in the midst of the contest Colonel Johnson bore himself like a Christian gentleman. He could appreciate the views of others, while he felt that the very existence of the institution depended on its removal to a more suitable site. We believe, indeed we have reason to know, that he entertained for those who opposed him in his plans no other feelings than those of friendship and Christian affection. To his particular friends, who were often indignant at the hard speeches uttered against him, he would reply, "Never mind, I keep my heart right before God." Believing that he was acting for the best he went forward like a true and earnest man in what he regarded as the path of duty.

Having seen the removal of the College determined upon, to relieve the Trustees of all the embarrassment in the election of a Faculty, he generously came forward and tendered his resignation, and soon after started to the West, the scene of his early labors and successes. It was while en route to St. Louis (on August 8, 1868,) that he met with the terrible accident that in a few hours closed his noble and useful life. The death of Colonel Johnson was a calamity to our church and to our country. He had passed the period of life when men are seized by ambition and borne off in pursuit of wealth or fame. He had gained both; the former he had lost in standing for his native land and State rights; the latter he still possessed in a more valuable form, as purified by the power and faith of his religion. Repeatedly has he said to the writer, "I only wish to live to do good." To the Christian education of the young men of the South he was ardently devoted, and to this work we know he wished to devote the energies of a manly and mature intellect.