William E. Johnston
South Carolina House of Representatives
In office
1868–1869
South Carolina State Senate
In office
1869–1877
Personal details
Born1838
Charleston, South Carolina
Died1899(1899-00-00) (aged 60–61)
Political partyRepublican

William E. Johnston (1838–1899) was a state legislator who served during the Reconstruction era in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1868 to 1869 and the South Carolina State Senate from 1869 to 1877.[1]

Biography

Johnston was born free in 1838 in Charleston, South Carolina and then raised in Philadelphia.[1][2]

During the American Civil War he served in the Union Army returning after the war to South Carolina settling down in Sumter County and joining the African Methodist Episcopal Church as a minister.[1] He help organise the Independent African Methodist Church in response to the northern influence in the A. M. E. Church and he became president in 1885.[1][3] It was claimed that in his preaching he said that the key Christian figures of Christ, Joseph and Mary were all black Africans.[1]

Johnston was the director of the Enterprise Railroad and started several companies.[1]

Politics

Johnston was a member of the 1867 Republican state central committee[1]

He was a delegate to the 1868 constitutional convention representing Sumter County and was a member of the Committee of the Judiciary.[4]

Johnston served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1868 to 1869[5] and then moved to the South Carolina State Senate to serve from 1869 to 1877.[1] In 1876 he was listed as serving on the Committees of Incorporation, Finance, Printing, Roads, Bridges and Ferries and Railroads.[6] He was a Republican and quit the legislature when the Democrats took control.[1][7]

In 1874 he was the chairman of the Sumter County Republican Party.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Foner, Eric (1 August 1996). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. LSU Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-8071-2082-8. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  2. ↑ Bryant, Lawrence C. (1968). Negro Lawmakers in the South Carolina Legislature, 1868-1902. School of Graduate Studies, South Carolina State College. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  3. ↑ Census, United States Bureau of the (1929). Religious Bodies: 1926: Separate denominations: statistics, history, doctrine, organization, and work. Norman Ross Publishing. p. 1042. ISBN 978-0-88354-685-7. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  4. ↑ Convention, South Carolina Constitutional (1868). Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina: Held at Charleston, S. C., Beginning January 14th and Ending March 17th, 1868. Including the Debates and Proceedings. Denny & Perry. p. 56. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  5. ↑ Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of South-Carolina. The State. 1870. p. 10. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  6. ↑ Reports and Resolutions of South Carolina to the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, Regular Session Commencing ... printed under the direction of the State Budget and Control Board. 1877. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  7. ↑ "South Carolina News (part) Senators resign". Yorkville Enquirer. 22 November 1877. p. 2. Retrieved 29 August 2022.Open access icon
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