Joshua Foster Johnson
Mt. Vernon, Franklin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(September 27, 1824 - February 15, 1877) Came to Texas from Tennessee in 1845, settling (1846) near site of Mount Vernon, which he helped found (as town of Keith) in 1848. Member 3rd Texas Legislature (1849-50); sponsored Mount Vernon Male and Female Academies bill -- leading to public school system. Member Secession Convention, 1861; Constitutional Convention, 1875. As pastor, helped organize Mount Vernon Baptist Church. Married Amanda C. Wright; they had seven sons, three daughters. (1973)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Arriving from Tennessee in 1845, Joshua Foster Johnson settled near the future Mount Vernon and helped found the town—first called Keith—in 1848. In the Third Texas Legislature he sponsored the bill establishing the Mount Vernon Male and Female Academies, an early step toward public schooling, and he sat in both the 1861 Secession Convention and the 1875 Constitutional Convention. A Baptist pastor as well, he helped organize the Mount Vernon Baptist Church.
Why it matters
Johnson's life spans the founding, statehood, secession, and Reconstruction of Texas, and his push for public academies helped lay the groundwork for the state's education system.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Joshua Foster Johnson
- · Amanda C. Wright
Related events
- · Texas Secession Convention of 1861
- · Constitutional Convention of 1875
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Pine Forest Church and Cemetery
Sulphur Springs, TX
Founded about 1855 in the Stout Creek neighborhood, this Methodist church rose on land deeded to trustees who were also building schools and roads in the young settlement. The adjoining cemetery holds its earliest known grave from 1856, and by the 1860s the same building served for both worship and school classes. Now holding more than 600 graves, the church and cemetery remain active more than a century and a half later.
Fairview Church and Cemetery
Mt. Vernon, TX
In 1880 Kentucky-born cattleman Julian N. Kimberlin gave five acres for a Methodist church, school, Grange hall, and burial ground, and the first recorded burial came the next year. A building erected by 1885 served as both school and sanctuary until a 1913 storm destroyed it, after which the community built anew nearby and, in 1928-29, a fresh chapel beside the cemetery. The Fairview Cemetery today holds more than 300 graves, including pioneer settlers and a Civil War veteran.
Forest Academy Cemetery
Sulphur Springs, TX
Settlement of this area began in 1847 when Thomas and Elizabeth Ticer brought their family west, and the ground was serving as a burial place before it was formally set aside in 1858—the year of its first known marked grave. Landowner Winship S. Petty enlarged the cemetery to six acres, donated it to the Forest Academy community, and supplied lumber for its first church and school. By 1910 the families had moved on, leaving the Methodist church and this graveyard as the last traces of the settlement.
Black Oak Baptist Church
Sulphur Springs, TX
Named for the black oaks around it, this Northeast Texas community took root in the 1850s among families holding government land grants, and by 1854 had a post office and a log building that served as both church and school. In 1856 elders organized a Baptist congregation of eight charter members, which grew alongside the community's gin, sawmill, and store, replacing its log meeting house with a frame sanctuary in 1909.