J. T. M. JOHNSTON DIES
THE END IN WASHINGTON TO FORMER KANSAS CITY BANKER
A Member of a Pioneer Boone County Family, He Had Served Many Years In Pulpits of Missouri Churches
Dr. J. T. M. Johnston, retired minister-banker and former head of the National Reserve Bank of Kanasa City, died yesterday at his home in Washington from pneumonia. He was 75 years old.
Dr Johnston was born in Boone County in 1856, the son of a pioneer family of the county. At the age of 19 he organized the Bass-Johnston Mercantile Company in Ashland, Mo. Lawrence Bass, a wealthy farmer, supplied the money and the youth ran the business. Nine years later the two men organized the Bass-Johnston Banking Company in Ashland with Johnston as president.
SERVED TEN YEARS IN LOUIS.
Three years after the founding of the bank, Dr. Johnston entered the Baptist Theological seminary at Louisville, Ky., and four years later was ordained. He became pastor of the First Baptist church at Jefferson City and for ten years was chaplain in the senate and at the penitentiary. He next went to St Louis to become pastor of the Delmar Avenue Baptist church, where he served ten years.
In the meanwhile he had organized the Brookston-Johnston Bank in Denison, Tex., and had acquired stock in several Oklahoma and Texas banks. When he left the ministry in St Louis in 1907 he became prominent in St Louis banking and came to Kansas City in 1910, establishing the National Reserve Bank. He later became president of the institution.
In 1913 on the floor of the house of representatives Speaker Champ Clark described Dr. Johnston as one of his personal advisers. Dr. Johnston had been sent to Washingtort soma time before by the bankers of Kansas City in the interest of the federal reserve banking act, then pending in congress. He was prominent in Missouri Democratic politics many years.
AN AUTHOR OF BIOGRAPHIES.
Dr. Johnston was a traveler and a collector of books mostly biographies. He was an author also, principally of biographies. At one time he was a member of the board of trustees of William Jewell college, Liberty Mo., and was a curator of Stephens college ,Columbia. He married in 1879 Miss Florence Brooks at Ashland.
Dr. Johnston is survived by his widow, also of Washington, where the two have been living several years, Dr. Johnston spending his time writing. Also surviving are two daughters, Mrs. John List Peppard, 211 West Fifty-second street terrace, and Mrs. I. W. Killam, Montreal, Canada; a son, J. L. Johnston, New York City, and two sisters, Miss Eva Johnston, member of the University of Missouri faculty, and Mrs. William Ellis, also of Columbia, Mo.
Funeral services will be held at 11 o'clock Tuesday at the Salem Baptist church, Ashland, nine miles south of Columbia.
The Kansas City Times, Kansas City, Missouri, 10 Nov 1930, Mon • Page 2, Column 4
(Contributed by Pam Witherow)

(Information for this family may also be found at the Shelby County Historical Society & Museum in Shelbina, Missouri.)

J. T. M. JOHNSTON DIES
THE END IN WASHINGTON TO FORMER KANSAS CITY BANKER
A Member of a Pioneer Boone County Family, He Had Served Many Years In Pulpits of Missouri Churches
Dr. J. T. M. Johnston, retired minister-banker and former head of the National Reserve Bank of Kanasa City, died yesterday at his home in Washington from pneumonia. He was 75 years old.
Dr Johnston was born in Boone County in 1856, the son of a pioneer family of the county. At the age of 19 he organized the Bass-Johnston Mercantile Company in Ashland, Mo. Lawrence Bass, a wealthy farmer, supplied the money and the youth ran the business. Nine years later the two men organized the Bass-Johnston Banking Company in Ashland with Johnston as president.
SERVED TEN YEARS IN LOUIS.
Three years after the founding of the bank, Dr. Johnston entered the Baptist Theological seminary at Louisville, Ky., and four years later was ordained. He became pastor of the First Baptist church at Jefferson City and for ten years was chaplain in the senate and at the penitentiary. He next went to St Louis to become pastor of the Delmar Avenue Baptist church, where he served ten years.
In the meanwhile he had organized the Brookston-Johnston Bank in Denison, Tex., and had acquired stock in several Oklahoma and Texas banks. When he left the ministry in St Louis in 1907 he became prominent in St Louis banking and came to Kansas City in 1910, establishing the National Reserve Bank. He later became president of the institution.
In 1913 on the floor of the house of representatives Speaker Champ Clark described Dr. Johnston as one of his personal advisers. Dr. Johnston had been sent to Washingtort soma time before by the bankers of Kansas City in the interest of the federal reserve banking act, then pending in congress. He was prominent in Missouri Democratic politics many years.
AN AUTHOR OF BIOGRAPHIES.
Dr. Johnston was a traveler and a collector of books mostly biographies. He was an author also, principally of biographies. At one time he was a member of the board of trustees of William Jewell college, Liberty Mo., and was a curator of Stephens college ,Columbia. He married in 1879 Miss Florence Brooks at Ashland.
Dr. Johnston is survived by his widow, also of Washington, where the two have been living several years, Dr. Johnston spending his time writing. Also surviving are two daughters, Mrs. John List Peppard, 211 West Fifty-second street terrace, and Mrs. I. W. Killam, Montreal, Canada; a son, J. L. Johnston, New York City, and two sisters, Miss Eva Johnston, member of the University of Missouri faculty, and Mrs. William Ellis, also of Columbia, Mo.
Funeral services will be held at 11 o'clock Tuesday at the Salem Baptist church, Ashland, nine miles south of Columbia.
The Kansas City Times, Kansas City, Missouri, 10 Nov 1930, Mon • Page 2, Column 4
(Contributed by Pam Witherow)

(Information for this family may also be found at the Shelby County Historical Society & Museum in Shelbina, Missouri.)