Richard Malcolm Johnston | |
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| Born | (1822-03-08)March 8, 1822 Powelton, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | September 23, 1898(1898-09-23) (aged 76) Baltimore, Maryland |
| Occupation | Educator, author |
| Alma mater | Mercer University |
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Richard Malcolm Johnston (March 8, 1822 – September 23, 1898) was an American author.
Johnson was born inPowelton,Hancock County,Georgia.[1][2] His father was aBaptist minister, and his early education was received at a country school and finished atMercer University. After graduating there he spent a year teaching and then took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1843. In 1857, he accepted an appointment to the chair of belles-lettres and oratory at theUniversity of Georgia inAthens, retaining it until the opening of theCivil War, when he began a school for boys on his farm nearSparta. This he kept going during the war, serving also for a time on the staff of Confederate general Joseph E. Brown, and helping to organize the state militia.
At the close of the war he moved toMaryland, where he opened the Pen Lucy School for boys in Baltimore. One of his teaching staff was Georgia-born poetSidney Lanier, who persuaded him to begin to write for publication, although he was then more than 50 years old. His first stories were sent toSouthern Magazine; others toThe Century followed, and became immediately popular. His stories presented a nostalgic view of Southern plantation-based slavery that became the foundation of Lost Cause ideology.
He died inBaltimore, Maryland on September 23, 1898.[2]
Johnston's published works include:
His autobiography was posthumously published in 1900.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Meehan, Thomas Francis (1910). "Richard Malcolm Johnston".Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8.
