Obituary James T. Johnston From Research Conducted at the Nicholas P. Sims Library, Waxahachie, Ellis County, Texas September 20, 2003 by Debbi Rodgers   Waxahachie Daily Light, February 20, 1904 J. T. Johnson, prominent citizen of Ellis County, died at 8 o'clock this morning at his home two miles from Forreston. Mr. Johnson was about 53 years old and had been sick several weeks. He came to Ellis County in 1871 and had served the county a number of terms as county commissioner. He enjoyed a large circle of friends and was highy esteemed by all who knew him. His remains will be interred tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock at the Bethel cemetery. Waxahachie Daily Light, February 24, 1904 Death of James T. Johnston While we know that we are born to die yet we rarely ever get to the place in life where we are willing to lay down life's burden, or bury our friends forever out of our sight. In the death of Mr. J. T. Johnston his family and his friends lose a kind and loving husband, father and friend who will not soon be forgotten. His death is a distinctive loss to Ellis County. He had served commissioner's precinct number three several terms and in the capacity of public servant, as in all other relations of life, he was true and faithful to the best interests of his fellow citizens. His health, which had been declining for several years, was considerably improved last summer by a trip to the mountains of Colorado. While my wife and I were sojourning there last summer we boarded at the same hotel with him, and there we were associated intimately with him for several weeks and learned to know and admire his many good traits of character. Realizing that he was being greatly benefited by the change of climate I wrote the general passenger agent of the Denver road and secured an extension of his ticket and permission to stop over at Hereford several weeks to visit his brother, John C. Johnston, and this he did, returning home in October much improved in health. Shortly after reaching home he began a rapid decline in health, terminating in his death last Saturday morning at his home, five miles south of this city. My wife and I attended his funeral and burial at Bethel, near Boz, Sunday afternoon at three o'clock. The large church building there was wholly inadequate to hold the great throng of his friends who gathered to pay this last tribute of respect.  Rev. J. S. Elliott, pastor of the Baptist church at Forreston, and Rev. Claud Smith, pastor of the Forreston circuit, each paid splendid tributes to his memory. Mr. Johnston was a member of the Baptist church, with which denomination he united in his young manhood, and one of the preachers remarked in his sermon that if a man lived right in this world he was sure to die right and go to a better land. The preachers both spoke feelingly and tenderly of his kindly, generous disposition toward his fellowmen and of his faithful stewardship as a public official. Such a life as was Mr. Johnston's is an object lesson to us all, worthy of emulation. May a kind Providence deal gently with the bereaved widow and four children, is the since wish of INNOCENCE   Copyright © 2003-2017, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:20:46 MDT