| JOHNSON, LUTHER ALEXANDER (1875-1965).
Luther Alexander Johnson, Congressman and judge, was born on
October 29, 1875, in
Corsicana, Texas, to Ebenezer Wiley and Fannie L.
(McMillan) Johnson. He attended Cumberland University in
Lebanon, Tennessee, where he received a law degree in 1896.
Later that year he was admitted to the bar and began his law
practice in Corsicana. He was Navarro county attorney from
1898 to 1902 and district attorney for the Thirteenth Judicial
District from 1904 to 1910. He had a private practice in
Corsicana from 1910 to 1923. He was a delegate to the
Democratic national convention in St. Louis in 1916 and
chairman of the Democratic state convention in Fort Worth in
1920. He was a member of the Sixty-eighth through the
Seventy-ninth congresses, 1923-46, representing the Sixth
Texas District. While a congressman, he served on the house
foreign relations committee during the administrations of F.
D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Truman appointed him a federal
tax-court judge in 1946, a position he held until 1956.
Johnson married Turner Read on July 19, 1899. They had two
children. Johnson was a member of
Westminister Presbyterian Church in Corsicana for eighty
years and eventually became a ruling elder in the church. He
was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and the Lions Club. He
died on June 6, 1965, in Corsicana and was buried in
Oakwood Cemetery.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Austin American-Statesman, June 7,
1965. Biographical Directory of the American Congress.
Dallas Morning News, May 15, 1956. Uvalde
Leader-News, June 21, 1956. Vertical Files, Barker Texas
History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Who's Who in
the South and Southwest, Vol. 1.
Melanie Watkins
"JOHNSON, LUTHER ALEXANDER." The Handbook of Texas
Online.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/JJ/fjo96.html
Luther Alexander
Johnson, Sr.
Oct 29, 1875 - Jun 6, 1965
 Retired
Solon-Judge L. A. Johnson Dies
Luther Alexander Johnson, Sr., 89, native of Corsicana,
attorney prosecutor, congressman and federal tax judge, died
Sunday afternoon in Evergreen Convalescent Home following a
short illness.
Funeral services will be held from the McCammon Chapel
Tuesday at 2 p.m. with burial in
Oakwood cemetery.
The rites will be conducted by Rev. Eugene Wood, pastor of
Westminster Presbyterian church, assisted by Rev. Sam B.
Hulsey, Dallas rector, formerly with St. John’s Episcopal
church here.
Johnson was born in the house where his funeral rites will
be held as the McCammon Chapel is in the E. Wiley Johnson
home, corner West Sixth and South Fourteenth street.
Born October 29, 1875, in Corsicana, the son of the late E.
Wiley Johnson and Frances Louise McMillan, he attended
private school and Corsicana public schools, took a special
English course in Lebanon, Tenn., and graduated from
Cumberland University School of Law at Lebanon, Tenn. With
LLB degree in June, 1896. His Alma Mater conferred the
honorary LLD degree in 1937.
Judge Johnson sold apples on the streets of Corsicana for
his first job and delivered the Courier-Light newspaper each
afternoon through the residential section of Corsicana at $7
per month.
Church Leader
He was the oldest member and elder of Westminster
Presbyterian church—joining the Presbyterian church at the
age of nine years—giving him a membership of 80 years,
uniting with the church in April, 1885. He became a deacon
in 1891 and later a ruling elder. He was a member of the
choir and played a trombone.
Judge Johnson was married July 19, 1899, to Miss Turner
Read, in the First Methodist church in Corsicana, Rev. Sam
R. Hay (later Bishop) and Rev. L. C. Kirkes, Presbyterian,
performed the ceremony. Mrs. Johnson died here September 3,
1960.
Admitted to the bar before he was 21 years of age, he had
his disabilities of minority removed. Judge Rufus Hardy was
district judge at the time and later went to Congress where
he served for 16 years, retiring in 1923, being succeeded by
Congressman Johnson.
During his early career as an attorney, Johnson became an
assistant county attorney under the late Lewis T. Carpenter
who later moved to Dallas. He became an assistant in January
1897. He was elected county attorney the following year and
served four years.
Johnson became district attorney of the Thirteenth judicial
district (Navarro, Limestone and Freestone counties) in
November 1904, and was re-elected in 1906 and 1908.
He joined the law firm of Knox and Johnson, (Chris L. Knox
was the member of the firm, and a brother-in-law of
Johnson), after leaving the district attorney’s office and
in February, 1914, became a member of the firm of Callicutt
and Johnson, joining the late J. S. Callicutt, , remaining
in that firm until he went to Washington as congressman
where he served the Texas Sixth district until he resigned
in 1946 to accept a 12-year appointment from President
Truman as a United States Tax Court Judge. He returned to
Corsicana in 1958 and retired after his tax court judgeship
term expired.
Strong Campaigner
An outstanding orator, Johnson was in demand as a political
campaign speaker and made numerous tours for the National
Democratic party in doubtful states. He was the ranking
Democrat on the Foreign Relations committee in the House and
was regarded as the spokesman for the Roosevelt and Truman
Administrations, particularly during World War 11.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson took their first plane ride with Col.
Charles A. Lindbergh in March 1928.
After his retirement and return to Corsicana, he made his
home for years in the Navarro hotel, but declined to make
public appearances and addresses for which he was famous,
although he took a lively interest in politics and the
Democratic party and liked to discuss politics with his
friends and cronies. He was intensely interested and pleased
with the election of the late President John F. Kennedy and
also of President Lyndon B. Johnson, native Texan, whom
Congressman Johnson as far back as 1937 predicted great
things from Johnson City, even before the president went to
Congress from the Austin area.
Surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Mary Frances McGee, Fort
Worth; a son Luther A. Johnson, Jr., Corsicana; five
granddaughters, Mrs. Marylyn Browder and Mrs. Robert W.
Goodman, Jr., both of Houston; Mrs. Leonard Fuller,
Corsicana; Mrs. Sam B. Hulsey, Dallas, and Mrs. A. Chris
Slonaker, Winchester, Va.; 10 great-grandchildren; a brother
Ernest N. Johnson, Dallas; a sister Miss Minnie Johnson,
Corsicana and other relatives.
Pallbearers will be J. C. Roe, Dr. Leslie E. Kelton, W. A.
Lang, J. W. McCammon, Wiley Johnson, A. R. McElwrath, Albert
Berry, Clay Berry, Ted Nelson, R. B. Bowles, R. W. Goodman,
Jr.; District Judge Sam Johnson, Hillsboro. |
Notes:
Oakwood
Cemetery
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
|
Navarro County TXGenWeb