JOHNSON.--At 10 o'clock Saturday morning, July 14, a memorial service was held by Tehuacana Presbytery in honor of Rev. L. A. Johnson, A.M., Ph.D., who died at Tehuacana, Tuesday night, July 10. It was conducted by Rev. J. W. Pearson. The Scripture lesson was from Romans XV. Tributes of love and respect were made by Revs. J. W. Pearson, A. L. Barr, D. G. Molloy, T. A. Mitchell, W. C. Morris and J. M. Martin, by Ruling Elder D. M. Prendergast and by Licentiate Hardin Mallard, of Corsicana Presbytery. The following resolution were adopted unanimously:

Whereas, God in his providence has removed from our ranks our beloved brother, Dr. L. A. Johnson, Chairman of the Faculty of Trinity University; therefore be it

Resolved, (1) In the death of Dr. Johnson Tehuacana Presbytery has lost an able and efficient presbyter. (2) The church has lost one of her favored sons, and at such a time as to make his loss most keenly felt in the cause of Christian education. (3) Trinity University has lost its manager, one who devoted the best energies of his life to its upbuilding.

Resolved, That a page of our minutes be suitably inscribed as a memorial page in his honor; that these resolutions be offered for publication to "The Cumberland Presbyterian" and Church Helper, and that a copy be sent to the widow and orphan of deceased.      W. C. MORRIS, S.C.
[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, August 9, 1900, page 149]

Luther Apelles Johnson was born in Tishomingo County, Miss., May 5, 1858. He received his preparation for college in Baldwyn High School (Miss.) and Ross Academy (Tenn.). Early in life he professed faith in Christ at Mt. Moriah Church, Giles County, Tenn., and was one of the twenty-two converts of that historic church who, up to 1888, had entered the gospel ministry. He was received by letter as a candidate from the Bell Presbytery into the Richland Presbytery, and on September 21, 1878, was licensed to preach the gospel. He studied in Cumberland University and later in Southern Illinois Normal University. April 25, 1879, he was elected principal of the Lawrenceburg High School (Tenn.), and served in that office two years. September 25, 1880, he was ordained to the whole work of the gospel ministry. December 5, 1880, he was married to Miss Virginia Deavenport, of Lawrenceburg, Tenn. He served as pastor of the McCain's Church, Maury county, Tenn., one year, 1881-2. Removing to Texas in 1882, he became principal of the Veal's Station High School. June 10, 1885, he was elected principal of the preparatory department of Trinity University. In 1886 he received the degree of A.M. from this institution.

Rev. B. G. McLeskey, D.D., president of Trinity University, died October 25, 1885, and at a called meeting of the Board of Trustees, October 31, Prof. Johnson was elected president pro tem. June 7, 1887, he was elected president. His first wife died March 16, 1889, and July 1, 1890, he was married to Miss Paralee Gray. April 30, 1889, he voluntarily resigned the presidency and accepted a professorship, the board expressing profound regret that he saw fit to resign the work which he had so successfully prosecuted, and testifying for his fitness for effective organization, efficient management and thorough, scholarly teaching. In 1890 he received the degree of Ph.D. from Bethel College. In the summer of 1890 he was a student of English in the College of Liberal Arts, Chautauqua, New York. He represented Trinity University in a meeting of the Inter-College Association of Cumberland Presbyterian Churches, held at Lebanon, Tenn., June, 1891. In 1893 he introduced into the faculty the motion recommending to the Board of Trustees the policy of granting leave of absence to college professors for the purpose of special study, and it was through his influence that this motion was carried in the Board. In 1893-4, on leave of absence, he was a graduate student in the department of English in the University of Chicago, and received from that institution the degree of A.M. In June, 1896, the board committing the management of the school to the faculty, Dr. Johnson was elected its chairman. At a special meeting of the board, January 15, 1897, he was again elected president, but finally declined, stating that after mature deliberation and earnest seeking of the guidance of Providence, he arrived at the conviction that since he could not make up his mind to enter permanently upon the duties of the presidency it was clearly his duty to decline. He continued to serve as chairman of the faculty until serious illness seized him, in September, 1899. He taught in the State School of Methods in the summer of 1898. The following winter he was appointed by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction on the State Board of Examiners. He was elected president of the Texas State Teachers' Association at its meeting held in Fort Worth, June, 1899. The General Assembly, in session at Denver, Colorado, May 23, 1899, appointed him a member of the Educational Commission. He died July 10, and was buried July 12, 1900.

He had a high order of talent. He was a clear, accurate and powerful thinker. He investigated thoroughly and studied exhaustively. Nothing short of complete masterly of the subject in hand would satisfy him. He was an invincible worker. When urged by his companions to relax his efforts and rest he would reply:

" I have not time. There is so much to be done and I must be doing my part of it; for, at most, half of my life is past any way. I must do more these next twenty years than ever I have done before."

His soul was in the endowment movement. On his return from St. Louis, where the Educational Commission held its first meeting, in June, 1899, he said, with great earnestness, "If I can work for Trinity University ten years longer and can then see her endowed and equipped as she ought to be and must be, I shall be willing to go."

Last spring when he appeared to be permanently recovering, his wife, feeling that he would not be able to do the work he contemplated in the interest of endowment and that the burden of this responsibility would imperil his life, suggested that he resign his place on the commission. He replied: "No! no! I am surprised at your suggesting this! Why that is what I am allowed to live for. I could as easily be persuaded to be divorced from you as to leave off doing this work. I believe that I can do more to serve God and benefit humanity than ever before, and I mean to do it with my might. I have lost this year from work and I must make it up by double diligence."

He had faith in God's providence. While teaching in the School of Methods in Austin, 1898, he wrote: I have been thinking a great deal about my ambition to rise to distinction in the world. I can't do it and stay at Tehuacana. But maybe I can be of more service to the world if I can devote my life to Trinity. If the Lord leads that way, I am willing to try. I am asking him for guidance." He had the soul of an artist, loving beauty and beautiful surroundings as few men seem to do. He used his means for the broader purposes of usefulness. He once said to his wife: "I did not start out in life to make money especially. If I had devoted myself to amassing a fortune I believe I should now be, as far as this world's goods go, wealthy; but I dare say I should be much poorer in every other way than I am. I am so glad that early in life my attention was directed to the higher objects of living and that I have tried to make them mine."

On last Christmas morning, at dawn, he asked to have the curtain raised that he might watch the sun rise. Though pale and wan, he felt intensely the beauty of the scene, and contemplating it for some time, finally, with intense earnestness, uttered the words of the Psalmist: "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name." Recalling all the passages of Scripture concerning the birth of Christ, he could, "a great and holy joy," he declared, "filled his soul so that, while very feeble and suffering physically, he was quite happy." Often he had his wife to read or repeat passages of Scripture, never failing to give evidence that his heart was full, often to overflowing, of love and thankfulness for the goodness and mercies of God.

He was fond of the poem, "Crossing the Bar," by Tennyson. Often he repeated it, tears filling his eyes, while his soul seemed full in the contemplation of the last delightful hope expressed in the poem:

"Sunset and evening star,
   And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
   When I put out to sea.

"But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
   Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
   Turns again home.

"Twilight and evening bell,
   And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
   When I embark;

"For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
   The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
   When I have crost the bar."

It seems that the sentiment of the poem was in a great measure realized in his passing away. He was unconscious, and so was spared the "sadness of farewell" and the "moaning of the bar. And we feel assured that when he had crossed he saw his "Pilot face to face."
   Tehuacana, Texas.             D. S. B.
[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, September 20, 1900, page 294]