Rienzi Melville Johnston

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Rienzi Melville Johnston (1913)

Rienzi Melville Johnston (born September 9, 1849 in Sandersville , Washington County , Georgia - †  February 28, 1926 in Houston , Texas ) was an American journalist and politician ( Democratic Party ) who briefed the state of Texas in the US Senate represented.

Life

After attending public schools, he began working in a printing company as a boy. During the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army as a drummer. After the end of his military service, he turned to the newspaper business and became editor of the in Savannah appearing Morning News .

In 1878 Johnston moved to Texas and worked there for various newspapers such as the Crockett Patron , the Corsicana Observer , the Independent and the Austin Statesman . Eventually, the Houston Post hired him as a political correspondent for the state capital Austin . From 1885 he was editor-in-chief of the paper; later he also became president of the Houston Printing Company . His editorials made him known beyond the borders of Texas, which ultimately earned him the post of Vice President of the Associated Press .

politics

In 1900 Rienzi Johnston was elected to the Democratic National Committee , of which he was a member until 1912. On January 4, 1913, the Texas Governor Oscar Branch Colquitt then appointed him US Senator; he took over from the resigned Joseph Weldon Bailey in Washington, DC . His term of office ended on January 29 of the same year after a new Senator was elected with Morris Sheppard ; Johnston did not run in the by-election.

As a result, he returned to the newspaper industry in Houston, but returned to politics as a state senator . Johnston remained in the Texas Legislature from 1917 to 1920 before stepping down to follow Governor William P. Hobby's appointment as a member of the State Prison Commission .

Rienzi Johnston died in Houston in 1926. His cousin Benjamin E. Russell was also a politician and sat for Georgia in the US House of Representatives from 1893 to 1897 .

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personal data
SURNAME Johnston, Rienzi Melville
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American journalist and politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Sandersville , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH February 28, 1926
Place of death Houston , Texas