Elizabeth Bryant Johnston (July 12, 1833 – January 13, 1907) was an American historian and author of several books on

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

and his residence at

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, including numerous editions of the ''Visitors' Guide to Mount Vernon.'' Johnston was also a founding member of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Historian General of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and Associate Editor of ''

American Monthly ''American Monthly'' magazine was the original official monthly magazine published by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). The magazine was published between 1892 and 2001. History and profile The magazine was ...

'' Magazine''.''

Life

Johnston was born on July 12, 1833. During the 1870s, she lived her brother, lawyer Saunders Johnston, and his wife, Sarah Johnston, at their home on

Florida Avenue Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, Bound ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Another brother of Johnston's, Anderson Daniphan Johnston, worked as head bookkeeper in the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

; his daughter was photographer

Frances Benjamin Johnston Frances Benjamin Johnston (January 15, 1864 – May 16, 1952) was an early American photographer and photojournalist whose career lasted for almost half a century. She is most known for her portraits, images of southern architecture, and various ...

. Johnston wrote the first edition of the ''Visitors Guide to Mount Vernon'' in 1876 while staying at Mount Vernon, with the permission of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association (MVLA). She published the book in 1877 and entered into a contract with the MVLA shortly thereafter. Johnston continued to write updated editions of the guidebook for over twenty years, until her partnership with the MVLA ended in 1898. Johnston was a contributor to the volume ''Our Famous Women: An Authorized Record of the Lives and Deeds of Distinguished American Women of Our Times'' (1884). Other contributors included Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Harriet Beecher Stowe,

Susan Coolidge Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (January 29, 1835 – April 9, 1905) was an American children's author who wrote under the pen name Susan Coolidge. Background Woolsey was born on January 29, 1835 into the wealthy, influential New England Dwight famil ...

, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, among others. Johnston died on January 13, 1907. After her death, the members of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. paid tribute to her life, writing, "Her labors in journalism, her faculty for art criticism, her interest in history and advancement of Washington City, her researches in genealogy, with her eminently social qualities, were noteworthy elements in the record of a long and useful life."

Bibliography

* ''Christmas in Kentucky'' (1862) * ''A Visit to the Cabinet of the United States Mint'' (1876) * ''Visitors' Guide to Mount Vernon'' (1877) * ''George Washington Day by Day'' (1895)

References

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Sources

1833 births 1907 deaths 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American historians Historians of the American Revolution Daughters of the American Revolution people