Thomas A. Johnston (1848-1934), was president of the Kemper Family School and Kemper Military School in

Boonville, Missouri Boonville is a city and the county seat of Cooper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 7,964 at the 2020 census. The city was the site of a skirmish early in the Civil War, on July 17, 1861. Union forces defeated the Missouri Stat ...

from 1881 to 1928. He was known as the "Builder of Kemper". Johnston was born near Boonville in 1848. He joined the Confederate Army in October 1864, and served under General

John Marmaduke John Sappington Marmaduke (March 14, 1833 – December 28, 1887) was an American politician and soldier. He served as the 25th governor of Missouri from 1885 until his death in 1887. During the American Civil War, he was a senior officer ...

and General Sterling Price through the end of the war. After the war, Johnston studied for two years at a private academy in

Prairie Home, Missouri Prairie Home is a town, with legal status as a city, in Cooper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 280 at the 2010 census. History The town of Prairie Home was laid out in 1874 around the Prairie Home Institute, a school that ...

before entering the Kemper Family School in fall 1867. He studied under Professor

Frederick T. Kemper Frederick T. Kemper (1816 – March 9, 1881) was the founder of the school that later became Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri. Early life Frederick T. Kemper was born in Madison County, Virginia, in 1816. His brother was General J ...

until 1871, then was admitted to the senior class of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. A year later, he was back at the Kemper School as an instructor with an A.B. from Missouri. Following the death of the school founder in 1881, T.A. Johnston was named Kemper president and placed in control of the school. Under Johnston's leadership, the school significantly changed. Although Frederick Kemper was the founder of the school, Colonel Johnston guided the school through its largest period of growth and established its national reputation. Under Johnston's leadership, most of the buildings on campus were constructed. He also made the seminal decision to convert Kemper to a military school. In 1885, Johnston added the military training program and structure to Kemper, then changed the name to Kemper Military School in 1899. It was advertised as the "West Point of the West." Johnston introduced the Standard of Honor in 1915, began a formal

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

program in 1916, and added a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

in 1923. He saw enrollment grow from around 60 in the 1880s and 1890s to 160 by 1910 to 517 in 1918. In the 1920s enrollment stayed steady at around 350 cadets. In 1928, Colonel Johnston announced his retirement and selected Colonel

Arthur M. Hitch Kemper Military School & College was a private military school located in Boonville, Missouri. Founded in 1844, Kemper filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2002. The school's motto was "Nunquam Non Paratus" (Never Not Prepared). The 46-acre camp ...

, his son-in-law, to lead the school. Johnston continued as president of Kemper until his death in 1934. After Hitch's retirement in 1948, T. A. Johnston's son, Colonel Harris Johnston, who had served on the Kemper faculty since 1904, was selected as the new superintendent.

References

* The Life of Prof. F.T. Kemper, by J.A. Quarles. 1882 * ''The Boonville Daily News'', Kemper Centennial Edition, May 8, 1944. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Thomas A. 1848 births 1934 deaths Heads of universities and colleges in the United States People from Boonville, Missouri