Name J. Johnston | ||
J. Augustus Johnston (fl. 1870-1890) was American consul in Beirut. He replaced G. Augustus Johnson.
Career
During his career, Johnston was instrumental in arranging the receipt by the Metropolitan Museum of Art of the first item they accessioned, a Roman marble sarcophagus with garlands, after J. Abdo Debbas, the American vice-consul at Tarsus, wrote to Johnston to offer the item to the U.S. government. Johnston replied that the government could not accept such a gift and the item was instead agreed to be presented to an American institution recommended by Johnston. After meeting John Taylor Johnston and other founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was agreed that the item should be received by them. Transit to the coast at Mersin was arranged by Debbas using a team of sixteen buffalo to pull the sarcophagus on a wagon. It then travelled by sea on the Shenandoah, arriving at the museum in late 1870.