Robert and Alexandra Johnston were no ordinary couple. Robert Pullium Johnston (1870-1924) was a dashing young cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point when he met the young debutante Alexandra Mary Garrett Johnston.

Alexandra (1875-1940), the only daughter of Robert and Mary Frances Garrett, and granddaughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Henry Garrett, married her handsome beau February 22, 1898. The wedding was held at her family home (now known as the Smith McDowell House Museum). During their courtship, the two engaged in a very competitive horse race, which Alexandra won by default when Robert suddenly stopped to help an injured dog. They began married life in San Francisco delighting in operas, concerts, and balls—all things her strict father forbade her to do in Asheville. The couple eventually moved back to their beloved mountain town.

Alexandra’s family, originally from St. Louis, Missouri, came to Asheville because her mother, Mary Francis, had tuberculosis and was advised by her doctor to take bed rest in a high altitude. The family owned a considerable amount of property, which they developed into an area known as Victoria (the campus of A-B Tech). They also had a mortgage business and owned inns that served as retirement homes for missionaries. Robert Garrett was a spokesperson for the Moody Bible owners and he often preached in various churches on Sundays./p>

Robert was quite successful in his own right. He served in the Army engineering corps during the Spanish American War and later during World War I. Robert resigned from the army in 1908, opening his own engineering firm in Asheville and tending apples at his orchard in Waynesville. In 1916 Buncombe County Commissioners chose him to design and supervise a concrete bridge connecting Asheville to West Asheville.

Alexandra attended Converse College in Spartanburg. Deeply religious, she was always helping the less fortunate. “When she saw a need, she brushed aside dangers of failure, and pushed her project to a successful end,” says her daughter, Francis Johnston Ogden. Alexandra however, had more than one dedication in life. She led an active social life and was a championship tennis player at the Asheville Country Club (though she would not play tennis on Sundays).

Alexandra and Robert were a happy couple who devoted a large part of their lives to helping others. They are buried alongside one another in Riverside Cemetery located in the historic Montford neighborhood. You can learn more about Alexandra and the Garrett family by visiting the Smith McDowell House Museum (wnchistory.org and 283 Victoria Road).

Sharon Fahrer is a local historian and resident of the Montford neighborhood. She leads historic walking tours downtown and in Montford.