Albert H. Johnson Papers, 1822-2010, n.d.
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Administrative/Biographical History
Albert H. Johnson, the son of Isaac Johnson, was born in Elyria, Ohio on August 19, 1838*. The family moved to Oberlin in 1850 and took over a relative’s dry goods business. Once they had taken up residence in Oberlin, Isaac Johnson helped to organize the Citizens’ National Bank, where Albert later worked as a cashier. Albert Johnson attended Oberlin College Preparatory school from 1853-1857, and went on to attend Oberlin College from 1862-1865, never completing a degree.
In 1866, Johnson married Rebecca Ann Jenkins of New Athens, Ohio, who had graduated from Oberlin College in 1865. Rebecca Jenkins did not go on to pursue a career, but she and Albert Johnson had a son, Albert Mussey Johnson, and a daughter, Cliff Updegraf Johnson.
The family took residence in Oberlin at 81 East College Street until Albert Johnson bought twenty-six acres of property on South Professor Street, part of which had been previously owned by Professor James Dascomb. In the early 1880s, Albert contracted with Cleveland architect George Horatio Smith to design a mansion to be built on this property; in 1885, the Johnson House was completed. The Johnson family resided at the 216 South Professor St. mansion of 24 rooms between 1885 and 1899.
During a professional career that spanned 3 decades, Albert Johnson occupied a wide variety of local and community-based positions. He was the president of the First National Bank of Oberlin, like his father (1870-1873), and also helped to organize the Oberlin Bank Company and Oberlin Telephone Company. Albert served as Superintendent of Sunday School at the Second Church of Oberlin for thirty-seven years. Maintaining contact with Oberlin College, Johnson helped establish the Oberlin College Chair of Political Science and Modern History for Professor James Monroe, served as a Trustee for Oberlin College from 1884-1899, and chaired the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees. He also generously donated to the college throughout his lifetime.
Johnson served as president of the Oberlin Gas Lighting Company and oversaw the 1889 construction of the gas-holding building, a storage holder for manufactured coal gas. Still located at 291 South Main Street, for many years it served many other purposes, but it is now maintained as a local historical site. In the coming years, as most gas-based lighting systems were converting to electric power, Albert Johnson turned his company into the Oberlin Gas & Electric Company and wired the city for its new source of lighting. Johnson remained president of the company until his death in 1899.
Despite his devoted professional and charitable involvement with the Oberlin community, Johnson’s business life also kept him away from home. He became president of the Arkansas Midland Railroad Company, and was eventually sworn in as the president of the company. He also served as the president of a small bank located in Helena, Arkansas.
On December 4, 1899, Albert Johnson and his son, Albert Mussey Johnson, were traveling through Utah and Colorado by train when they were involved in a collision with another locomotive. Their train had stopped on the tracks to tend to a horse caught in a trestle when another train came veering around the corner and crashed into the rear sleeper car of the Johnson’s train, the very car where Albert H. Johnson was sleeping. While Albert Mussey Johnson survived the wreck with a severely broken back, the collision killed Albert Sr. Albert Harris Johnson was 61 years old at the time of his tragic death.
Through the efforts of Charles Martin Hall, Oberlin College acquired the Johnson House property in 1912, and was used for the Oberlin Academy for the next four years, and as a college dormitory and program-house ever since.
*Johnson’s birth date is listed differently in each of the sources consulted.
Sources Consulted
The Albert H. Johnson Papers (30/378).
The student file of Albert H. Johnson, Alumni records, OCA (28/1).
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The Papers of Albert H. Johnson Papers primarily document his professional career as an Oberlin banker and president of the Oberlin Gas Lighting Company (later the Oberlin Gas & Electric Company) and president of the Arkansas Midland Railroad Company. Johnson participated in several Oberlin business related projects, including the construction of the gas-holding building located on South Main Street.
The correspondence received by Albert H. Johnson from various businesses, such as the Vermilion (Ohio) Coal Company, and James Gamble (Bank of Commerce Building, New York, New York), materials relating to the Arkansas Midland Railroad Company (Series 7), and five financial ledgers (Series 3) provide evidence of Johnson’s leadership roles in the Oberlin business community and in the railroad. Johnson’s business transactions included work with individuals in the Oberlin concerning stocks and property, financial institutions such as the Bank of Helena, Arkansas (served as President), and companies such as the Cleveland (Ohio) Electric Supply Company. A modest amount of correspondence relates to Albert Mussey Johnson’s work with the Mussey Stone Company and other business concerns.
Although Albert H. Johnson contributed to the Oberlin community and Oberlin College, there is very little documentation in the collection relating to his personal life. Johnson served as a trustee of Oberlin College, provided support (including financial) as a guardian for the children of Janus Stone (Oberlin, Ohio), and was the Superintendent of Sunday School at the Second Congregational Church (Oberlin, Ohio). The collection contains papers relating to the guardianship of the Stone children, records (deeds) relating to the Johnson properties in Lorain County, Ohio, and some personal correspondence and short essays written by Albert H. Johnson. The materials provide a modest amount of documentation concerning the Johnson Family.
The papers of Albert H. Johnson are organized into ten series and described as follows.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1: Biographical File and Personal Materials, 1822, 1834, 1886-1904, 1909, 1926, 1936, 1943, 2004, 2010, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)
This series contains biographical information on Mrs. Cliffe Updegraff Johnson Merriam, daughter of Albert H. Johnson, including obituaries and clippings (photocopies), a biographical sketch, and correspondence that document the life of Mrs. Merriam (1867-1943). The series also includes a guest book used in the household of Albert’s brother and sister-in-law, Edward and Edna Johnson, along with a transcription of the book’s entries completed by Shiela Rogstad in July of 2003. Filed with the guest book is a printout from the 1880 U.S. Census, listing the members of the Johnson Family. Also found in the biographical series is a folder of clippings regarding the Albert Johnson’s tragic death in a 1899 train wreck, the Supreme Court appointment of Reuben Massey, the will of Phineas Johnson, and genealogical materials.
Series 2: Correspondence, 1870-1899, 1900-1901, 1934, n.d. (1.2 l.f.)
The correspondence series is divided into three subseries. Subseries 1 consists of business related correspondence received by Albert Johnson between 1870-1901. Correspondents include Clark Walcott & Co. Bankers, Samuel Plumb of the Vermillion Coal Company, and others in regard to Albert Johnson’s involvement with the Arkansas Midland Railroad Company and his business activities in Oberlin. The business correspondence subseries also includes three folders of letters received by Albert Mussey Johnson between 1897 and 1901, primarily relating to the Mussey Stone Company. Subseries 2 consists of personal correspondence sent or received by members of the Johnson family from 1880-1894 (n.d). The bulk of the subseries contains correspondence between Albert Johnson and his family including his wife, Rebecca Johnson, his son, Albert Mussey Johnson, and his cousin, brothers, and mother. The personal correspondence includes letters received by Albert M. Johnson. Correspondents include Milton Chapman, the Resident Manager of the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida (1934), an undated postcard sent to Albert Mussey Johnson from his grandmother, Cornelia Mussey Johnson, and letters from President John Henry Barrows of Oberlin College that concern discussions of personal matters as well the purchase of property in Oberlin (1900). Subseries 3 comprises correspondence received by Albert M. Johnson, 1876-1899.
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Series 3. Financial Records, 1860s-1917, n.d. (7 folders, 5 ledgers, 1.45 l.f.)
The financial series includes four business ledgers, housed in oversized box 3, that primarily document financial activities related to Oberlin residents, businesses, and banks, as well as the Arkansas Midland Railroad Company, and other companies and individuals. A fifth business ledger (n.d.) documents the financial activities of Albert Mussey Johnson. Also included are individual bills, invoices, bank statements, pay-stubs, promissory notes, and cancelled checks that trace the Johnson family’s personal and business transactions from the period of the 1860s to 1917.
Series 4. Printed Matter, 1856, 1861, 1869, 1881, 1891, c. 1898, 1899, 1902, 1910, 1918, 1920, 1924-1925, 1984, n.d. (0.8 l.f)
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The printed matter consists of books, publications, and other materials collected by Albert H. Johnson and other Johnson family members. Included are business cards, a manual and pocket companion, a New Testament Bible, a hymnal, and a souvenir booklet. See the inventory for the listing of the specific titles.
Series 5. Property Records, 1822-1905 (4 folders, 0.15 l.f.)
The property records consist of four folders of wills, deeds, and associated correspondence that document the transfer of ownership of property in Lorain County to the Johnson family for the period 1822 to 1905.
Series 6. Vital Records, 1867-72 (3 folders, 0.05 l.f.)
The Vital Records series includes contracts, affidavits, and associated documents relating to Albert Johnson’s legal guardianship of the children of Janus Stone (1867). The series also contains ten homeowner’s insurance policies belonging to Albert Johnson, Rebecca Johnson, and others (1870-73). Also among the vital records are documents associated with Albert Johnson’s claim for pension from the U.S. Department of Interior in 1868. See Series 5 for wills relating to the Johnson property in Lorain County.
Series 7. Materials relating to the Arkansas Midland Railroad Company, 1853-1889, 1891, 1897 (0.4 l.f.)
This series consists of seven folders relating to the Arkansas Midland Railroad Company. Included are three booklets outlining amendments made to the company charter and deed of trust from 1853-1889, handwritten motions to amend the company charter, and associated correspondence from 1855 and 1857. Financial documents relating to the railroad company’s 1879 assets are filed here, along with a handwritten account of a company meeting that took place that same year (see also Series 3. Financial Records for additional financial information contained in ledgers). The series also consists of an 1891 booklet of local passengers and tariffs, an 1897 locomotive specifications document from the Richmond Locomotive Company, and a transcript of record of an 1885 case in the United States Supreme Court that involved the Arkansas Central Railway Company.
Series 8. Scrapbooks, c. 1860s-1890s (5 scrapbooks, 0.8 l.f.)
This series consists of five scrapbooks. One scrapbook contains illustrations of paintings (i.e., Madonna) and sculptures (i.e., Venus de Milo) and other artwork collected by Albert H. Johnson’s sister-in-law, Edna Johnson, dated 1881, complete with a printed contents list. The second scrapbook consists of clippings, business cards, and correspondence related to the Mussey Stone Company (1890s). The third scrapbook is a collection of newspaper and magazine clippings, including poetry, cartoons, and essays. The longer essays deal with domestic advice, recipes, and spiritual or moral guidance in everyday situations. The remaining two scrapbooks (c.1860s-90s), compiled by Cornelia Mussey Johnson, consist of news clippings of Oberlin events and people, poems, sermons, and other subjects.
Series 9. Writings, 1861, 1864, n.d. (1 folder, .01 l.f.)
The writings series consists of just one folder containing five short pieces written by Albert Johnson. In compositions like “Ridicule ”(1861) and “Self Control” (1864), Johnson reflects and elaborates on the complexities and contradictions of basic human tendencies. In other pieces such as “Russia” (n.d.) and “The Cash System” (n.d.), Albert explores the nature of man-made institutions. The complete listing of titles contained in this one-folder series can be found in the inventory section of the finding guide.
Series 10. Photographs and Photographic Postcards, c. 1890s, 1905, 1919, n.d. (1.7 l.f.)
The photographic series consists of eight photographs including a large mounted print of Albert Johnson (undated), along with a photocopy of a similar photograph of Mr. Johnson. Also contained in the series is an undated photograph of a Rogers Locomotive Company train in Paterson, New Jersey, a photograph (photocopy) of Albert Mussey Johnson’s house published in Marilyn White’s Book of the North Shore (1919), a framed scenic photograph entitled, “From the House-top of Lodore, July 1905,” and three photocopies of portraits of Cliffe Johnson Merriam. Postcards depict 1) the Stillman Valley railroad bridge and St. Paul Railroad bridge crossing, Stillman Creek, Stilman Valley, No. 34; and 2) Stillman Creek with sunset, No. 20; 3) Middletown, CT, Riverside Cemetery, No. 19 (copy); and 4) Roxbury Headquarters of American Officers, No. 18 (copy).