Document 6: Rebecca Johnston to Adelia Field Johnston, undated

Document 6

Author: Rebecca Johnson

Recipient: Adelia Field Johnston

Date: Unknown, likely sometime between 1903 and 1910.

Location: Oberlin College Archives, Adelia A. Field Johnston Papers, Series II Correspondence. 1862-1994 (span). R.G. 30/19

Document Type: Autograph Letter, Signed by Author.

Introduction:

Rebecca Anne Jenkins was born on 5 July 1842 in New Athens, Ohio.¹ She attended Oberlin College and graduated from the Classical Course with an A.B. in 1865.² In 1866, she married fellow Oberlin graduate Albert Harris Johnson, with whom she had two children, a daughter Cliffe, and a son also named Albert. Both children attended Oberlin College (though neither graduated) and Cliffe later became a member of the Board of Trustees.³ Albert Harris Johnson (1838-1899) was a banker at Citizens National Bank in Oberlin, the owner of the Oberlin Gas and Electric Company, and the President of the Arkansas Midland Railway; he also served as a member of the board of Trustees for Oberlin College.⁴ In 1899, he was traveling with his son in Colorado when they were involved in a severe train crash. Mr. Johnson died instantly; his son suffered a broken back but recovered.⁵ The Johnsons were a proud Oberlin family (Albert Johnson being from the town) and his death seems to have been widely considered a local tragedy. The family’s close ties to Oberlin College are evident from the fact that two men who served as President of the College, James H. Fairchild and Henry Churchill King, attended his funeral.⁶

After Albert Johnson’s death, and the long recovery his son’s injuries required, his widow and children began to sell much of the family’s land.⁷ They also made several donations of land; one was the family’s mansion and surrounding land, which was given to the college and converted into the Johnson House dormitory, and one was the donation to the Oberlin Village Improvement Society detailed in the following letter.

Although Rebecca Johnson would not have been a student at Oberlin College during Adelia Field Johnston’s tenure as Dean of Women, it is likely that the two women knew each other well, and may have been involved in similar causes. Both of them were from families of abolitionists, and actively supported abolition themselves.⁸ Rebecca Johnson was also probably involved with OVIS to some degree; as noted by Barbara Christen: “Oberlin society had always expected women- at least those of the middle and upper classes- to engage in civic improvement. By the early 1900s women’s work had come to include gardening and beautification.”⁹ Because of these gendered expectations, Rebecca Johnson likely faced societal pressure to engage in the beautification movement, whether she wished to or not.

Another fact of this letter worth paying attention to is that Rebecca Johnson herself was able to donate the land to OVIS, unlike Frank Carpenter’s mother or sister. While the abruptness of her letter does not allow for one to read much into her tone, her seemingly prompt willingness to donate land to Adelia Johnston’s Community Parkway Project indicates a far greater recognition of Adelia Johnston’s abilities and drive than Carpenter was willing to accord her. This begs the question of whether or not Albert Johnson would have been as quick to donate the land that became the Vine Street Park as his wife was, particularly since they seemed to have made no donations of land to anyone while he was still living.

Transcription:

Mrs. A. H. Johnson promises to give to the Village Improvement Society a portion of the old Gas Factory [inserted above line: works] property¹⁰ on the South side of Vine St. Reserving for herself and family 120 ft. from her west line Eastward on Vine St. and giving a strip on the north side of the bank, [inserted above line: south of (illegible) lots] for park purposes from 15” to 20” ft. She also gives the remainder of the old gas works East of [these?] two reserved lots from Vine St to the creek.

Rebecca A. Johnson

Transcribed by Emma Hahn.