Homer H. Johnson Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-246

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Homer H. Johnson Family Papers which were created, received, and collected by Homer H. Johnson are arranged into eleven series; I. Courtship correspondence of Homer Johnson and Janet "Nettie" Whitcomb, II. Incoming correspondence of Homer Johnson, III. Incoming correspondence of Nettie Whitcomb, IV. Incoming correspondence of Philothea Johnson, V. Incoming correspondence to Alfred Johnson, 1888-1905, VI. Incoming Correspondence of Alfred and Philothea Johnson, VII. Incoming correspondence of Polly and George Gregory, VIII. Miscellaneous Correspondence, IX. School Papers of Homer Johnson, X. Miscellaneous Collected Published Materials, XI. Photographs, and XII. Miscellaneous Items.

The largest portion of this personal papers collection is represented by letters written to and from Johnson family members. The courtship correspondence of Homer Johnson and Oberlin classmate Janet "Nettie" Whitcomb, and the correspondence between Homer and his parents, are the most significant units of documentation. This collection also includes the correspondence of related family members, photographs, published serials, Homer's school papers, and other miscellaneous items.

The collection's strength is to be found in the considerable glimpse it offers of Homer Johnson's early years. However, because coverage is concentrated between the years of 1880 and 1900, and documentation is thin before and after this time period, the portrait of Homer Johnson is an uneven one. Homer's career as a lawyer and his second and third marriages, for example, are under-documented. Further, no information exists concerning his involvement on the Oberlin College Board of Trustees, the execution of Charles Martin Hall's will, or on his later years as a prominent citizen of Northeast Ohio.

The correspondence series thus document young Homer—a man who held family and rural values. In writing frequently to his parents, Homer shared with them details of his life as a student, young lawyer and father. The courtship correspondence between Homer Johnson and Nettie Whitcomb documents their developing relationship from that of mere friends to husband and wife, as well as provides a record of student life in Oberlin, Amherst, and Harvard during the late 1880s.

Additionally, Homer's school papers offer detail on Homer's earlier academic years and the collected published materials reveal some of his interest in literary matters, with which he associated himself at both Oberlin College and Harvard University. The balance of this collection contains the correspondence of other members in the Johnson family. These letters chronicle small town banking, farming, the local history of New London, Huron County, Ohio, and the daily lives and relationships of Johnson family members.

Upon the death of Homer Johnson, his daughter, Jeanette Johnson Dempsy took custody of the family papers (namely, those of her father, grandparents and other relatives). At this time the collection included the letters Homer H. Johnson wrote to his parents. This explains why this collection contains Homer's outgoing correspondence to his parents.

When this collection was originally acquired in 1994 by the Oberlin College Archives, most of the letters were still in their envelopes, organized in bundles and kept in a large wooden trunk, circa 1900. In almost all cases, processing staff respected the initial sorting established and maintained by family members during most of the twentieth century.

Dates

Creation: 1856 - 1957
Other: Date acquired: 1994 June 28

Creator

Johnson, Homer H. (Johnson, Homer Hosea) (Person)
Whitcomb, Janet "Nettie" (Person)
Whitcomb, Anne E. (Person)
Johnson, Philothea C. Townsend (Person)
Johnson, Alfred L. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

Bearing the name of his grandfather, Homer Hosea Johnson was born on June 26, 1862, in Huron County, Ohio, on land that had been in his mother's family since 1815. Hosea Townsend, a man who had fought in the war of 1812, had come to Ohio from Massachusetts to settle in the Western Reserve. Homer Johnson's parents, Alfred L. Johnson, and Philothea C. Townsend, were married in September of 1856. Before marrying, Philothea had been a student of the Oberlin Ladies Department, and left the College in 1855. Alfred oversaw the family farm, and was the president of the First National Bank of New London, Ohio. Homer was the only child born to Philothea and Alfred.

As a youth, the enterprising Homer Johnson cleared and marketed a family wood plot, the proceeds from which provided for his college education. After spending two years at Amherst College, Homer Johnson returned to Ohio and matriculated at Oberlin College. A classics major, Johnson was a member of the Phi Delta fraternity and participated in the publishing of the Oberlin Review. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1885. Upon graduation, Homer went to Harvard, where in 1888, he received A.M. and LL.B. degrees.

While a high school student, Johnson made the acquaintance of Janet "Nettie" Whitcomb. Born in Morrison, Illinois, on August 21, 1863, Nettie was the daughter of George Avery Whitcomb and Sarah Annie (Pound) Whitcomb. Upon her graduation from Oberlin in 1885, Nettie left Ohio to live in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she taught for two years. During their student years, and following their graduation from Oberlin, Nettie and Homer began a courtship which culminated with their marriage on August 11, 1888. Homer's marriage with Nettie was short lived owing to her death from tuberculosis on November 1, 1890. Nettie and Homer had one child who died as an infant.

As a young lawyer, Homer joined his friend and classmate M.B. "Blake" Johnson (no relation) to create the small private practice M.B. and H.H. Johnson. Soon Blake and Homer became two of the most prominent attorneys at practice in the Cleveland area, concentrating mainly in the area of trust law. Their firm acted as council for such corporations as Blake, White, and Garford, the White Sewing Machine Company, and acted as the executor for the will of Johnson's long time college friend, Charles Martin Hall (d. 1914). M.B. and H.H. Johnson also formed the American Trust Corporation which subsequently merged with Union Trust Corporation. Finally, the firm was instrumental in blocking the proposed merger of the Union Bank of Commerce with the National City Bank of Cleveland in 1943. Aside from his law practice, Homer Johnson spent 25 years as a professor at Western Reserve Law School where he taught Constitutional Law between 1892 and 1917.

On June 26, 1896, Homer married Elizabeth Gertrude Beggs. She died two months later of pneumonia while they were on their honeymoon in Europe.

In October of 1901, Homer married Louise Pope. This union lasted for over 55 years. An 1891 Wellesley graduate, Louise had taught school before marrying Homer. Once married, Louise was an active member of the Cleveland community, serving on the Advisory Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Day Nursery Association, and the Cleveland Women's City Club. Louise also served a term as the president of the Wellesley College Alumnae Association. Furthermore, she and Homer parented four children; Jeanette Johnson Dempsy (6-26-02), Alfred Pope Johnson (6-18-03, who died as a infant), Philip Johnson, the architect, (6-8-06), and Theodate Johnson (8-13-07).

Stemming from his own personal convictions, and owing to his war-time experiences, Johnson was an avid supporter of internationalism. He supported the League of Nations, arguing that with its failure, "we're going to have another rocking of the boat and the old structure's going to be hard put." ¹

Johnson's civic contributions were as full and varied as his professional and political activities. Johnson served on the boards of the Cleveland School of Art and the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce in 1912. He was also an active philanthropist for his hometown of New London, Ohio. He contributed funds which covered the building of the New London Library, a waterworks and sewage disposal plant, and supplied $65,000 which covered New London's portion of funds for a WPA project for park improvement.

Johnson also served for 24 years as a trustee for Oberlin College. As a member of the Board of Trustees from 1900 to 1924, Johnson had the opportunity to support and enrich the institution that had help form him as a young man. While a trustee, Johnson was instrumental in the development of the art museum collection and in the negotiations with Cass Gilbert for the building of Finney Chapel in 1908. Another significant portion of Johnson's tenure was devoted to overseeing the execution of Charles Martin Hall's will.

Hall had appointed Homer Johnson and Arthur Vining Davis to act as the executors of his will. Johnson and Davis were to oversee the proper disbursement of the funds bequeathed to Oberlin within fifteen years of Hall's death, excluding $600,000.00 which was to be used for the erection of an auditorium in memory of Hall's mother, Sophronia Brooks Hall.

In 1924, Johnson terminated his tenure as an Oberlin College Trustee. Irrespective of the circumstances surrounding Johnson's resignation, the Trustees graciously responded to Johnson by voting "not merely an expression of appreciation of his service, but their desire that he should remain ‘in close and sympathetic touch’ with the college." ² After Johnson's death in 1960, the Board of Trustees again acknowledged Johnson's service to Oberlin College expressing their appreciation of Johnson's active involvement in the building and 1953 dedication of the Sophronia Brooks Hall Auditorium.

In his later years, Johnson remained a man of tenacity, always looking to the future, rather than reminiscing of his past. "To hell with the past", he was once quoted to have stated. "If you engage in a quarrel between the past and the present, your future is a failure." ³ An avid reader, his desk was always cluttered with books and newspapers, including his daily reading of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Manchester Guardian.

Homer Hosea Johnson outlived his third wife, Louise (d. 11-9-57), by three years, and died on March 26, 1960.

Sources Cited

Seeger, Murray. “H.H. Johnson, 94, Still Looks to the Future,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, 18 March 1956.

Howard, Nathaniel R. “Resolution prepared by Nathaniel R. Howard at the request of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees at their meeting on June 10, 1960.”

“Oberlin’s Damon-Pythias,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, 17 April 1960.

Note written by Mary Margaret Giannini.

Extent

1.40 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The papers were received from Mrs. John Dempsey on June 28, 1994 (Accession 1994/049).

Accruals and Additions

Accession No: 1994/049.

Related Materials

The following collections in the Oberlin College Archives contain materials which relate to, or contribute to, an understanding of Homer Johnson.

1/0 Board of Trustees, Series II: Minutes of the Meetings of the Board; 2/6 Henry Churchill King, Series VI: Correspondence; 3/1 William Frederick Bohn, Series III: Correspondence; 5/0 Office of the Secretary, Subgroup II: Academic Departments and Administrative Offices; 28/1 Homer H. Johnson Student File; 28/1 Janet "Nettie" Whitcomb Johnson Student File; 28/1 Philothea Townsend Johnson Student File; 28/3 Homer H. Johnson Trustee File; 30/9 Irving Metcalf, Series II: Charles Martin Hall Property Records; 30/91 Donald Love, Series IV, Subseries 1.: Correspondence; 30/182 Charles Martin Hall, Series I: Biographical File.