There is considerable difference of opinion regarding the will of Charles Martin Hall and his intent for the use of the Johnson estate. It is therefore appropriate to present for everyone to read that portion of his will which addresses his plans for the lands he had given the College.

The Johnson estate consists of 21.75 acres and was given to the College on Oct. 31, 1913, about a year before Mr. Hall died. The will is dated Nov. 1, 1914, and in it Mr. Hall specified the following purposes (italics are mine):

“$200,000 shall be held as an endowment and the income shall be applied to the following purposes:

(a) To pay the taxes, if any, lawfully assessed against any lands acquired by the College from me, by deed or under this will;

(b) To provide for the care, maintenance and development of the College campus, in accordance with the conditions hereinafter set forth with reference to such campus, and also all of the land acquired and held by the College abutting upon streets immediately surrounding the campus;

(c) For the care, maintenance and development of any lands heretofore given by me to the said College, in accordance with the said deed of gift.

(d) For the care, maintenance and development as parks, recreation grounds, forestry preserves or like purposes, of all lands acquired by the College under this will, except lands on East Lorain Street in said Village. All such lands shall be kept and maintained for such or similar purposes for the benefit of the students in said College and residents in the City of Oberlin, under suitable regulations to be made by such Trustees; shall not be used for buildings of any description, other than ornamental buildings or decorative structures which are not intended for ordinary use and occupancy and such lands shall not be used for College athletic purposes. It is my hope that the portion of the Johnson estate already given by me to the College, with any adjoining properties which I may give to it for the purposes of a park or forest, and which may be used in a scientific manner with representative trees and shrubs from all over the world, so far as the same will grow successfully in the climate of Oberlin, and that the other lands in the western part of the village of Oberlin which shall pass to the College under this will, or by deed of trust or direct gift from me shall be forested with representative and valuable trees, particularly of North American varieties, and perpetually maintained as a forest or forests in the wild state, with suitable walks and drives, but I see no reason why mature trees should not be cut from time to time if replaced with young trees and some income derived from forest products of these lands. It is also my hope that suitable provision may be made for the encouragement of bird life on these lands by building nesting places for song birds, providing feeding, sheltering and watering places, etc.;

(e) For the care, maintenance, and development of the lands on East Lorain Street in said Village of Oberlin or Township of Russia, which lands may be used or disposed of by the Trustees, in their discretion, at any time, with the hope on my part that if any part thereof be sold it may be improved for the benefit and to the advantage of the Village of Oberlin and the residents therein. Nothing herein contained, however, shall be taken as condition of the title to the said property on East Lorain Street.”

Charles Martin Hall was passionate in his desire to preserve parkland for all Oberlin’s enjoyment. He spent many hours and considerable sums of money in arranging for this legacy. Here is an excerpt from a letter dated Feb. 6, 1911, to Irvine Metcalf, his intermediary to acquiring the lands, that was written while Mr. Hall was out of the country:

“As to the future plans re[garding] the Johnson property we can talk later after I return. It is understood that the property was purchased for the town and the College, and you can use this letter to show that in case anything happens to me... The Woodruff property and the property north of it I regard as very important for our plans. Also land south of the creek to extend to the present park and as much of it as can be reasonably obtained. I think we should look forward to the time when both the College and town will be larger and more important than today and make our plans accordingly.”

He then goes on to discuss securing lands on the southeast side of town, which he would like to connect with the parks on South Pleasant Street. Mr. Hall planned these gifts to coordinate with projects of Adelia Field Johnston for parks on Vine Street, along Plum Creek and the Shurtleff property. He gave the Village Improvement Society, of which Mrs. Johnston was president, $5,000 as an endowment fund to support her efforts in a town beautification program.

It is abundantly clear to me and others that Charles Martin Hall had a vision of an “emerald necklace” for Oberlin, and that he had entrusted much to Oberlin College to preserve, with specific instructions on how the Johnson estate was to be maintained. Charles Martin Hall: A man 100 years ahead of this time

–Judith Appleton
OC ‘62

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