Benjamin Newhall Johnson

Benjamin Newhall Johnson (June 19, 1856 – February 19, 1932) was an American attorney and historian who owned what would become Breakheart Reservation. He was also President of the Lynn Historical Society for 25 years and the President-General of the Sons of the American Revolution from 1931 to 1932.

Early life Johnson was born on June 19, 1856, in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Rufus and Ellen (Newhall) Johnson. His maternal grandfather was businessman, abolitionist, politician, and writer Benjamin F. Newhall. Johnson grew up in Saugus, Massachusetts, and attended public schools there. He went on to attend Chauncey Hall School and Phillips Exeter Academy. He graduated from Harvard College in 1878 cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy. He went on to attend the Boston University School of Law. He completed his legal studies with the firm of Ives, Lincoln & Huntress and was admitted to the Essex County Bar on March 31, 1880.

Business and legal career After being admitted to the bar, Johnson opened a law office in Boston.

Historian Johnson had a deep interest in the histories of Lynn and Saugus. He was a charter member of the Lynn Historical Society. He was the organization's vice president from 1898 to 1899 and was its president from 1900 to 1909 and again from 1918 to 1932.

Johnson was a Republican and was involved with many of the party's clubs. Johnson purchased a log cabin in Maine, numbered all of its parts, and brought it down to, where it was rebuilt on the shore of Lower Pond. The retreat was officially opened on June 12, 1891. In the early 1900s the partners increased the size of the property.

Personal life In 1879, Johnson became affiliated with the First Universalist Church of Lynn. He was elected a member of the Parish on March 26, 1883, and received into Church membership on April 8, 1887. He was a superintendent of the Church School from 1886 to 1890, a trustee from 1888 to 1893 and in 1895, and chairman of the Board of Management from 1917 to 1921 and again from 1924 to 1928. Ida Johnson died on May 27, 1894, in Lynn of pneumonia. On June 18, 1896, Johnson married Virginia Vernon Newhall. They had three children, Richard, Benjamin Jr., and Virginia, but only their sons lived into adulthood. Virginia Newhall Johnson died on July 5, 1926.

In his will, Newhall left $35,000 in public gifts – $5,000 to the Methodist Episcopal Church of East Saugus to be used for the salary of the pastor, $5,000 to the town of Saugus for the purchase of library books, $10,000 to Radcliffe College for the establishment of the Virginia N. Johnson scholarship fund for worthy young women, preferably from Lynn, $5,000 to the First Universalist Church of Lynn, and $10,000 the Lynn Historical Society.

In 1934, the executors for Johnson and Clough sold the Breakheart Hill Forest to the Metropolitan District Commission for use as a state park.