Cecil Dwight Hine
and
Introduction Cecil
Dwight Hine was my half great uncle and his daughter Bess Hine-Cates my half
first cousin once removed. Cecil spent his career as an attorney in
Youngstown and was perhaps the best known and most financially successful of
his branch of the Ohio Hine family. Bess Hine-Cates, due to inheritances
from her parents and husband would in later life become one of the wealthiest
residents of Youngstown, OH with her 1972 obituary calling her "the last of the
grand dames of the elegant era of Wick Avenue". (Wick Avenue being a wealthy
residential neighborhood of Youngstown.) Bess, having had no children, would leave
millions of dollars to a Youngstown foundation she set up to help area
handicapped children. Both Cecil and daughter Bess lived in Youngstown
during a period of rapid economic expansion and population growth when the
area was located in the heart of the country's "Steel Belt". About Cecil Dwight Hine
The origin of the names "Cecil" and "Dwight" aren't known. Since they don't appear in Cecil's Hine ancestry, it's possible that they came from his mother's side of the family.
The
following quote from the 1897 edition of "20th Century History of Youngstown
and Mahoning County, Ohio and
Representative Citizens" edited and compiled by Gen. Thos. W. Sanderson"
provides the best summary regarding Cecil Hine that I've run into:
Not mentioned in the above quote is the fact that Cecil attended school at the Poland Union Seminary in Poland, OH, (the home, starting in 1864 of his father, mother, and then step mother) before entering Western Reserve College. He did not graduate from Western Reserve, leaving before his senior year specifically to study law. Also, Cecil and Elizabeth ("Lizzie") had a second daughter, Ellen Montgomery Hine born in 1873 who died young in1878 of unknown causes. After the above 1897 quote was written Cecil's Youngstown law partner from 1886 to 1897, John H. Clarke, would go on to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. As a prominent member of the Youngstown legal community Cecil came to know and consult for many prominent local businessmen during a time of rapid expansion in the community, served on corporate boards-of-directors, and accumulated stock in a number of local growth companies. He also accumulated land holdings in Youngstown and a farm in nearby Haselton and served on community and non-profit boards. Cecil passed away from a heart attack at age 70 on February 22, 1920 in Pasadena, California where he spent winters after his retirement from the practice of law. After Cecil's death longtime friend James Campbell, president of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. for which Cecil was a legal council, adviser, and a board member since it's founding, is quoted as saying: "Mr. Hine was the most valuable man in the early days of Sheet & Tube. He was not only a splendid lawyer but he had in that connection, that quality and asset so few attorneys had, a good, general business knowledge". Another attorney, L.A. Manchester, referred to Cecil as "a pioneer in handling legal work which made the valley's big institutions possible" and said "He had the greatest analytical mind I ever met. He always went direct to his point. He was the soul of honor, integrity and uprightness. He hated trickery, underhanded methods, dishonesty and sham."
After Cecil's
death wife Elizabeth ("Lizzie") would continue to live in the Youngstown home though
reportedly she spent winter's in California and summers in New Hampshire.
She passed away on September 23,
1927 in the Youngstown home. Both Cecil and Elizabeth
are buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Poland, OH near the graves of Cecil's
parents (see cemetery photos below). A mention in the local
Youngstown newspaper shortly after Elizabeth W. Hine's 1927 death indicates that
her estate was valued at $1,129,242.
When digging through Hine artifacts I ran into a letter
handwritten by Cecil to an apparent friend in 1882. I don't know why
it has survived and it has no historical significance that I am aware of except
as a sample of his handwriting.
About Elizabeth W. Hine-Cates ("Bess")
Bess Hine was born July 23, 1878 in Poland, OH. It's not clear whether her parents Cecil and Elizabeth were living in Poland at the time since they are known to have spent their adult lives in Youngstown, about 8 miles away. Perhaps Elizabeth was staying with Cecil's father Samuel Hine and his second wife Emma Kirtland-Hine or Bess' mothers's parents, both of whom lived in Poland at the time, to help with the birth. While I've never run into confirmation, I suspect that Bess's middle initial of "W" likely is the abbreviation for Woodruff, her mother's maiden name. Bess was an "only child" due to her older sister Ellen having passed away from unknown causes the year she was born. Her grandfather, Samuel Hine, having married Emma Kirtland after the death of his first wife Ellen (Bess's grandmother) and having a second family including 5 children created an interesting generational relationship. Bess was about the same age as her 4 Hine half-uncles and half-aunt (Samuel K., Alfred B., Homer H., Charles P. and Ellen L. Hine). And since Bess had no siblings to grow up with, she became very close to her Hine half relatives in nearby Poland. I would expect that she and her parents Cecil and Elizabeth would have regularly spend holidays and weekends with Samuel Hine and his new family.
In 1882 when Bess was 4 years old her parents built a large home at 725 Wick Avenue in what was then the outskirts of Youngstown where young Bess would ride horses in the countryside. (The street was no doubt named after the Wick family, early prominent settlers of Youngstown along with Bess's great-grandfather Homer Hine. Her grandfather Samuel Hine's sister Mary Sophia had married a Wick.) In future years the neighborhood would become the most upscale and ritzy in town and would become known as the city's "Millionaire's Row" or simply "The Avenue". Bess would spend her childhood there and it would also be her residence 90 years later when she passed away in 1972 (though she had lived in New York City during her marriage). I've run into nothing which indicates how much land the home was built on in 1882 but in 1972 it was on a 5 acre tract which by then was surrounded by the much expanded city of Youngstown. At some time during her childhood Bess suffered from polio and walked with a slight limp throughout her life. She was educated at "Miss Brown's School in New York". I've been unable to specifically learn much about this institution but very sketchy internet search results suggest that there was a school by this name in New York City around the time Bess would have attended in the late 1800's.
In 1903 Bess married Charles Henry Cates, a successful and wealthy New York manufacturer/industrialist in the rubber business, when she was age 25 and he 33. Census records show that Charles had been born in Humbolt, Kansas in 1870, the son of a lawyer. Evidence suggests that he may have attended Virginia Military Institute. Their Youngstown wedding was reported as the "social event of the year" and "there were eighteen in the wedding party". The wedding reception was held at the family home. It's is not known how Bess and Charles met but if she in fact attended school in New York City, perhaps this provided the connection. The couple would live for almost 35 years in the Ansonia Hotel in New York City. An internet search turned up the following regarding the Ansonia: "Designed and built by architects Graves and Doboy in 1904 as an apartment hotel, Ansonia is a 17-story structure, that was the epitome of luxury during the early part of the 20th century. Constructed with heavy, fireproof materials, the building is virtually soundproof, which has made it a favorite home to musicians, most notably Igor Stravinsky. The French design remains impressive even today, as the building stands as the centerpiece of this Upper West Side community." In a 1959 Youngstown newspaper article about Bess she told the reporter that she and her husband had traveled enough to have circled the world 3 times and online steamship passenger records confirm that the couple traveled frequently and to many areas of the world . I've uncovered little else about Charles Cates nor the couple's three and a half decades together in New York City. A bequest to the Virginia Military Institute in Bess's will does suggest that perhaps Charles had attended this school. There is mention that the couple spent some winter's in Pasadena, CA and Charles is known to have passed away there as did Bess's father Cecil suggesting that perhaps the Hine family had a winter residence there though I have no evidence of this. Perhaps the families from both generations just enjoyed time at a resort there. (There is a huge classic old resort hotel in Pasadena built in 1907 called The Langham which likely catered to the wealthy for extended winter vacations.) Bess and Charles had no children. Bess' father passed away in 1920 and in 1927 when her mother passed away Bess traveled to Youngstown with the intent of selling her childhood home at 725 Wick Avenue. However, still feeling connected to Youngstown, she couldn't bring herself to part with it. She continued to primarily live in New York City till she moved back into the Youngstown home 12 years later after her husband died. During this period the family home was occupied and maintained by servants as caretakers and perhaps Bess and Charles would visit periodically. (1930 census records show the home's owner was absent but that it was occupied by Amanda Johnson and Minnie Beckman, both shown as servants.) Charles Cates would pass away in 1939 in Pasadena, CA. Interestingly, Charles was buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Poland, OH with his wife's relatives, an area of the country in which he had apparently never actively lived. This suggests that he perhaps had no strong family connections nor ancestral cemetery available to him. I assume that Bess inherited the majority of Charles's estate. After Charles's 1939 death Bess moved back to the home in Youngstown where she had spent her childhood and where she would spend the last 33 years of her life. Having inherited fortunes from both her parents and her husband she was one of the wealthiest residents of Youngstown during this period and she lived at the pinnacle of Youngstown's society and luxury. In a long article with multiple photos in the August 30, 1959 issue of the Youngstown Vindicator newspaper titled "Mrs. Cates Symbolizes Gracious Living of City's Golden Era: Wick Ave. Home Is Sentinel of the Past" the author talks of being greeted at the front door for the interview with Bess by "Miss Minnie Beckman who had been with the Hine family for 46 years", mentions the multiple drawing rooms in the large home and indicates "the big rooms are paneled in oak, birds-eye maple, butternut, black walnut, and cherry. The house is so well built that passing traffic is not heard........Everything is polished and kept in perfect order. Four fireplaces stand ready to have a match touched to them." The house was full of antiques and art collected from all over the world by Bess and her parents. In 1959 the home would have been 77 years old and Bess 81.
Financial Legacy Bess Hine-Cates passed away on November 22, 1972 in Youngstown at age 94 and was interred with her husband Charles and her parents Cecil and Elizabeth Hine in the Riverside Cemetery in Poland, OH near her Hine grandparents . According to a newspaper article shortly after her death she made 39 specific bequests in her will "of personal and household goods, jewelry, and money to relatives, near and distant, to friends and employees....... The family library of books was left to Virginia Military Institute as well as $50,000 in a trust to establish scholarships at VMI. The scholarships are to be known as the Charles and Elizabeth Cates Scholarships." The article goes on to say that she left $20,000 to a trust to support the perpetual care of family plots in Poland's Riverside Cemetery as well as small bequests to individuals some of who's names were listed and which I don't recognize so I suppose they may have been related to Charles Cates. Also, $1,200 per year for life was to go to Minnie Beckman and Amanda Johnson, apparently long time household employees of Bess and her parents. The specific bequests in her will accounted for only a small portion of Bess's sizable fortune, the bulk of which was used in 1974, as per the terms of her will, to set up the "Cecil Dwight Hine and Elizabeth Woodruff Hine Memorial Fund" in honor of her parents. The Youngstown Foundation was directed to preserve the fund's principle and distribute it's income for "...... treatment of, care for and assistance to crippled children in and around the City of Youngstown." Today the trust is known as the Hine Memorial Fund of the Youngstown Foundation and over the years it has distributed many millions of dollars for the benefit of handicapped children in the Youngstown area.
I distinctly remember my father telling me a year or two
after Bess's 1972 death that her estate had been valued at "over $20,000,000".
Adjusted for the change in the consumer price index from 1972 to 2020, the
buying power of the estate would be the equivalent of over $116,000,000 in 2020
dollars. My father didn't know Bess well having only crossed paths
with her a time or two in the late 1930's when he was passing through New York City
on his way to and from college in Connecticut. But many of father's
cousins in Ohio (the children of Bess's half-brothers) likely knew Bess better
and received small bequests in her will.
As I'm writing this in 2013 the following photo and text
appear on the Youngstown Foundation's web site:
Final Resting Place Cecil and Elizabeth-Woodruff Hine along with daughter Bess Hine-Cates and her husband Charles Cates are buried in the Hine/Woodruff plot in the Riverside Cemetery in Poland, Ohio. Also interred in this plot are Elizabeth Woodruff-Hine's parents George and Sarah Woodruff as well as Cecil and Elizabeth's first daughter Ellen Montgomery Hine ("Ellie", Bess's sister) who had died at the age of 5. The plot consists of a large common monument memorializing each of the it's occupants with individual stone markers indicating the location of each grave site. The Hine/Woodruff plot is near the Hine plot where Bess's grandfather Samuel Hine and many members of Samuel's second family are buried. The Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust And It's Demise As mentioned above, Bess left $20,000 in her will to set up a trust for the perpetual maintenance of the "family burial lot and monuments". In 2020 dollars this would be the equivalent of around $116,000, a lot of money to maintain a cemetery plot if the trust principle was preserved. Wondering what the current status of the trust was, in 2017 I looked into it and was very surprised to find that the buying power of trust had massively diminished and that it may not even exist at all anymore. For a detailed description of the trust and it's demise, click here:
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