About Turhand Kirtland's Descendants
Lucy
Hall-Boardman (1819-1906)
By Edward Kirtland Hine, Jr.
("Ted") - First Edition - August 2016
Introduction
I'm presenting the information
I have on Lucy Hall-Boardman and Cornelia Wade Hall here because,
while they are somewhat distant relatives, they have both had an
impact on my branch of the family. Lucy Hall-Boardman was my
1st cousin three times removed and Cornelia W. Hall was my 2nd
cousin twice removed. Lucy Hall-Boardman (November 19, 1819 - March 29, 1906)
Lucy Hall married Judge William Whiting Boardman (1794-1871) on July 28, 1857 when she was in her mid 30's. He was 25 years older than she and she outlived him by 35 years. Lucy "married well" as Judge Boardman was an extremely wealthy resident of New Haven, Connecticut (possibly having inherited some his money from his father). William's Boardman ancestors were early and prominent settlers of New Milford, CT where he was born and raised and his father Elijah was quit wealthy there. William graduated from Yale in 1812 and then, after attending law school, became a well respected attorney in New Haven where among other things he became Judge of Probate and served as a Trustee and/or President of many organizations including being a Trustee of Cheshire Academy, a private high school nearby attended after his death by the author's grandfather (Homer H. Hine) and one of his brothers (Charles P. Hine). William was also elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives and U.S. Congress. William's father Elijah founded Boardman Township, OH by virtue of purchasing shares in the Connecticut Land Company in the late 1790's. While Elijah never lived there permanently he did spend extended time there dealing with his Ohio land investments and his son Henry (William's brother) did settler there. Boardman Township, OH is right next to Poland Township and the Ohio Boardmans and Kirtlands were apparently close friends. I've been told that William Boardman and Lucy Hall met when he came to visit his younger brother Henry in Ohio.
The couple, who had no
children, spent their adult years together living in a mansion at 46 Hillhouse Ave. immediately adjacent to the Yale University campus
in New Haven, CT.
Lucy continued to live in the mansion for decades after his death. Lucy's
sister Mary Potter Hall married Edward Wade (a successful lawyer in
Ohio who served in the U.S House of Representatives from
1853-1861). The couple also had no children and apparently
after Edward Wade's death in 1866 Mary lived with Lucy in the New
Haven mansion.
After William Boardman's death, and having no heirs to pass the Boardman assets on to, Lucy set about funding a number of philanthropic endeavors including the Boardman Memorial School in New Haven ("a manual training school") and paid for the construction of a large building on the Yale campus which she named in honor of her by-then famous uncle (and Yale graduate) Jared Potter Kirtland who had raised her after the death of her parents. "Kirtland Hall" was built starting in 1902 and was designed by architect Kirtland Kelsey Cutter (1860-1939, my 3rd cousin once removed, and a well known architect in the Pacific Northwest), Jared Potter Kirtland's great-grandson. The building originally housed Yale's Sheffield Scientific School. As I write this the building is still in use housing the Psychology Department.
Above I've described Lucy's charitable activities that primarily affected the Kirtland family and it's descendants and that I learned about primarily from family sources. In the course of my research I've recently run into a document that describes her other philanthropic donations in detail which dwarf those I've already outlined and provides a perspective of how vastly wealthy her husband had left her. The document was created in 2012 by her former church to honor her and describes Lucy as "the greatest woman philanthropist in nineteen century Connecticut, if not America". This description of her bequests is incredible.
Lucy passed away in March 29, 1906 and is buried with her husband William Boardman (who had passed away 35 years earlier) in the Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven, CT. which, like their mansion, is immediately adjacent to the Yale campus. Both my Kirtland and Hine ancestors have interfaced with the Boardman family over multiple generations starting in New Milford, Connecticut in the early 1700's.
Cornelia Wade Hall ("Nell", 1870 - April 29, 1954) Cornelia W. Hall, daughter of Turhand Kirtland Hall and niece of Lucy Hall-Boardman, was born in Poland, Ohio but spent the majority of her life in Warren, Ohio (about 25 miles from Poland) where her family moved when she was young. Her nickname was Nell. Cornelia had 6 older siblings, Fannie Cornelia Hall (b. 1856), Richard Turhand Hall (b. 1858), Mary Kirtland Hall (b. 1860), Charles Stewart Hall (b. 1861), Lucy Boardman Hall (b. 1864), and Elizabeth Matilda Hall (b. 1866). Like Cornelia, none of her Hall siblings married or had children. She spent most of her adult life living at 306 Mahoning Ave. in Warren, OH. She passes away on April 29, 1954 at age 85 in Boston, MA. The following obituary and article from the Youngstown Vindicator newspaper tell the rest of Cornelia's story better than I can:
The Cornelia W. Hall Trust
I've often wondered over the years how Cornelia accumulated her wealth and why it ended up passing down my branch of the Kirtland family through the "Cornelia W. Hall Trust" as she was my grandfather's 2nd cousin, typically a somewhat distant relationship for inheritance purposes. While my research hasn't conclusively answered these questions, it suggests some possible theories and conclusions. Cornelia's grandfather, Richard Hall, died reasonably young so I would expect that he didn't leave much of an inheritance for future generations though I suppose some assets may have been passed down the Hall family from his wife's father Turhand Kirtland. I've run into nothing that indicates what Cornelia's father, Turhand Kirtland Hall, did for a living nor whether he may have left a large estate but I suppose it's possible that some of Cornelia's wealth could have come from him. I think it more likely however that a good bit of Cornelia's money came from her aunt Lucy Hall-Boardman. Lucy and William Boardman had no children and, assuming that William had no heirs to pass their estates on to which apparently he didn't, Cornelia and her 6 siblings would have likely inherited the Boardman estate (after quite significant charitable bequests) as being the closest living relatives. Cornelia was only 36 years old when her aunt Lucy passed away in 1906. Additionally, Cornelia outlived all of her siblings and since, like her, none married or had children, she would have been the likely beneficiary of the estates of all her Hall siblings as they passed away over time. The effect could have been that over a number of years Cornelia, being the last of the Hall branch of the Kirtland family, possibly ended up with the accumulated wealth of the Hall and Boardman families through inheritance. The Hall and Hine families that descended from Turhand Kirtland were apparently close and kept in close touch over several generations. There is evidence (see quotes below) that Emma Kirtland-Hine (my great-grandmother) communicated with and visited her 1st cousin Lucy Hall-Boardman in New Haven and that Lucy visited Emma in Poland. In the next generation the 5 Hine children of Samuel Hine and Emma Kirtland were around the same age as 2nd cousin Cornelia W. Hall as they grew up and there is evidence that they were emotionally close, the Hine siblings having grown up in Poland and Cornelia in nearby Warren, OH. A picture of Cornelia W. Hall was included in a formal Hine/Kirtland photo album dating from the 1880's which passed down from my grandfather suggesting that she was considered a close part of the family (although for unknown reasons I could identify none of Cornelia's siblings in the photo album). Cornelia apparently didn't have any relatives closer than 2nd cousin after her siblings passed away (I have not researched her Hall relatives) but I note that she did have other distant cousins that descended from Turhand Kirtland so it's not clear to me why she set up a trust for mostly Hine family descendants. Perhaps it was because of her close relationship with the Hines since childhood or another possibility is that she in fact did set up separate trusts for other branches of her family that I, two generations later, would have no reason to know about. Recollections of Relatives and Others I've run across bits and pieces of information about Lucy Hall-Boardman and Cornelia Wade Hall from several sources. In the following quotes the text in brackets is a comment on my part for clarity. From the publication Poland Historical Highlights (Poland Ohio, 1966): "Lucy Hall (1819-1906), married Judge William Boardman of New Haven, Conn. He died leaving a large property in her care. She built the Boardman Memorial School at New Haven, Conn., a manual training school, and also a scientific building at Yale College, as a memorial to her uncle Doctor Jared Potter Kirtland." Ellen Louise Hine (also nicknamed "Nell" and my great-aunt) in her mid 1940's manuscript titled "The Billius Kirtland Family" mentions both Lucy and Cornelia. On page 2 she writes (apparently to her nieces and nephews): "When visiting Cousin Lucy Boardman at 46 Hillhouse Ave. in New Haven Conn, I put on your great, great grandmother's wedding gown (Polly Potter) [wife of Turhand Kirtland]. It was beautiful blue brocaded satin damask brought, I believe, from India. Julia Bishop, Isabel Kirtland Bishops daughter, wore it as her wedding gown. Polly's portrait, in which she wore her wedding gown, is in Cousin Nell Hall's home. Cousin Nell's father, Richard Hall, being Cousin Lucy Boardman's and Cousin Mary Wade's brother. Mrs. William Boardman and Mrs. Benjamin Wade, whose mother, Mary Kirtland, was a sister of your great grandfather Billius." "Cousin Nell [Cornelia] has an exquisite cameo pin surrounded with pearls of Cousin Lucy's that Mr. Boardman had made in Italy. One time when mother [Emma Kirtland-Hine] and I were visiting them, Cousin Mary Wade's rector called upon Cousin Lucy and whereupon she came to our room, saying, 'Mary, wouldn't see my Rector, so I am not seeing hers'. Their chief amusement came when the postman arrived and put their mail in a basket that they drew up to their window." "Miss Nellie Fenton, a most remarkable person, who managed the servants [at the Boardman home in New Haven], read the prayers and certainly added years of comfort to the Cousins." "Cousin Lucy died in her house and later Cousin Mary and Miss Fenton lived in a nice place in New Haven. Miss Fenton was well provided for so that her niece could give her some of the loving care she gave Mrs. Boardman and Wade." "Mother [Emma Kirtland-Hine] told me when she was a girl, Cousin Lucy Hall called and when she left, asked Mother to get into the carriage with her when she showed her her engagement ring from Mr. Boardman. It was the first time Mother had seen a solitaire diamond." On page 3 Nell wrote: "Mrs. Boardman built a Medical Library in New Haven in memory of Jared Potter Kirtland [she probably had this confused with Kirtland Hall], and a Manual Training School in memory of Mr. Boardman. I recall hearing she even gave up having ice cream so she might give away a little more money to worthy causes. She has a scholarship in St. Margaret's School and one or two at Yale. Someone in the family may wish to use them but should apply ahead. They don't cover all expenses." "Cousin Lucy and Mary were stately dames, most entertaining and interested in their guests. They wore the lovely lace caps and were always dressed to receive their friends." "May 5, 1921, Russell H. Chittendon, Director of the Sheffield Scientific School [at Yale] answered a letter I had written him, asking him about the [Boardman] scholarships. Relatives of Mrs. Boardman have the right to name a recipient. If right is not exercised, the officials of Sheffield Scientific School have the right to designate the beneficiaries. There is a further clause that the entire income of the fund shall be used for the benefit of the two individuals if they should at any time present themselves to take a course in the Sheffield Scientific School; viz; John Hoyt and Reuben B. Ridick [don't know who these were], there were two scholarships established, being the income of a fund of $10,000 and each scholarship brings in $250 for the year. I will have this letter put in my bank box, #157. in the Mahoning National Bank." [Author's note: This letter apparently did not make it down my branch of the family so I have now idea if it still exists.] Nell Hine also wrote in another mid 1940's manuscript titled "Charlie and Helen Green Hine and Family" on page 3: "From Sister Mary's we went to El Dorado Springs, Mo. That was so fine that Cousin Lucy Boardman would like to have spent half of every year there. Not so with Cousin Mary [Hall-Wade] who thrived on life in New Haven until in her gay nineties. She lived with her wonderful sister Mrs. William Boardman at 46 Hillhouse Avenue, a stately old mansion with great columns at one side and a lovely garden that extended to the street back of the house. The house was filled with all sorts of treasures. The Madonna and child I have was one I admired and was marked for me. The Hall cousins in Warren, Ohio, were very generous in sending most of the furniture to be distributed among families who were her relatives." "I think Charlie's [Nell Hine's brother Charles Potter Hine who attended Yale] association with Cousin Lucy Boardman and her methodical ways helped him to form his life and made possible his life as a lawyer. To change from an early writer of poems to a gifted lawyer meant much readjustment in his life." Ruthanna Clark
(1899-1985), a 2nd great-grand daughter of Turhand Kirtland and my 2nd cousin
once removed, wrote in a 1978 manuscript about her relatives: In 2003 I communicated via email with Dianne Witte at Yale to obtain information regarding the Boardman Scholarships. In researching them for me she received the following from an un-named colleague: "On a personal note, Lucy Boardman was quite the benefactress. I'm on the vestry at Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green in New Haven, and the church was the recipient of a lot of money from the Boardman's when Lucy died. The church received a Tiffany window funded from her estate as well as several endowments for church programs and missions (outreach). We also have a portrait of Mrs. Boardman that was given to the church. I'm guessing that it's at least 100 years old. The portrait hung for some time in our choir room, as she was a big supporter of the formation of the men and boys choir that still sings at Trinity (over 120 years old). Most likely she was instrumental in its formation and funding."
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