The Hine and
Kirtland Connection to Yale University By Edward Kirtland Hine, Jr. ("Ted") The following was written from the perspective of the author's father Edward Kirtland Hine ("Kirt") Kirt Hine (Yale class of 1939) had a number of direct and indirect ancestors who had attended Yale going back to the 1700's. These included his uncle Charles Potter Hine (Class of 1898, Law 1901), his great grandfather Homer Hine (Class of 1797), another great grandfather Billius Kirtland (about 1830 and who may not have graduated), great grand uncle Jared Potter Kirtland (Class of 1815), and great great great grandfather Jared Potter (class of 1760).
In addition, a Kirtland descendent, Lucy Hall-Boardman (1819-1906), Kirt's 1st cousin twice removed, had arranged to set up 2 scholarships at Yale upon her death which became effective in 1909. In around 1902 Lucy had funded the construction of a building on the campus to honor her uncle, Jared Potter Kirtland (a Yale graduate in 1815 and distinguished and famous naturalist of his day) which has to this day been in use and known as "Kirtland Hall". Lucy, like Kirt Hine, was a descendent of Turhand Kirtland, an early pioneer settler of eastern Ohio around 1800. She married Judge William Boardman, a wealthy New Haven, CT landowner, and for many years lived near the Yale campus. Lucy and William had no children to leave their assets to so some years after his death she funded Kirtland Hall and made arrangements for the scholarships in her will. In the scholarship funding agreement it was specified that, upon Lucy's death, other descendents of her branch of the Kirtland family could designate recipients of the scholarships (who did not necessarily have to be Kirtland descendents). This included Cornelia Wade Hall (1870-1954, of Warren, Ohio), Lucy's niece and Kirt's 2nd cousin once removed, who arranged for Kirt Hine to use the scholarships in the 1930's. A letter written in 1929 by Cornelia W. Hall ("Nell") regarding the Yale scholarships to Kirt's aunt (Ellen Louise Hine, also "Nell") and forwarded to Kirt's parents Rose and Homer Hine has survived. In it Cornelia indicates that she would be happy to designate Kirt as a recipient of the Boardman scholarships if he could achieve the grades necessary to be admitted to Yale. She also questions whether this would be possible by attending Seattle public schools. Several months after this letter was written Kirt's parents enrolled him in Seattle's private Lakeside School and 6 years later he would enter Yale with his education there being paid for partly by the Boardman scholarships.
Ellen Louise Hine (also "Nell", Kirt Hine's aunt) in her mid 1940's manuscript titled "The Billius Kirtland Family" mentions the Yale building and scholarships. [Author's notes in brackets.] 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." "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 no idea if it still exists.]
In September of 1935, only days after Kirt Hine had enrolled at Yale for his freshman year, he received a letter from his uncle, Charles Potter Hine, a Cleveland attorney who had earned his undergraduate degree at Yale in 1898 and law degree there in 1901. In it "Uncle Charlie" mentions that he had the 1797 Yale diploma of Homer Hubbell Hine (Kirt's great grandfather and Charlie's grandfather) hanging on his law office wall.
In 2003, in a effort to learn more about the Lucy Hall Boardman scholarships and Kirtland Hall, I exchanged e-mails with Dianne Witte at Yale who was kind enough to do some research and get back to me. While she provided some detailed and interesting history of the Boardman scholarships and Kirtland Hall, she was somewhat evasive when I asked if the scholarships could still be designated by, or available to Kirtland descendents, since the scholarships apparently were merged with other small scholarships by Yale decades ago for administrative purposes. Should someone want to check in more detail as to whether the scholarships are still legally available to those designated by Kirtland descendents, it will probably be necessary to have a qualified attorney obtain and comment on the original documents which initiated the scholarships as well as the changes in laws and how Yale has structured and administrated them over the decades. Dianne Witte's emails make interesting reading and I've
included our email exchanges here:
More About Kirtland Hall In an e-mail dated October 21, 2003 Dianne Witte wrote in part:
The following scans are from "The Campus Guide - Yale University, An Architectural Tour by Patrick L. Pinnell (1999):
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