Arthur Thomas Hine is one of those relations that I did not question in childhood but was a bit of a mystery when I tried to figure out how he was actually related. I think he’s a great uncle by way of a second marriage. Curious labels one discovers with #52ancestors.
I have already written about my great-great-grandfather James Edwin Hine. Arthur is his son by his second marriage to Ann E. Phillips. Arthur was their only child and James’ only son, born 11 January 1874 in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. He lived with his parents until he married Flora Campbell (1875-1961) on 17 December 1902. They had two children, both girls: Edith Augusta Hine (1907-1998) and Ella Marie Hine (1913-1916). Ella Marie died of bronchitis related to infantile paralysis (polio).
Arthur appears to have worked as a general laborer, first for the “shops” or the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and then later for the local hospital.
I got to know Edith Hine after visiting her with my father. We drove down from Ithaca to visit her and take her out to dinner. Later, after I moved to Philadelphia, I would sometimes drive home by way of Athens so that I could stop by to visit with her. She gave me some family letters which I have used to write the blog about Sabrina Hine.
I don’t remember the year but it must have been after 1995, when it came time for Edith, who had been a nurse in the public schools for most of her career, to leave her home on Pine St. and go to live in a retirement home where she got more assistant with day to day living. My father and I went down to the auction where her furnishings were sold to help raise the money to fund this. We purchased a bedroom suite made up of a bed frame, bureau and washstand that had been Arthur and Flora’s wedding present. It was quite ornate Eastlake style and I held onto it for years. When I made the move from Ohio down to Kentucky, I sold it at auction myself, as it was too big for my new house.
I love having pieces of the family around me. Sometimes they bring memories and sometimes they are just great inspiration for my imagination.
My first introduction to Sabrina Arzilla Hine was in 1990 or so. I was visiting Dad’s cousin Edith Hine in Athens, Pennsylvania, and she handed me an envelope and asked me to take good care of the contents. Inside were some family letters to Sabrina from her brothers written during the 1860’s. How cool! And how honored I was to receive such a gift. And so it is with pleasure that I share these treasures this week of #52ancestors, especially as she is an aunt although not maiden one!
Sabrina’s brother Percival joined the 141 Pennsylvania Volunteers at the start of the American Civil War, and served in Company D along with many friends and neighbors. This was the war in which the Americans would learn that while on paper the idea of serving with your brothers and neighbors might look like it would inspire bravery, but in reality it destroyed whole communities when their young men were wiped out in a single battle. Percy’s letters comment on his comrades, many of whom Sabrina knew, including their own father.
Telling My Story 