Louis Edwin Hihn, born in Santa Cruz in 1903, died just short of his 90th birthday. Prior to his death, the University Library published his last autobiography, From Childhood to My Last Hurrah. His "last hurrah" was to establish an endowment at UCSC's University Library. The Hihn-Younger Archive, created and organized by founding UCSC Map Librarian Emeritus Stanley Stevens, includes material about the Hihn family, including Louis's great-uncle, German immigrant and California pioneer Frederick Augustus Hihn. Through the marriage of Hihn's youngest daughter, Agnes, to Charles B. Younger Jr., the only son of Charles B. Younger Sr., the Archive contains important material for the benefit of those interested in Santa Cruz County history.
F.A. Hihn has been described as the most important individual in Santa Cruz county between 1850 and his death in 1913. The archive includes material about his family and their descendants. The collection incorporates his papers, as well as documents, diaries, photos, and memorabilia of the Hihn and Younger descendants.
Charles Bruce Younger Sr. (1831-1907) was born on December 10, 1831, at Liberty, Missouri. He practiced law in Santa Cruz, California for fifty years, since April of 1857. He died in Santa Cruz on March 22, 1907 at the age of 75.
Charles Bruce Younger Jr. (1873-1935) was born in Santa Cruz, California on December 28, 1873. He died in Santa Cruz at the age of 61 on May 12, 1935. He practiced law in Santa Cruz for 37 years and was the Dean of the Santa Cruz Bar and President of the Santa Cruz County Bar Association for many years. The Court House flag flew at half-mast in his honor. His wife, Agnes Hihn Younger (1874-1956) was also an attorney, although she practiced only before their marriage. Two of their three children, Donald Younger (1903-1976) and Bruce Hihn Younger (1907-1938), were also Santa Cruz attorneys.
About 20,000 letters, representing C. B. Younger Sr.'s legal activity between 1890 and 1935, have been transcribed and published. Thirteen volumes of transcribed letters, 1900 to 1910, are currently available in the library's book stacks.
For 33 years Donald Younger served as a member of the County Democratic Central Committee. He was Chairman of the Committee off and on for 20 years. Donald and his wife Marion Younger gave Younger Lagoon and 40 acres for the site of the University of California Long Marine Laboratory.
Santa Cruz, CA
