Hihn Younger Documents

The Hihn Younger Archive contains a large number of documents, some of which are available on this website as image files or HTML files. For others, descriptions are provided. The documents and descriptions are arranged in the following categories:

Collections

Approximately 150 file-boxes containing letters, family photos, legal documents, and memorabilia, including F. A. Hihn's Tagebuch, which records his experience sailing around Cape Horn in 1849 from his native Germany to reach San Francisco for the Gold Rush.
Twenty-five volumes of Deeds and Agreements of F. A. Hihn and the F. A. Hihn Company, and 850 maps depicting Hihn's property ownership.
Five volumes of Letters of F. A. Hihn and the F. A. Hihn Company, of which one volume (1901-1902) records the appointment of F. A. Hihn as one of the first five Trustees of the California Polytechnical School (Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo), his activities as President of the Stockton Gas & Electric Co., and the improvements to and leasing of concessions in Capitola, a resort founded by Hihn in 1869.
More than eight-hundred letters (1844-1891) from and to Charles Bruce Younger Sr., and his father, Coleman Purcell Younger (who settled in San José, 1851), and from and to C. B. Younger Sr. and California's pioneers, attorneys, and judges (including California Chief Justices).
A collection of 31 volumes of Briefs (744 items) documenting the participation of C. B. Younger Sr. and Charles B. Younger Jr. in most of the significant Santa Cruz County legal suits (1865-1923).
Thirty-five years of legal correspondence (an estimated 20,000 letters) by Charles Bruce Younger Jr., of which 4,000 letters (between 1899 to 1909) have been transcribed and published.
Maps and records of F. A. Hihn, the F. A. Hihn Company, and related corporate enterprises: the Capitola-Hihn Company, the Santa Cruz Rail Road Company, the Santa Cruz Water Co., the Valencia-Hihn Co.
Artifacts, correspondence, documents, memorabilia and photographs of the Hihn and Younger families.
Letters and legal dockets of Charles Bruce Younger Jr., who inherited his father's legal representation of F. A. Hihn & the F. A. Hihn Company.
Business papers and the creative writing of Teresa Hihn Moore (1896-1996), a granddaughter of F. A. Hihn - including documents on Hihn's Valencia Orchards, which she inherited and operated.
The Noel Patterson Collection. The announcement, in June, 1923, that Noel Patterson would henceforth work for the Hihn Family, nearly a 67-year relationship that he held until his death at 94 in 1990, provides us with a framework for understanding the scope of the Noel Patterson Collection. Housed in 25 cartons, there are hundreds of Documents, and Property Appraisals (containing 300 maps), plus more maps in the Map Room at the Science and Engineering Library. The Collection has been described in a separate Publication, inventoried by former University Librarian Donald T. Clark.
Collection of Ronald Powell - more than twenty years of research material, photos, and compilation of the history of the Shoquel and Shoquel Augumentation Ranchos - including F. A. Hihn's properties.

Publications

Stanley D. Stevens, Coordinator of the Hihn-Younger Archive at the UCSC Library, has stated his vision of the Archive:

"My objective is to explore and document every aspect of the lives of F. A. Hihn and C. B. Younger and their families, and while I may miss some comment or story about them due to the unavailability of material or my choice of focus, I believe that these publications will capture the essence of their experiences."

About the Publications

A German immigrant to California’s Gold Rush, Frederick Augustus Hihn is considered by many as the County’s most influential entrepreneur, from arrival in Santa Cruz (1851) to his death (1913).

Charles Bruce Younger Sr. was Hihn’s principal attorney and dean of the legal community.

The two families were united by the marriage of Agnes Hihn, Therese and F.A. Hihn’s youngest daughter, and C. B. Younger Jr.

Several collections have been donated, including maps and records of F. A. Hihn, the F. A. Hihn Company, and related corporate enterprises: the Capitola-Hihn Company, the Santa Cruz Rail Road Company, the Santa Cruz Water Co., the Valencia-Hihn Co., artifacts, correspondence, documents, memorabilia and photographs of the Hihn and Younger families.

Other collections of importance complement these collections:

1. … the Noel Patterson Collection of appraisals, correspondence & maps; Noel Patterson was associated with the Hihn Family for nearly 70 years;

2. … the product of 25-years of research by Ronald Powell on the history of the Rancho Soquel (which includes Hihn’s Capitola), and the Rancho Soquel Augmentation (the Rancho partitioned in 1864 by three Referees (including C. B. Younger Sr.) (which includes Laurel and many of the subsequent land acquisitions of F. A. Hihn.

Stanley D. Stevens, Coordinator of the Hihn-Younger Archive at the UCSC Library, has stated his vision of the Archive:

“My objective is to explore and document every aspect of the lives of F. A. Hihn and C. B. Younger and their families, and while I may miss some comment or story about them due to the unavailability of material or my choice of focus, I believe that these publications will capture the essence of their experiences.

It is my objective to make the most appropriate choices for each part of the Archive. The preservation, organization, transcription, and indexing of the Hihn-Younger collections is our highest priority, so that the published results will make the information accessible to the widest possible audience and the diverse interests of all users.”

Published in limited editions, the publications are available in research libraries, primarily in Santa Cruz County.

Publications of the Hihn-Younger Archive

Louis Edwin Hihn — From Childhood to My Last Hurrah: My Memorable Experiences; An Autobiography. 1992.

Correspondence of Charles B. Younger Sr. and Charles B. Younger Jr., Santa Cruz, California Attorneys and Counsellors at Law. 1996-1998 [13 volumes + Cumulative Index]

These letters span thirty-five years of legal correspondence (an estimated 20,000 letters) primarily by Charles Bruce Younger Jr., of which 4,000 letters (between 1899 and 1909) have been transcribed and published.

Hearing on petition of Charles B. Younger Jr., Esq. for allowance of attorney’s fees In the Matter of the Estate of F. A. Hihn, sometimes called Frederick A. Hihn, Deceased. Reporter’s Transcript. 1997.

Inventory of Gift ... from The Estate of Teresa Agnes Hihn Moore. 1997.

A Researcher’s Digest on F. A. Hihn and his Santa Cruz Rail Road Company. 1997.

A Researcher’s Digest on F. A. Hihn and his Santa Cruz County Pioneers. 1998.

Letters of F. A. Hihn & F. A. Hihn Co. (November 25, 1901 — March 14, 1902). 1999.

Letters of F. A. Hihn & F. A. Hihn Co. (December 26, 1902 — May 26, 1903). 2000.

Only five volumes have survived, of which these two volumes (No. 46 & No. 50) have been transcribed and indexed.

The Noel Patterson Collection - Appraisals, Correspondence & Maps. 2001.

A Researcher’s Digest on F. A. Hihn and the Founding of California Polytechnic School - San Luis Obispo. 2001.

The compilations, Researcher’s Digests, are not intended to be a general biography of F. A. Hihn. Rather, each one is a piece of the mosaic of his life.

Nor are they intended to be a comprehensive history the subject covered by each volume — they are guideposts to the major aspects of the subject, leaving a trail for the researcher to follow, to discover the remaining pieces of the story.

The Researcher’s Digests are arranged in four parts, a general introduction, the transcription of relevant data from documentary sources in chronological sequence, and a compilation of biographies of those mentioned in the sources (to the extent that information was available). An index ties together references to persons and subjects in the first three parts.

Work in Progress:

A Researcher’s Digest on F. A. Hihn and His Love Affair with Hotels, featuring the Hotel El Paso de Robles.

Catalog and Index to the Land Ownership Maps of the F. A. Hihn Company.

Transcription and Index of 25 volumes of F. A. Hihn Co. Agreements, Leases and Deeds (including an Index Volume thereto, and one volume on Hihn’s Santa Cruz Water Company).

Correspondence by and to Coleman Purcell Younger, Charles Bruce Younger Sr., other members of the Younger Family, 1844 to 1891: This collection contains more than eight-hundred letters by and to the Youngers and many of California’s pioneer attorneys and judges; 250 letters have been transcribed and are being edited for publication.

An Index to a collection of 31 volumes of legal briefs, by Charles B. Younger and Charles B. Younger, Jr., that were argued chiefly in the California State Supreme Court, District Court of Appeal, Superior Court of Santa Cruz County, and other California Counties. (due March, 2003)

Stanley D. Stevens — November 1, 2002

Deeds

Agreements, Deeds, & Leases of F. A. Hihn & F. A. Hihn Company

Follow the links below to learn more about the Hihn Agreements, Deeds & Leases or to search the Deeds database.