| Henry Caswell �Caddy� Mines was born Sept. 18, 1885, in Clarksburg, Harrison County, WV, the son of Lewis H. and Caroline Titchenal Mines. Lewis brought his family, which also included Caddy�s three brothers and a sister, to Howland in 1903, moving onto a 250-acre farm on Drakes Rd., which is now called Mines Rd. SE. The land, which had had only two previous owners, was part of the Connecticut Land Co. holdings. Caddy married Zoe Edwards, a Howland school teacher, September 24, 1913, in Memphis, TN, where she was from originally. They had three children: Margaret, Delbert, and HC Jr., also known as �Hank�. In 1916, Caddy was elected to the Howland Township Board of Education. His first term began in 1917, and he served a total of 44 years, with a break from 1921 to 1925. For three of the terms, Caddy was elected by write-in vote, an indication of the high esteem Howland residents had for him. At the time Caddy first took office as a school board member, Howland had voted to centralize the school system and eliminate one-room schools. One of Caddy�s first projects was to upgrade the school system from �second class� - in which students had to attend 12th grade at Cortland, Niles or Warren high school - to a first class school, so students could acquire 12 years of education locally. When a new elementary was built in 1961, it was named for Caddy in honor of the time and ability he contributed to the growth and prosperity of Howland�s educational system. He was instrumental in obtaining the land on which the Morgandale, Mines Elementary and junior high school buildings were located. An oil portrait of Mr. Mines was unveiled during ceremonies at Howland Junior High School in 1965. It was in tribute to the �best friend and servant Howland Schools ever had.� In 1970 he received state recognition for his 44 years as a board of education member and was awarded a certificate for having served the greatest number of years in that capacity. A newspaper article about his retirement from the board in 1966, assessed Caddy as �always an astute businessman, [who] kept the financial interests of the school and community at heart, and always attempted to take care that fair return was received for every tax dollar.� The article went on to say that, �a charming man and engaging conversationalist, Mr. Mines can hold a person�s interest with stories, rich in the history of the township. Mr. Mines is vitally interested in the community in which he has spent all of his adult life.� During his tenure on the board, Caddy also remained a farmer. He and Zoe bought the old Cadwallader homestead on King-Graves Rd., NE, in April 1924 and operated it as a dairy farm. The house and one barn were on one side of the road and a second barn on the other. There was a pond and a great deal of open space in those days. The second barn was struck by lightning and burned down. After that, Caddie sold out and went into truck gardening, raising corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, etc. He also had a milk route, driving his truck around the area picking up the large cans of milk and taking them to the processing plant. He retired from farming altogether in 1974. He was a member of Howland Community Church. A great niece remembers Caddy as �a wealth of information� who �loved company and his conversation was very animated.� She recalls that �in the sitting room there would be piles of National Geographic magazines on a large table or desk that also held a humungous radio and a one-armed black telephone.... The room was permeated by his cigars which he usually would put down and carry on with whatever he was saying.� Zoe died August 22, 1971, and Caddy on May 11, 1977, at the Glenview Manor Nursing Home, Mineral Ridge, at age 91. He is buried in Howland Cemetery. Sources 11 May 1977, Warren Tribune-Chronicle, Warren, OH. unknown date in 1966, Warren Tribune-Chronicle, Warren, OH Knowles, Joanne, Mines Family history, self-published and distributed at the family reunion, on 19 Aug 1990, in Warren, OH. |
| Henry Caswell Mines - 1885 - 1977 |
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| HC Mines Elementary School |
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