Kate Benedict Hanna Harvey

Kate Benedict Hanna Harvey (1871–1936) was an American heiress, philanthropist and plantation owner.

Biography

Early life

Kate Benedict Hanna was born on December 26, 1871.[1][2] Her father was Howard Melville Hanna (1840–1921) and her mother, Kate Smith Hanna (1843–1919).[2] She had two sisters, Bessie Hanna, Helen Hanna, and three brothers, Howard Melville Hanna (1877–1945), Leonard Hanna (1881–1881), and Howard Melville Hanna (1909–1936).[2] Her uncle was Mark Hanna (1837–1904), who served as Republican United States Senator from Ohio from 1897 to 1904.[2]

She attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut and Miss Heloise E. Hersey's School in Boston, Massachusetts.[1]

Inheritance and the Pebble Hill Plantation

She was an heiress to the M. A. Hanna Company fortune and one of its three biggest stockholders.[1] She inherited the Pebble Hill Plantation in Thomasville, Georgia from her father, which she owned from 1901 to 1936.[2][3] She commissioned Abram Garfield (1872–1958), son of President James A. Garfield, to design more buildings on the plantation, including the Log Cabin School, the Plantation Store, the Loggia Wing, the Pump House, the Waldorf and the lavish Cow Barn.[3] She also raised Jersey cattle after she visited Jersey and sold their milk.[3] Additionally, she entertained guests with horse riding, lawn tennis and baseball.[3] By 1905, she had automobiles on the plantation.[3] She also took trips to St. Marks, Florida and was a member of the Glen Arven Country Club (founded in 1892) in Thomasville.[3] In 1934, the old house designed by architect John Wind (1819–1863) burned down, and she commissioned Abram Garfield to design a new house, built in 1936.[3]

Philanthropy

In 1901, she founded the Visiting Nurse Association and served on its Board of Trustees.[1] She also started the Visiting Nurses Quarterly.[1] In 1905, she founded a new chapter of the American Red Cross in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] She helped in the reconstruction of Lorain, Ohio after the tornado of 1924.[1]

She donated to the Lakeside Hospital, where she served on the Board of Lady Managers from 1898 to 1930, and to the University Hospitals of Cleveland, where she served on the Board of Trustees from 1920 to 1936.[1] She also donated to the Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital.[1] She also spearheaded the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.[1]

Personal life

She married Robert Livingston Ireland, Sr. (1867–1928).[2][3][4] They had a son, Robert Livingston Ireland, Jr. (1895–1981), and a daughter, Elisabeth Ireland Poe (1897–1978).[2][3][4] Her second marriage was to Perry Williams Harvey (1869–1932).[2]

She died on May 15, 1936 and was buried in the Pebble Hill Plantation Family Cemetery in Thomasville, Georgia with her second husband.[2]

References

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