This blog has been around since September of 2011. To date I have published 271 stories about people I considered to be interesting. One of the first stories I ever wrote for this blog was published September 27, 2011:
https://undereverytombstone.blogspot.com/2011/09/woman-ends-life-as-son-8-sleeps.html
It told the story of Florence Hill who committed suicide while her young son slept in the next room. This is the only story I have published to date that received a negative comment. In July of 2012 I received the following comment from someone who purported to be a member of the family:
Going through graveyards and finding the tragic stories and pulling the corresponding newspaper articles-I have them all...can hardly describe the story or tragedy of all of this. I am in the process of writing a book about the real story, and one no family would want to have been part of.
It is now almost ten years later, and to the best of my knowledge the book has not been published. Therefore I have decided to take another look at the story that I titled "Woman Ends Life as Son, 8, Sleeps"
Florence B. Hill was born in 1886 in Chicago, Illinois - the only child of George Melvin Hill (1862-1917) and Georgiana Beattie Hill (1862-1932). George M. Hill was president of the Hill Binding Company, and for years prominent in the book business.
Fourteen year old Florence shows up in the 1900 US Census, living with her parents at 107 Florence Avenue in Chicago (now 2738 N. Dayton Street). Modern townhouses occupy that spot today. Her parents were thirty-seven year old George, and thirty-five year old Georgie. They has been married for sixteen years and had one child. George was a "Book Publisher," no occupation was listed for Georgiana, and Florence was "At School."
You have all heard the old saying that a "lady" only has her name in the newspapers three times in her life: when she is born, when she marries, and when she passes away. This could not be said about Florence Hill when her name was splashed all over the newspapers in January of 1905. What was her "crime?" She ran away and got married - to Mr. John Cuneo (1884-1977), son of "fruit dealer" Frank Cuneo (1861-1942) and his wife Amelia (1864-1891).
Here's what the Chicago Tribune had to say about it on January 13, 1905:
'ELOPE? NO,' CRIES GROOM.
John F. Cuneo Returns with Bride and Her Father.
Young Son of Fruit Dealer Comes Back Under Partial Duress and Declares He is 22 Years Old - Couple will Live at Hotel for a Time - Parent of the Runaway Asserts That Youth Must Shift for Himself Hereafter - May Go To See Him.
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Elopement-(D. Ontloopen, to run away; to leap); a running away; an escape; private or unlicensed departure from a place or station; specifically applied to the running away of a man or woman. married or unmarried, with a lover, in defiance of duty or social restraints.
"Love and ELOPE, as modern ladies do." - Cawthorn. - Century Dictionary.
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"This was not an elopement." declared John F. Cuneo, as he alighted from a train from Pittsburg in the Union depot late yesterday afternoon. "The newspapers have been exploiting our - our little affair as an elopement, and I tell you it's nothing of the kind.
"We were married Tuesday afternoon by Father O'Meara at the parish residence of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and then we took a train for the east." Then he added, after a pause: "And now we are back. It wasn't an elopement."
"But the dictionary-----"
"Hang the dictionary! I tell you we didn't elope."
Bride's Father Is His Escort.
"Just married," the young son of Frank Cuneo, the fruit dealer, came back to Chicago under partial duress, accompanied by his bride, Florence Hill Cuneo, 19 years old, and her father, George M. Hill, president of the Hill Publishing company. They went at once to the Hill residence, 107 Florence avenue.
After he had disposed of the application of the word "elopement" to his case, young Cuneo went on:
"Then the papers have been making me out to be but 20 years old. I tell you I'm 22, and old enough to marry if I want to."
The bride had nothing to say, but Mr. Hill interposed:
"No, it wasn't an elopement. The young people just took it into their heads to get married, so they were married. That's all. Mr. Cuneo will not have to worry about his future. I am in business myself, you know. They will live at the Auditorium Annex until they begin housekeeping."
Says Son Must "Pay the Piper."
"John is 20 years old." said his father last night. "If he wasn't, how could I have caused him to be detained by the Pittsburg police? Detective Bock carried a copy of a birth certificate with him when he went east.
"If they want to live at the annex, they are at liberty to do so, if they can pay the piper. As far as I am concerned, my son will have to work out his own salvation. I have been trying to give him a good education at Yale and I had high hopes for him. Perhaps this will be a good thing for him."
"Now that they are married, I don't like to kick. but I blame Father O'Meara, who married them. Father O'Meara told me himself this afternoon that my son admitted that I was opposed to the marriage, but he said 'I thought it was a shame to prevent them from marrying; they were such a nice-looking couple.'
Does Not Know Bride.
"I don't know whether I'll see John tonight or not, but if I do we will have a heart to heart talk that perhaps will teach him something. I have no objection to his wife, because I do not know her."
The couple had not appeared at the Auditorium Annex late last night.
The tale was not over yet. This is from the Chicago Tribune the next day, January 14, 1905:
CUNEO ELOPEMENT TO GO BEFORE THE ARCHBISHOP
Father of Young Groom Threatens to Have Priest Punished for Performing the Marriage Ceremony.
Although he has forgiven his son, Frank Cuneo, the wealthy wholesale fruit dealer is still vexed with the action of the Rev. J. J. O'Meara of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, who last Tuesday married young Cuneo and Miss Florence Hill. Mr. Cuneo said yesterday he would take the matter before Archbishop Quigley in an effore to have Father O'Meara reprimanded.
"The boy is married and that's all there is to it." said Mr. Cuneo, "but I'm not through with Father O'Meara. He has virtually abrogated the canons of the church in being a party to the affair and I an going to see that he is disciplined."
Following are the points upon which Mr. Cuneo bases his contention that the priest should not have performed the ceremony:
1. The bride was a non-Catholic
2. Young Cuneo admitted to the priest that his family was opposed to the marriage.
3. Cuneo family is well known in north side Roman Catholic circles, and if the marriage had been contemplated and sanctioned in the usual way the fact would have been known to Father O'Meara.
4. The hasty nature of the marriage, together with various unusual circumstances connected with it, gave it every aspect of an elopement, which is virtually condemned by the church.
"It is most exasperating," declared Mr. Cuneo. It is a case of sentiment blinding duty, and I propose to make complaint to Archbishop Quigley."
The young bride and groom are planning a three week honeymoon. After that, young Cuneo will enter the employ of the Hill Publishing Company.
Things seemed to calm down after the initial uproar. The 1910 US Census finds the couple living with Florence's parents, George and Georgiana Hill at 4124 Sheridan Road. Apartments occupy that spot today but in 1910 this portion of Sheridan Road was lined with magnificent mansions. The household consisted of George Hill and his wife Georgiana, John Cuneo and his wife Florence Hill Cuneo and two servants. George Hill said he was president of a "Binding Company" but John Cuneo was now "President of a Fruit Company." Looks like his family was willing to forgive him for the manner in which he married. Remember, Florence's father said John would "enter the employ of the Hill Publishing Company."
Instead, according to his obituary, in 1907 John Cuneo borrowed $10,000 to start Cuneo Press, which went on to become one of the giants in commercial printing.
1917 was a tragic year for Florence Hill Cuneo. First was the fact that her father George Hill died on June 27, 1917. He was fifty-four-years-old. Here is his obituary from the Chicago Tribune from June 28, 1917:
and his Death Notice from the same day:
I'm sure that George Hill and his wife had seen advertisements for the new community mausoleum at Chicago's Rosehill Cemetery that had opened in September of 1916. Perhaps they had even attended a funeral there. At any rate, Georgiana Hill decided that a private family room at the Rosehill Mausoleum would be an appropriate memorial for her husband and the rest of the family. Georgiana Hill had her husband interred in the room with his name over the door.
The other tragedy for Florence Hill was that her divorce from John F. Cuneo was finalized in 1917. Although everyone had said that their marriage wouldn't last, it actually lasted for twelve years.
John F. Cuneo remarried on June 24, 1930 to Julia Josephine Shepherd (1902-1990). In 1965 his personal fortune was estimated at more than $120 million. He died in 1977 and is entombed in the largest family mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston:
Even though he had died in 1917, George Hill was listed on the 1920 Census form. He is listed as "Head" of Household, his age listed as 55 (he would have been 58) and his occupation as "Manager of a Binding Company." Georgiana and Florence do not list an occupation. In addition to the three (!) Hills, there was also a live-in Irish maid.
On November 4, 1925, thirty-nine year old Florence Hill Cuneo married thirty-one year old Curt Von Puttkamer, a wealthy insurance broker. Their son, Curt Hill Von Puttkamer was born June 19, 1926 in Chicago.
Unfortunately by 1928 the marriage had fallen apart. On March 27, 1928 the Associated Press reported:
CHILD IS HELD FOR RANSOM, WIFE SAYS
CHICAGO, March 26 - Mrs. Florence Von Puttkamer, estranged wife od Curt Von Puttkamer, wealthy insurance broker, today charged before Superior Judge Sabath that he husband is holding their 18-month-old son for ransom.
She testified she filed suit for divorce a week ago and that March 18 her husband took the child, Curt Hill Von Puttkamer, from a nurse on the street. Police and private detectives have sought father and child without success.
Richard Von Puttkamer, father of the missing man, was summoned before Judge Sabath today (and) charged with conspiring to keep the child from its mother. The mother said that in a conference with him, he told her that if she signed a quit-claim deed to property valued at $200,000 she would be able to see the child in a few minutes.
Florence Hill Cuneo and Curt Von Puttkamer were divorced May 21, 1929. However, they were back in the news on December 31, 1929:
DIVORCE ATTACKED
Curt Von Puttkamer, insurance broker, yesterday filed a petition before Superior Judge Sabath to set aside the divorce decree granted to his former wife, Mrs. Florence Hill Cuneo von Puttkamer, 939 Lake Shore Drive. The petition charges that the divorce, granted by the judge last May 21, was obtained on perjured testimony.
Mrs. von Puttkamer, former wife of John Cuneo, testified that her husband was continually drunk. This evidence was supported by Mrs. Georgianna Hill, her mother, and a maid, Cornelia Hughes. She also declared that Puttkamer had demanded $200,000 for the return of their child, Curt Jr., 2 years old, after kidnaping him.
In his petition Puttkamer declares the charges are false. He insists that he was never served with a summons in the case or a copy of her pleadings. He in turn charges his former wife was intoxicated at least twice a week. the petition characterizes her as being of an aggressive nature and avers that she left her child in the care of servants. The Puttkamers were married Sept. 15, 1927.
Sometime after her divorce from Curt Von Puttkamer was final, Florence, her mother and son moved to New York. Perhaps she felt that it would be best for all concerned if she put some distance between her family and her ex-husband.
Florence's mother, Georgiana Beattie Hill died in New York on September 27, 1932. She was sixty-seven-years-old. She was interred in the crypt above her husband in the Hill Family Room of the Rosehill Mausoleum:
Sadly, Florence Hill's story came to an end on September 12, 1935:
WOMAN ENDS LIFE AS SON, 8, SLEEPS
Mrs. Florence Hill, 50, Leaps From Her 5th Av. Apartment After Leaving Note to Boy.
She Had Large Fortune.
Ill, She Writes of ‘Agony’ in Messages –
Divorced Husband to Fight for Custody of Lad.
Mrs. Florence B. Hill, 50 years old, reputed possessor of a fortune of $1,000,00 and daughter of the late George M. Hill, Chicago publisher, committed suicide early yesterday, the police said, by leaping from her ninth-floor apartment at 1212 Fifth Avenue, near 102nd Street, into a rear court-yard.
Notes addressed to Curtis, her 8-year-old son, and to friends indicated that Mr. Hill had been despondent over illness. The body was found at 5:30 A.M. by Fred Kearns, the building fireman. An ambulance physician, summoned immediately said the woman had been dead several hours.
The boy, who was to return soon to his class at the Peekskill Military Academy was asleep in the three-room apartment when detectives of the East 104th Street station arrived. Bewildered at the intrusion, he protested against being awakened. He was told that his mother had become ill and had been taken to a hospital.
The police found the following note addressed to the boy: “Oh, Curtis! I am in such agony I can’t go on. Please strive on always to be a fine young man, and the only way is to follow your Bible and seek your God. I know this may seem strange to you, but mother is unable to write and tell you how much I am suffering. So love and blessing, Mother.”
Another note was addressed to “Dear Anne Murch,” a friend living on the floor below in the same building. It said:
“Will you take care of Curtis until my cousin, William Himmel, arrives? There is a bag of jewelry in the silver pitcher in the dining room which is for my Aunt Nellie. I am in such mental torture I can’t go on. Much love to you. Florence.”
Mr. Himmel, notified of his cousin’s death, arrived by plane from Chicago last night and immediately took charge of the funeral arrangements. He said that burial would be in Rosehill Cemetery, in Chicago.
In other notes Mrs. Hill asked the police to communicate with Mrs. Harold Conover at the Hotel; Croydon and with Mrs. George H. Payne at 145 West Fifty-fifth Street, both friends.
Mrs. Murch was not reached and Mrs. Conover, who had known Mrs. Hill for twenty years, took the boy to her apartment. She said her friend had passed August with relatives in Chicago and had returned last week. A few days ago she visited a physician concerning her illness, from which she had been suffering for several months. Mrs. Conover said Mrs. Hill might have been alarmed by the physician’s diagnosis of her condition.
The silver and boxes yielded more than 200 pieces of jewelry and twenty shares of stock. Mrs. Conover said she believed the jewelry was worth about $25,000 and that Mrs. Hill had even more valuable jewelry in a safe deposit box. The jewelry included watches, brooches, eighteen bracelets, fifty-five pairs of earrings, lockets, fifty-eight strings of beads, thirty-one rings and many other articles.
A legal fight over custody of the boy was indicated last night. Mrs. Conover said she understood that Mr. Himmel was his guardian, but Chicago dispatched reported that Mrs. Hill’s second husband, Curt von Puttkamer, whom she divorced, intended to start legal proceedings to gain custody.
Asked about the likelihood of a suit for guardianship, Mr. Himmel said he knew nothing of Mr. von Puttkamer’s plans. He would not comment on what action, if any, he contemplated to carry out the guardianship.
Mrs. Conover said her friend had inherited most of her fortune from her mother, who died about two years ago, when mother and daughter were living in Forest Hills. Mrs. Hill came to this city five years ago.
Mrs. Hill sued Mr. Puttkamer for separate maintenance in 1928, charging he had abducted their son and had attempted to get $25,000 for his return. Later Mrs. Hill won a divorce on the ground her husband was habitually drunk and she received custody of the boy.
Mr. Puttkamer announced through his attorney in Chicago yesterday that court action would be begun if Mr. Himmel insisted on keeping the boy. Benjamin Ehrlich, the attorney, said that in addition to a $750,000 trust fund Mrs. Hill had real estate holdings that brought her fortune up to $1,000,000.
The Hill fortune was built up by George M. Hill, who conducted a publishing and advertising concern. Mr. Himmel, who is the son of the aunt mentioned in the note to Mrs. Murch, is an officer of the White Book House, a Chicago publishing concern.
Mrs. Hill’s first marriage was with John Cuneo, millionaire head of the Cuneo Press. When she divorced him in 1926 it was reported she received a substantial settlement, according to Chicago dispatches.
New York Times –Sep. 12, 1935
Florence Hill is interred above her parents in the Hill Family Room in the Rosehill Mausoleum.
Curt Hill Von Puttkamer, Florence Hill's son was adopted and his name changed. He passed away in 1972.
Florence Hill Cuneo Von Puttkamer, a troubled soul. May she rest in peace.
