the Pine, John (1857-1922) Cardine Copay DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE LAFAYETTE NATIONAL PARK BAR HARBOR, MAINE OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT Copy July 7, 1925. Dear Mrs. Pine: I only got the Park boat launched in time to use for the meeting of the Governors here on July 3rd. Yesterday I visited your island and found it a place Bar Island: of infinite charm, full of imaginative appeal and wonderfully placed. Not a thing has been done to mar its natural beauty and its old pine trees are a delight to see. It is unique, and preserved unchanged should make a wonderful memorial to the love and appreciation that have kept it so long uns poiled and cast their atmosphere over it. I can conceive of no more interesting gift to the future than this, made under the guardianship of the nation, nor of one likely to be more enduring through our changing social order. If you and Mrs. Pryor con- tinue in your thought to give it to the National Park I shall take warm personal interest in the gift and do all in my power to establish it on a right footing as a feature of the Park, making it represent, like a monument , its unique contact with the sea. And the story of its ownershi p through the early years of summer resident life upon the Island should be em- DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE LAFAYETTE NATIONAL PARK BAR HARBOR, MAINE OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT bodied with it, for the interest of those to whom it will give pleasure in the future and as establishing a link , that they will value,with the will to share of others which has brought that pleasure to them. I am leaving this morning for Millinocket, to connect with Governor Brewster in a trip up Mount rimin Katahdin whosecohs ervation as a State park he is anxious , to accomplish. I return at the end of the week and Eyes then W ill write again, after another visit to the island. Believe me Sincerely yours, R. Wort copy THE COSMOPOLITAN CLUB 133 East 40th Street July 29th, 1925. Dear Mr. Dorr: I am enclosing the signed deed of gift, and with it send these few inadequate lines to thank you for the sympathetic interest shown in your letter of the 27th of July. In thanking you also for all else you are doing, and will, I am sure, continue to do in connection with our wishes concerning Bar Island, I should like to say more were I not preparing for a long day's journey tomorrow. I shall be absent several weeks, but any mail sent here, or to 24 Gramercy Park (my per- manent address) will be promptly forwarded. My husband was always greatly interested in our National Parks, with some of which he was very familiar. This is one of several reasons why I am ready to give up the property. Sincerely yours, Caroline rine. To the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations. Gentlemen: We are enclosing the deed to Bar Island in Somes Sound,giving it in free gift in memory of James Williamson Pryor and John Buckley Pine, late of New York. It is our wish, although we do not make it as a condition, that the property be held always as a bird and animal sanctuary; that the prohibition laws shall be observed and enforced; and that the house shall not be opened to the public unless a responsible care- taker is there. JOHN B. PINE 2 pargina John B. Pine was born in 1857 and died on October 28, 1922. He graduated from Columbia College in 1877; and prepared for his admission to the Bar at the Columbia Law School. While still an undergraduate, and while a student at the law school, he gave evidence that his Alma Mater was to be one of the most absorbing interests of his life. At an early age he was elected a trustee of his col- lege; and he served in that capacity until his death, act- - ing as Clerk of the Board of Trustees and counsel for the University for many years. When the removal from Madison Avenue and 39th Street was decided on, it was at Mr. Pine's suggestion that the site at Morningside Heights was chosen. New York City claimed from Mr. Pine an unflagging interest in its history and welfare. He was largely res- ponsible for the introduction to general use of the city flag, which was done through the Municipal Arts Commission, of which Mr. Pine was a member. He was a founder of the University Settlement Society, a manager of St. Luke's Hospital and a trustee of the American Academy in Rome. In 1886, with a group of ardent young reformers, he was a tireless worker in the campaign which resulted in the election of Seth Low as mayor. During his early years he was interested in the rescue and care of dependent children; and later in life he was a trustee of Gramercy Park, where he made his home. While giving close atten- tion and valuable assistance to these varied interests, 2. he was, at the same time, engaged actively in the practice of law. From the time of his college days Mr. Pine's liter- ary bent took the form of study and writing on the official and literary history of Columbia University, and of the City of New York. In recognition of his studies and publications Princeton conferred on him, in 1915, the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. President Butler of Columbia, in writing of Mr. Pine, described him as " a public.spirited citizen of a rare type"; and in the sketch of his life contained in the Mem- orials of Century Club members, it is said: "But if Col- - umbia's interests were his life work, New York will equally remember him as a useful citizen who gave himself freely to promoting its welfare." B. DORR]