Volume
1099
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The Danton Burroughs
FAMILY ARCHIVE
Presents
A BURROUGHS FAMILY TRIBUTE
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THE LETTERS OF GEORGE T. BURROUGHS, JR.
1888 Yale University (Sheffield Scientific School)
Letters shared with ERBzine by Danton Burroughs
from the Burroughs Family Archive
Handwritten letters deciphered and transcribed by
Bill Hillman
Sheffield Scientific School
The Sheffield Scientific School, produced some
of the greatest inventors and industrial leaders of the 19th and 20th centuries
from its founding in 1852 until the mid-1940s, when its engineering courses
were absorbed into the growing Yale Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
New Haven
Jan 7 1888
Dear Father -
Your letter of the 5th inst received
this morning.
This is the first moment I have had
since we got here to write & let you know that we had arrived safely.
As you probably know from Harry's
letter we were delayed by a wreck just this side of Fort Wayne, Ind. for
about five hours during the night, none of which time were we able to make
up. It is worthy of notice however that, even with other slight delays
caused by our not running on our own time, we made the rest of the trip
on schedule time. I suppose you want to know what time we should have reached
the places you mention & enclose a time table which will tell you.
If you want to know what time we actually did get there add five hours
& thirty minutes to the time as given & you will have it approximately.
It is a fine train & well worth
the extra expense. During the entire trip there was scarcely a sign of
dirt, & no one can appreciate the value of the vestibule connection
until he has tried them. I have often wondered how ladies managed to get
form one car to another some times having to go the whole length of the
train to reach the dinner, as they do, but on this train a child can wander
from one end to the other without the slightest danger. We stopped at the
Gilsey House over night in New York & left for New Haven on the "Fast
Express" to Boston at 9.00 AM. I feel pretty good
to think that I was able to get form the ferry, when we landed, up to the
hotel without asking any questions & without having to go to the expense
of a carriage.
I don't mean to say that I led the
others but I would have been able to get along alone, as probably Harry
& Sam would also.
With love to all
Geo
POSTMARKS: New Haven Jan 12 10AM ~ Chicago
Jan 14 8 Am
TO: Mrs Geo. T. Burroughs ~ 646 Washington Boul ~ Chicago,
Ill
New Haven ~ Jan 10 1888
Dear Mother -
Your letter of the 8th inst. received
this morning. There seem to be noting in it that requires an immediate
answer, but as I have a few minutes to myself I will devote them to you.
Things seem duller than ever here
after spending two such pleasant weeks at home. And after next week which
is "Prom" week there will be really nothing going on but studying &
training. We commenced the latter Sat & will keep at it unless something
unforeseen occurs until the end of May courtly & perhaps until the
end of June. There are about 20 min training for the University crew, a
few more than that for the "nine", fifty more for the Matt Haven
team about a dozen for the Sophomore crew and thirty for the freshman crew
& the Freshman nine yet to commence. Beside these "teams" there
are a great many working for their own amusement or health. So you can
imagine that training is a rather important thing just now. The more so
as for every place there is great competition & each man who is striving
for the place has probably a number of friends who are especially interested
for his sake.
You will be glad to know that we both
passed all our exams & are still in the 1st division in German &
French. The work now is quite hard, too hard I think & will continue
so until Easter when we may get it a little easier though I haven't much
hope of it for in the Engineering courses the work is about the same from
the beginning of Junior to the end of Senior year.
Two of my friends very kindly offered
me the use of their dress suits if I wanted to take a lady to the Prom.
But as there is no one here whom I care to take & as it would cost
a good deal I have decided not to go. It takes considerable time &
trouble for about a month before hand getting your lady's dance program
filled with the names of suitable partners to say nothing of your own,
which is a much harder matter, as there is always a scarcity of ladies.
If you will notice the "News" next week you will see an account of the
affair.
That little thing you made in such
a hurry just before we left is about the prettiest thing in our room, any
thing of that kind that you run across (after we get rich) will
always be welcome.
We have a nice room, a very nice
room but the walls are rather bare & those things helped to fill up
the vacant places.
I have taken to wearing a tennis
shirt again & so my old shirts are apt to last me a good while, to
say nothing of the saving in collars, cuffs & neckwear, for any discarded
necktie will do.
Well I have come to the conclusion
at this stage of the letter, which perhaps I should have thought of before
I commenced, that there is nothing to tell & so wont attempt to worry
along any farther & bore you with more of this trash.
With love to all Geo
P.S. The "Machine covers" are very comfortable, a
little large perhaps, but they have not been washed . I dont see how we
managed to get along with those thin ones all last winter.
Geo
New Haven Ill
Jan 12 1888
Dear Mother -
Can you make me a cap of some soft
stuff like flannel to pull down over the ears. I want it to use when we
are running or rowing in the cold this winter. Any sort of a thing will
do. I want it this shape, any color or quality of material. /_\. When I
tell you that the fellows sometimes put a stocking on with the foot hanging
down behind, as a sort of tassel, you can judge that we dont need anything
elegant. An acorn shaped thing, turned up about three inches , around the
bottom to make it warm is about what I want. I guess you will understand
without any trouble.
Harry has just come in & he
thinks he wants one too, of a similar design. I have got to that
point in my training where I go down stairs backwards, this will wear off
in about a month probably & then my hands will begin to blister &
other such agreeable things will be our lot for the next six months.
You may wonder what we find in it
to offset the hardships. There are many things but the most important probably
is honor & the glory of winning a race.
Harry's gloves
came today by mail
With love to all Geo
New Haven Jan 22 / 88
Dear Mother -
Your letter of the 18th to me rec'd.
The caps also came all right.
I am glad you were able to buy
them & did not attempt to make them when you were not well. I tried
to buy some here but could get nothing but very heavy toboggan caps, costing
more than I could pay. Those you sent fitted all right & they more
than paid for themselves yesterday, as we took an exceptionally long run,
over seven miles, & it was fully as cold as any day I have seen in
New Haven. They are perfectly satisfactory & I am very much obliged
to you for them.
In regard to that "Algebra", we dont
use it, but once in a while we want it for reference & when we do want
it, it is worth everything to us & I know you wouldn't want it if we
would lose anything by sending it. I would suggest that if you have
occasion to get another, you get a "Complete Algebra" & not the "Elements
of Algebra" which our are. We were conditioned in higher algebra when we
entered & never knew until we got down here that what we wanted wasn't
in our book.
While we may have missed some "social
opportunities" I assure you that I feel fully able to make up what ever
I may have lost whenever I have the money to do it on. I don't care much
about papering our room, but whenever you have more money than you know
what to do with, I would like to get some quite necessary books. Not but
what I have all I really for my regular studies, but especially in German
there is such an opportunity for outside reading opened up that it seems
a pity not to take advantage of it. For instance, our German reading lately
has dealt largely with Ancient Mythology and all members of the class have
had an opportunity to display their knowledge of the subject, as I know
absolutely nothing about it, I got Pope's translation of the "Iliad" &
a classical dictionary & have gone to work at them. The "Iliad" is
not at all dry as I supposed it would be but is quite interesting.
Nearly every week Prof. Wheeler
suggests some book either for reading or for reference that would help
us in our study of German, and it is the same in French.
I am sorry you and Nellie will
keep on having those fearful headaches. I wish I could do something but
I don't believe I can help you in any way, if you were men I would say
do as I do & can tell you , you would then know what it is to enjoy
life. That is I mean with perfect health the simple fact of living - eating
when hungry, sleeping when tired, without any artificial amusements --
is a pleasure. I'll be glad when father feels as though he could afford
to take a rest, I think he needs it & ought not to put it off too long.
He ought to take a change of air for a week or so along in the spring which
is a trying time in Chicago & get a fresh start.
I hope at any rate you will
come down here in the summer for a short time. We will be able to devote
all our time to you, for there is not the slightest danger of either of
us making the
crew this year & very little of our getting on
as substitutes.
With love as ever
Geo
New Haven Conn
Jan 29th 1888
Dear Mother -
When the postman passed us by yesterday
morning without having brought us a letter from home all the week I began
to puzzle my brain trying to think what was the matter. This week is one
of a very few when we haven't received a letter. Wed. morning and a whole
week has never passed since we have been here without bringing one. Yours
to Harry came on a later mail Sat. after we had given up hearing from you
atall
Something happened to the alcohol
which we brought down or thought we brought which is curious. We had no
occasion to use any
* * * *
a package of any kind & can safely send about
a quart of alcohol I wish you would.
I have had to stop training for
a short time on account of rheumatism in my back & legs. I am now taking
a course of
three Turkish baths, by the advice of a physician &
hope at the end of a few days to be at work again. Our doctor's bills will
be paid by the University Crew as long as we are training with them, so
it is not so bad having to consult a physician. There is nothing very serious
the matter with me for I only notice it when I run or row, but, Stevenson,
the Capt. of the crew, hustles us right off to Dr. Bacon at the least sign
of anything wrong.
* * * *
They are giving us all a thorough physical examination
at the hands of an excellent surgeon to see if we are able to do the work
required of a man who rows with the crew.
The weather has been remarkably severe
for New Haven for the last two weeks, there has been a little let up today
& I hope it will continue to get warmer.
I came very near going to N.Y. last
evening on business for the chapter but will probably go next Sat. instead.
We were mighty glad to hear of the
advance in the price of "goods", any other news of a similar nature will
be like food to the hungry.
With love to all
Geo
POSTMARKS: New Haven ~ Feb 12 7 30
PM ~ Chicago Ill Feb 14 ~ 12 30 PM
TO: Mr. Geo T. Burroughs ~ 646 Washington Boul ~ Chicago,
Ill
New Haven Conn
Feb 12th 1888
Dear Father -
Your letter of the 9th inst rec'd
yesterday afternoon. I believe Harry wrote you that I never received the
letter of the 2nd which in yours to him of the 3rd you mentioned the last
one previous to that from you was of Jan 26th.
I was glad to hear you speak so
hopefully of the "Trust's" prospects.
There was an article in a N.Y.
paper a few days ago stating that a 10,000 bu house was to be built in
that city by a Peoria distiller whose name was not familiar to me I suppose
that is a newspaper story, isn't it?
I have about got over my rheumatism,
if rheumatism it was & am steadily at work again. My back, which was
all that worried me atall is all right & Dr. Bacon says my legs will
be all right when warm weather comes.
Tell mother she is right, my cautiousness
will keep me from knowingly injuring myself If anyone was ever cursed with
a bump of caution large enough to approach almost cowardice I am. I wish
I could spend a few years of my life where a little more of the animal
or savage qualities would be brought out.
The only opportunity I have ever
had, playing football, I have thrown away partly through conflicting recitation
hours it is true, but also through that caution which is afraid of a broken
leg or arm or nose or something of that kind which dont happen very often.
Our chances of going to the training table with the University Crew are
rather slim, but while I am sorry it is so I am not dissapointed for we
are very light & have only rowed one year. If either of us make substitute
next year even, to say nothing of getting on the crew I shall think we
have done well.
Tell mother not to send any money
to buy alcohol with, if she can't send the alcohol itself. As far as I
am concerned I am going to have enough money to get through on, by not
being extravagant & that is all I want. If I want anything that I dont
think I can afford I will talk to you about it, until then dont think of
sending me any more than the allowance agreed upon, I would like
to see the debt payed off which you have had to incur in sending us here.
I never saw anything like the way
time passes here, why we'll be home again almost before we know it.
Please let me know before very long
how much money there is yet due us. I want to see if my figures are right.
I am beginning to get something
practical now in my course. Next week we commence "shop visiting" &
at the same time "machine drawing" from sketches & measurements which
we take ourselves. We are beginning to get quite a respectable knowledge
of French & German & I am beginning now to get a drive to go abroad
& learn to speak them which they dont pretend to teach here.
With love to all
Geo
New Haven Conn
Feb 26 1888
Dear Father:-
Your letter of the 23rd was received
yesterday. I was afraid mother had been sick again, as we did not hear
from her last week, but as you say nothing of it I hope I was mistaken.
While we usually look for a letter Wed. I don't want any of you to feel
that you must write when it is not convenient for if we dont hear from
home I always think things are all right, knowing as I do your dislike
of secrecy in those matters.
You are right father if you can
do as well as you did twenty five years ago we will be lucky. I hope you
will live to see some of your children celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary
of their marriage. I was glad to hear of your going to the theatre Wednesday
evening, you & mother had such busy lives with so little amusement
that it will do you good.
Will Tascott if he is the one we
know & I am sure it is, is the last person I should have suspected
of such a crime & I haven't heard enough to make me believe it yet,
at least not that he was alone when he committed that murder.
Next Thursday the Crew goes to
the "training table" & our fate will be either decided for this year
or merely postponed for of those who go to the table, two or three
will probably be dropped off inside of six weeks. We are so near the
line that it is merely a matter of conjecture with everyone but Stevenson
whether we will go on or not. We have been rowing on the harbor for
the past week && except occasionally on account of stormy weather
we will row there every day until four. I have had the worst luck with
my hands lately, in the first place there is a good sized wart developing
on the palm which interferes with rowing, then last week in opening the
box which contained that jug of alcohol I knocked quite a large piece of
flesh out of one of my knuckles & instead of healing up it has festered
& kept my finger stiff for about ten days, last of all I drove a sliver
under the finger nail of my first finger & this had to swell up &
get stiff so that I haven't been able to do any writing for about a week.
They are getting along all right now.
Last night we gave a banquet to
some of our alumni, it was quite successful and enjoyable affair to all
but Harry & I who couldn't eat or drink a thing & had to leave
about 10.30. Harry will send home a menu to Nellie I guess, but you can
all see it.
I am thinking of taking a trip
during Easter vacation if I am not training with the University crew which
will be great. The Glee club always takes a trip at that time & this
year arrangements have been made to get reduced rates on steamer railroads,
hotels &c for as many of the students as wish to go with them. They
will go to Richmond Va, Old Point Comfort & all places of interest
down through there which you know better than I do & will come back
by way of Washington. They have a pretty gay time for receptions are given
to them during the whole trip whenever they stop long enough. Harry
don't thin he can afford the trip & circumstances may compel me to
change my mind about it.
With love
to all
Geo
POSTMARK: New Haven, Conn Mar
25 7 30 PM
March 25, 1888?
Dear Father -
I believe I have to acknowledge only
one letter of yours, of the 14th from Peoria & one of mothers of the
18th inst. You were on a very pleasant errand to Peoria. I hope they will
be frequent in future. You received my letter of two weeks ago sooner than
I thought you would, owing to the blizzard it evidently got to N.Y. before
the storm struck here for no train left New Haven from Mon until Sat morning.
I hardly thought you would feel
able to send us all to the country this year & had been making plans
to occupy my time in the city but if you can afford to send us to Beaver
Lake I am sure we will all enjoy it.
How much time do you expect to spend
away from business?
Tell mother I have given up the idea
of going on that trip with the Glee Club also a projected visit to Harvard
owing to lack of funds. I think next year I would like to go back to the
old system of getting money as I need it. I have had all the allowance
I want , it has caused me more trouble than a little.
Do you still think of coming
down here this summer?
We get out Wed morning for a short
recess of a week. We will stay here quietly & try to get a good rest.
I have some studying to do & as there is no news will stop.
With love to all
Geo
P.S. If Frank can get the initials & class of
any of his teachers who are graduates of Yale & what they are teaching
& send them to me I would be obliged to him. Geo
New Haven Apr 8 / 88
Dear Father:
Your letter of the 29th ult. Mother's
of the 1st & yours of the 5th inst. to me received.
Mother seemed to fear that we were
not going to pass a very pleasant vacation, it's over now & I can look
back upon it with satisfaction. I got a good rest, had just enough studying
to do to keep time from hanging heavily & with one or two of the fellows
who were also here managed to have a little fun besides.
I am glad Eddie has a bicycle &
hope he will have some inducement to keep him riding it. I don't think
any of us ever realized how much good our bicycles did Harry & I &
how much time we spent on them out of doors when we would otherwise have
been in the house. Frank & Eddie are neither of them as strong &
well as they ought to be and I think it is because they do not take exercise
enough in the open air. Not that it would do either of them any good to
force them to do something distasteful to them.
If I was in your place I would
ship Frank off to Beaver Lake with his pony as soon as he is through school,
it will do him a world of good if he has to make his own acquaintances
up there & is thrown upon his own resources to get acquainted &
to amuse himself. then he might be getting the boat ready for use before
the family get there. By the way about when do you expect to go
up. Tom Walkup is in New Haven & has invited us to go up, either in
Northern Michigan or Wis. I have forgotten which, with him for three or
four weeks where we can enjoy some good fishing & hunting. I suppose
that last word, "hunting" will put you against it but when I get home I
think I shall ask your permission to go with him, if you can afford it.
Mr. Walkup has sold out his business in Chicago, as you probably know &
is living at this place, where he owns some 17,000 acres of land, saw mills,
&c. & is cutting trees, sawing them into lumber & shipping
to Chicago & other places I suppose.
I can understand I think, why you
dont wish to move this year or to start to build sooner than you are really
well able. As far as I am concerned I wouldn't care to move from that house
until we were to get into a good one of our own & with money enough
to own it, only I wish I was certain that you wouldn't build on the West
side.
I was in New York last Wed. I went
down with Sweetser who was entered in an amateur wrestling contest, it
was a private affair & took place in the gym of the New York Athletic
Club. The managers were so pleasant to have an entry from Yale that they
showed us every consideration & treated us although we were somebody.
I forgot to say that Harry
prefers to spend his summer at Brown/Brave Lake so you will only
have to figureon one of us going up in Mich. I don't think the expense
will be very much greater than staying at Rudberg's, we can talk it over
however when we get home.
With love to all Geo
391 Temple St.
New Haven Conn
April 22 1888
Dear Mother -
Your letter of the 15th & Program
of Dancing School received. I saw by the paper that the distillers had
a meeting in Peoria Wed. I suppose Father was there. It is rather curious
but Harry just came in with a letter from Father written Thurs in which
he says he is just back from Peoria.
I wish father would write
us a little more fully about business, aside from the fact that the "Trust"
has declared one or two dividends we know nothing. We would like to know
how much his share is & whether the business is at present, sufficient
or more than sufficient to pay the expenses of the family. I have been
led to think & very gladly too that it is & has been for a month
or two, since you have been enjoying yourselves a little more than usual
in the ways of theaters & other small things which cost money. What
is the stock worth now per share & how many shares has father got?
I am glad that you have been free from a sick headache for so long.
I can't tell how much I would be pleased if you had at least found a remedy
which would head them off for good. We are at a training table, as Harry
has probably told you, and are rowing pretty hard, from five to eight miles
a day. We have got to do some pretty hard work if we want to win that
race.
The Junior crew doesn't amount to
very much but the Freshmen have a very strong heavy crew and as they are
getting the best of coaching while we are not getting any to speak of it
makes our prospects for winning the race look a little slimmer than I could
wish.
The race comes off on Sat. May
12 & after that I think I will still keep in training & box &
wrestle with Sweetser who is anxious to get some one to wrestle with &
will probably give me some pointers on sparring to get me to wrestle with
him.
There is a little matter of business
for father which I will just put in here. I will have to have certain
clothes to wear in the country this summer which I can get much better
here, in fact I dont think I could get what I want atall in Chicago, such
as flannel
tremus shirts, flannel trousers, cap, shoes, etc.
Now I dont think I am going to have enough money to buy these things with
& as they are to be used principally after I get home & dont rightly
belong to my expenses here I would like to know if Father will advance
me the money. If I knew how much Father felt able to let me have I could
tell just how much I wanted but as I dont I will make a maximum & a
minimum estimate. What I would like to get will cost about $20.00 while
I can get along with one half that. To be square about it I would like
to have some of those things to use here before I go home & cant afford
them, so if Father will let me know at once what he thinks about the matter
that will be enough. I wont have to have the money until the end of June
if that will be any object to him. If I ever get tangled up in this
allowance system again I bet it will be a big one. This may one has to
sit down two or three months ahead of time & figure out for every thing
you want to see whether you are going to have money enough to buy it or
not. I think I would get very well on an allowance if I did not have to
buy clothes out of it. After figuring for six months I have got a spring
overcoat & am not going to get a suit while Harry has ordered a suit
& cant get and overcoat.
Dont think I am complaining or
hinting for more money, we made our arrangements for the year & I am
not only willing but anxious to stick them out. The above is only the ludicrus
& very common fix of probability 9/10ths of the fellows here who have
more than one thousand dollars allowance & yet not an unlimited one.
Those under that dont pretend to dress & those on an unlimited allowance
dont have to bother about paying for the next suit of clothes.
I think I am going to be able to pay
up all my bills & get home which is all I agreed to do. So if we
come home pretty ragged & without any clothes you must not be surprised.
You will probably think I have
written a good deal on this subject when I don't want anything, but my
mind wanders on it all the time & has ever since Christmas. I tell
you I will be glad when July comes & I know where I stand. With much
love to all
Geo
New Haven Conn
Apr 27 1888
Dear Father -
Your letter of the 24th with draft
enclosed & also letter containing that proposition received. It is
very kind of you to send us so much more than I asked for. I assure you
that it wont be wasted. I think I shall save as much of my share as
possible to pay my expenses to New London in June to see the boat race.
I submitted that proposition to
Prof. Clark this morning & he promised to look it over at his earliest
convenience. I will let you know what he says as soon as I find out.
Such an example is entirely out
side of any rule for there can of course be no such thing. So I don't suppose
Prof. Clark, although recognized as one of the ablest mathematicians in
the country, would be any better able to solve it than many another man
except as he has mind especially trained to mathematical problems.
I dont agree with you in making
the answer 42. I make i t 28.
With much love
Geo
New Haven Conn
May 6 1888
Dear Father -
Your letter of the 3rd inst to me
& Mother of the 29th ult to Harry received. There is not much to write
about but I suppose you will want to hear from us never the less. Prof.
Clark would not give a direct answer to that proposition. He didn't say
anything about it for several days & then he got hold of me after class
& discussed it from every point of view & I believe I would
have been listening to him yet (for he is a great talker) if another class
had not come in to recite, which compelled him to let me go.
I think I could explain his position
if I could see you & talk. But as you only wanted the answer it wont
pay to write his views.
Prof. Loisette (or what ever his
name is) had two very large classes here studying his Memory System but
I never heard any one speak very highly of it nor did I notice that the
fellows in my class who took it went very rapidly to the front. I dont
know anything for or against it however.
If we are all going to be in the country together I think we boys will
need a boat, something smaller & lighter than your larger one. If you
feel like getting one we would better decide on what we ant & be sure
to have it there by the time we arr.
I hate to send you such a short letter
but I am rather pressed for time & beside there not much to write about
as I
seliere I mentioned before. If I get time will write during
the week.
With love
to all Geo.
No Date
Dear Mother -
If you will write Mrs. Damon I wish you would. We
wont have any time to go up there this year although I should like to do
so very much. I remember how kind they were when we were at Warren at the
time of Uncle Ab's funeral & am sure we would enjoy ourselves.
We might perhaps be able to go up for a few days some time next year.
In haste.
Geo
May 13 - 1888
Dear Father -
Your letter to Harry containing drafts
to each of us for $200.00 recde. Also one of the 6th inst from Mother to
me. I am glad you wrote as plainly as you did in regard to money matters.
Several things have led us to think that business matters were in a
better condition than perhaps they are & thinking so we may have formed
some extravagant plans for the summer. But now that we know how matters
stand you can depend upon us to aid you in every way in our power in economizing.
It is no great wonder if, associated with a class of fellows to whom money
is no object & where it if frittered away on the most trifling things,
if we form somewhat extravagant ideas. But you need at any time as long
as I am dependent on you only let me know that you can't afford what I
ask & I will be perfectly satisfied. I dont think there is one
man in a thousand who would think of buying his family two boats in a case
like ours if he could afford it as I know you would do, & the great
majority wouldn't even get them one, so you see I appreciate what you do
do for us.
Well we rowed & won yesterday,
won by about four feet in two miles which means a race from start
to finish. Harry I believe telegraphed you in a moment of enthusiasm
so you know the result by this time.
There was nothing to good for us
last night, the whole class turned out to celebrate & we were amply
paid for the hard work by seeing how the boys appreciated it.
In regard to the new house, we
are going into it only after the most careful estimates of our expenses
& after having allowed liberally for everything we could figure on
we will have a margin of two or three hundred dollars to fall back upon.
Unless something unforeseen occurs we will come out t all right. I am Chairman
of a house committee of three & am practically running everything.
I will have the receiving & disbursing of all money in my hands &
as I expect to have every man pay his room rent for the year immediately
on coming back next fall I will be sure of being able to pay the house
rent immediately it becomes due, that is on the first of each month. We
have engaged a young colored man & his wife to do our work for $15
per mo. We are to furnish them with coal to cook their meals with &
to give the woman our washing. The man is a regular colored dude &
I expect he will astonish people who call when they see his marvelous clothes
& his wonderfully polite airs. Harry & I wont have any larger expenses
during the year than we have this but we will have to furnish our rooms.
We only expect to order a carpet & a couple of single beds to be ready
for us when we come back P& will talk over the other things at home
during the summer. With our lounge, book case, table, chairs, &c which
we own already we wont need very much else. By the way if you could advance
the money this June & would prefer to we could probably get what
we want second hand when the Seniors on the campus sell off their
things.
With love
to all Geo
An article in the Sunday
Register decribes this new Chi Phi Fraternity House as one of the
finest fraternity houses in Yale. It was situated on York Stree near Elm.
The Fraternity lay claim to being the oldest in the country, founded in
1824 at Princeton. The Register article stated: "Those who are fortunate
to occupy the new house are George T. Burroughs, Jr. and Harry S. Burroughs.
. . . "
The house was of brick, three
stories high. In the elegantly furnished parlors were "velvet moquet" carpets,
and the walls were covered with the new cartridge paper of a fashionable
tint, matching the carpets. The house was heated by steam, and hot and
cold water was furnished to every room. A system of "lighting gas by electricity"
was used, and all the rooms had "electrical call bells." All this suggests
that Major Burroughs' income was on the rise.
Ref: Porges, p.702
New Haven Conn
May 27 1888
Dear Mother -
Your letter of last Sunday with Father's
inclosed & also Father's letter of the 24 rec'd.
The beginning of the end is at
last in sight. Our recitations stop one week from next Thursday. We will
probably be home on Sunday July 1st not later anyway than Monday. Our examinations
this year promise to be considerably easier than any we have had yet or
rather I suppose I ought to say I am better prepared for them. We finish
German this year & will have done the hardest part of our French.
I think the experience of furnishing
our house for next year will be a great gain for us all, for me especially.
I knew when I started out absolutely nothing about such things but find
I am learning considerable already. It is too bad that our neighborhood
can't furnish some girl of Nellie's age who would be a congenial companion
for her, but I am afraid such is unfortunately the case.
I wish you could be down here this
year. I suppose you will try to get here next year to see us graduate.
I know you would enjoy living here during our college year anyway, there
are lots of things that would interest you & beside, during the spring
& fall the town is beautiful, no one who has not been here can imagine
the effect of these magnificent elm trees which are regularly laid out
over the entire town. I will stop now for there is nothing interesting
to write about.
With love to all
Geo
New Haven June 10 / 88
Dear Father:
Your last letter to me received yesterday.
I have not got it with me & can only answer it from memory. One of
us will write Mother to day. We are all through recitations for the
year and have had our examination. We have four more & thru if we have
good luck we will be Seniors.
From the hot weather we are having
here now I judge we will have a pretty warm Summer & will consequently
appreciate the country. Do you expect to go up with the rest of us &
how much time will you spend there? In regard to that tricycle affair
I think it is merely a matter of taste. While I don't see anything particularly
wrong in it I think you did just right in dissuading Nellie from going
out on a tricycle.
It is as yet something not at all
common in this country and it makes a girl pretty conspicuous which is
something that should be avoided. How long do you intend to have
us stay in Chicago before going up to Braies Lake? If the family
are all away & there is room we may have one or two of our friends
who are going through Chicago stop with us while they are there otherwise
as far as I see now, with the exception of making a few purchases we will
be ready to start right off. I sat least dont want to spend any more time
in the city than is necessary.
With love to all
Geo
Added:
Dear Eva
Please answer that part of this letter
regarding having friends stop a few days in Chicago if not more in numbers
than we can accommodate. I see no objection to it.
Geo
LETTERHEAD: Lodge of the Omicron Chapter of the Chi Phi
Fraternity
New Haven, Conn June 27, 1888
Dear Mother - Your letter of date rec'd. Don't make
too many preparations for receiving any of our friends. Owing to plans
made by the parents of both they have been compelled to change theirs.
Sweetser is going home today & Rice will probably not go through Chicago
until after we get to Beaver Lake. If we dont change our plans in the
mean time we will leave N.Y. Sat. June 30th at 9.50 A.M. & will be
in Chicago at 9.50 Sunday A.M. via the Penn R.R. If we conclude to go some
other way will telegraph road & time due in Chicago. This probably
will be my last scrawl.
With love Geo
P.S. Yale yesterday was the deciding game in the base-ball
series & consequently again holds the championship.
NEWSPAPER CLIPPING:
IDLE THOUGHTS OF AN IDLE FELLOW
(By George T. Burroughs, Jr.)
As I was walking down the mountain "There's a Long,
Long Trail a Winding in front of me and a little further on I met "An Old
Pal O' Mine." She had "The Last Rose of Summer" in her hand and "She Wore
a Big Red Rose." Form where we were standing we could see "The Trial of
the Lonesome Pine" and "The Beautiful Ohio." A little later we met a couple
and the man said "How Dry I Am" and she answered "Drink to Me Only With
Thine Eyes." They told me they had just come from "My Old Kentucky Home,"
where they had seen "My Darling Nellie Gray." I asked her to come with
me to "A Little Gray Home in the West" where we could "Let the Rest of
the World Go By." She said, "Tell Me Why" and I answered "I'm So Used To
You Now." Then she said "Here Comes the Bride."
From George III?
ENVELOPE: For Mother & Father ~ Burley, Idaho
Miller Ave.,
Burley, Idaho
April 12, 1914
Dear Mother and Father,
I love you very much.
I hope you will have a happy
Easter. I will do everything you
want me to. I hope you will
alwas be happy. I think you
are very good to me.
Your loving son,
George
Notable Graduates from Sheffield Scientifc School
Clarence
King: b. Newport, RI, January 6, 1842 - d. Phoenix, AZ, December
24, 1901
Clarence
King: Member of the Geological Survey of California ~ Timeline
Alfred
P. Rockwell
William
Henry Brewer
Brigadier
General Joseph T. Morris
Clifford
Whittingham Beers
Joseph
E. Sheffield
Secret
Societies: Who Controls Knowledge?
History
of the Yale University Astronomy Department
Colloquia Eclectica
http://www.oprf.com/Burroughs/yell.aiff
Volume 1099
.
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