http://www.scribd.com/doc/160808246/WHB-Letter-Oct-7-1880
In
this letter to his sister Sadie (their nickname for Sarah), Uncle Will describes his experiences as a
freshman at Stevens. He mentions that his father is planning to
visit. He encloses his class schedule in the mechanical engineering
program and a page with the layout of his building which is across the Hudson
River from NYC.
November 21, 1880
http://www.scribd.com/doc/160808774/WHB-Letter-Nov-21-1880
In this letter to Sadie, he indicates that he has been
excelling at his studies and has been preparing detailed drawings of the
technical parts of a steam engine. He
also describes meeting an engineer for the Brooklyn Bridge construction
project and taking an extensive tour. The Brooklyn Bridge was probably one of the most important engineering
projects of that time.
January 23, 1881
http://www.scribd.com/doc/160808925/WHB-Letter-Jan-23-1881
In this letter to his mother back in Naugatuck, he reassures her that he is taking care of himself. He has started to make telephones using materials from the school for a cost of less than 2 dollars. The telephone had been patented four years prior and was considered a novel invention at that time.
February 24, 1880 (1881)
In this letter to his father, Uncle Will indicates that he
has started a prestigious job at the school doing engineering drawings for 25 hours
per week for five dollars. Although he
has concerns about violating the patent, he is intending to complete his
telephone-making project even if “just for curiosities.”
May 29, 1980 (1881)
In this letter to Sadie, Uncle Will describes a
very ambitious day spent in NYC while his friend Ed Smith (from back
home?) was visiting. They took the Hudson River Tunnel to Manhattan where
they rode the “elevated railroad,” visited both the American Museum of Natural
History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, crossed Central Park, attempted to
meet the chief engineer to get another tour of the Brooklyn Bridge, he bought a new
hat, Ed bought a new suit, they had dinner downtown, they saw the comic opera
"Billie Taylor" at the Standard Theater, and then finally travelled back
to Stevens.
He also mentions an opportunity to work during the summer for 2 dollars per day, apparently for a professor. This opportunity may have helped him get a position teaching there himself beginning in 1886, two years after graduating, and then eventually becoming a professor of mathematics there while working at the Bristol Company.
Of note, because "Billie Taylor" reportedly did not premiere until October 1880 in London and then in February 1881 in New York at the Standard Theater, this letter was probably from May 1881 rather than 1880. Also, based on his October 1880 letter, he apparently did not start school there until the fall of 1880.
It is interesting that WHB writes to his sister, Sadie during his freshmen year at Stevens and that years later his nephew, HHB writes on the postcard posted above, to his sweetheart AOB in 1906! It is amazing that we have been able to find these writings in 2013!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWHB's mother, Pauline Spaulding Phelps, died in 1877, so his 1881 letter addressed to his mother must have been written to his father's second wife, Mary E. Russell. Mary E. Russell Bristol was also the aunt of Cora Russell Bristol, wife of Franklin Benjamin Bristol.
ReplyDeleteJust to add to this information, my records show that Benjamin Hiel Bristol had 3 wives. Mary E. Russell was number 2 as mentioned and Sara Milligan was number 3!!
ReplyDeleteCora Russell Bristol was my Great Grandmother. It is interesting to share this information and thanks to Bob, we are able to!