Three letters from Henry Frink, class of 1870, to Fox Holden, dated 1867 and 1868

Content Description

3 letters, with envelopes, to "Friend Holden" from "Henry"; dated Clinton, Sept. 22, 1867, Hamilton College, Nov. 5th, 1867, and Hamilton College, Feb. 26, 1868. The first two letters are addressed to Mr. Fox Holden in Ithaca, NY, the third to Mr. Fox Holden in North Lansing, NY. In the first letter, Henry describes coming to Hamilton College, taking an examination, and becoming "a member of the institution." According to the 1932 Complete Alumni Register, the Henrys in the class of 1870 included Henry A. Frink from Binghamton, Henry C. Maine, from DeRuyter, and Henry Lyon, from “Five Corners”. But according to the catalogues from 1866 and 1867, both Henry Maine and Henry Lyon entered in the fall of 1866; only Henry Frink, although listed as a member of the class of 1870 (so a sophomore), first appears in the catalogue in the fall of 1867. So if the Henry writing those letters was a new student in the fall 1867, he must have been Henry Frink of Binghamton. In the letters, Frink describes his life as a student at Hamilton College, including details on studying (spending 7 hours on 38 lines of Greek), the rows between freshmen and sophomores, and his assessments of his professors, including Root and North.

Acquisition Type

Gift

Provenance

Donated by Bradley L. Griffin of the Lansing Historical Association

Restrictions Apply

No