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Note: Emery & Henry College Oct 1st �42 Dear Father I have just received your kind and affectionate letter and am now about to answer it. We have been doing well at the College and I like it better than I expected. Aunt Betty was up here last Sabbath and Uncle Haskew preached. Aunt Betty has been here for the last two days but did not favor us with a visit. She left this morning. I have joined the Hermesian Society and am appointed Essayist for the next Friday week and Conley is appointed declaimer. I like the society very much. It has a small library of about 300 volumes. I was at the public debate of the Calliopean society last night. We heard four very good speeches from Master Winniford, Fulton� Holliday and Levine. The subject was "Should the study of the Clapies be exempted from the college Course" which was argued very well by Master Winniford & Holliday in the affirmative and Fulton and Levine on the negative. Mr. Van Eaton and Mr. Anderson are our roommates both of them very steady and hard students. Both of my roommates belong to the Hermesian Society and also all the students in this end of the college. We declaim and write compositions every three weeks. I have just given a composition to Mr. Stephens, Mr. Wiley has been sick this week but has entirely recovered. Mr. Harris is president of the Hemeican society and delivered his inaugural address last Friday two week which was very good. Answer this as soon as you receive it Your Affectionate son William P.S. Direct your letter to Glade Spring Emery & Henry College Dec. 10 Dear Father Having a few leisure moments and thinking that I can not be better employed then in writing to you I embrace this opportunity of doing so. I received your most affectionate letter yesterday. I was in town the other day. All friends there are well. Tell Sister Rachel that Cousin Mary Trigg says that she has been looking for a letter from her for the last month. College life seems to aspire new charms the longer I stay and I believe I could be as happy here as any where except at home. There appears to be a certain degree of emulation here so that a person must study. Mr. Jno Good is here at this time. He came here today. Aunt Betty is here. She told me to write that Cousin Rachel McClung of Knoxville is dead. Cousin Frank Trigg has taken charge of the tavern in town: Milton Hershell and Corly Leitchfield are coming to college next week. Tyler Heiskell is doing very well and is so well pleased that he expect to stay here three years. There was a very deep snow here last week. The college hill was full of boys sliding down on chairs, sleds, planks or whatever they could get. Write as often as you can conveniently. We are both well. Your most affectionate son William University of Texas at Arlington University Libraries Special Collections Collection: Plummer Papers Location: GA10 Caption: 1840-1842 Died while at college in Virginia Dear Ms. Chase-Meadows: Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, the majority of our 19th century records were destroyed in a fire in 1928. The following information comes from the Emory & Henry College catalogs. William L. Henderson first appears in our 1843 catalog in the sophomore class. We do not have an 1844 catalog, but the 1845 catalog states that he was in the senior class. It also states that he was "deceased," but does not list a cause of death. He listed him hometown as Shelby County, Tennessee. Connally Findlay Henderson also appears in the 1843 catalog, but was enrolled in the preparatory division (the academy) of Emory & Henry. In 1845 he is listed in the freshman class, but his name disappears from the rolls after that. In 1843 he listed his hometown as Shelby County, but in 1845 listed it as Memphis, Tennessee. Both Connally and William belonged to the Hermesian Literary Society, one of the two debating societies on campus. If you would like more detailed information on the college at that time, your best option would be to examine the history of the college as written by Dr. George Stevenson back in 1963. The book is entitled _Increase in Excellence: A History of Emory and Henry College_, published by Appleton-Century-Crofts in New York. You may request a copy through your local library via inter-library loan. There are also several used bookstores that may carry the title. You may wish to check www.bookfinder.com. Kindest regards, ******************************************* R. J. Vejnar, II Archivist Emory & Henry College Archives Holston Conference Archives Kelly Library P.O. Box 948 Emory, VA 24327-0948 Office - 276-944-6668 Fax - 276-944-4592 E-mail - rvejnar@@ehc.edu
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