November 22 in A.A. History

In 1912, in Manchester, Vermont, the Rev. Sidney Warlow of Arlington, Vermont, assisted by the Revs. William F. Weeks, bishop-coadjutor of Shelburne, Vermont, and Philip Schuyler of Bennington, Vermont, conducted the funeral of 18-year-old Miss Bertha Bamford at Zion Episcopal Church, where her father was rector. Five days earlier, Miss Bamford had died of a hemorrhage following surgery to remove a tumor at Flower Hospital in New York City. Newspaper accounts noted the “profusion of beautiful flowers” and “the floral tributes.” The Manchester Village and Manchester Cenchester Center schools were closed so that teachers and students could participate.
   Miss Bamford was the classmate and first love of Bill W. Nearly all the students from Burr & Burton—about 70 altogether, including Bill—attended as a body and marched as such to the vault at Manchester Center in which Miss Bamford’s remains were temporarily placed. Prof. James Brooks, Prof. Walter Shaw, Bill W., Clifford Wilson, Roger Perkins and John Jackson were pallbearers. Miss Bamford’s remains would later be taken to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where they would be buried.

In 1928, Bill W. wrote a second pledge in the family Bible: “Thanksgiving Day 1928. My strength is renewed a thousandfold in my love for you.” There would be four such pledges before Bill stopped making them.