September 16 in A.A. History

		In 1894, Bill W.’s parents, Emily Griffith [far left, c. 1905] and Gilman W. [near left], were married.

In 1905, while living at 42 Chestnut Ave. [right, recent] in Rutland, Vermont, 9-year-old Bill W.’s father, Gilman, took him for a late-night buggy ride [below left: artistic portrayal] after a bitter argument with his wife, Emily.

     As Bill later recalled, his father said to him, “You’ll take care of her, won’t you, Billy? You’ll be good to your mother and to little Dotty [his sister, Dorothy] too.” Then he answered his own question, “Sure you will. Sure. You’re okay, Billy.” As his father raised a jug to his lips and took a long, slow drink, Bill knew that the explanation he was waiting for would not be given.

    The next morning, Dorothy told him that their father had left them. Until that point, Bill’s mother had been away from home for extended periods. Gilman went to western Canada, and Bill did not see him again for nine years. Emily sent word to her father, Fayette Griffith, in East Dorset, Vermont, to come to Rutland and pick up Bill and Dorothy [above right: c. 1905]. Emily stayed in Rutland for a while to make arrangements.

In 1912, entering his senior year at Burr and Burton Seminary [left] in Manchester, Vermont, Bill W. was the class president, a star football player, the pitcher and captain of the baseball team, and the first violinist in the school orchestra.

In 1923, Bill W. returned to Brooklyn Law School [right: Brooklyn Eagle Building, which housed the law school, 1923]. All of his classes were third-year courses, except for Equity, a second-year course that he had failed in February. When he retook the course, he passed.