November 22 in A.A. History

In 1912, in Manchester, Vermont, the Rev. Sidney Warlow of Arlington, assisted by the Revs. William F. Weeks, bishop-coadjutor of Shelburne, and Philip Schuyler of Bennington, conducted the funeral of 18-year-old Miss Bertha Bamford at Zion Episcopal Church [right: interior], where her father served as rector.

    Newspaper accounts [left: Bennington Evening Banner, 23 Nov 1912] noted the “profusion of beautiful flowers” and “the floral tributes.” The Manchester Village and Manchester Center schools were closed to allow teachers and students to participate. Nearly all the Burr & Burton students—about 70 in total, including Bill W.—attended as a group and marched together to the vault at Manchester Center, where Miss Bamford’s remains were temporarily laid. The pallbearers were Prof. James Brooks, Prof. Walter Shaw, Bill W., Clifford Wilson, Roger Perkins, and John Jackson. Miss Bamford’s remains were later taken to Jeffersonville, Indiana, for burial.
    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.

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” [right]. Below this, he would write two more pledges before he stopped making them.