1891: Lois Burnham was born to Dr. Clark and Matilda Hoyt Spelman
Burnham
[right: all three]
at 182 Clinton Street, a spacious brownstone in the affluent Brooklyn
Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. At the time of her birth,
Brooklyn was a separate city, not becoming a borough of New York City until
1898.
Lois was the eldest of six children, followed by Rogers, Barbara, Katherine (Kitty), Lyman, and Matilda. Sadly, Matilda, who was sickly after a difficult birth, died before her first birthday. Lois struggled to understand this loss, but her mother could only explain it as “God’s will.”
Lois’s father was a prominent physician who maintained his medical office in a back room of their home. Her grandfather, Rev. Dr. Nathan Burnham, was a physician, lawyer, and minister in the Swedenborgian Church. Lois’s mother came from an old aristocratic family*, and the Burnham household included a cook, a maid, and a man who tended the fires, made repairs, and cared for the horses and carriage.
Every spring, the entire household followed Dr. Burnham’s patients to Vermont, where they lived beside Dorset Pond (now known as Emerald Lake). There, Lois was a tomboy, enjoying fishing, swimming, sailing, climbing trees, catching frogs, and picking berries on long morning walks. It was at Emerald Lake that Lois first met Bill Wilson, and where he began to woo her.
The Burnhams’ summer cottage, which they
called “the Camp,” was near Manchester and Manchester Center, Vermont, where
many of Dr. Burnham’s patients spent their summers. The Burnhams were social
acquaintances of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, whose family
summered at Hildene, their estate in Manchester [left: Hildene, Lincoln’s estate]. Nearby Manchester Village represented “old” money. Dr. Burnham, a
champion golfer, co-founded the exclusive Ekwanok Country Club in Manchester
with Lincoln and likely played there with notable figures such as former
President William Howard Taft and Henry Ford.
Lois’s father ensured that all his children
received the best possible education. Lois began her schooling with
kindergarten, a new form of preschool education imported from Germany. She
then attended Friends School and Packer Collegiate (an all-girls school) for
grades one through twelve, developing into a brilliant and artistically
talented woman. She would eventually become the wife of Bill Wilson and,
along with her friend and neighbor Anne Bingham [right], a co-founder of Al-Anon.
[right: all three]
at 182 Clinton Street, a spacious brownstone in the affluent Brooklyn
Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. At the time of her birth,
Brooklyn was a separate city, not becoming a borough of New York City until
1898.Lois was the eldest of six children, followed by Rogers, Barbara, Katherine (Kitty), Lyman, and Matilda. Sadly, Matilda, who was sickly after a difficult birth, died before her first birthday. Lois struggled to understand this loss, but her mother could only explain it as “God’s will.”
Lois’s father was a prominent physician who maintained his medical office in a back room of their home. Her grandfather, Rev. Dr. Nathan Burnham, was a physician, lawyer, and minister in the Swedenborgian Church. Lois’s mother came from an old aristocratic family*, and the Burnham household included a cook, a maid, and a man who tended the fires, made repairs, and cared for the horses and carriage.
Every spring, the entire household followed Dr. Burnham’s patients to Vermont, where they lived beside Dorset Pond (now known as Emerald Lake). There, Lois was a tomboy, enjoying fishing, swimming, sailing, climbing trees, catching frogs, and picking berries on long morning walks. It was at Emerald Lake that Lois first met Bill Wilson, and where he began to woo her.
The Burnhams’ summer cottage, which they
called “the Camp,” was near Manchester and Manchester Center, Vermont, where
many of Dr. Burnham’s patients spent their summers. The Burnhams were social
acquaintances of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, whose family
summered at Hildene, their estate in Manchester [left: Hildene, Lincoln’s estate]. Nearby Manchester Village represented “old” money. Dr. Burnham, a
champion golfer, co-founded the exclusive Ekwanok Country Club in Manchester
with Lincoln and likely played there with notable figures such as former
President William Howard Taft and Henry Ford.
Lois’s father ensured that all his children
received the best possible education. Lois began her schooling with
kindergarten, a new form of preschool education imported from Germany. She
then attended Friends School and Packer Collegiate (an all-girls school) for
grades one through twelve, developing into a brilliant and artistically
talented woman. She would eventually become the wife of Bill Wilson and,
along with her friend and neighbor Anne Bingham [right], a co-founder of Al-Anon.
*Lieutenant Stephen Spelman (1745–1800) was the great-grandfather of
Laura Spelman and the great-great-grandfather of Matilda Spelman. Laura
married John D. Rockefeller Sr. and was the mother of John D. Rockefeller Jr.
Matilda married Dr. Clark Burnham and had a daughter named Lois. This familial
connection makes Matilda a third cousin of John D. Rockefeller Jr. (they share
the same great-great-grandfather), and Lois his third cousin, once removed.
1941: Clarence S. [below left] wrote to Bill Wilson [below right, 1942],
seeking help with what he termed a “revolution”: a movement to remove
him as Chairman of the Cuyahoga County A/A [sic] Committee, which had been
formed only two days earlier. The Cleveland members, it seems, were still
upset about the articles published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the fall
of 1940, which they thought Clarence had secretly arranged. At about the same
time, a number of Cleveland members who objected to the Alcoholic Foundation’s
call for contributions and refused to support the New York office.
Clarence’s ego had clearly been wounded, as evidenced by what he wrote:
1941: Clarence S. [below left] wrote to Bill Wilson [below right, 1942],
seeking help with what he termed a “revolution”: a movement to remove
him as Chairman of the Cuyahoga County A/A [sic] Committee, which had been
formed only two days earlier. The Cleveland members, it seems, were still
upset about the articles published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the fall
of 1940, which they thought Clarence had secretly arranged. At about the same
time, a number of Cleveland members who objected to the Alcoholic Foundation’s
call for contributions and refused to support the New York office.Clarence’s ego had clearly been wounded, as evidenced by what he wrote:
They wanted to know how much the Plain Dealer pd. me. Why I didn’t put it in the kitty. Where did I get the authority etc. etc. etc. Not one kind thing said in my behalf. This from persons I had picked out of the gutter & worked on & gave unceasingly & unselfishly of fellowship & whatever I could. Experience then, the resentment & hatred has been there. They have gone out of their way on numerous occasions to embarrass me.…
[P]ay no attention to this so-called Cuyahoga County committee as yet. Continue to send me the names as always, & they will be followed & taken care of in a conscientious manner as always.
About the [Alcoholic F]oundation money plan, don’t concern yourself about that here. I wish I had known about it before [Herbert] Bert Taylor blew in. After this revolution subsides, I can get you all the dough for the foundation that will be needed from our part of the country. And believe me when I tell you I can get it where no one else can.
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