Fragments of a Life

Chance encounters aren’t just for rom-coms. Or even the living.Sometimes you stumble across an artifact that makes you want to learn more about a person. Such was the case when I noticed an envelope in our Realia collection titled “CRIB Belonging to William N. Johnston Class of 1893.”

When I opened it I found not one but two small scrolls of crib notes apparently written for an exam in German. My first question was: what disciplinary action did William face? Was he expelled?

As it happens, Mr. Johnston did not graduate from Dartmouth, but not because of his cheating. While his alumni file doesn’t contain a written reason for leaving college, there are suggestive items. One note, addressed to “Will” by a girl named Eva Baker, asks him to send “cigreete pictures,” referencing the small collectible cards that once came in cigarette packs. Could she have been his cousin, or even a half-sister?

A typed 1893 letter from the Superintendent of the Concord and Montreal Railroad commends the young William for his work of the past year and agrees to employ him for the future, though he says they “cannot allow you the amount received by your father at present.” Did William lose his father while he was a student? Did he leave school to support his mother, and possibly other relatives?

The other contents of his file are attendance slips, financial records, Masonic ephemera, and notes relating to debate team (“Resolved, that Demosthenes was a greater orator than Cicero”; William was assigned the affirmative position). We also have a scrawled note from a railroad customer thanking Will for helping him out on a hectic night.

Ultimately, all we can learn of Will from the ephemera of his life is that he was a college debater, followed his father into railroad work—possibly to support his mother, married but had no children, and was remembered kindly by a traveler who passed through his station. That he kept the thank-you note suggests that Will was a person who valued being helpful.

Not all of us accrue acclaim or leave our names on buildings, but we could do worse than be remembered with gratitude. To see the crib sheets, request Realia 509 online and come to Rauner. Do the same to see Johnston's alumni file.

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The thank-you note reads:

24 Nov [or NW]
Pembroke St

Dear Sir
much obliged
for your ticket.
I forgot to leave
it till I'd got started off in
the hack when I returned
at 6 train last eve.
Please acknowledge
on postal. It will oblige me
if you hold on to my cane
till I call at station

Yrs
E P Tenney