Francis Miles Finch letters

Collection — manuscript box: 50 - folder 1

Identifier: 2547m

Scope and content

Letters to Finch from Ezra Cornell, Andrew Dickson White, and Timothy Dwight. White's letter, and Ezra Cornell's letter of 1868, accompanied friendly gifts of buttons and books that they sent to Finch. Dwight's letter (1905) contains news of classmates who have died recently, and comments on how leading universities such as Yale and Cornell have grown over the past 50 years. Ezra Cornell's letter of 1866 concerns the future of Cascadilla Place and its relation to Cornell University and Cornell Library (now known as Tompkins County Public Library).

Dates

1866-1905.

Creator

Finch, Francis M. (Francis Miles), 1827-1907. (Person)
Cornell, Ezra, 1807-1874. (Person)
White, Andrew Dickson, 1832-1918. (Person)
Dwight, Timothy, 1828-1916. (Person)

Language of Material

In English.

Biographical / Historical

American lawyer and judge, born in Ithaca, New York. At Yale he was a classmate of Timothy Dwight, who went on to become president of Yale from 1886-1898. Later he became friends with Cornell University founders Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, served on Cornell University's Board of Trustees, and wrote a number of Cornell songs, as well as the poem "The Blue and the Gray" in memory of the dead of the Civil War.

Biographical / Historical

Cascadilla Place was built just south of Cascadilla Creek gorge in Ithaca, New York, to serve as a water cure sanitarium and a school for women physicians. It ran into financial difficulties in the 1860s, and the property was donated to Cornell University in 1869. Under the name of Cascadilla Hall, it now serves as a dormitory.