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I PRESENTIC I) E3 Niſ
TI-IE AU''THOR

C.S.
T \
, We'l
141 &
THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES OF THIS BOOK,
PRINTED FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION,
ARE REPRINTS, WITH SOME ADDITIONAL MATTER,
OF WHAT WAS RECENTLY PUBLISHED
IN THE LESS DURABLE FORM OF PAMPHILETS
During the war of 1812, the English army
invaded Virginia, and destroyed most of the
official Virginia records. This makes it difficult
to get information, from the official records of
Virginia, of the Rochat, from France, and the
Furness, from England, who settled in Virginia,
prior to 1812, and were the American ancestors
of Mrs. Louise E. Bettens, born Louise E. Rochat,
January 7, 1827.
The children of Mrs. Louise E. Bettens, in
memory of their Mother, have published the
books
MRS. LOUISE. E. EETTENS
- ANHD
LOUISE. E. BETTENS
These books, and their gifts to Harvard Col-
lege, in her memory, may serve to call attention
to her life and character.
Readers of these books may add to the interest
of this Memorial, by sending to the Librarian of
the Harry Elkins Widener Library, Harvard
College Cambridge Massachusetts, United States
of America, any information such readers have
sº sor may acquire concerning the Rochat family, liv-
ing prior to 1828, in America, Europe or any-
where else.
"y,
“-..."
ONE HUN DRED AND THIRTY
WEST EIGHTY-SEVENTH STREET
NEw York, March 7, 1918.
DR. FREDERICK C. SHATTUCK,”
135 Marlborough Street,
Boston, Mass.
DEAR DOCTOR:
Thank you for your letter of 6th instant. I
do not know whether there is a common origin
for the names Betton, Bettens, and Betten (for
there is a Cornelius Betten connected with Cornell
University). -
Following the suggestion of Dr. Eliot” I have
made a start in search of the Rochat who settled
in Virginia. On that subject I have written to the
Library of Congress, and to the Virginia His-
torical Society of Richmond, Virginia, and to the
New England Historic Genealogical Society of
Boston. I am in personal communication with
the Librarian of the Genealogy Division of the
Public Library of New York City. I have also
written to relatives.
To be honest with myself, this amuses me. On
April 11th, 1918 I will be seventy years old—the
biblical age of man, and at that age I find myself
peering back into the Eighteenth Century to
discover who I am!
Yours very truly,
EDwARD D. BETTENs.
*Class of 1868 Harvard College.
*Charles W. Eliot, President Emeritus of Harvard University.
4
E | FTH DAY O DE
I
Through East and West,
From South to North,
The silvery bells
Are pealing forth:
“Proclaim! proclaim!
His name and fame !
Join in the game,
All do the same !”
II.
Rap on his door! ye Stars abovel
Ye sea-gulls' and thou! Bird of Jove!
Attend on him ye winds that blow !
Supply good health ! from top to toe
III.
While all his friends,
Including many
From New York State
And Indiana,
Rejoice to-day around their boards,
They shout and sing in solemn chords,
From eve till morn, in voices worn,
But still they cry and blow the horn,
Viva! Vevay !
Bettens ! Hooray!
Bettens ! Hurrah!
Viva! Vevay !
IV.
Long may the bells
Ring forth that name !
And crescent moons
Exalt his fame !
Resounding long
The ding-ding-dong !
And, night or day,
May he be gay !
Bettens ! Hurrah!
Vevay ! Hooray!
WILLIAM S. BEAMAN.
April 11, 1918.
NEW YORK, March 23, 1918.
To THE
EDITORS OF THE VEVAY REVEILLE
DEAR LADIES
The clipping, from the Vevay Reveille, review-
ing the book “Louise E. Bettens”, has been
received.
J. Sabatier, in his “Encyclopédie des noms
propres”, states that the name Rochat, the maiden
name of Mrs. Bettens, is of Greek origin.*
Mr. Edward S. Sheldon, Professor of Romance
Philology, in Harvard University, thinks that
this name, Rochat, might be that of a family in
Southern France, or in French Switzerland.
Before and after the beginning of the Christian
Era, there were Greek settlements in Southern
France. Therefore, it may be permissible to be-
lieve in the possibility of tracing the racial stock
of Louise E. Rochat back to the Greeks of the
Golden Age of Athens.
Some people have believed, and some may now
believe, that on the death of the body, the soul
is re-born, in some other earthly body. Be that
as it may, Mrs. Louise E. Bettens, born a
Modern, as Louise E. Rochat, was, in Spirit, a
Greek of the Age of Pericles.
Sincerely,
EDWARD D. BETTENs.
*See page 34.
The following information as to the name
Rochał was received in a letter dated March
16, 1918, from Mr. Edward S. Sheldon, Class
of 1872, Harvard College, and Professor of
Romance Philology in Harvard University:
I should think that the name Rochat might
be that of a family in Southern France, or French
Switzerland. There is a word in Provençal (old
Provençal)—rocate, meaning rock, possibly also
rocat, and modern dialect forms such as roucas,
rouchas, roucat, rouchat, rochat, all meaning
‘rock’, ‘big rock', it appears. See Raynouard,
Lewigue Roman, v. 99; Levy, Provengalisches
Supplement—Wörterbuch, s. v. rocat; Mistral,
Lou tresor d614 felibrige ou Dictionnaire pro-
vençal-française, s. v. roucas, rouchas, etc., with
meanings ‘rocher, gros rocher . . .” Roucas,
Rouchas, Rochas, De Rochas, Rochat, noms de
famille provençal dont le féminin est Roucasso.
* Henri de Rochas, Seigneur d’Aiglun, fut
médecin des rois Louis XIII et Louis XIV. Les
Balarin, de Provence, portaient dans leur blason
‘un rocher d'argent'.
E. S. Surºos.
MRS. LOUISE. E. BETTENS
MARCH 1864.
FROM A PAINT ING IN M IN IATURE EY
ALYN WILLIAMS
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH

THE FAMILY
OF
MRS. LOUISE. E. BETTENS
BORN ROCHAT
• * * * o
e &
NEW YORK
TNINETEEN H U NDRED AND EIGHTEEN
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA,
1801 Gough Street,
February 14th, 1918.
MY DEAR MR. BETTENS:
This week I received the wonderful book re-
latiag to your dear mother,” and I want to thank
you for remembering me, as amongst those privi-
leged to possess this beautiful tribute to her
memory.
Your mother was one amongst a thousand,
whose purity of ideal, and whose beauty of soul
and mind will be an inspiration for all time to
those who knew her.
But if she was a wonderful woman and mother,
you certainly are an exceptional son—one worthy
of your fine heritage and your unfailing and con-
stant devotion to the memory of her life and
work—as unique as rare.
All those who have been privileged to possess
these various volumes, are the richer through
your generosity.
I think you are well contented.
Sincerely
SOPHIE I,ILIENTHAL.
MR. EDWARD D. BETTENS.
*The book Louise E. Bettens.
12
ROSE EETTENS
'' WINTER NOR CHILLS THEE, NOR
SUMMER BURNS,
NOR SIC KNESS MAKES SORRY:
THOU NOR H UNGEREST, NOR THIRSTETH,
AND
RO BEED OF ITS GLO FY
SEEMS TO THEE NOW THIS LIFE OF OURS,
FOR THOU DWELLEST SECURELY-
INNOCENT, THERE
WHERE THE RAYS OF OLYMPUS
EN HALLOW THEE
FURELY I''
BORN MAY 1 O, 1846
DIED JUNE 28, 1849
13
ROSE BETTENS
AND
HER MOTHER
FROM A PAINTING IN M IN IATURE EY
ALYN WILLIAMS
14

13O WEST 87TH ST.
NEW YORK
MARCH 29, 1918.
SAMUEL B. CLARKE, Esq.,
53 West 85th Street,
New York City.
DEAR CLARKE:
Seventeen Swiss families, one of which had, as
its head, my grandfather, Philip Bettens, about
1801, came to Virginia in the United States of
America from the Canton de Vaud on the South-
west side of Lake Geneva, near the town of Vevai,
Switzerland, or the Republic of Helvetia, as it was
then called.
On or about May 6, 1801, Philip Bettens
(whose full name was John Francis Philip Bet-
tens) received a certificate, in Norfolk, Virginia,
of which the following is a copy:
“District of Norfolk May 6 1801
No. 5
This is to Certify, That John Francis Philip
Bettens, being a Male White Alien, has been re-
ported registered, on the day and date hereof,
pursuant to the Act of Congress, intitled “An
Act Supplementary to, and to amend the Act in-
titled An Act to establish an uniform rule of
15
Naturalization, and to repeal the Act heretofore
passed on that subject;” And I do further Cer-
tify, that agreeably to the report made, the said
John Francis Philip Bettens was born at (the
word stating the place of birth, in the official
certificate, is indistinct) in Helvetia; that he is of
the age of twenty seven years; owes allegiance
to the Helvetia Republic; that by condition or
occupation he is a Farmer; and that he resides
or intends to reside in Baltimore Maryland.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my
Hand, the Day and Year above written.”
The official signatures attached to above cer-
tificate are indistinct. t
Philip Bettens was entitled to the prefix “De”,
before his name, but never used it.
For the above information I am indebted to
my cousin, Mr. Philip A. Bettens, a grandson of
John Francis Philip Bettens. My cousin, now
residing at Hollywood, California, says that in a
book entitled “Fontenoy” there is mention of a
Colonel Bettens as commander of a regiment of
Helvetians at the battle of Fontenoy.
My cousin also says that the name Bettens is of
wide distribution, there being many in Switzer-
land. In France, the name occurs as Betten-
court; also in Spain. In Italy it is Bettini.
Sincerely,
EDwARD D. BETTENS.
16
The children of John Francis Philip Bettens
and Rose, his wife, are all dead. The names of
these children, stated in the order of their births,
italicizing the married names of the women, are
as follows:
I Charlotte Bettens Detrag
II Rosalie Bettens Vichery. First marriage
Rosalie Bettens Brachmann. Second mar-
riage
III Philip Bettens
IV Emily Bettens Duplan
V Alexander Bettens
17
The children of Jacob Rochat and Nancy Fur-
ness, his wife, are all dead. The names of these
children, stated in the order of their births, itali-
cizing the married names of the women, are as
follows:
I Louise E. Rochat Bettens
II John Rochat
III William Rochat
IV James Rochat
V George Rochat
VI Lucretia Rochat
VII Charles Rochat
VIII Jules Rochat
IX Alexander Rochat
18
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
5 February 1918.
DEAR MR. BETTENS:
I thank you for another very beautiful book*
in commemoration of your mother. It is an
interesting collection of characteristic letters put
into printed form in a manner which is likely to
preserve them for the benefit of future genera-
tions.
The name Rochat suggests a French strain in
your family. To what race or stock did Alex-
ander Bettens belong? In our country it is
always interesting to know the family or racial
stock of remarkable persons, particularly in cases
of apparent admixture of different stocks.
I am, with many thanks,
Sincerely yours
CHARLEs W. ELIOT
EDWARD D. BETTENs, Esq.
*The book “Louise E. Bettens”, published in 1918 for private
distribution. ; ::...:
19
NEw York, February 7, 1918.
DR. CHARLEs W. ELIOT,
Cambridge, Mass.
DEAR MR. ELIOT:
Your letter of 5th instant received.
THE ROC HATS
My Mother’s grandfather Rochat (perhaps it
was her great grandfather) came from Paris,
France about 100 or more years ago and settled
in Virginia. His wife Ernestine Guineaud was
born in the Pays de Vaud, Switzerland. Their
son Jacob Rochat (or was it their grandson?)
settled on a farm near Ghent, Kentucky and
married Nancy Furness. Nancy Furness was
born in Kentucky, but her parents came from
Northumberland, England, and, at first, settled
in Virginia. One of the children of Jacob and
Nancy Furness Rochat was Louise Emeline
Rochat, my Mother, born January 7, 1827, on
her father's farm, near Ghent, Kentucky. She
died in New York City March 23, 1914.
THE E ETT ENS
In the year 1801 my grandfather, Philip
Bettens, came to this country from the Canton
:*:: #: Vaud, Switzerland and settled on a farm in
; : Vevay, Indiana. I do not know the family name
or nationality of his wife Rose. One of their
20
children was Alexander Bettens, born April 10th,
1811, in Vevay, Indiana, where he died August
11, 1870. Louise E. Rochat and Alexander
Bettens intermarried, in Vevay, January 31,
1843. Their children, all born in Vevay, were
as follows:
FRANK, BORN JAN UARY 14, 1844
DIED IN CINC IN NATI, OHIO, MARCH 1 O, 1864
ROSE, BORN MAY 1 O, 1846
DIED IN VEVAY, JUN E 28, 1849
THOMAS SIMMS, EO RN MARCH 6, 1851
DIED IN BAR HARBOR, MAINE, J U LY 2, 19 O7
EDWARD DETRAZ (MYSELF) BORN APRIL 11, 1848.
VEVAY, INDIANA
Vevay, Indiana was named after Vevai,
Switzerland. In the year 1801 seventeen Swiss
families (one of them Philip Bettens and his
family) came together from Switzerland and
settled in Vevay, Indiana, where they began the
cultivation of grapes.
When I was about seven years old I left Vevay
and have never revisited it.
Edward Eggleston, the author of the “Hoosier
Schoolmaster,” and his brother George, an edi-
torial writer on New York papers, as boys lived
in Vevay, Indiana, when Louise E. Rochat was
a girl there.
Some years ago George Eggleston visited
Vevay, Indiana and wrote a description of it.
That description is in a quarto volume of inlaid
letters and illustrations, entitled “Louise E.
Bettens”, now on deposit, with other books, in
21
a case in the Treasure Room of the Widener
Library, Harvard College. A single star on the
back of this volume is its distinguishing mark,
but that volume can be considered as the Family
Book as it contains some family incidents.
Another quarto volume of inlaid letters and
illustrations, in that case, entitled “Louise E.
Bettens”, marked on its back with two stars, can
be called the Pupils Book, as it contains letters
from pupils of my brother Thomas Simms
Bettens.
A third quarto volume of inlaid letters and
illustrations, in that case, entitled “Louise E.
Bettens”, marked on its back with three stars,
can be called the Harvard Book, as it contains
letters from Harvard men, and Harvard
memorabilia.
A fourth quarto volume of inlaid letters and
illustrations, in that case, entitled “Louise E.
Bettens”, has no star on its back. It contains
copies of letters to intimate friends written dur-
ing my mother’s last sickness. -
There is a fifth quarto volume of inlaid letters
and illustrations, entitled “Louise E. Bettens”,
bound in full red crushed levant, tooled, with
doublure and silk fly leaves. It contains some
incidents of my mother's life. That fifth volume
is in a case, in the Louise E. Bettens Room in
the Phillips Brooks House, Harvard College.
Sincerely,
EDWARD D. BETTENS.
22
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
8 February 1918.
DEAR MR. BETTENS:
Your letter of February 7th giving me the
details about the nationality of your forebears
interests me very much. The French strain in
you is strong. Could you not add to the state-
ment you have already made about your mother's
origin whatever information you have concern-
ing the religion of her French ancestors? Were
they Catholics or Protestants?”
I should think that you would feel a strong
inclination to see with your own eyes Vevay,
Indiana, the town you left at the age of seven
and have never revisited. I should think it would
be interesting to get a good photograph of the
house in which your father and mother lived in
that town. Would it not be possible also for you
to ascertain where the Rochats settled in Vir-
ginia, and what kind of a life they lived there?
These several inquiries might show whether your
mother was a eugenic product or a “sport” in
the natural history sense. You know there is
great interest now—an interest likely to increase
in the future—in all questions of this nature.
See the present talk about Lincoln in connection
with the Barnard statue of him.
Sincerely yours,
CHARLEs W. ELIOT.
EDWARD D. BETTENs, Esq.
*The Rochats and the Bettens were Protestants.
- 23
NEW YORK, February 9th, 1918.
DR. CHARLEs W. ELIOT,
Cambridge, Massachusetts:
DEAR MR. ELIOT:
The little information that I have as to my
ancestors came to me from my Mother in Bar
Harbor a few years before she died. I asked for
it, because on the death of both of us, the Executor
of the will of the survivor would need it. But this
was for information as to heirs and next of kin.
Since her death I have had some correspond-
ence with cousins, on my Mother's side, and also
on my Father's side, with the same object in view.
I am now considering seeking for such in-
formation as your letter calls for.
Neither my Mother nor my Brother Thomas,
nor I, lived in the past.
During the whole of my life, from childhood,
it was the present and the future that was always
before me, and I believe always before my Mother
and Brother. I do not recall of ever being
curious, as to my ancestors, until recently.
The house in which I was born, long ago gave
way to another house.*
The weeping willow tree at the gate on the
road skirting the Ohio river, the vineyard stretch-
ing from the road back on the farm, the five tall
pecan trees at the side of the house, and the
orchards reaching back to the hill, may or may
not be there now. Perhaps that homestead should
remain my Yarrow Unvisited.
Sincerely,
EDWARD D. BETTENs.
*Error. See page 26.
24
TH E B ETT ENS H OM ESTEA D
1843–1857
VEVAY, IN DIANA
NEW YORK CITY,
April 1st, 1918.
DR. CHARLEs W. ELIOT,
Cambridge, Mass.
DEAR MR. ELIOT:
The house in Vevay, Indiana, in which all of
the children of Mrs. Louise E. Bettens were born,
and in which she lived from the time of her
marriage, in 1843, to about 1857, is still in exist-
ence, its front porch having been replaced by a
portico, and some additions having been made to
it in the rear.
The house fronts south, looking over the Ohio
River, towards the Kentucky Hills. At my re-
quest a Vevay photographer, last month, made
three photographs of the house and its front
yard. One photograph was of the front of the
house, with the camera standing near it. An-
other was a photograph of the gate, yard, and
front of the house, the camera being stationed
a little south of the road. The third photograph
is of the yard, road, Ohio River and the Ken-
tucky Hills, with the camera standing in front
of the house.
The weeping willow tree that was formerly at
the gate is no longer there. Nor is there a vine-
yard, as formerly, from the road stretching north
over the farm. Two pecan trees are still stand-
ing near the house. I am sending you herewith
one of each of those photographs. The flower
border on each side of the walk from the gate
to the house is of daffodills. That border was
there when I was living in the house.
Sincerely,
EDWARD D. BETTENs.
26
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NEw York, February 27 1918
DR. CHARLEs W. ELIOT
Cambridge
Massachusetts
DEAR MR. ELIOT
To obtain some information of the Rochat who
settled in Virginia about the year 1800, or prior
thereto, a pamphlet has been printed to be sent
to some of my Rochat relatives, and to others.
A copy is enclosed. A few corrections in, and
additions to, the letter dated February 7 1918
written by me to you, have been made in the copy
of that letter as printed.
Sincerely
EDWARD D. BETTENS
NEW YORK, February 11, 1918.
MR. HERBERT PUTNAM,
Librarian of Congress,
Washington, D. C.
DEAR SIR:
Under date of Dec. 4th, 1917, you wrote me a
personal letter thanking me for the gift to the
Library of Congress, of a book entitled “Mrs.
Louise E. Bettens,” my Mother. I gave a similar
book to Dr. Charles W. Eliot, President Emer-
itus of Harvard University. He has written me
letters asking for information as to the Rochats
—my Mother’s maiden name.
She was born January 7, 1827, on a farm, near
Ghent, Kentucky, her parents being Jacob and
Nancy Rochat.
The father of Jacob Rochat, came from Paris,
France and settled in Virginia.
Dr. Eliot seeks information as to this original
settlor. Where in Virginia did he settle? What
was the character of the community in Virginia,
in which he settled? What information can there
be obtained of him in France &c?
Perhaps among the archives in your Library,
there may be some information of the kind
wanted. Or some one connected with your
Library can put me on the track of that informa-
tion.
If you will re-read, in the book “Mrs. Louise
E. Bettens” the six page sketch, suggesting the
life and character of my Mother, you may under-
stand why Dr. Eliot is interested in the Rochats.
Yours truly,
EDWARD D. BETTENs.
30
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
WASHINGTON
February 27th, 1918.
DEAR SIR:
The Chief Bibliographer, who has given atten-
tion to your letter of February 11, has prepared
a memorandum in response which we are en-
closing herewith, and which we trust will prove
suggestive. The publications to which the Chief
Bibliographer refers are doubtless readily ac-
cessible to you in the New York Public Library.
Trusting that the delay in our reply, due to
pressure of work, has not inconvenienced you,
Very truly,
J. L. FARNUM,
Secretary
(1 enclosure) -
MR. EDWARD D. BETTENS
130 West 87th Street
New York City.
31
MEMORANDUM
TO THE FROM THE
LIBRARIAN OF CON GRESS DIVISION OF E I BLIOGRAPHY
FEBRUARY 26, 1918.
Referring to request of Edward D. Bettens, New York,
for information as to the Rochat family in America and
France. We have noted the following:
Foote, W. H. The Huguenots, Richmond, 1870.
Huguenot families that emigrated to Virginia, p.
540-589. The family of Rochette p. 541-549.
Susannah Rochette m. Abraham Micheaux . . . eldest
son Jacob.
Ford, W. C. British officers serving in America 1754–
1774. Boston, 1894. Rochat, Jno. Peter. Qr. Mr. Reg-
iment 60. Date of commission 1 May, 1760. p. 87.
HARPER, L. D. Colonial men and times. Containing the
journal of Col. Daniel Trabue . . . in Virginia
and Kentucky . . . The Huguenots Phila-
delphia, 1916. List of works consulted, p. 592–595.
The French colony on the James River: To Kentucky by
way of the Ohio: Hints of Virginia genealogical work.
MORTON, W. S. Will of Abraham Michaux. William
and Mary quarterly, Apr. 1916, v. 24:258-259.
o . of interest to descendants of Abraham Michaux and
Susanne Rochet, Huguenot refugees. Jacob Michaux the
oldest son.
RIETSTAP, J. B. Armorial général. Gouda, 1887. 2 v.
Rochat. P. de Vaud. v. 2, p. 584.
SABATIER, J. Encyclopédie des noms propres. Paris,
1865. Noms propres tirés de l'idiome bas-breton
ancien et moderne. Rochat signification Ronfler,
råler. p. 66. Rochat, p. 90; 146.
VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Documents relating to
the Huguenot emigration to Virginia and to the
settlement at Manakin-town. Richmond, 1886. Mr.
de Bettens . . . p. 17. Rochette, Susanna, p. 166.
Respectfully submitted,
H. H. B. MEYER
Chief Bibliographer.
32
From the publication cited by the Chief
Bibliographer of the Library of Congress, Wash-
ington, D. C., in his Memorandum dated Feb-
ruary 26th, 1918, printed on page 32 of this
book, the following appears:
Among the British officers serving in North
America from 1754 to 1774 was John Peter
Rochat. In December 1755 he was commissioned
as Lieutenant in the 27th regiment. In May 1760
he was commissioned as quartermaster in the 60th
regiment.
A Rochat of the Pays de Vaud, Switzerland,
had a Coat of Arms, which is printed at page
584 Vol. 2 of “Armorial Général”, by J. B.
Rietstap.
M. de Bettens was among the Huguenots
who about 1700 emigrated from France and
settled at Hanakin-town about fifteen miles from
the present site of Richmond Virginia.
33
MEMORANDUM
TO THE FROM THE
LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS DIVISION OF BIBLIOGRAPHY
MARCH 9, 1918.
Referring to request of Mr. E. D. Bettens,
New York City, for information concerning
name, Rochat.
On page 90 of J. Sabatier’s “Encyclopédie des
noms propres” Paris, 1865, the name Rochat is
given along with a number of variants as of
Greek origin. On page 146 we find the follow-
1ng:
Noms propres Signification Noms qui
Roche Chateau, fortresses paraissent dérivés.
cave taillée dans Rochat, etc.
le roc.
Respectfully submitted,
H. H. B. MEYER,
Chief Bibliographer.
34
MEMORANDUM
T G THE FROM THE
LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS DIVISION OF BIBLIOGRAPHY
MARCH 28, 1918.
Referring to request of Mr. Edward D. Bettens, 130
West 87th Street, New York City, for information as to
the Rochat family and the Furness family in Virginia,
prior to 1828.
We have noted the following:
THE ROCHAT FAMILY IN EUROPE PRIOR TO 1828.
Helvetic republic.
Actensammlung aus der Zeit der Helvetischen repub-
lik (1798–1803). Bern, 1886–1905. 10 v. . . .
arrête . . . Alexandre Rochat . . . juge de district
de la vallée du lac de Joux . . . v. 6, p. 477, 478;
v. 7, p. 1164.
David Rochat, v. 1, p. 1181.
Huguenot society, London. Publications, 1909.
Livre des tesmoignages de l'église de Threadneedle
Street, 1669–1789. Bettens, Jean Louis & Su-
sanne, sa fem. T. de Suisse, 26 Sept. 1748.
Bettens, Jean Louis & Susanne, sa fem. 29 Apr.
1759.
Rochat, David & Judith, 24 June 1759. v. 21, p. 22, 235.
Société de l’histoire du protestantisme français. Bulletin.
Paris, 1907.
L'église évangélique réformée de Moscou 1629–1901,
... parmi ... les noms . . . Rochat . . . probablement
d’origine vaudoise ... 1767–1806. v. 56, p. 10.
Thevoz, David. Auguste Rochat 1789-1847, sa vie et ses
écrits. Thés, theol. de l'église évangélique libre du
canton de Vaud. Lausanne, George Bridel & cie.
1906. 121 p. 8°. [Not in L. of C.]
[Entry from Bibliographisches bulletin der
Schweiz. Bern, 1907. p. 376.]
35
The following two publications by members of the
Rochat family may be of interest:
Rochat, Alfred, von Vevey im Waadtlande. Uber einen
bisher unbekannten Percheval li Galois. Zürich,
Druck von E. Kiesling, 1855. 180 p.
Rochat, Antony.
Lauterburg, Otto. Alcool et alcoolisme. Élabore par
Otto Lauterburg . . . E. W. Milliet . . . et Antony
Rochat. Berne, K. J. Wyss, 1895. 172 p.
THE FURNESs FAMILY IN VIRGINIA.
Collins, Lewis. History of Kentucky. Covington, 1882.
2 v.
James Furnish [age] 74, revolutionary soldier in
Gallatin county, 1840. v. 1, p. 6.
McAllister, J. T. Virginia militia in the revolutionary
war. Hot Springs, 1913.
James Furnish, Harlan county, Kentucky . . . pen-
sioner, 1835 . . . p. 272.
Scott, W. W. A history of Orange county Virginia.
Richmond, 1907.
John Furnes (Furnace) Hogg's rangers, 1759 . . .
Bounty land . . . p. 59, 61.
Eliza Furnis . . . 1782 . . . p. 236, 237.
Virginia state library. List of revolutionary soldiers of
Virginia. Richmond, 1912.
Furnish, Jacob, 1779-80.
& 6 Samuel, Orange county, 1781.
Thomas, “ 66 “ p. 173.
jº- Supplement. Richmond, 1912.
Furnis (Furnace, Furness), Jacob.
66 William. p. 118.
Respectfully submitted,
H. H. B. MEYER,
Chief Bibliographer.
& 6
36
MEMORANDUM
TO THE FROM TH E
LIB RARlAN OF CO N G R ESS DIVISION OF B | ELIO GRAPHY
APRIL 18, 1918.
| Referring to request of Mr. Edward D. Bet-
tens, 130 West 87th Street, New York City, for
information as to the Rochat family prior to 1828.
We have noted the following:
VAUD, Canton de,
Annuaire officiel du Canton de Vaud. Lau-
sanne, 1824.
ROchat, Samuel du Sentier, Lieut.-Col.
Arrondissement, Orbe. Infanterie d'élite.
p. 47.
Rochat, au Sentier. Inspection des bati-
ments de l'état. La Vallée du Lac-de-Joux.
p. 49.
ROchat, Jean-Jaq., domicilié au Buron.
Tribuneaux de première instance
District d'Echallens. p. 55.
Rochat, Louis, du Brassus :
Rochat, Pierre-Samuel, des Charbonnières,
District de Lac Vallée du Lac-de-Joux.
p. 56.
36(a)
Rochat, Adolphe, de Romainmôtier. Dis-
trict d'Orbe. p. 58.
Détraz, J. S., de Combremont-le-Petit. p. 68.
Greffier.
Duplan, J. L., Syndic. Assesseur. p. 72.
Clergé du Canton de Vaud.
Rochat, Past, à l'Abbaye. Yverdon et Orbe.
p. 78.
Rochat, Elie. Abbeye du lac-de-Joux (1^)
élu, 1807. p. 78.
Rochat, A. P. L. Bière. élu, 1822. p. 79.
Rochat, D. M. Yverdon. élu, 1807. p. 82.
Ministres impositionnaires.
Consécration de 1793 . . .. J. G. H. Détraz.
( ( 1807 . . .. J. L. H. Duplan.
( 6 1815 . . . C. A. J. Rochat.
p. 83, 84.
Respectfully submitted,
H. H. B. MEYER,
Chief Bibliographer.
36 (b)
NEW YORK, March 15, 1918.
MR. E. H. ANDERSON,
Director of the New York Public Library,
New York City.
DEAR SIR:
As gifts from me you have:
(1) A copy of a book, entitled “Mrs. Louise
E. Bettens.”
(2) A copy of another book entitled “Louise
E. Bettens.”
(3) A pamphlet entitled “The Family of Mrs.
Louise E. Bettens, born Rochat and of Alexander
Bettens.” Herewith I give you another pamphlet
entitled “Mrs. Louise E. Bettens.” It contains
memoranda dated February 26, and March 9,
1918 made by Chief Bibliographer H. H. B.
Meyer of the Library of Congress giving some
information as to the Rochat family in America
and Europe.
Can your Library give me any further infor-
mation as to the Rochat family, other than what
is contained in those Memoranda?
Yours truly,
EDwARD D. BETTENS.
37
THE NEw York PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
JK
OFFIC E G F THE
REFERENCE Ll BRARIAN
476 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, 23rd March, 1918.
EDWARD D. BETTENs, Esq.,
130 West 87th Street,
New York City.
DEAR SIR:—
Your letter, addressed to Mr. Anderson, has
come to me for reply. The pamphlet entitled
“Mrs. Louise E. Bettens” has also arrived safely
and I assure you of our appreciation of your con-
tinued interest and thoughtfulness. We are
pleased to add this to your former gifts.
Mr. Strippel, who is in charge of our genea-
logical division, reports that references to the
name Rochat may be found in the following
works:
Huguenot Society of London
Publications, Volumes 7, 11, 21, 23
London, 1893–1916
Recueil Généalogique Suisse
Première Série, Genève. Tome Deuxième.
Genève, 1907
Galiffe, Aymon
Notices généalogiques sur les familles Gene-
voises. Tome IV. Genève, 1908
38
The name Bettens is also mentioned in the two
magazine articles noted below:
Danglade, Annette
Early days in Switzerland county. (Indiana
Magazine of History, 1917, volume 13,
pages 151-156.)
Knox, Julia Leclere
Vevay and Switzerland county. (Indiana Maga-
zine of History, 1915, volume II, pages
216-230.) -
In Rietstap’s “Armorial Général,” printed in
Gouda in 1884–87, two volumes, there is a de-
scription of a Bettens’ coat-of-arms and also one
for the Rochał family, both of the Pays de Vaud.
Mr. Strippel suggests that for additional in-
formation relating to Bettens and Rochat families
it might be well to write to the following:
Herr Jean Grellet,
President, Société Suisse d'Héraldique,
Zürich, Switzerland.
Mr. Fréd. Th. Dubois,
Bibliothèque Cantonale et Universitaire,
Fribourg, Switzerland.
Trusting these notes may be of some service to
you, I remain,
Very respectfully,
H. M. LYDENBERG,
Reference Librarian.
39
NEW YORK, February 13, 1918
DR. CHARLEs W. ELIOT,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
DEAR MR. ELIOT:
About 1908 I read, in the New York World,
a description of Vevay, Indiana, by Mr. George
Cary Eggleston. As it may interest you, I
enclose a copy.
Sincerely,
EDWARD D. BETTENs.
41
VEVAY
|N DIANA
I have made a discovery, I have found and
studied the very prettiest, happiest, and in its
unambitious way, the most prosperous small
town I ever saw. I have seen there an almost
ideal object lesson in the municipal ownership of
public utilities.
The town is Vevay, Indiana. It lies on the
Ohio River, about midway between Cincinnati
and Louisville. I was born there and I have
been revisiting the town after an absence of
forty-five years.
The county of which Vevay is the seat has not
one foot of railroad within its borders. The
town has no factories. And yet its people, less
than three thousand in number, are enviably well
to do. They have two banks and three pros-
perous weekly newspapers. Their homes are all
comfortable, and many of them luxurious. They
have a court house that would do credit, in its
architecture and its proportions, to a town twenty
times the size of Vevay.
Their main thoroughfare, leading down to the
river, and the broad wharf or levee, at its foot,
42
are well paved with stone. All their other streets
are macadamized after the best modern methods,
and are kept in perfect order. So are all the main
country roads that lead out from the town into
the rich and highly cultivated farming regions
round about.
In all the residence streets there are perfectly
laid and perfectly kept sidewalks of artificial stone.
Everywhere the sidewalks are free even from
dust, and the streets clean enough to satisfy the
demands of a Waring. They are bordered on
either side with stately sycamores, tall elms and
broadly-spreading maples all zealously cared for
by the municipal authorities. In addition there
is an adequate water-system supplying water in
lavish abundance for all uses. There is a tele-
phone system with astonishingly cheap rentals—
so cheap that almost every house of consequence
has an instrument in it. And there are long dis-
tance connections to Cincinnati, Louisville and
Indianapolis, and all towns between, at rates of
charges that would seem impossibly low to New
York. * * * Still further, there is an electric
light plant which furnishes light so cheaply that
no Gas Company can exist in the town. The
municipal tax rate of a people who enjoy all these
benefits * * * is only one per cent, and the
growing profits of the municipality from the
43
telephone and electric light plants promise,
within a year or two, to reduce even that tax by
one-half.
All this is the result of the municipal owner-
ship of public utilities, under the vigilant
scrutiny of an alert public opinion, acting in per-
fect harmony for the public good. * * *
There is no such thing as pauperism in this well
ordered Community. * * * The town is
very slightly more populous now than it was when
I knew it, half a century ago. But it has enjoyed
the immeasurably better growth in beauty,
comfort and social enjoyment. Now, as then, the
sole business of Vevay’s people is to exchange the
goods that prosperous farmers need, for the
products they dig out of the soil, and to send the
latter to larger markets for sale. But there was
little of beauty in Vevay then, little comfort and
some rather squalid poverty. * * *
GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON.
MRS. LOUISE. E. BETTENS
45
FRANK EETTENS
MARCH 1864.
FROM A PAINTING IN MINIATURE EY
A LYN WILLIAMS
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH
47

On a farm, near Ghent, Kentucky, there was
born, January 7, 1827, Louise E. Rochat, the
daughter of Jacob and Nancy Rochat. A reader
of books, this father usually had one with him,
even when at his work. When this daughter
was old enough, she became his companion, and
not infrequently, he would unhitch the horses
from the plow, or stop whatever work he was
doing, and read aloud to his daughter.
The Book of Job, the Psalms of David, the
poetry of Moore, Burns and Byron quickened the
mind of the girl, and a strong desire for knowl-
edge and wisdom early came to this child, from
such a father, but, at the same time, the neg-
lected farm work soon ended in the loss of the
farm. With his family, Jacob Rochat went to
Vevay, Indiana, and there on January 31, 1843,
Louise E. Rochat, not yet seventeen years of age,
married Alexander Bettens. From that mar-
riage were born, in Vevay, Frank, Rose, Edward
Detraz and Thomas Simms Bettens, naming the
children in the order of their births. Rose, born
May 10, 1846, died June 28, 1849.
The girl, Louise E. Rochat, and the matron,
Mrs. Louise E. Bettens, loved nature and ani-
49
mals. In Vevay a crow became her friend and
the two would go together into the woods, the
crow flying off among the trees, but returning
to its friend at her call.
At the expiration of about ten years of mar-
ried life, Alexander Bettens’ health failed. He
never regained it, dying August 11, 1870.
That sickness, and financial embarrassment,
brought Mrs. Bettens face to face with the prob-
lem of supporting and educating her three young
sons from her own earnings.
Teaching for a few years, in and about Vevay,
gave her but a small and precarious income, and
writing for the newspapers, none at all.
About 1857 she and her three sons were in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and for about ten years she
remained in that city, with them, supporting
them with wages, never more than about twelve
dollars per week.
No friendly bird visited her in her Cincinnati
room. No books, except school books, were pur-
chased by her during those ten years, but her
boys entered and passed through the District
Schools into the Intermediate Schools, Frank
being in Woodward High School when he died
March 10, 1864.
The poverty and grief of Frank's mother, the
hopes, centered in him, shattered by his death,
50
at the age of twenty, did not interfere with the
education of her two remaining sons. They
passed through the Intermediate, and Wood-
ward High Schools of Cincinnati, and entered
Harvard College, and at the age of forty-six,
their mother joined them in Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts, in June, 1873.
In Appleton Chapel, she heard Edward speak
on Hildebrand, and saw him receive, on com-
mencement day, in June, 1873, his degree of
A. B. from Harvard College.
She remained in Cambridge, and in June,
1874, Thomas gave her his Harvard College
diploma of A. B. received by him that month,
and the next year she received from him his
Harvard College diploma of A. M.
From June, 1873, until she died she and
Edward had one home.
Thomas was a teacher in Lake Forest Acad-
emy, Lake Forest, Illinois, during 1875 and 1876.
In 1877 he joined his mother and brother in New
York City, where Edward was a lawyer, and
there the three lived united in one home until
Thomas died July 2, 1907.
In the Harvard College Library (Gore Hall)
Mr. John Fiske gave Mrs. Bettens an alcove and
a special table, and talked with her about music
and books. In Boston she attended the lectures
51
of the Reverend James Freeman Clarke. She
absorbed the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Congenial friends met in her room to read books,
and to discuss art, music and literature, and
with some especial friends, she attended, in Bos-
ton, the concerts of the Symphony Society. So
passed about three years of her life in Cam-
bridge. -
The last thirty-eight years of her life she lived
in New York City. She was in Bar Harbor,
Maine, for the summer, for about thirty succes-
sive years, up to and including the summer of
1911.
She went to the Grand Opera in New York
City and was a constant attendant at the Con-
certs given in that city, by Theodore Thomas,
Leopold Damrosch, the New York Philharmonic
Society and the Oratorio Society. She did not
neglect lighter music such as Gilbert and Sulli-
van's. She heard Salvini, Booth, Irving, Mod-
jeska and Sara Bernhardt; was delighted with
the acting at Wallack's and Daly's Theatres and
with that at Harrigan & Hart's and Tony Pas-
tor’s.
At weekly reunions of a few friends in her
home in New York City, music, art and litera-
ture, were, as in Cambridge, the subject of con-
versation.
52
Surrounded by her books as her friends, and
by a few men and women, and by her sons, until
Thomas died July 2, 1907, and then with
Edward, she passed into the evening of life,
losing her eyesight in 1909, her optic nerve
dying.
But even then she heard re-read the poetry of
Byron, Browning, and other poets, and the
novels of Dumas. She still went to the New
York Philharmonic Concerts, and in the Sum-
mers of 1909, 1910 and 1911, at Bar Harbor,
she was an almost daily attendant at the Boston
Symphony Concerts given at the Swimming
Pool. This life continued until the evening of
November 10, 1911, when, for the last time,
sitting in her library, she listened to one of the
glowing descriptions in Gibbon’s Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire. That night a stroke
of paralysis made her helpless, from the effects
of which she never recovered, dying March 23,
1914.
In the Treasure Room of the Widener
Library, Harvard College, is a quarto volume of
inlaid letters and illustrations, entitled Louise E.
Bettens, bound in levant by Stikeman & Co., with
no star on its back. These letters, written from
her home, during this last sickness, to intimate
friends, describe her life of about two years and
53
four months in that sick room, and show that
music, literature of the highest kind, and con-
versation, sustained her and enabled her to for-
get her age, and physical infirmities.
The Reading of the Medea of Euripides to her
on November 25, 1912, described in that book,
is but one of similar readings occurring almost
daily during that sickness.
In March, 1864, she lost Frank, her eldest
child, and her grief and poverty were then
eXtreme.
But she rose superior to that grief and pov-
erty, and in her last sickness she was superior to
the infirmities of age and sickness, being sup-
ported by the thoughts and visions spread before
her by some of the world’s great minds.
We may be living today in a materialistic age,
but idealism is not dead when a Louise E. Bettens
lives. The picture of the Reading of the Medea
of Euripides shows that the mind and soul of
such an idealist conquers even the grim visage
of approaching Death which ceases to have any
terrors for her. Perhaps her life and aspira-
tions may have a good influence upon some who
see that picture and understand its meaning.
54
THOMAS SIMMS EETTENS
DON AND KEEO
AUGUST 19 O 6
FROM A PAINTING IN MINIATURE EY
ALYN WILLIAMS
FROM A FHOTOGRAPH
55
- - - - -

NEW YORK, March 9th, 1918.
IDR. RICHARD C. NEWTON*
Montclair,
New Jersey
DEAR DOCTOR:
I have your letter of 5th instant suggesting a
Memorial of my Mother.
My Brother Tom died July 2nd, 1907 in Bar
Harbor, Maine. That Summer a feasible
Memorial of my Mother was thought out by me,
and then, that year, some correspondence about
it, passed between Dr. Charles W. Eliot, then
President of Harvard College, and me.
During the intervening years, results obtained
in furtherance of that Memorial, seem to justify
its original conception.
It is not advisable that I now consider any
Other Memorial.
Sincerely
EDWARD D. BETTENs.
*Class of 1874 Harvard College.
57
NEW YORK, March 27, 1918.
DR. ANNE DUDLEY BLITZ,
Dean of William Smith College,
Geneva, N. Y.
DEAR MADAM:
On or about November 26, 1917, I offered,
through Professor W. C. Lawton, to William
Smith College, one copy of a book, of an edition
limited to twenty-six copies, entitled “Mrs.
Louise E. Bettens”.
I thank you for your letter of 26th instant in-
forming me that William Smith College accepts
this book.
Twenty-three of these twenty-six copies were
given to Universities or Colleges, particularly
where women were taught, and to Libraries.
I herewith offer, as a gift, to William Smith
College, another book, entitled “Louise E. Bet-
tens”, the companion of the book above mentioned.
This companion book contains letters from the
Presidents or other officials of these Universities,
Colleges and Libraries, some of which refer to the
character and ideals of Mrs. Louise E. Bettens.
The pamphlet “The Family of Mrs. Louise E.
Bettens born Rochat, and of Alexander Bettens”
sent, by registered mail, March 14, 1918, to Wil-
58
liam Smith College, has, I hope, been received and
accepted by that College.
Up to the receipt by me of a letter dated Febru-
ary 5, 1918,” from Dr. Charles W. Eliot (printed
at page 1 of this pamphlet) it had not occurred to
me, that any one would be interested in any of my
ancestors except my Mother. But Dr. Eliot was,
and is, interested in her ancestors.
The letters that I have received from some who
obtained copies of that pamphlet prove that others
than Dr. Eliot wish for information as to my
Mother’s ancestors.
I hereby enclose, for William Smith College,
another copy of that pamphlet.
I also received a few letters suggesting to me
that as Memorials of my Mother, a Hospital be
built, Foundations of various kinds be established
in one or more Colleges, etc.
My answer to such suggestions is contained in
my letter dated March 9th, 1918 to Dr. Richard
C. Newton,” printed on page 8 of a pamphlet en-
titled “Mrs. Louise E. Bettens,” a copy of which
I herewith offer to William Smith College.
I now enclose a third pamphlet, entitled “Mrs.
Louise E. Bettens, born Rochat,” as a gift to Wil-
liam Smith College. In it is a letter from me
dated March 23, 1918 to the Editors of the Vevay
*Page 19.
*Page 57. 5
9
Reveille, which expresses my opinion of Mrs. Bet-
tens, in a spiritual sense.” She was a woman,
who from girlhood up to her death, and through a
very depressing period of her life, lived superior
to all the surrounding drawbacks, that ordinarily
chill and dull other lives, situated as she, at one
time was. It is that life and character that I am
attempting to bring particularly before girls and
young women.
The books, the money, the pictures, and fur-
nished room, given by me to Harvard College, are
but means of calling attention to that life and
character. -
What I have tried to do was to suggest to others
a life and character, which properly considered,
might strengthen and encourage some who may
be struggling under difficulties.
Character and Ideals are, in my opinion, endur-
ing and never failing Helpers, whereas other
gifts, particularly that of money, may be of un-
certain benefit. -
I have acted in accordance with those views and
according to my means. If I have made a mistake
I am sorry.
I thank you for the suggestions made in your
letter.
Sincerely,
EDWARD D. BETTENS.
*Page 5. 6()
(
NEW YORK, February 25, 1918.
MISS ELEANOR C. O’ConnELL,
Woodward High School,
Cincinnati, Ohio.
DEAR MISS O'CONNELL :
Your letter of 23rd inst. gives me unalloyed
pleasure, for you are using the books,” given by
me to Woodward High School, as I want them
to be used. The character of my Mother and
Brother should be brought to the attention of
the pupils, and the pupils, at the same time, can
learn something of the art of bookmaking in the
United States.
A few years ago, a gentleman connected with
the publishers, Charles Scribners' Sons, lectured,
in different cities in this country, on books and
book making. He carried with him the book
Thomas Simms Bettens, a copy of which is in the
Graduates Room of Woodward High School, and
used it, in his lectures, as a fine example of the
art of book making in this country.
Sincerely,
EDWARD D. BETTENs.
*The books
Thomas Simms Bettens
Mrs. Louise E. Bettens
Louise E. Bettens
61
OLD SOUTH FARSONAGE
BOYLSTON ST., BOSTON
February
nineteenth
1918
DEAR MR. BETTENS:— +
*Your touching and beautiful memorial volume
to your mother interests me deeply. Surely she
was worthy of this high praise and noble com-
memoration.
Your volume is an expression of true piety, in
the old Roman sense of the word, and your desire
to extend the precious influence of your mother in
this world is not only a happiness to you, but a
blessing to us all.
All that taste and skill and reverend, grateful
memory could do they have done in this exalted
and lovely tribute to your mother.
With grateful regard and true respect,
Very truly yours,
GEORGE A. GORDON.f
EDwARD D. BETTENs, Esq.
130 West 87th St.
New York City
*The book Louise E. Bettens.
†President of the Harvard Alumni Association.
62
NEW YORK, February 10, 1918.
DR. CHARLEs M. GREEN,
78 Marlborough Street,
Boston, Mass.
DEAR DOCTOR:
Your affectionate letter of 8th inst. moves me greatly.
Tonight W. S. Beaman H. '72 and S. B. Clarke H '74
dine with me. It is my intention to read to them your
letter, and to discuss with them two letters, received
by me last week, from Dr. Charles W. Eliot.
Dr. Eliot is deeply interested in the ancestors of my
Mother—the Rochats. Your letter touches on the “life
eternal”. Dr. Eliot and you arouse my thoughts.
My life has been in this world (and particularly the
world around me). As an infant and a very young child,
food, comfort and affection, probably satisfied me. As
I grew older, and my mind developed, I, to some extent,
took an interest in others, and had some concern for
them.
Soon it began to dawn on me that this life meant
effort on my part, a struggle with and against others.
I learned to love work, whatever it was, whether at
home, in the school, in games, or out in the world earn-
ing some money. This love for work, for its own sake,
and because the object in view, was to help my Mother,
made my mind—not exactly a blank—but unconcerned
about my ancestors and about the “life eternal.” But
Dr. Eliot's letters have aroused my curiosity as to who
was the Rochat who came from Paris, France about the
year 1800 and settled in Virginia, and whose son (or
grandson) was Jacob, the father of my Mother.
So your letter takes me, not back to the time of the
French Revolution, but to the entrance to the World of
Spirits, and there I stand with head bowed and silent.
Very sincerely,
EDWARD D. BETTENs.
63
A LETTER
65
CAMBRIDGE, MAss., June 1, 1873.
DEAR MOTHER:
I hope, with you, that your pen will soon make
you independent. I am certain, if you once get
a fair chance, you will succeed—and then, a long
good-bye to Shillito's and Cincinnati.
You are right in saying that we wish you with
us, to advise and help us.
Let us all strive that we may meet and remain
with one another while we live.
When I think of how we are separated, and
how you are situated, I feel as though I could
do a dozen men's work and bring this all to an
end. I feel that we are slowly mounting over
our difficulties. I am sure that we are approach-
ing a happy termination of our long struggles.
But this very knowledge makes me impatient. I
wish to end the journey.
Like Xenophon's soldiers, returning home, the
news that the sea is at last in sight makes me
redouble my speed—and like them, dear mother,
when we stand on the heights, and behold the
welcome blue water, we will embrace one another
66
with joy, for Greece, the object of our longings,
rests just beyond.
It was with such thoughts that I came near
accepting a position as teacher in a school last
Monday.
There is a vacancy in the Boston Latin School.
They want a teacher of history. The salary for
the first year is $2,600, and $3,000 for the second.
This salary was a great temptation to me. I
knew that, with it, I could put ourselves above
our present circumstances. I interviewed the
Principal of the school; I went to my teachers
and asked them for recommendations.
By Tuesday night I had nearly finished my
plans to make a strenuous effort to get the
situation.
The next day I went to President Eliot to get
a recommendation, but he met my request by
decidedly objecting to my taking the position in
the school. He said that the time spent at the
school would be lost time.
I knew your views, and on thinking over the
whole matter I reluctantly gave up striving (for
the position).
The chance was a pretty big temptation, and
I hardly know whether I did right in rejecting
1t Or 110t.
67
Before I had decided not to try for the posi-
tion, the enclosed recommendation of character
was sent me by Dean Gurney, which you may
perhaps value.
One more letter you will receive (before com-
ing to the '73 Commencement exercises); until
then, good-night, my dear mother.
Your loving son,
E. D. BETTENS.
MRS. LOUISE. E. BETTENs,
Cincinnati, Ohio.
68
HARVARD COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE, MAss., 28 May, 1873,
Mr. E. D. Bettens, a member of the Senior
Class, stood about tenth in a class of one hundred
and thirty, at the end of his Junior year, and has
been throughout his college course, a thoroughly
satisfactory student. Mr. Bettens has devoted
himself particularly to the study of History, and
will, probably, obtain Honors this year for excel-
lence in that subject.
As I have known something of Mr. Bettens
personally during his college course, I will add
that I have seldom known a student to show so
much energy and proficiency in making his way
through college as Mr. Bettens.
He will do with his strength whatever he
undertakes to do.
E. W. GURNEy,
Dean of the Faculty.
69
EDWARD DETRAZ BETTENS
JULY 1.9 16
FROM A PAINTING IN MINIATURE EY
ALYN WILLIAMS
i
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