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The
coming of the Great War in 1914 did not deter young William Harrison from
attending University in Boston. While Europe fought, and
Isolationist America looked on nervously, Bill's future path was set in motion.
An ably strong youth, he had grown up on the south side of Boston the son of a well-to-do Boston banker, Clarence, and his socialite wife Tabitha from New York City. As a kid, he dreamt of growing up playing baseball for the Red Sox, but frequent bouts of asthma kept him from fully pursuing any athletics in high school.
Instead, he found amusement in stories of wonder and fiction, such as those
of Wells and Verne, and his father could barely keep up with his
son's demands for new books during his teens. He also read with
fascination the plights of the Romans and the struggles of the Greeks and
Egyptians.
As a 13 year old Bill extolled to his parents that he would be the first to
travel to the Moon, and to see the stars. His father, always
practical, played no small part in picking books for his son to read, and amidst
the fiction William found Smith's book on economics and several
titles on law and lawmaking, as well as books dealing with ownership and
property.
When he attended college in 1914 he was determined to study the humanities further, although his father urged him to a more practical degree, such as Journalism or Law. William assured his father that a Classics degree would be a mere stepping stone towards such a pursuit, and in fact pursued applications to Harvard Law school as late as December, 1916.
However it was early in 1917 that William came across the very interesting
record of the Pharaohs of Egypt in his studies, and became himself
fascinated with the archaeological works of Carter and the attempts to decipher
the Rosetta stone. News of the digs to uncover the ancient city
of Troy captured his imagination. All thoughts of Law aside, Bill enrolled
in a Greek language course, and took every ancient history course that was
available to him in his 3rd and 4th years.
During this time the war was ending, and Bill's graduation in 1918 with a
B.A. in History coincided with the armistice. Desperate to finally get a
chance to visit some of the lands he had been studying, Bill borrowed some money
and arranged, with his father's help, a trip to Europe.
However, his mother's death from pneumonia in July 1918 came as a terrible blow to the Harrison family, and Bill cancelled his trip to be with his mourning father, who himself was not well with bowel disease.
After several months, Clarence did recover, but not completely, and much of the family money was spent on doctor's fees and medicines. Clarence still lives in Boston to this day, supported by the wise investments he made during his banking career. William faithfully writes his father of everything he does, and visits twice a year the old family home on Spring street.
In the latter half of 1918 and towards 1919 Bill visited several prominent professors in the field of history and archaelogy, including Dr. Henry Irvine at Columbia and Dr. Tolbert Jones at Brown. Irvine was embarking on an expedition to Europe, but William could not afford to travel at the time, and left New York for Providence in May 1919.
With Jones, Bill managed to study some local excavations of Native Indian sites, as well as participate in a trip to the Appalachians to visit a newly discovered cave complex with pictographs. Dr. Jones hired William as his only current graduate student in September 1919.
Bill rented a rundown flat in Old Providence during this time, but with his family support now gone, and little money coming from his position with Jones, Bill obtained some work translating some 15th century Latin religious texts for the local pastor.
This ended in January 1919, when upon returning from a Christmas stay with
his Father in Boston, he learned of Doctor Jones' death from a wild animal
attack outside his rural property. The university claimed all of Jones'
items, and Bill withdrew from the Ph.D. program at Brown.
It was at this bleak time that luck once again smiled upon young William - an
old professor from Miskatonic University in Arkham, Mass (a school and town Bill
had never heard of until this time) had learned of Bill via the old pastor whom
Bill still occasionally worked for. In reply to Prof. Richard Augustien' s
letter of July 24, 1919, Bill wrote:
| "Dear Professor Augustien,
I am much grateful for your kind words regarding my albeit-curtailed work with the late Dr. Tolbert Jones, and would be delighted to accept your offer for an apprenticeship at Miskatonic University regarding the study of certain Greek manuscripts. Reverend James speaks highly of your works and I am anxious to depart here. Allow me a week or so to tidy my affairs in Providence, and expect another correspondence soon." |
More letters did follow, and August 3rd, 1919, Bill left Rhode Island for Arkham and Miskatonic University .....
William Harrison's' Inventory. (Not submitted
yet)
William Harrison's' Stats and Skills.
Back to the presentation of the Investigators.