[In this connection let me quote from an early letter of Mr.
Burroughs to me. It was written in 1901 after the death of
his favorite sister: "She was very dear to me, and I had no
better friend. More than the rest of my people she aspired
to understand and appreciate me, and with a measure of success.
My family are plain, unlettered farmer folk, and the world in
which you and I live iss a sealed book to them. The have never
read my books. What they value in me is what I have in common
with them, which is, no doubt, the larger part of me. But I
love them all just the same. They are a part of father and
mother, of the old home, and of my youthful days."--C. B.]
Mother's father. Grandfather Kelly, was a soldier of 1776, of
Irish descent, born in Connecticut, I think. His name was Edmund
Kelly. He went into the war as a boy and saw Washington and
La Fayette. He was at Valley Forge during that terrible winter
the army spent there. One day Washington gave the order to the
soldiers to dress-parade for inspection; some had good clothes,
some scarcely any, and no shoes. He made all the well-dressed
men go and cut wood for the rest, and excused the others.
Grandfather was a small man with a big head and quite pronounced
Irish features. He was a dreamer.
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