Recently, a reader and an Atlanta philatelist found our blog post on Dr. Levi Holbrook. Having discovered some letters belonging to Dr. Holbrook’s son, he passed them our way. While the son, Levi Holbrook, Jr. only lived in Danville a short time, his history is nevertheless interesting to us. In this post, we share with you the letters, as well as a little additional history on the son of one of Danville’s most important historical figures.
It is generally believed that Levi Jr. was born in Danville, though existing records (we can find no birth record) place his birth in Westboro, Massachusetts (one record claims he was born in New York, but that is erroneous). Dr. Holbrook and Eliza Grout Holbrook married in 1827 in Northborough, Massachusetts and shortly thereafter returned to Danville. It was in 1828 that Dr. Holbrook left his post at the Danville Male Academy to establish the Danville Female Academy on Jefferson Ave and Loyal Street. (You can read more about Dr. Holbrook here.) Nine years after their marriage, in 1836) their one and only child was born. Stories differ as to what to what followed and when for young Levi Jr. In one source it is said that Eliza died of tuberculosis shortly after the birth of her son and so Levi was sent to be raised by his mother’s family. In the death notice of Levi Jr, however, (which news arrived in Danville three years after the event) it was said that Eliza left Levi Jr. the year following Levi Jr.’s birth and that she died in Massachusetts three years later. Indeed, her grave, located in Northborough, Massachusetts, states that she died in February of 1836.
Despite his father’s absence, young Levi seems to have landed on his feet. He attended Williston Seminary in East Hampton, Massachusetts and then spent a year traveling the West. He returned to the northeast where he received a Yale education and, though he began to struggle quite seriously with his eyesight, graduated from that institution in 1857. He then returned to Boston where he underwent medical treatment for his eyes. His site restored, he took a horseback riding excursion across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River and back. Upon his return, he moved to Danville to reconnect with his father, and here he remained for two or three years before returning to Massachusetts to study modern language and literature at Harvard. Perhaps it was the strain on his eyes, or perhaps his family was simply ready for him to get on with life, but he abandoned his pursuit of literature and letters to take up a career in finance in Boston. A year later, he arrived in New York. In 1870, he embarked on an excursion of Europe, Egypt, and Asia Minor before returning to New York City in 1871. It was that year he married Viola Vowers.
Levi kept himself busy. He entered the real estate business and eventually purchased the Hawthorne Apartments at 128 West Fifty-ninth Street where he set up house with his wife. The couple had two children Clark (1872-1941) and Helen (1882-1960). Levi eventually entered the banking business, but maintained his real estate ventures. He was also involved in the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Sons of the Revolution, the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, American Fine Arts Society, the Geographical Society of America, and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. At the time of his admission into the New Hampshire Society of Colonial Wars as its 111th member in 1917, he was a millionaire.
Judging by the letters written to him by his wife, Levi Jr. was every bit as busy (perhaps even preoccupied), as his resume seems to suggest.
From one letter:
You don’t know how disappointed I was not to find you at the train last night. Now do hurry and come. I will have worn through half a dozen pairs of gloves if you are not in (indecipherable) by the 20th.
From Viola’s letter of August 15th, 1881
Aren’t you coming home? I did not think you were going to stay so long. It is awfully lonely without you. I miss your dear face and voice. I do believe the longer I live with you the more and more I love you. I am sure if anything should happen to you my heart would be broken. … My arms around you tight, tight—oh so tight. Come as soon as you can. Your own, lonely wife, Viola
Mr. Holbrook was described in one biography as “a man of courtly manners, engaging qualities, and impressive bearing. His striking appearance, with is long white hair and beard, had earned for him the title of “The Grand Old Man of Lake Winnipesauke.” (It was there he owned a summer home.)
In the beginning of July, 1922, Mr. Holbrook began to feel ill. He took himself to his lake home on Lake Winnipesauke to rest and get some fresh air. The cause of his troubles is somewhat contested between sources of the day. His obituary stated that he was suffering from pneumonia. Death records, however, attribute his illness and demise to heart disease.
Viola was beside herself. Perhaps her heart truly did break. Six weeks later, she, too, was dead.
Be sure to read the companion post, More Letters to Levi.
With utmost gratitude, the Friends of the Old West End Board of Directors would like to thank D.S. Kirby for their kind gift which will be transferred for safe keeping into the hands of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History.
