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Davidson, NC
December 1st, 1921 [1]
Dearest Mother,
I saved my blankets, quilt, pillow and a pair of sheets and pitched another pair out of the window along with them but haven’t found them, however I wont need any more before Christmas and may find the two lost sheets before then.[2] Miss Sally treats us like we were honered guests instead of refugees.[3] I don’t think anyone could possibly be nicer than she has to us. About ten last evening she brought us each a cup of whip cream and a piece of cake and in every otherway has been splendid.
The Quartet [4] sings at an alumni banquet in Charlotte tomorrow and I want to try and get my things then. I certainly do appreciate the check and know that I can save some of it back in the spring. The box came with the letter and everything is fine. That is certainly a compact little razor & case.
There is absolutely not a thing left of Chambers except the columns and the walls not even a charred beam every burnable thing is in the finest dust like ashes.[5] The rear wall to the main section fell during the fire the others are standing but unsafe. I was all thru the ruins yesterday but they are roped off now. The bed springs are all melted and stretched out straight. All I could find was a part of the big hearth stone in front of my grate. I shall certainly keep it.
Give my love to all
Yours
Daniel
I am afraid that the Columns are all that can be left standing
[page 2]
Saturday
I wrote this letter sometime ago and in the confusion left it unmailed. News certainly travels some is true some is not. I think everyone got up at about the same time I know my roommate and I started up in bed at about the same time and everyone worked for a while trying to put out the fire then we saw it was hopeless and started getting things out. I threw my blankets etc out of the window put my suits and a pair of shoes in my trunk and carried it down stair and out of reach of the fire then I went back up and put my razor, brush etc and a few suits of underwear in my suitcase picked up my pen, watch, and a few other things and fled, by the time I got to the main second floor landing it was all ablaze and covered with fallen timbers all of the cupola [6] in fact and I think I must have shaken my suitcase open crossing it then if I didn’t it wasn’t because I didn’t feel like trembling that much anyway, when I got out it was open and everything gone and the stairs were gone so I didn’t try to get back.
Sunday
I’ll try to get this off tomorrow at the latest. There was some comment in the Charlotte Observer about the students’ cry of “Fire!” being mistaken for the Davidson traditional meaning of the word[7] but I don’t think there was anything to that. I know that my hair stood on end the first shout I hear.
The North Charlotte Methodist Church is paying the expenses of the Quartet to sing this next Sunday and The Presbyterian Church in Concord wants us under the same terms on the 18th so this will probably be the last Sunday I will be here till Christmas. I hope the trips make the time pass quickly for I am homesick now if I ever have been.
I saw Uncle John for just a moment in Charlotte Friday but didn’t have a chance to talk with him.
Yours
Daniel [8]
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Original
[1] McGeachy wrote this letter home in the first semester of his senior year at Davidson. In 1921-1922, the academic year ran from September to December and January to June (DCC 1920-1921).
[2] On November 28th, 1921 a fire burned down Chambers. The students woke up to the fire and rushed out of the building (Harding). Named after graduate and donor Maxwell Chambers, the Chambers building became an integral part of the college after its construction in 1860. In fact, according to the Davidson College Encyclopedia, “many claimed that the college would have fallen apart if not for the gift from Maxwell Chambers” (Fernandez). As described in the Davidson College Catalog (DCC): “In the central part of this building are the large Commencement hall, a number of commodious recitation-rooms and laboratories, and the museum. In the two wings of the building are dormitory accommodations for one hundred and twenty-one students” (DCC, 1921-1922, 85).
[3] The students who were housed in Chambers prior to the fire were taken in by other students, faculty, or townspeople after the fire (The Davidsonian). Miss Sally was most likely a resident of the town of Davidson who housed McGeachy.
[4] McGeachy was a member of the Glee Club. The Quartet that he references is a subset of the Glee Club (Quips and Cranks 36).
[7] Davidson students used the term “fire!” when they saw girls (Blodgett).
[8] Daniel Patrick McGeachy, Jr. was very involved in the college during and after his time at Davidson. As a student, he was a member of many organizations including the Glee Club, ROTC, and Kappa Sigma Fraternity (Quips & Cranks 36). After he graduated, he went on to become a Presbyterian minister. He married Elizabeth McClure in 1927 and their two sons both also attended Davidson College. He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Davidson in 1955. McGeachy died December 9, 1970 in Clearwater, Florida (Class of 1922).
Bibliography
Blodgett, Jan. Interview by Carson Stack. Personal interview. Davidson College Library, February 20, 2013.
Class of 1922 50th Reunion Pamphlet. Daniel Patrick McGeachy Alumni File. RG 5/8.1 Alumni Relations. Davidson College Archives. Davidson, NC.
Davidson College. Quips and Cranks Vol. 25. Davidson: Davidson College, 1922.
Davidson College Catalog, 1920-1921. Davidson: Davidson College Office of Communications.
The Davidsonian, “Chambers Building Empty Shell of Former Majesty,” December 2, 1921. http://library.davidson.edu/archives/davidsonian/PDFs/19211202.pdf (accessed February 21, 2013).
Fernandez, Jennifer. “Chambers – The Old and the New.” Davidson Encyclopedia. October 2003 <https://davidsonarchivesandspecialcollections.org/archives/encyclopedia/chambers-old-and-the-new/>.
Harding, C.R.. “Fire in Old Chambers.” Davidson College Archives. davidsonarchivesandspecialcollections.org/archives/encyclopedia/fire-old-chambers-primary-sources (accessed February 18, 2013).
Photograph 9-0098. Davidson College Photograph Collection. Davidson College Archives, Davidson, NC.
Photograph 9-0113. Davidson College Photograph Collection. Davidson College Archives, Davidson, NC.
Transcription and annotation author: Carson Stark.
Date: March 2013
From: DC0197s, Daniel Patrick McGeachy, 1901-1970 (1922) Letters, 1921(Finding Aid)
Cite as: Stark, Carson, annotator. 1 December 1921 Daniel McGeachy Letter. DC0197s. <https://davidsonarchivesandspecialcollections.org/archives/digital-collections/daniel-mcgeachy-letter-1-dec-1921>.
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