The Bishop's Boys (86 page)

1. Walter E. Musgrave,
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ: Its Teachings and Progress
(Huntington, Ind.: Church of the United Brethren in Christ, 1945), p. 77; Paul R. Fetters,
Trials and Triumphs: A History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ
(Huntington, Ind.: Church of the United Brethren in Christ, 1984), p. 306.

2.
Proceedings of the Twenty-Third General Conference of the United Brethren in Christ
(Huntington, Ind.: United Brethren Publishing Enterprise, 1901), P. 196.

3. Fetters,
Trials and Triumphs
, p. 314.

4. Musgrave,
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ
, pp. 75–76.

5. Ibid., p. 76.

6. Milton Wright to Katharine Wright, October 15, 1887, and May 30, 1889; both in box 5, Wright Papers, LC.

7. Milton Wright to Katharine Wright, August 9, 1889, box 5, Wright Papers, LC.

8. Milton Wright, Diary, September 18, 1893, box 9, file 5, WSU.

9. Milton Wright to Wilbur Wright, October 11, 1907, box 5, Wright Papers, LC.

10. Milton Wright to Katharine Wright, September 12, 1892, box 5, Wright Papers, LC.

11. Ibid.

12. For more on Milton’s complex attitude toward women in the professions, see Milton Wright, “Women as Physicians,”
The Religious Telescope
(January
1870), in H. A. Thompson,
Our Bishops
(Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren Publishing House, 1903), p. 543.

13. Lorin Wright to Milton Wright, July 12, 1889, box 5, Wright Papers, LC.

14. For information on the Reuchlin and Lorin Wright families, see A. S. Andrews,
The Andrews, Clapp, Stokes, Wright and Van Cleve Genealogies
(Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: Privately printed, 1984), pp. 447–483.

15. Milton Wright to Wilbur Wright, September 9 and 14, 1908, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

16. Milton Wright to Wilbur Wright, June 28, 1908, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

17. Milton Wright to Wilbur Wright, August 11, 1907, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

18. Milton Wright to Wilbur Wright, September 19, 1907, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

19. Milton Wright to Wilbur Wright, August 27, 1908, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

20. Milton Wright to Wilbur Wright, August 4, 1907, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

21. Milton Wright to Wilbur Wright, July 23, 1908, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

22. Wilbur Wright to Milton Wright, December 1, 1898, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

1. Fred C. Kelly,
The Wright Brothers
(New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1943), p. 13.

2. Orville Wright grade cards, file 3, box 3, Wright Collection, WSU.

3. William Werthner, “Personal Recollections of the Wrights,”
Aero Club of America Bulletin
(July 1912), 13.

4. Kelly,
Wright Brothers
, p. 17.

5. Miscellaneous items printed by the Wright brothers, file 17, box 3, Wright Collection, WSU.

6. Orville Wright to Milton Wright, July 20, 1888, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

7. Charles J. Bauer, “Ed Sines: Pal of the Wrights,”
Popular Aviation
(June 1938), 40.

8. All quotations from
The West Side News
and
The Evening Item
are drawn from the complete file of original issues in the Dayton Collection of the Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library. Microfilm copies of the entire run of both newspapers are available at the Library of Congress, the Ohio Historical Society, and the Wright State University.

9. Orville Wright to Milton Wright, October 16, 1891, in Fred C. Kelly, ed.,
Miracle at Kitty Hawk
(New York: Farrar, Straus & Young, 1951), pp. 6–7.

10.
Thanksgiving Tid-Bits
(1891), box 3, file 10, WSU.

11. The bit of doggerel is quoted in Marvin W. McFarland, ed.,
The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1953), vol. 1, p. 696, note 1. All three original issues of
The Tattler
are in the collection of the Dayton and Montgomery County Public Libarary.

12. “Circuit Court of 7 Hawthorn St.,” box 3, file 6, WSU.

13. Ivonette Wright Miller, “Character Study,” in Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
(Dayton, Ohio: Privately printed, 1978), p. 61.

1. Wilbur Wright to Katharine Wright, September 18, 1892, box 5, Wright Papers, LC.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Detroit
Tribune
(May 1, 1896); W J McGee, “Fifty Years of American Science,” in A. Hunter Dupree, ed.,
Science and the Emergence of Modern America
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953), p. 325; other quotes from Robert Smith,
A Social History of the Bicycle
(New York: American Heritage, 1972), passim.

5.
Eleventh Census of the United States, 1900
vol. X, pt. 1, p. 325.

6. David Hounshell,
From the American System to Mass Production
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984).

7. Mitchell R. Charnley,
The Boys’ Life of the Wright Brothers
(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1928), pp. 40–41.

8. Wilbur Wright, “The Rights of Cyclists,”
Snap-Shots of Current Events
(Oct. 29, 1894), vol. 1, no. 1.

9.
Williams’ Dayton Directory
(Philadelphia: Williams & Co., 1895), p. 931.

10. Wilbur Wright to Milton Wright, September 12, 1894, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

11. Wilbur Wright to Milton Wright, October 2, 1894, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

12. Wilbur Wright to Milton Wright, September 1894, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

13. The only complete collection of
Snap-Shots
is in the Dayton Room, Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library.

14. Orville Wright to Milton Wright, October 8, 1895, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

15. Charles J. Bauer, “Ed Sines: Pal of the Wrights,”
Popular Aviation
(June 1938), 78.

16. Milton Wright to Reuchlin Wright, March 17, 1896, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

17.
Snap-Shots
(April 17, 1896), vol. 2, no. 6, 1.

18. “Wright Cycle Co., Makers, 1127 West Third Street, Dayton, Ohio,” reprinted in
Wheelman
(November 1980), no. 17, 14.

18. Binghamton
Republican
(June 4, 1896). Clipping in S. P. Langley Scrap-books, Ramsey Rare Book Room, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

19. Rev. E. S. Upford and Rev. John Scudder, both quoted in
New York Herald
(June 17, 1895).

20. Minneapolis
Tribune
(Sept. 14, 1895).

21. James Means, “Wheeling and Flying,”
The Aeronautical Annual
(Boston, 1896), p. 25.

22. Ibid.

1. “Ed Ellis Tells of the Boys’ Characteristics,” Dayton
Herald
(June 16, 1909).

2. Katharine Wright, quoted in Ivonette Wright Miller, “Ivonette Miller’s Reminiscences,” in Ivonette Wright Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
(Dayton, Ohio: Privately printed, 1978), p. 4.

3. Ibid.

4. Charles E. Taylor, “My Story of the Wright Brothers,”
Collier’s Magazine
(Dec. 25, 1948).

5. “Wilbur Wright Is Named in Divorce Suit by Frenchman—Plot Suspected,” Dayton
Herald
(June 8, 1908).

6. “He’s Too Clean Says Life Chum,” Dayton
Herald
(June 8, 1908).

7. “What He Thinks of Newspaper Scandals,” Dayton
Herald
(June 8, 1908).

8. Jess Gilbert, “A Tribute,” in Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
, p. 183.

9. The discussion of Agnes Osborn is based on conversations with Mrs. Elizabeth Rehling, Mrs. Osborn’s daughter, and with members of the Wright family.

10. Katharine Wright to Orville and Wilbur Wright, June 22, 1900, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

11. Ibid.

12. Katharine Wright to Orville and Wilbur Wright, September 4, 1900, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

13. Katharine Wright to Orville Wright, October 5, 1902, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

14. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, October 25, 1903, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

15. Marvin W. McFarland,
The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1953), vol. 1, p. 57, note 8.

16. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, September 11, 1901, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

17. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, September 21, 1901, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

18. Orville Wright to Katharine Wright, September 11, 1902, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

19. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, September 12, 1900, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

20. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, April 17, 1901, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

21. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, September 5, 1900, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

22. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, September 28, 1903, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

23. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, November 1, 1903, box 4, Wright Papers, LC. Katharine’s letters to Milton of 1900–03 are filled with repeated health complaints and expressions of loneliness.

24. Katharine Wright to Wilbur and Orville Wright, July 10, 1905, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

25. Katharine Wright to Wilbur and Orville Wright, July 13, 1905, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

26. Katharine Wright to Wilbur and Orville Wright, July 17, 1905, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

27. Katharine Wright to Wilbur and Orville Wright, July 19, 1905, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

28. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, July 27, 1905, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

29. Katharine Wright to Milton Wright, August 1, 1905, box 4, Wright Papers, LC.

30. Milton Wright to Katharine Wright, September 26, 1908, box 5, Wright Papers, LC.

31. Milton Wright to Katharine Wright, February 22, 1909, box 6, Wright Papers, LC.

32. Leontine Wright Jameson, “Reminiscences,” in Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
, p. 113.

33. Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
, p. 2. For another view of the candy-making operation, see Horace Wright, “Recollections,” in ibid., p. 153.

34. Horace Wright, “Recollections,” p. 158.

35. Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
, p. 3.

36. Milton Wright, “Remarks on Behalf of the Estate of Orville Wright, in Presenting the Kitty Hawk Aeroplane to the United States of America,” Smithsonian Institution Press Release, December 17, 1948, Smithsonian Institution Archives.

37. Horace Wright, “Recollections,” in Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
, p. 156.

38. Ivonette Wright Miller, Untitled Reminiscences, author’s collection, p. 22.

39. Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
, p. 4.

40. Ibid.

41. Milton Wright, “Remarks.”

42. Miller, ed.,
Wright Reminiscences
, pp. 3–4.

43. Ibid.

44. Wilbur Wright to Lulu Billheimer Wright, June 18, 1901, box 7, Wright Papers, LC. Dr. Adrian Kinnane calls attention to the important insights represented in this letter in his “The Crucible of Flight.”

45. Ibid.

46. Ibid.

47. Ibid.

1. Paul H. Boller, Jr.,
Presidential Campaigns
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1984), p. 72.

2. Details of spring and summer 1896 are drawn from the following sources:

3. John Trowbridge, “Darius Green and His Flying Machine,” in Hazel Felaman, ed.,
Poems That Live Forever
(New York: Macmillan, 1965), pp. 204–207.

4. Simon Newcomb, “Is the Airship Coming?”
McClure’s
(September 1901), 562–565; George Melville, “The Engineer and the Problem of Aerial Navigation,”
North American Review
(December 1901), 820–821; John Le Conte, “The Problem of the Flying Machine,”
Popular Science Monthly
(November 1888), 69.

5. The treatment of aeronautical cranks is based on a series of unidentified clippings found in a Samuel Pierpont Langley scrapbook dated 1896, Ramsey Rare Book Room, National Air and Space Museum, and the historical scrapbooks of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, AIAA History Collection, Manuscript Division, LC.

6. The description of Langley’s arrival at Widewater with Bell, and the details of the appearance of the town, are based on an undated Washington
Star
clipping found in the Samuel Pierpont Langley scrapbook for 1896.

7. Samuel Pierpont Langley,
Experiments in Aerodynamics
(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1891).

8. Samuel Pierpont Langley, notebook entitled “Aerodromics 10,” pp. 120–126, Ramsey Rare Book Room, National Air and Space Museum. For detailed treatments of the Aerodrome experiments, see Samuel Pierpont Langley, “Experiments with the Langley Aerodromes,”
Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for 1904
(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1905), pp. 113–125; Samuel Pierpont Langley, “The Flying Machine,”
McClure’s
(June 1897), 646–660; and Samuel Pierpont Langley,
Researches and Experiments in Aerial Navigation
, (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1908).

9. Description of the events of August 2, 1896, is based on R. W. Wood, “Lilienthal’s Last Flights,” Boston
Transcript
(Aug. 16, 1896). For additional reading on Lilienthal, see “The Flying Man,”
McClure’s
(September 1894), 1–10; “The Flying Man,”
Aeronautics
(April 1894), 85–87; “Lilienthal’s Experiments in Flying,”
Nature
(Dec. 20, 1894), 177–179; and “Our Teachers in Soaring Flight,”
Aeronautical Annual
(Boston, 1897), 84–91. The best available biography is Werner Schwipps,
Lilienthal
(Berlin: Arami-Verlag GmbH, 1979).

10. The only English translation is Otto Lilienthal,
Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation: A Contribution Toward a System of Aviation
(London, 1911).

11. Wood, “Lilienthal’s Last Flights.”

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Ibid.

1. Alice Chanute Boyd, “Some Memories of My Father,” unpublished manuscript, box 45, Octave Chanute Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. A copy is also contained in the Chanute biographical file, National Air and Space Museum. The extracts and details of Chanute’s life that follow are all drawn from the same source.

2. Leavenworth
Daily Tribune
(March 6, 1873);
Parsons Sun
(March 15, 1873); Quincy
Daily Evening Call
(March 10, 1873).

3. “Early Presidents of the Society,”
Civil Engineering
(December 1937), 871.

4. Milton Wright describes his trip to the fair in his Diaries for the period, Wright State University Library.

5. A. F. Zahm, “Diary of the Aeronautical Congress of 1893, By Professor A.F. Zahm, General Secretary,” October 19, 1892, unpublished manuscript in A. F. Zahm Collection, Notre Dame Archives, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Ind.

6. Pittsburgh
Dispatch
(Jan. 23, 1894).

7. Octave Chanute,
Progress in Flying Machines
(New York: Forney, 1894).

8. For biographical details, see “Augustus Herring,”
Dictionary of American Biography;
J. V. Martin, “The Aircraft Conspiracy,”
The Libertarian
(March 1924), 120–127; and A. M. Herring biographical file, Archives, National Air and Space Museum.

9. A. F. Zahm quoted in Carl Dienstbach, “Invention of the Chanute Glider,”
American Aeronaut
(June 1908), 163; See also A. M. Herring, “Dynamic Flight,”
Aeronautical Annual
(Boston, 1896), pp. 89–101.