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McKinney, Everts & CO., Wholesale Grocers, Importers Teas, Binghamton, N.Y. Dec. 15, 1902. Coffee and Spice Mills, Molasses, Tobacco, &c.

Prof. Lyon G. Tyler, Pres. William & Mary College, Williamsburg, Va. Dear Sir: Your letter of Nov. 27th was duly received and I much appreciate your prompt and courteous reply. The contents of your letter strengthens my conviction formed at the time, that the origin of the fire which destroyed the college building during the Civil War is at least doubtful. The appropriation of $64,000 for rebuilding made by Congress in 1894 I cannot regard as an act of re- parathion, but rather a graceful recognition of the claim of the second oldest college in the land of the generosity of the Nation. If my conten- tion is sustained, that the origin of the fire is doubtful, it were a pity to send out the graduates of the college in the belief that the fire was an act of northern vandalism. Permit me to relate to you my knowledge of the affair from per- sonal experience. In Sept. 1862 I was at Yorktown, Va. a 1st. Lieutenant in a de- tachement of the 6th New York Cavalry. My next superior officer was Capt. D.C. Hannahs who was me tent companion and most intimate friend. Capt. Hannahs was a graduate of Yale College in the class of 1859, a thorough gentleman, a gallant soldier and has a loveable disposition and a culti- vated mind. On the morning of Sept. 10th, 1862 (if the date is not ex- act please correct) news reached headquarters in Yorktown that the 5th Penn. Cavalry, which was stationed about a mile east of Williamsburg to- wards Yorktown, had been attacked the previous night and the regiment scattered. Gen. Keyes, who was in command at Yorktown, at once ordered Capt. Hannahs with two companies of the 6th New York Cavalry to collect the scattered regiment and reform the picket line near Williamsburg. In the afternoon of the same day I was ordered by Gen. Keyes to Williamsburg to ascertain the state of affairs and to return with my report to York- town as soon as possible. On my arrival at Williamsburg I found the College had been burned and the ruins still smoking. Capt. Hannahs I found in a small house lying on a bed. He had been shot through the lungs. The ball entered on the right of the neck and passed downward through the left lung. After the 5th Penn. Regiment had been reformed he had taken his own command through Williamsburg and established a picket line on the west of the town and had then entered a house to get food and drink, leaving his horse in front of the house. While in the house a man moun- ted his horse and was riding away when Capt. Hannahs rushed out to stop him and was shot from above by the man on the horse. I rode to Yorktown that night after dark, made my report and returned to Williamsburg about midnight and remained with Capt. Hannahs until his death which was about three o’clock in the morning. The lady of the house where he died was all kindness and sympathy . She informed me that she had a son in the Con- federate Army. The day which followed I spent in Williamsburg waiting an ambulance from Yorktown. I saw and talked with a number of the inhabi- tants, mostly old men and women. Capt. Hannahs’ men were withdrawn the night of his death so that Williamsburg was outside of our lines and the information I received could not have been influenced by fear or threats; as you suppose. I was told by all with whom I talked that the fire was the result of an accident. I tried to find evidence against the man who shot Capt. Hannahs. A man who lived opposite saw the shooting and de- scribed the man who did it, so accurately that he was identified and ar-