2005.053.003

letter

Michigan Military Academy

One letter, dated January 19, 1890, from McKinstry Burt of the Michigan Military Academy to his parents. The letter is handwritten in black ink on both sides of a sheet of slightly yellowed letterhead stationery from the Michigan Military Academy in Orchard Lake, Michigan. The text is transcribed as follows:

"Dear Papa and Mama,
I received your letter of the 15th inst. [instant] all right. S.M.I. stands for Sunday Morning Inspection, we had S.M.I. outdoors this morning and about froze to death. I went down to Pontiac Saturday, all were pretty well. Grandma has gone to Waterford. I went up to see Aggie & Mary, they were not there. Cudworth says that all of the farmers he has talked with say they are just clearing expenses on their farms. Cudworth was down to Phoebe last week, all were pretty well. He says Cyrene is just as lazy as ever, does not get up till 8 o'clock in the morning. The lake is frozen over, but hot strong enough to go skating.
We have signal drill every afternoon from 4 until 5. We have to go out on the parade ground and stand in one place for about 3/4 of an hour, it does not matter how cold it is. The other day I had a bad headache and was sick, and I went up to the Commandants to get excused from signal drill, and he would not excuse me. We had overcoats on, but when you have to stand still and watch the signals for 3/4 of an hour, you get chilled through and are liable to come down with a cold next day. It rained quite hard this evening. From your affectionate son,
McKinstry Burt."

Date

1890

Collection

Military

Extent of Description

8.5" x 11"

Search Terms

Michigan Military Academy

People

Burt, McKinstry

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