Theodore E. Burton to Charles W. Chesnutt, 19 March [1913?]
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THE HOMESTEAD
H. ALBERT, MANAGER
[illustration]
Enclosed please find check for your bill.2
Very respectfully T. E. BurtonCorrespondent: Theodore E. Burton (1851–1929) was a White attorney and Republican politician from Ohio whose political career began in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1880s. He represented Ohio multiple times both in the U.S. House of Representatives (1889–1891, 1895–1909, and 1921–1928) and in the Senate (1909–1915 and 1928–1929). Chesnutt appreciated Burton's politics and supported his run in the Cleveland mayoral election of 1907, which he lost to Tom L. Johnson (1854–1911) before returning to national politics. After the publication of The Marrow of Tradition in 1903, Burton urged Chesnutt to distribute it to a number of U.S. politicians.
1. Hot Springs, Virginia, was established as a health resort in the Allegheny Mountains in the 18th century and was a popular tourist and spa destination until the 1930s. The Homestead was (and is) a large resort hotel with roots in the 18th century that was lavishly rebuilt after a fire in 1901. Theodore Burton (1851–1929) stayed there regularly for extended periods between 1902 and the year of his death, a convenient spot since it was well-connected by rail to Washington, D. C., and Ohio, the state Burton represented in the United States House and Senate. [back]
2. The services for which Chesnutt billed then-Senator Theodore Burton (1851–1929) have not been identified, and the date of the letter is unclear. The most likely year is 1913. Although Burton traveled to Hot Springs, Virginia, frequently, the letterhead must postdate March 1912, because H. Albert did not become manager of the hotel until July 1912. It must predate 1915, because the hotel's letterhead does not show the Homestead's east wing, which was completed in 1914 and included in the letterhead design thereafter. The 63rd U.S. Senate was not in session between March 17 and April 7, 1913, and Theodore Burton was reported to be in Hot Springs from March 15 to March 31, 1913, according to the Cleveland press. [back]
