The morning journal-courier., 1908-03-28
Up-to-Date Book Reviews and Notes of the Publishers

THEoDosIA BURR. The First Gen.
 tlewoman of Her Time. The Story of
 Her Liie and History of Persons
 and Events Connected Herewith By
 Charles Felton Pidgin, author of
 The Burr Trilogy Little Burr. q
 Ble ennerhassett' and The Clumax.'
 The C. NJ. Clark Publishing company
 Boston, Mass; regular edition, s2.5O;
 library edition, s3.
 Many years ago Charles Felton Pidgin began a study of the life of Aaron Burr. with the intention of writing play with Burr as the hero. As the fascination of his subject grew upon him., however, he determined to give to the world masterly study of the life and times of Burr, and of the events connected herewith. ''Theo- dosia," the first of the series, has just been issued by the c. NJ. Clark Ru blshing O., Boston. This fascin- atif.g life story of Burr's brilliant and ill-fated daughter Is profusely illus published photographs, and much new light is thrown upon her history. Whatever opinion may be entertained of the father, the memory of the daughter must be revered as one of the loveliest and most excellent of American women, and the revelation of her untimely fate can only serve to invest that memory with more tender and melancholy interest.
 Theodosia Burr has been a fruitful theme for the author, the artist and the poet. Mystery has a great and enduring charm. If she had fallen overheard and been drowned, her name would have been forgotten long ago or have received only casual men ton. In MT. Pidgin's "Theodosia," the mystery which for so many years has enshrouded her fate seems to be revealed. Her tragic story, unsur- passed in the pages of romance, is told with exquisite charm, and with all the authors subtle literature skill. It is far more fascinating than fiction.
 Aaron Burr's love for his child, the gifted and lovely Theodosia, is hardly duplicated in the realm of poetry and romance. No more exquisite family letters may be found anywhere than those which passed between the two.
 Naturally the ancestry of Burr re- ceives attention. Theodosia's grand father is Rev Aaron Burr and her great-grandfather was the famous Rev. Jonathan Edwards of theological .xr i,,to ,r. marized concerning this great theo- login's career and his influence upon his times and mention is given of the renowned Rev. Timothy Edwards, father of Jonathan, whose parish where he otficiated for sixty years was at Windsor Farms" For Theo- dosia's fathers cratic career the au- thor gives in explanation the words of Prof Samuel Simpson, who was of Hartford Theological seminary, who said: "The grandmother of Jon athan Edwards, the first wife of Rich ard Edwards of Hartford. was Elisa beth Tuthill (Tuttle), in whose veins the taint of insanity evidently flowed, which accounts for the strange out croppings of depravity which from time to time appeared in the Edwards race, the most notable instance of which is the case of his (the Rev. Jonathan Edwards) grandson, Aaron Burr" Upon which the author re- marks: Strange that so astute a law yer as Colonel Burr did not avail himself of a plea of inherited mania in the notable trial at Richmond, Va" MT. Pidgin now devotes several pages to giving much concerning the life of Solomon Stoddard, Theodosia Burrs maternal great-grandfather. Many pages are next devoted to facts and incidents in the career of Rev. Jon1- than Edwards and his gifted wife The first of MT. Edwards published works was sermon delivered in New Ha- ven. September 10. 1741, on "The Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God Space is then given to an ac- count of a meeting of the Edwards family held at Stockbridge, Mass. in 1870, at which commemorative dis course was given by Rev. Theodore Dwight Woolsey, D.D.. LID, ex- president of Yale college, and in which many other noted men partici- pated; and an account is also given of services held October 5, 1903 at South Windsor, Conn, commemorative of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edwards, at which Yale was repre- scented by Rev. Prof. Lewis Brastow and Rev. Theodore & Woolsey the latter of whom delivered an address on The Descendants of Jonathan Ed wards" An interesting account of the courtship and marriage of Mir and Mrs. Edwards and of their domes- tic life follows. The wife, Sarah Pierpont was the daughter of James Pierpont the minister at New Ha- ven MT. Edwards was impatient to wed, but Mrs. Edwards was firm in putting off the marriage until she had reached the age of seventeen. The author remarks: She certainly would have received commendation from Mir. Roosevelt and perhaps have been awarded a medal for in less than twenty-two years she became the
 
 mother of eleven children. She was a woman of rare virtues and of un- common refinement and beautiful character
 The author next devotes space to the life and career of Rev. Aaron Burr, father of Col. Aaron Burr, who graduated at Yale in 1735 and was ''converted during the revival in New Haven in 1736"
 Rev. Aaron Burr's daughter Sarah married Judge Tappan Reeve. Their son Aaron graduated at Yale in 1902. Tappan Reeve became chief judge of the Superior court of this state, who died in 1923 and who in 17S4 'estab- lished the first. law school in the United States" at Litehfield. the he ginning of Yale's now great law