Edward Bowditch Edward " Pete " Bowditch , Jr . ( October 29 , 1881April 6 , 1965 ) was an American football player , military officer , diplomat , and insurance broker . He was a consensus All - American football player at Harvard in 1901 and 1902 . He later had a distinguished military and diplomatic career , including stints as an observer in the Russo - Japanese War of 1904 - 1905 , Secretary and Vice Governor of Moro Province in the Philippines , aide - de - camp to Gen . John J . Pershing during World War I , inspector general of the New York National Guard , and as a member of the Harbord Commission , charged with studying the relationship between Armenia and the United States , and the Wood - Forbes Mission that concluded in 1921 that Filipinos were not yet ready for independence from the United States . Bowditch also worked for nearly 30 years as an insurance broker affiliated with The Equitable Life Assurance Society . Early years . Bowditch was born in Albany , New York , in 1881 . He was the grandson of astronomer and mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch . He attended Groton School in Massachusetts . Bowditch next attended Harvard College where he played football at the end position for the Harvard Crimson football team from 1901 to 1903 . He was a consensus All - American in both 1901 and 1902 . While attending Harvard College , Bowditch was listed as being six feet tall and weighing 173 pounds . He also played on Harvard ' s “ second ” baseball team and rowed on his class crew . After graduating from Harvard in 1903 , Bowditch attended Harvard Law School and received his law degree in 1907 . Military and diplomatic service . Bowditch had a long and distinguished career of military and diplomatic service . He was an observer during the Russo - Japanese War from 1904 to 1905 . He served as secretary to Consul E . Morgan and was stationed near Port Arthur in Manchuria . In 1909 , he was named private secretary to William Cameron Forbes , the Governor General of the Philippines . He later served until 1914 as Secretary and Vice Governor of Moro Province on Mindanao . He also served for a short time as the Acting Governor of the Philippines when the Governor General , John J . Pershing , was recalled to the United States . During World War I , he served in the United States Army in France . He held the rank of major and was the personal aide - de - camp to Gen . John J . Pershing . He received the Distinguished Service Order from the British government for his service in the war . In 1919 , Bowditch served as a member of the Harbord Commission , charged with studying the relationship between Armenia and the United States following World War I . In 1920 , Bowditch left the U . S . Army infantry ( having served in the 301st Infantry ) and joined the U . S . Army Cavalry . He served as an officer in the Army ' s 5th and 12th Cavalry Regiment s . In 1921 , Bowditch was appointed as a member of the Wood - Forbes Mission charged by President Warren G . Harding with investigating conditions in the Philippines . The Commission concluded that Filipinos were not yet ready for independence from the United States , a finding that was widely criticized in the Philippines . In 1924 , Bowditch joined Gen . Pershing on a mission to Peru as part of the celebration of the centenary of the Battle of Ayacucho . In 1929 , Bowditch was appointed as the Corps Area Civilian Aide to the Secretary of War , James William Good . Bowditch left the Army and in the early 1930s and became a lieutenant colonel in the New York National Guard . In 1932 , he became the division inspector of the New York National Guard in and was stationed at Camp Smith near Peekskill , New York . In 1940 , Bowditch was involved in an investigation of the anti - Semitic Christian Front in connection with the theft of explosive cordite powder and 3 , 500 rounds of ammunition . During World War II , he was restored to active service with the U . S . Army . In 1943 , he retired from the Army and became the inspector general and chief of staff of the New York State Guard . Bowditch finally retired from military duty in October 1945 at age 64 . Family and business career . In business , Bowditch was employed as an insurance broker and was associated with The Equitable Life Assurance Society for almost 30 years . On June 8 , 1926 , Bowditch married Katherine Gabaudan Ross Goodlett ( 1879 - 1933 ) , a poet and dancer from Kansas City , Missouri . They had one son , Edward Warwick David Bowditch . Katherine also had a daughter from her first marriage to Ralph Erskine Goodlett ( 1860 - 1936 ) , Nicole Ross Goodlett ( Desir ) ( 1916 - 1996 ) . Katherine was the daughter of John Alexander Ross ( 1850 - 1901 ) , a native of Kentucky and graduate of Yale , who was an attorney in Kansas City , Missouri . He was a direct descendant of George Ross , who signed the Declaration of Independence as a member of the Pennsylvania delegation . Her mother was Marie Aleta Mansfield ( 1857 - 1930 ) , a native of St . Joseph , Missouri , and graduate of Columbia College . Both Katherine and her mother were very intelligent and gifted women . Katherine died at the couple ' s home on Park Avenue on March 10 , 1933 , at age 54 , despite the age listed in the headline of her obituary in The New York Times . She evidently misled her second husband into believing she was fifteen years younger than her actual age . She was born on February 24 , 1879 , and there are substantial records to that effect , including the marriage license application for her first marriage , which occurred on September 29 , 1903 , and a passport application she signed in 1899 , listing her birth year as 1879 . ( If , in fact she was only 39 years old in 1933 , she could hardly have married in 1903 ! )