This is the letter that the two boys wrote.
This is the only picture of Howard Williams I have. I can only wonder what became of him. I can only say he was born in Chicago in 1887, and lived at the address you will read below. This came from a scrapbook lovingly kept by his mother.I just adore this letter. It was sent to President Cleveland in 1895 by two boys named Howard Williams and Harry B. Sutton.
I will type out the wording as it is a bit hard to read...
President Cleveland
Chicago, Oct. 30, 1895
Our Dear President
We would like your consent to have another regiment in the U.S. Army made of boys only. So far we are armed with bows and arrows. We want this to keep off the boys that swear.
Yours respectfully
Colonel Howard J. Williams
213 S. Leavitt
9 years old
Major Harry B. Sutton
234 S. Leavitt
same age
P.S. At present our barracks are under our front steps. We trust you will help us into better quarters for the winter.
I did some searching for the addresses listed here, but a lot has changed from that time. This was 114 years ago. I recently went back to where I lived 40 years ago and could hardly find anything much left.