JOHN BIGELOW TO TILDEN
"Thursday Mg., April 19 (1883).
"My dear Governor,—Referring to the request of L. Smith Hobart, of New Haven, in regard to your collegiate residence at New Haven, I find myself only partially prepared to answer his questions, and though I had it on my mind when I saw you Tuesday morning to question you of other matters, I left without bethinking me of that duty.
"Your correspondence shows that you entered Yale College a third-term Freshman in the year 1834, and left at the close of that term never to return, for in December you were settled in New York. I find no evidence of your having returned to college in the fall.
"But there is nothing in your correspondence to show what room you occupied. As you ate at Commons, I infer that you had a room in the college.
"If you will have the goodness to supply the information about the number of your room and the name of the college building that you occupied, I will be prepared to answer Mr. Hobart.
"If I am not right in assuming that you were a Yale third-term Freshman in 1834, and no longer, please correct me.
"Yours faithfully,
"John Bigelow.
"P. S.—If you did not room in the college, please tell me where or with whom you had lodgings."