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The Raymonds of Cambridge – 100 Years |
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Col. Robert Rossiter Raymond, 1871-1944
Preface This is one of several biographies of my paternal ancestors taken from a larger work still in process: Raymond Biography, the History of an American Family: The lineage of Richard Raymond, Salem, Massachusetts, ca. 1629 to Robert Rossiter Raymond, Cambridge, New York, 1944.These were printed separately for different institutions with an interest in the given individual. The first was of Robert’s grandfather, Robert Raikes Raymond (1817-1888), an 1837 graduate of Union College, Schenectady, and an attorney, journalist, educator, pastor and, indeed, a fiery abolitionist. Also, his large formal oil portrait, ca. 1842, was gifted to that school after a century and half in the family, including hanging for decades above the library fireplace at 120 West Main Street. Next is the story of Robert’s father, Brigadier General Charles Walker Raymond (1842-1913, USMA 1865), presented to the West Point Association of Graduates and the Cadet Library, and a Corps of Engineers office in Philadelphia for public display that included the general’s engineering tools. A third biography is of mining engineer Rossiter Worthington Raymond (1840-1918), Robert’s uncle, submitted to The National Mining Museum in Leadville, Colorado, as he was an inductee into its Hall of Fame in 1988. This was also presented to the New Almaden Mining Museum in San Jose, California, where he toured its cinnabar (quicksilver oar) mine in 1866, a century before the term Silicon Valley entered the lexicon. The last, from which the following series is taken, is found in two Cambridge archives, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and at the Cambridge Historical Society and Museum, in addition to the noted West Point collections. Foreword This project was conceived in the early 1990s not long after my father, Col. Charles Walker Raymond II (1909-1989, USMA 1931) died and was laid to rest with other Raymonds in the West Point Cemetery overlooking the Hudson River. A seed was planted then when I was handed some boxes of old family archives, a treasure trove of yellowed documents and manuscripts, of annotated grainy B&W snapshots and portraits that could provide the base for a good study of my grandfather’s years. The collection also opened a Pandora’s Box of questions, thankfully soon answered by those who knew the elder colonel, including the older first cousins. The idea still lay dormant for more than a decade, though, beyond a 1993 family gathering in Cambridge and at West Point, the occasion of the Centennial Celebration of Robert’s USMA Class of 1893 in conjunction with the graduation of the latest Raymond member of the Long Gray Line, Cadet Carl Raymond Ott (USMA 1993.) Within a couple of years, my older brother Bob (Robert W. Raymond, 1940-1995, CCS 1958), also passed away. He and several of his friends had been directing a project to erect monuments on the village green dedicated to the area’s war veterans, but died before that phase of the effort was finalized in 1996. The names of more than a few Raymond sons and grandsons of Cambridge were unveiled, joining hundreds of other area names. After the ceremony, held on a mild July day, one of the project leaders, Dave Thornton, remarked offhand: Now that Colonel Raymond and son Bob were no longer with us, who’d write what some might consider an interesting, if not remarkable family story, one of decades, of centuries of national service, of “Duty, Honor, Country”? Who’d write this? That was the moment I raised my hand (figuratively) to cross the literary Rubicon: Alea jacta est, the die is cast, to complete the task before the ranks diminished further. That was 15 years ago and the ranks continue to thin, so we press on, to present now, on the 140th anniversary of his birth, the life and times of Col. Robert Rossiter Raymond, American soldier, American citizen by birth, and faithful Christian. It’s written with an eye for the national and global events that shaped his life, and local events around him that he helped shape.
Dedication This biography is dedicated to the memory of Robert’s youngest daughter, Virginia Raymond Ott (1912–2011), the 1929 Valedictorian at Cambridge Union School. She spent countless hours regaling her nephew with stories of the family from the past decades, rough sketches and fine details she’d witnessed or heard from her father and others. An avid reader her entire life, in particular of American military history, she was the quintessential soldier’s daughter, wife, and mother. One of her last kind deeds was to review this manuscript and give it her imprimatur; it wouldn’t have been possible without her. - TMR 2011
Next time: PART I: Chapter 1: 1871-1888, Robert R. Raymond’s Childhood and Classic Education
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