This collection comprises eleven letters from 1856 to 1858 sent by Yale College student William Henry Anderson to his parents, Francis D. and Jane Anderson. Much of the correspondence is concerned with the events of February 9, 1858, when Anderson and fellow members of the Yale student organization, the Crocodile Club, got into an argument with a group of New Haven firemen outside their firehouse. The argument escalated and an unknown person among the Yale students fired two bullets. One of them struck fireman William Miles and he died from the injury the next day. Anderson and the other members of the Crocodile Club were brought to trial, where all of them invoked their Fifth Amendment right. Because the prosecution was unable to learn who actually committed the murder, none of the students were charged. However, Yale faculty asked the Crocodile Club to disband and the students agreed.
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