The Leverett Saltonstall Family in the Norfolk Hunt field, 1930. Leverett (top hat) was governor of Massachusetts and U.S. Senator, three terms each. Leverett, Jr is just left of his father.
In the dark of night on April 16, 1936, the atmosphere of refinement within the ancient walls of Harvard Yard was suddenly shattered by foxhounds in full cry. A candid confession to the affair is buried in the pages of The Norfolk Hunt: One Hundred Years of Sport, published in 1995 to commemorate Norfolk’s centennial. The statute of limitations having long expired, we can confidentially out the two students who organized and carried out the caper: Leverett Saltonstall, Jr. and I. Tucker Burr, III.
Tuck’s mother, Mrs. I. Tucker (Evelyn Thayer) Burr, Jr. was MFH and huntsman of the Norfolk Hunt at the time of the incident. Whether she was a willing accessory we’ll leave to the reader to decide. Young Leverett whipped-in to her from time to time. Leverett’s father, who traced his roots directly to the Mayflower, was Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, soon to be governor for three terms, and finally U.S. Senator for three elected terms.
Mrs. I. Tucker Burr, Jr., MFH and huntsman of the Norfolk Hunt (1933–1940)
Here’s how Leverett, Jr. recorded the hunt in his sporting journal:
After several months of planning Tuck and I got two hounds from his Ma, Andie & Mollie & some fox litter. We brought them into Harvard and went up to the room where quite a crowd had gathered. I laid the drag from Grays to Thayer then up to [President] Conant’s house then down along Wig then up by Straus. They didn’t strike until in front of Widner, then Jesus such tongue, Andy leading up by Conant’s. The hills of the Yard echoing—yard cops gathering, people hollering Tally Ho, windows opening. Down along Wig. What music. They finish up strong denning fox to south in Mass. There being no one there to catch them they wandered off down Mass. Ave maybe trying for another. Bill Rowe caught them thank god. Tuck and the others spent most of their time either looking belligerently for cops or desperately evading (same). Wonderful sport had by all….
The finish was as sudden as the start. The hounds were hustled into a truck and carried off; the yard became quiet as ever.
Posted February 5, 2016
Reprinted with the kind permission of the Norfolk Hunt