The Derby Public Library served cake and decorated with fresh roses Friday, in honor of the birthday of Holton Harcourt Wood.
Wood’s father, Col. H. Holton Wood, founded the library with a $50,000 gift in 1901, in memory of Wood, who died at the age of 11 from meningitis.
He asked that in return, the library remember his son’s birthday each year with fresh flowers.
So each year, the library staff decorates the interior with fresh roses — Harcourt’s favorite flower — and photos and documents explaining the boy in whose memory the library was founded.
Recently, the library staff added cake and punch to the mix, said library director Catherine Williams.
And this year, for the first time, a school note written by Harcourt to a friend was added to the display.
Williams said the staff found the note while searching through old archives recently.
Photo: Jodie Mozdzer Roses adorn a photograph of Holton Harcourt Wood at the Derby Public Library Friday.
The note is signed; “Good by, Harcourt Wood.”
Col. Wood was the director of the Ousatonic Water Company, Derby Gas and Electric Company and the Birmingham National Bank while he lived in derby from 1885 to 1899.
Harcourt died in 1897.
Williams said that several patrons look forward to the celebration each year — and some people only come to the library each year for the birthday.
Some claim they have had Harcourt sightings.
Williams said the staff at the library has never seen what they believe to be a ghost, but said sometimes books are unexplainably rearranged first thing in the morning.
