The Triumph and Tragedy of Frederic Dane Huntington
For much of his life Frederic Huntington seemed to be the model all-American citizen. He was a football player, successful lawyer, and served his country in WWI. The end of his life, however, is marred by mysterious events and tragedy.
Frederic (Freddy) Dane Huntington was born on December 5, 1889 in Ashfield, MA. He was the youngest of six children to George Putnam Huntington and Lilly St. Agnam Barret Huntington. Freddie’s father, George, died in 1904, after which Freddy was supported through school by his mother and four older brothers. From 1904-1906 Freddy attended St. Paul’s School, an elite boarding school in Concord, N.H. He went on to Harvard from 1908-1912 where he was a prominent athlete, playing football, hockey, and other sports. In 1909, his sophomore year, Freddy was 20 years old, 5’8, weighed 166 lbs., and played center position on the football team-- the same position he had played his freshman year. In 1911 newspapers across the U.S. printed articles on Frederic’s incredible strength and athleticism. Articles with titles “New Strong Man at Harvard” and “Harvard Boy Excels Champion Pugilist” had nothing but rave reviews for Freddy, saying he was “nothing but muscle.” That year, Freddy was “first string center” for the varsity football team and was the strongest man in that year’s registration and the lightest man to try out for his position. His astonishing strength was determined by a series of tests under a system devised by Dr. Dudley A Sargent. This method included points for strength of arms, legs, and chest and lungs: weight is also figured into the calculations. With his legs Freddy was reportedly able to lift 1,263 lbs. and with his back 594 lbs.! In 1912, his senior year at Harvard, he was the chosen captain of the All-America Hockey team. Freddy graduated that year with a Bachelor of Arts degree and remained at Harvard to study law. He obtained a Bachelor of Law degree in 1915 and was admitted to the Bar.
Freddy’s gas mask
For a year Frederic practiced law in Boston for Choate, Hall, and Stewart. His time there was cut short by his joining the Massachusetts National Guard in 1916 when he was the Sargent of Artillery in Mexico. From 1917-1919 Freddy was overseas in France as Captain of Battery A 101st Field Artillery, 26th division. Freddy served at Chemin des Dames and Meuse-Argonne, two battles that were crucial in the Allies’ offensive effort during the war. In April 1919 he was detained as Judge Advocate, a lawyer who advises a court-martial on points of law and sums up the case, after the Armistice. Freddy returned to the U.S. August 11 and was discharged August 25, 1919. The war was “a shattering experience for him.” There is no record of Freddy being wounded, but a 1920 diary entry by his older brother Michael Paul St. Agnam Huntington (known as Paul), recorded that Freddy still coughed a lot, saying “the gassing two years ago had left its toll.” His mother said that he was never the same again. Like many other soldiers, Freddy may have suffered from PTSD as result from his service during WWI.
Dress sword presented to Freddy by Members of Battery A 1st F.A., M.N.G. inscribed with his name
In 1923 Freddy became the Assistant Treasurer for Real Silk Hoisery Company in New York City and was living in Bedford Hills, NY. A year later he married Elsie Entress (b. 1899, d. 1948) on February 9th, bringing her down to Norton, Virginia so that his brother Paul, an Episcopal minister, could marry them. Freddy and Elsie had no children.
Elsie Entress Huntington
Things become alarming for the Huntingtons in 1938. By this time Freddy was the Treasurer for Real Silk Hoisery Company and the Huntingtons were known New York socialites. On December 9th, an anonymous telephone caller demanded $50,000 from Mrs. Huntington. A man with a gruff voice reportedly said:
“Tell your husband to provide $50,000 within the next 48 hours. Otherwise something will happen to you. I will send you further instructions.”
That night police guarded their Katonah home and the 48-hour deadline expired without another word from the would-be extortioner. The Huntingtons were unable to discover an explanation for this threat.
Tragically, Freddy died just two years later at the age of 50. On January 7, 1940, Frederic drove to Hadley with his German-Shepherd dog, presumably to visit his brother James Lincoln Huntington, who was working on researching and preserving “Forty Acres.” After a prolonged absence, James went looking for him and found Frederic and his dog’s bodies frozen to death in the Old Hadley Cemetery. Frederic had shot his dog with a pistol before turning it upon himself; the death was ruled a suicide. Conflicting news articles stated that the bodies were either found at the cemetery entrance or over the Huntington family plot.
For more on Frederic’s family click here.
A large thank you to Sheilagh Smigen-Rothkopf who became interested in Freddy Huntington when taking a tour of PPH last summer and delved into many resources including ancestry.com and newspaper archives describing events in Freddy's life and sending the information onto the Museum.
Works Cited:
Caroline Smith, Museum Assistant. “Huntington Family Cross-Stitch.” Sept 1, 2019. Accessed August 2020. Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum. https://www.pphmuseum.org/blogging-through-the-museum/2019/9/1/huntington-family-cross-stitch
D.M.G Hunting. “War Stories.” June 2007. Accessed August 2020.
“Elise Huntington Entress.” Elise Huntington Entress - Ancestry.com, www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Elise+Huntington_%28Entress%29.
Amherst College. “Porter-Phelps-Huntington Family Papers, 1698-1968 (Bulk 1800-1950) Finding Aid.” Five College Archives & Manuscript Collections, http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/amherst/ma30_odd.html#odd-gh
The Nebraska State Journal. “New Strong Man at Harvard.” Lincoln, Nebraska. October 22, 1911.
News-Journal. “Harvard Boy Excels Champion Pugilist.” Mansfield, Ohio. October 27, 1911.
The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 20, 1909.