Bill Aspinwall

Roving Bill Aspinwall (1845-1921) was born one of 23 siblings, married 5 times, wounded fighting for the Union in one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, kicked out of numerous jobs and solders' homes for drunkenness, and spent decades wandering as penniless vagabond. Bill also kept up a 24-year correspondence with John James McCook, Professor of Modern Languages at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. In so doing Bill provided the earliest and best account of life on the...See more

Roving Bill Aspinwall (1845-1921) was born one of 23 siblings, married 5 times, wounded fighting for the Union in one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, kicked out of numerous jobs and solders' homes for drunkenness, and spent decades wandering as penniless vagabond. Bill also kept up a 24-year correspondence with John James McCook, Professor of Modern Languages at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. In so doing Bill provided the earliest and best account of life on the road by an American hobo. See less