By Melanie Zhang

In 1827, someone at the College of New Jersey—now named Princeton University—had a bone to pick. 

Deep in the stacks of Mudd Library, the evidence can still be found: a manuscript, deceptively recorded as simply “Notes on the Members of the Class of 1827.” In my opinion, a more accurate description would be Princeton University’s equivalent of the Burn Book from Mean Girls, nearly 200 years earlier. 

This manuscript contains, in the words of its anonymous writer, “The names of the Students who composed the class, which graduated in the College of New Jersey in the year eightteen [sic] hundred & twenty seven;— together with their respective standings at the close of their college course; the talents of each, (according to my estimation) and also the character of each while in college, [arranged] in [alphabetical order].”

Unfortunately for Baynham Baylor from Virginia, the alphabetical order means that he is up first. Our writer certainly didn’t hold back in his criticism, describing Baylor as “a person of [moderate] talents—but idle noisy and dissipated to such a degree as to be threatened with suspension a few weeks before graduating.” Funnily enough, “noisy” seems to have been added as an afterthought. There is no way to prove this, but I find myself imagining that our writer sat down to write his magnum opus, then was promptly disrupted by his classmate’s rowdy behavior, prompting this addition.

Next up is Edward M. Biddle, described as respectable but somewhat noisy. David Bogart manages to escape relatively unscathed with “moderate talents” and a “character respectable”—somehow one of the most positive descriptions present—but Edward Calkin fares significantly worse; our writer dubs his talents “inferiour” and his writing “very unconnected,” also noting that he took no honors and was “fond of playing ball and of sleeping and also of the ref[ectory].” 

And so on and so forth. Some classmates are given moderate praise, while far more classmates are disparaged. Some of my favorite descriptions include: 

• “of very moderate talents a character somewhat to be despised” (#8, John Davenport of Virginia) 
• “in character wanting sense” (#11, John Finley of New York) 
• “fond of the bar room” (#15, John Van Dyke Joline of New Jersey) 
• “unsteady irregular, noisy & inclined to drink” (#20, George Pepper of Philadelphia) 
• “by no means popular although a great seeker for popularity” (#22, James Speer of New Jersey) 
• “very poorly prepared for college” (#24, Garrabrant Van Riper of New Jersey) 

Meanwhile, Ellis B. Freeman didn’t seem to even merit a description—the only information provided about him is that he was from New Jersey, followed by a blank space. Was it an accidental omission, merely the result of our writer forgetting to come back and finish an entry? Or was it intentional? Who’s to say?

Last but not least, our list finishes with #27, Benjamin Williamson from New Jersey, and #28, William Yates from Virginia. Williamson receives possibly my favorite description of all—the writer found him “quick to commit, slow to understand, full of words, but often void of sense— character not very respectable.”

According to this manuscript, the Class of 1827 was either a lot of fun or an absolute disaster, depending on how you look at it. Six students were professors of religion, but two were dissipated, two prone to infidelity, two inclined to drink, two lacking sense, three idle, and six noisy. 

These descriptions are written in language that is no longer commonly used by college students today—you would describe someone as “a cheater” rather than “inclined to infidelity” and just say that Benjamin Williamson needs to stop blabbing in class—but the same kind of ideas are still around. Translated into Gen Z slang, the descriptions in this manuscript can be found in countless group chats and probably some written journals as well. People never change, it seems, and neither do college students. 

So who was our writer? While we don’t get a signature, and therefore will never truly know who authored this masterpiece, there is a notable omission. Princeton’s Undergraduate Alumni Index lists 29 graduating members in the Class of 1827, with only one student—John G. Andrews—not included in this manuscript. 

It’s hard to confirm if Andrews truly authored our 1827 Burn Book. There’s very limited information about the 29 students from this graduating class, and Andrews himself is similarly elusive. Maybe someone else was the writer and was purposefully framing Andrews to cause even more drama. Personally, I’m leaning towards Andrews as the author though, and if that is true, he is—in my very best Gen Z slang—an absolute icon.

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Melanie Zhang participated in an undergraduate internship program sponsored by the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries this past summer. Part of her work included processing collections in Princeton University Library’s Special Collections, including the “Notes on Members of the Class of 1827.” Melanie is a senior at New York University concentrating in history and English. She also volunteers as a research assistant for Stolen Relations, a project at Brown University documenting indigenous enslavement in the Americas.