Biography: Historical Note from Harvard Houghton Library
From Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University.

Kenneth Romaver-Ron Raisbeck (1899-1931) was born in Odell, Illinois, the youngest of nine children. He graduated from Bloomington High School in Bloomington, Illinois (Class of 1916) and received the Price-Greenleaf Scholarship to Harvard College (Class of 1920, A.B. 1921). While at Harvard, Raisbeck was an assistant to (and later a good friend of) George Pierce Baker for his 47 Workshop play writing course and a close friend of American novelist Thomas Wolfe, whom he met in 1920. Raisbeck was said to be openly homosexual while at Harvard. In 1926, Raisbeck toured Paris with Wolfe and other friends, Marjorie Crocker Fairbanks (Mrs. Sydney Fairbanks) and Miss Helen Harding. At some point Wolfe and Raisbeck had an argument and continued their trips separately. Wolfe and Raisbeck never saw each other again. Raisbeck became a playwright and screenwriter and lived in various locations in the United States. As a close friend of G. P. Baker, he spent time at Baker's summer home in New Hampshire. His plays consisted of Torches (1923), Rock Me, Julie which played for two weeks on Broadway in New York City (1931), and The lady of [in?] Spain which was never produced. Late in the 1920s he worked on screenplay scenarios in Hollywood and in 1931 he came East again. He was found dead in a Westport, Connecticut cemetery on September 30, 1931; the cause of death developed into a controversy but many said he was murdered by strangulation. The killer was never found. Raisbeck was the model for the character Frank Starwick in Wolfe's second autobiographical novel, Of time and the river. Marjorie Crocker Fairbanks was a close friend of Raisbeck, and for a time, the wife of Sydney Fairbanks. Sydney Van Kleek Fairbanks (1895-1985, Harvard (Class of 1917) A.B. 1920, JD 1925, AM 1933, PhD 1936) was the founder of the Harvard Poetry Society, a playwright, and author and former attaché to the Italian Ambassador. Austen Crocker Fairbanks was their child. Biographical information taken from: Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938. The Starwick episodes; edited, with an introduction by Richard S. Kennedy. Akron, Ohio: Thomas Wolfe Society, 1989. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou01969

Name: Kenneth R Raisbeck
Age: 4/12
Birth Date: Jan 1899
Birthplace: Illinois
Home in 1900: Odell, Livingston, Illinois
Sheet Number: 2A
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: 20
Family Number: 21
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's name: Frank Raisbeck
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's name: Sarah B Raisbeck
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Frank Raisbeck 47
Sarah B Raisbeck 42
Robert B Raisbeck 19
Nellie V Raisbeck 17
Lila L Raisbeck 15
Elizabeth L Raisbeck 13
Lottie E Raisbeck 11
Frank N Raisbeck 9
Charles D Raisbeck 7
Kenneth R Raisbeck 4/12

(Source: 1900 United States Federal Census)

Name: Kenneth R Raisbeck
Age in 1910: 11
Birth Year: abt 1899
Birthplace: Illinois
Home in 1910: Bloomington Ward 6, McLean, Illinois
Street: E Duprie St
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's name: Frank Raisbeck
Father's Birthplace: England
Mother's name: Sarah Raisbeck
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Native Tongue: English
Attended School: Yes
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Frank Raisbeck 57
Sarah Raisbeck 52
Lila L Raisbeck 25
Charlotte Raisbeck 21
F Max Raisbeck 19
Charles D Raisbeck 17
Kenneth R Raisbeck 11

)Source: 1910 United States Federal Census)

Name: Kenneth Raisbeck
Race: White
Birth Date: 5 Jan 1899
Street address: 1163 - 26 St
Residence Place: Rock Island, Illinois, USA
Physical Build: Slender
Height: Tall
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Relative: Sarah Raisbeck

(Source: U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918)

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Parents:
Francis L. Raisbeck
Sarah Abigail Bemis