Burgess, Thornton W.: - A naturalist and writer of children's literature, Thornton W. Burgess was an American who lived from January 17, 1874, to June 5, 1965. He was occasionally referred to as the Bedtime Story-Man because of his weekly piece Bedtime Stories. By the time of his resignation, he had produced over 170 books and 15,000 stories for the daily newspaper column. Burgess was a direct descendant of Thomas Burgess, one of the earliest residents of Sandwich in 1637, and was born on January 17, 1874, in Sandwich, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. His parents were Caroline F. Haywood and Thornton W. Burgess. When Thornton, Sr. passed on the same year his son was born, Thornton, Jr. was raised in Sandwich by his mother. They had a modest way of life. He worked tending cows, harvesting many flowers or berries, exporting water lilies from nearby ponds, hawking candies, and capturing muskrats when he was younger. One of his employers, William C. Chipman, resided on Discovery Hill Road, which had a marsh and woodland habitat for wildlife. Many of Burgess' writings that include Smiling Pool and the Old Briar Patch are placed in this habitat.