Letter from Henry to Hattie, May 19, 1908

Letter from Henry to Hattie, May 19, 1908

Family; Visits; Travel; Snow; Railroad Travel; Chores; Church Work; Sprains; Cost

Henry writes this letter to Harriet in Canton while he is at their family home in Seville. He wishes that all his sisters could be there. Henry explains his entire journey from Auburn to Seville. Bella is now traveling to Seattle. The siblings at home have all split up the housework among them. Henry got an account of the Canton affairs that were investigated which Harriet said was a fair account.

Noyes, Henry Varnum

Unpublished

1908-05-19

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_839

1
Seville - Ohio - May 19th - 1908
Dear Hattie:-
Here I am in the pleasant \'93annex\'94 at the writing\
Desk that used to be Father\'92s and which is my place of wri-\
ting letters n the \'93old Home\'94. How nice it is to be here again.\
I have the parlor bed-room and make use of this annex\
When I am not in the sitting room with the rest of the \
family- How nice it would be if you and Mattie & Sarah\
were also here- Sarah expects to be here before I leave for about\
two weeks, as she expects to get here about June 12th and\
be here at this time of the year. We arrived here first as \
the blossoms were coming out in all the orchards_ The trees\
on the farm were soon laden with blossoms and every thing\
looked very pretty. The blossoms are gone now for a heavy\
storm of wind and rain two or three days ago took them all \
off. The [u]sisters[/u] may have written to you that Bella after\
a week\'92s visit went to Seattle_ Her sisters are going to \
help her in getting ready to return and she wished to have\
her teeth attended to by the dentist in Tacoma whom I\
[?went?] to while there_ He is I think a fine dentist at any\
rate has a large establishment_ Eight dental chairs \
and notwithstanding- eight patients can be treated at\
a time- there are always people waiting for their\
time_ [?She?] left Auburn April 30th. It snowed the\
night before and we talked down to the station in \'93slush\'94\
as the snow was thawing as soon as it came. Reached\
Rochester behind time to make connection- and had to wait\
more than an hour and a half_ We were bound for [?Cory, Pa?]\
to spend the Sabbath The pastor was a Seminary friend of \
William\'92s (C.C. Woodward). We reached Buffalo and asked \
the trainsman as we went down the steps- \'93Can we catch \
the train to Corry?\'94 \'93Just pulled out\'94 was the reply_\
Right here I was called out to supper & we always continue\
our conversation for sometime after the [?rituals?] are \'93finished\'94_ We\
\
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did the same this evening but now are through and have\
got the dishes removed and are around the dining table to write\
letters_ I will take up the thread of my discourse at Buffalo\
on the way to Corry- We got a train after waiting two hours\
and reached our destination at a little before dark finding\
Mr Woodward at the train waiting_ It was in the \
midst of a blinding snow storm_ This was a Friday evening_\
They told us that on Thursday night snow fell at the depth \
of 14 inches- but thawed rapidly- It snowed con-\
siderable on Saturday, but cleared off finely for Sunday_\
The Church gives their missionary contributions for the\
Canton Mission- The Church was well [?filled?] both \
morning & also in the Evening. I spoke at the Morning \
Service and Bella spoke in the Evening_ If you will\
ask \'93William & Mary\'94 I think they will be able to \
show you a photo of a horse & buggy Mr Woodward & Mrs\
Woodward Bella & myself- the interesting feature\
of the horse is that it is one that belonged formerly to Mr\
Stevenson and that Mary used to drive a great deal_\
Well we reached Seville Monday May 4th and found all\
well- Since, I have been taking it easy- writing letters \
some- reading the daily paper some- splitting wood some\
and at my old trade of taking care of the door yard. I \
finished going over it with the lawn-mower to-day. It\
looks quite nice the grass is so green_ The sheep had\
Eaten it down so that it looked very nice when I came_\
The sheep are now ready to go up to the woods. I may help\
drive them up to-morrow_ I am trying to make the \
acquaintance of \'93Muggins\'94 - feeding him at the table\
stroking him on the head [?or?] - am making some progress\
though I still think that his affections go our more\
strongly towards \'93Em\'94. She tells me that the old cat\
is as good as an alarm clock- coming regularly over\
the roof of the \'93Annex\'94 and through a broken pane and\
jumping down on the floor at almost Exactly 5-o-clock\
Every Morning. I am not yet fully [?cognizant?] of how\
work is divided here- but to this extent I discern that \
\
3\
Mary has charge of the chickens- Clara of the cows in a\
measure - and Em of the sheep- Mary [?frequents?] gets the\
pancakes for breakfast or toast as the care may be. I find\
satisfaction in this good milk-roast and potatoes boiled \
with milk as well as in pancakes & maple syrup_ and\
a bowl of bread and milk in the evening_ I might evi-\
dently go father and bare worse_\
There was a regular old time [illegible] last Saturday_\
It came very suddenly_ must have been to the North of\
us something like a cloud-burst. The streets of the village \
up East Street especially were flooded and peoples cellars filled_\
I heard that one man lost about 20 sheep floating away\
on the tide_ The \'93girls\'94 do not have the horses to care for\
now as Lee Nye and Mr Kelso who is next neighbor take care\
of them while [?plowing?] and getting in the Spring crops. It\
rained so much that the ground was too wet to get in the\
corn (that is to [u]plant[/u] it - [illegible] into the ground). So Clara & I took\
Kate yesterday and went up to the Cemetery which looked\
very pretty. They are getting it all in nice order for [\'97the\'97]\
\'93Decoration Day\'94 May 30th. I preached in the \'93Ancestral\'94 \
Church last Sabbath from the [^illegible] and it came to pass that\
while he [^was] parted from there He blessed them \'93[?in]. Mr Leith\
was away preaching in some place in Michigan two or three\
weeks ago and they say he is going again soon so their \
people do not feel sure that he is not looking out for\
another place\
We were glad to get your account of the work\
of the \'93Commission\'94 that investigated our Canton affairs.\
I am glad you think they were fair_ Your account cor-\
responds very well with what William wrote to us. He\
thought Dr Garret and Dr [?Fenn?] took a fair [?view?] of the\
matter but that Dr Rossiter was not so satisfactory_ I \
am glad that at last \'93Peace is declared\'94. I was not \
much in favor of a \'93Commission\'94 at first, in fact felt\
almost indignation [^that the Board] should send men from other Missions\
to settle out Canton affairs- But perhaps their work\
was beneficial_ They could do more no doubt with the\
managing Committee of the Hospital than we could have done.\
\
4\
Am very sorry Dr Garrett had such a serious time_ He\
must have suffered greatly- I know him very well & always\
thought he would try to do the right thing_ Dr Brown has \
sent me a copy of the letter he sent to the Mission giving the\
[?Achor?] of the Board after getting the report of the Commission_\
He almost goes into Ecstasies over it_ lauds the Com-\
mission to the skies for doing just what a [\'97majort\'97] majority\
of the Canton Mission asked the Board to do six years\
and which the Board summarily refused to do_\
I think I shall write to Dr Brown to-morrow saying\
that when the South-China-Mission, the Medical Missionary\
Society, and the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions\
un
\fs26 animously agree on [u]one thing[/u]- thanksgiving is in\
order- but will add- that one cannot help noticing how\
[u]very near[/u] the settlement made by the Commission was\
almost exactly what was proposed by a majority of the\
Canton Mission six years ago- Considerable seems to depend \
upon who does a thing_ Nevertheless the settlement\
is an immense relief and therein \'93I rejoice yea\
and will rejoice\'94_\
We had a letter from Bella this morning dated last\
Thursday 12 M. at that time she had reached [?Troy?] not\
very far from Spokane and the train was on time so\
that she probably reached Seattle the next morning at\
7 A.M.\
I am so sorry that Mattie sprained her foot so\
badly- glad to hear from your letters to the \'93home\'94 that came\
this morning that she is some better_ Those sprains seem to\
hang on so long_\
One thing more, in which I think you will be interested.\
You remember perhaps that gold watch that Father used to\
carry and afterwards have [^to me]. The works were so old that they\
had become [?comparativly?] useless. I gave it to Richard when I \
left Wooster [--in--] & gave him $12[u]00[/u] to get new works put in_ But he found\
he needed the money more for something else and it was never\
done. He brought it with him to Canton & intended to take it with him\
to Auburn and get new works put in_ My gold watch Chain was\
from Bella & she added to 5[u]00[/u] to the twelve Richard has received_ So I\
paid $17[u]00[/u] for new works and it is real pretty & keeps splendid time\
Is an [?Elgin?] watch_ has ben changed to a stem-winder. I value \
it very much from its associations_ My best wishes to all Canton friends \
\
[Note: horizontally on the right margin of page 4]\
You aff Henry_\

[Note: horizontally on the left margin of page 4]\
Dawson & Co Enlarged one of Richard\'92s photo\'92s to hang up in the new building_ William can\
tell you which it was_ Dawson said it was fine a picture as he ever received to deliver\
It is very satisfactory the face has a great [^deal] of [u]expression[/u] as much as any I ever saw_\
\
[Note: horizontally on the left margin of page 1]\
I must write tot Mattie soon_ Meanwhile perhaps you will let her see this_ I wrote to\
her I think a little while before leaving Auburn_