Presbyterian Church; Missionaries; Sabbath; Church meetings
Description
In this letter to her father, Harriet talks about the upcoming unification of the Old and New School Presbyterian churches. She also writes about the incoming influx of missionaries. She concludes by discussing various acquaintances and friends, and recounting her Sabbath activities.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
Loose, The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1869-11-10
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Presbyterian Church, Old School-New School Controversy, 1835-1870
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
[Note: some kind of logo embossed on the upper left]
Canton Nov 10th /69
My dear Father
As this is the day appointed for the
wedding day of the Old and New School Presbyterian
church. I think I must celebrate the event by writing
to you. Our letters came yesterday bringing good news.
From Dr Happer we learn that the McChesneys'
+ Marcellus' are going to wait a month and come
with him. A lady from Pittsburg a Miss Shaw
who was out in the service of US Christian Commission
two years at Nashville, has applied to be sent out also.
Her friends will provide against difficulty with regard
to funds by raising enough to pay her passage + a years
salary. The Board had not yet decided whether to
send her or not when Dr Happer wrote but I imagine
they will decide affirmatively + if as Dr Happer says
Mr Condit + family came at the same time only think of
it counting the children there will be [u]sixteen[/u] all
coming at once. I dont know how it will seem I think
it will be very "jolly" as the English say. I remember
when six missionaries stopped here for a week last year
on their way to Siam it seemed like quite a large
party, an "inundation of American missionaries" as some one
said. And now I must tell you about our having a
visit from the New York Observer in the shape of good
Dr E D [?G?] Prime or as the paper hath it "Ensebins" the
brother of "Ireneans" and two years his junior. I think
I mentioned in my last that we were expecting to see them (Dr +
Mrs Prime) in Canton soon. We did not expect them quite
so soon however + were away at Macao. When we heard of their
arrival we feared we should miss of seeing them entirely
but they staid a few days after we returned and came
over and spent the last two days with us If we had
been here when they came very likely they would have
stayed with us so we thought ourselves very unfortunate in
being away just then. Still we had a good visit from
them but it would have been nice if it could have
been longer. Dr Prime is a [u]very[/u] nice man + if possible
more than fills my idea of the Editor of the NY Observer.
I dont know but he seems as nice and good as Dr Lowrie
and I am sure I never expect to meet any one any
better than he is. [u]Dr Lowrie, Mr Loomis,[/u] and Dr [u]Prime[/u].
I would not have missed of becoming acquainted with
them for a great deal. I feel best acquainted with
Mr Loomis as Henry + I correspond with him and
San Francisco seems quite like a neighboring city.
Dr Prime makes me think a little of you sometimes.
Mrs Prime is the daughter of Dr Wm Goodell. She is
Dr Prime's second wife and fifteen years younger he is 55
I could easily think her 30 years younger although
many think she [u]looks[/u] as old as she is. She seemed
more like his daughter than his wife + I could'nt help
feeling that it was a piece of presumption for her to marry
Dr Prime. She certainly suffers by comparison with him,
but then to be sure most people would She made me
think some of Mell Russell only more affected and I dont
imagine has as good a mind as Mell. I would like to
hear something of the Russell family are they still
in Cleveland. Mr Preston said that Mrs Prime
was half way between Mrs Folsom + Mrs French
+ I really dont think that would be [u]quite[/u] the "golden
mean." If you ever hear anything of the Folsoms
I hope you will let us know as we do not hear directly
from them. I feel sorry for them + yet we cannot
feel as we should if their course here had been different.
[--We are looking forward with much interest to the
arrival of our new missionaries. We learn by this
mail that they will all come together in the Jan
steamer unless Mr Condit + family should wait
a month longer. Dr Happer writes that a lady
from Pittsburg a Miss Shaw has applied to come
out with them but her application had not yet
been considered by the Board at the time he wrote.
Her friends had offered to obviate any difficulty in
the way of friends by paying her passage + salary
the first year so that I imagine they will decide
to send her. I feel as if I can hardly wait
two months longer to see them all. Miss Shaw
was out for two years in the service of USCC--] I wrote
the first of this letter a few days ago and was rather
annoyed when I turned over to the first page just
now to find that I am writing the same thing over
again rather an unnecessary performance. I think
it must be because my head is so full of the subject
that it will keep coming out. We are going next
Monday day after tomorrow with Mr Piercy + Miss
Radcliffe of the English Wesleyan Mission for a
trip of two or three weeks up the river. It is very
pleasant weather now and I am sure we shall
have a nice trip.
It is Sabbath evening but I will add a line to-night I
shall be so busy in the morning. Our Sabbath evening
meetings have been changed lately + now instead of
meeting in two divisions, they all meet here, in our
house. Our parlor is considerable larger than the
one at [u]home[/u] but it was more than full to-night
between 30 + 40 present. It seems so nice to have
such large meetings. Last Sabbath Dr Prime
preached for us from the text "Do this in remembrance
of me" a nice sermon. To-night Mrs Williams
from Peking was at meeting. She is the wife of
Dr Williams another of The Middle Kingdom, + seems
like a [u]very[/u] nice person. When we come back
from the country I hope we shall see more
of her as she expects to stay here some weeks.
Bishop Kingsley of the Methodist Church sent
out by the Conference (American) to visit their
mission in China is coming here soon. I am
afraid he will come while we are away in the
country + so we shall miss of seeing him.
It seems sad that Mr McDowell is so afflicted I hope
you will not forget to write to us. Give them our warmest
sympathy + tell them I think of them very often +
hope to hear better news from them. And now good-night
With much love for Mother + tell the rest from Your aff daughter Hattie.