Letter from Hattie to Father, May 11, 1874
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Father, May 11, 1874
Subject
Birthdays; Mail steamers; Smallpox; Boarding schools; Church buildings
Description
Harriet hopes her father is not anxious on account of her not sending letters for the past six weeks. She thanks her family for the birthday wishes and talks about celebrating Mr. Whitehead's birthday. Lillie Happer leaves for Hong Kong soon where she will spend the summer. Harriet mentions the Ladies Cruse and hopes to hear further news from Seville. The boarding school has been reopened, it was good they went home to avoid smallpox, and the church is being rebuilt. She mentions that the steamers between San Francisco to Hong Kong are now going every two weeks.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1874-05-11
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_120
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
May 11[u]th[/u] 1874.
My dear Father
Your letter is the last
of so many that I am afraid
"the pond is nearly dry" and it
is past the time for honest folks
to be in bed. Mattie + Lucy
are there but Henry is breaking
over his rule and sitting up to
write letters and I am following
his example. We are sending
an enormous amount of mail matter
this time and I suppose we are
justifiable as we have not sent any
letters for six weeks. We are very
much afraid that you will have
felt anxious on account of not hearing
from us so long but if you have
felt badly before the letters come I
dont know but you will feel
worse when you get them and
see what a task is before you.
We have not yet ventured to count
the pages. Henry is sending by
the mail about thirty letters in
reply to those he has received
in answer to his appeal for letters
in the Foreign Missy [Missionary] The
letters he gets are quite interesting
many of them the first the little
chicks have ever tried to write One
who could not write printed her
letter Last mail brought seven
letters in one envelope from a colored
girls sem [seminary] in North Ca where Mr
Dorland and where they invited
both Mattie + Lucy to go and teach.
I want to thank all the dear ones
at home for their kind remembrance
of my birthday. We have been
spending this eve at Mr Whiteheads
helping him celebrate his birthday.
To-morrow morning Lillie Happer
goes to Hongkong on her way
to Japan where she will spend
the summer. I feel very sorry for
the children they had been expecting
to go home this spring until recently,
but they are going to stay in Canton
another year. We cannot see
any reason for the change unless
the Dr wants an excuse for going
home in case he should want
to do so next year.
The Ladies Cruse of which
you write and with which the
papers are filled is certainly a
wonderful movement and I hope
it will result in great good.
The women have certainly chosen
the best and most powerful weapon
for their warfare. We shall wait
with interest to hear further news
from Seville.
The Boarding School has reopened
and most of the scholars are
back again. I am sure I have
never been so glad to see
them come back before.
We had them all vaccinated
before they went home and on
several of them it took very well
and I suppose they were
thus saved from having an
attack of the small-pox.
We have had a long continued
rainy season this year but we
are not sorry for it keeps off
the hot weather. Our new church
is going up gradually I suppose
it will be some months before it
is completed, but we can wait
with patience now that it is fairly
on the way to completion.
I would like to writing some in
response to the nice birth-day letters
I received but it is too late to think
of it and furthermore it would
be cruel to inflict any more
upon you at present. Dont
forget that hereafter the steamers
are to run regularly between San Francisco
and Hongkong [u]every two weeks[/u].
With much love for all from
Your aff daughter
Hattie.
May 11[u]th[/u] 1874.
My dear Father
Your letter is the last
of so many that I am afraid
"the pond is nearly dry" and it
is past the time for honest folks
to be in bed. Mattie + Lucy
are there but Henry is breaking
over his rule and sitting up to
write letters and I am following
his example. We are sending
an enormous amount of mail matter
this time and I suppose we are
justifiable as we have not sent any
letters for six weeks. We are very
much afraid that you will have
felt anxious on account of not hearing
from us so long but if you have
felt badly before the letters come I
dont know but you will feel
worse when you get them and
see what a task is before you.
We have not yet ventured to count
the pages. Henry is sending by
the mail about thirty letters in
reply to those he has received
in answer to his appeal for letters
in the Foreign Missy [Missionary] The
letters he gets are quite interesting
many of them the first the little
chicks have ever tried to write One
who could not write printed her
letter Last mail brought seven
letters in one envelope from a colored
girls sem [seminary] in North Ca where Mr
Dorland and where they invited
both Mattie + Lucy to go and teach.
I want to thank all the dear ones
at home for their kind remembrance
of my birthday. We have been
spending this eve at Mr Whiteheads
helping him celebrate his birthday.
To-morrow morning Lillie Happer
goes to Hongkong on her way
to Japan where she will spend
the summer. I feel very sorry for
the children they had been expecting
to go home this spring until recently,
but they are going to stay in Canton
another year. We cannot see
any reason for the change unless
the Dr wants an excuse for going
home in case he should want
to do so next year.
The Ladies Cruse of which
you write and with which the
papers are filled is certainly a
wonderful movement and I hope
it will result in great good.
The women have certainly chosen
the best and most powerful weapon
for their warfare. We shall wait
with interest to hear further news
from Seville.
The Boarding School has reopened
and most of the scholars are
back again. I am sure I have
never been so glad to see
them come back before.
We had them all vaccinated
before they went home and on
several of them it took very well
and I suppose they were
thus saved from having an
attack of the small-pox.
We have had a long continued
rainy season this year but we
are not sorry for it keeps off
the hot weather. Our new church
is going up gradually I suppose
it will be some months before it
is completed, but we can wait
with patience now that it is fairly
on the way to completion.
I would like to writing some in
response to the nice birth-day letters
I received but it is too late to think
of it and furthermore it would
be cruel to inflict any more
upon you at present. Dont
forget that hereafter the steamers
are to run regularly between San Francisco
and Hongkong [u]every two weeks[/u].
With much love for all from
Your aff daughter
Hattie.
中国广东 1874年5月11日 我亲爱的父亲 您的信是我在写完所有信最后写的 我恐怕， 这封信很无聊“我已经词穷了” 而且这已经过该睡觉了。 / Mattie和Lucy在睡觉 但是Henry破了戒去写信了 我和他一样。 我们这段时间有很多信要寄出 / 我认为我们确实有理由的 因为我们六周没有寄信。 我们特别害怕 您因为这么久没有收到我们的信而焦虑 / 但是我不知道 您是否感觉之前的信不好 但是 当您收到之后的信以后， 因为这么多信，您会觉得很累。 我们还不敢继续写这一页。 Henry在写30封左右的回信 / / 要回答外国传教士的信。 / 他收到的信都相当有趣， 很多人都是第一次写 / 其中有一个不能写的把她的信打印出来了。 上一次邮寄，带来了七封信 是一个来自北卡罗来纳州修道院的有色女孩寄来的 / 是Dorland医生邀请Mattie和Lucy去教课的地方。 / 我要感谢家里所有人 谢谢他们记住了我的生日。 我们今晚和Whiteheads先生一起度过的， / 和他一起庆祝生日。 明天早上Lillie Happer要路过香港 去日本， 她会在那度过这个夏天。 我为孩子们感到很遗憾， 他们从春天就开始期盼回家 一直到现在， 但是他们要在广东多待一年。 我们不知道这次改变的原因， 除非医生想告诉我们一个回家的借口， / 所以他会想着明年回家。 / 你写的Ladies Cruse 还有写的信很好 / 我希望， 它可以导致一个很好的结果。 女人们很确实地做了最好的选择 和最有力量的武器。 我们会很有兴趣地等 接下来从Seville的更多新闻。 / 寄宿学校重新开学， 而且更多学生回来了。 我很确定， 我从来没有在学生们回来之前 这么高兴。 我们都在他们回家之前 打过疫苗了 而且很多人都很好， 我认为他们不会得天花病了。 / / 今年，我们的雨季很长 / 但是我们不觉得遗憾， 因为帮我们避免了高温天气。 我们的新教堂也在慢慢建起来， 我认为会花几个月时间完成， 但是我们很耐心地等， 已经快要完成了。 / 我写点什么回复那几封暖心的生日信， / 但是我收到得太晚了， 以至于想不到， 进一步说我会很简略地回复您。 / 不要忘了 以后轮船会很有规律地 每两周一次往返旧金山和香港。 留给您满满的爱 您的女儿 Hattie.
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Father, May 11, 1874,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed November 21, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/176.