Letter from Harriet to Mother, August 30, 1881

Letter from Harriet to Mother, August 30, 1881

Weddings; Fashion; Women in the Episcopal Church

Hattie writes to her mother, expressing concern for her back. There was a wedding in Canton. They got married at Harriet's home, though unfortunately her servant was laid up with an ulcer and maybe an attack of quinsy. Those who work at the school came and helped and Mrs. Henry baked a cake for the occasion. Henry performed the service and according to the Episcopal form since she is Episcopalian. She lists off all the names of the guests who attended the wedding and talks about the food and drinks at the event. She talks about what the bridesmaids and the bride wore to the ceremony.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #2

Unpublished

1881-08-30

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_258

Canton China
Aug 30th 1881.
My dear Mother -
I was so sorry to hear
by the last mail that you were
ill. I hope you are well again
long ere this and that you will
try to be [u]careful[/u] of yourself. That
is the hardest lesson for you to learn
I think that it is a marvel that
you are able to go about at all any
time with your back so out of
shape. I am glad you could
keep up until after Martha got home
and the Anniversary. It would
have seemed too bad if you could
not have been there. I dreamed
last night about the sofa the ladies
gave to Father. Now I think
I must tell you "All about our
wedding". I wrote to you last
mail that Dr Sturge from Siam
had come to Canton to meet his
bride Mrs [?Annie?] Turner of Philadelphia.
He brought her back from
HongKong on Thursday. He

expected they would be here sometime
but they arranged to go on Saturday.
Dr Kerr had wished very much
that they should be married in
his house but Mrs Kerr was sick
so they could not have it there-
and I was very glad to have
it here. Unfortunately at the time
AKwai the only servant I have
just now was laid up with an
attack of quinsy or something of
the sort and ulcer formed in his
throat and he could do nothing
but groan. His wife however cooked
our meals and we secured for
two days. another servant who [--however--]
would not do [u]anything[/u] except set the
table and wash the dishes. However
we got along very well. The women who
keep the school-house in order came
in and helped we put the rooms
in good shape Mr Henry came
and helped in arranging the
flowers. and Mrs Henry made
the cake for the occasion so it was
quite a partnership affair. They
were married at three-o-clock
in the afternoon. It was the
warmest day we have had

this year thermometer 94° from
morning till night. There was
a breeze from the North-West which
made our side of the house the
most comfortable that day usually
Mr Henry's is cooler in the afternoon.
We invited all the missionaries some
are away just now & Mrs Kerr was too
sick to come. Shall I give you the names
of our guests perhaps Martha would like to know
just who was here Lillie Mary & Verdie Mr &
Mrs White Henry & his wife Mr Pearce Dr Carrow
now acting Counsel Mr & Mrs Masters. Mr & Mrs
Parkes & Emma Miss Whilden & Mr Dietrich.
And all of us here at Kukfan excepting
Mrs Kerr. Mr Nye just twenty-six in all
a nice number and not too many for
the size of our parlor. Mr Henry performed
the ceremony according to the Episcopal
form She is an Episcopalian. Then
we all congratulated the happy pair
and afterwards had refreshments,
cake three kinds tea and iced lemonade.
The cake was very nice and even Mr
Nye said the tea was excellent "praise
can no farther go" and it was such a
warm day that every one appreciated
the lemonade. [?A Shun?] seemed astonished
at the quantity of lemonade they drank
said they all seemed very much
pleased to drink that. I borrowed one
of Mrs White's silver ice-pitchers. I
really think I shall have to buy

mine back again. not that we need
it very often but I always feel sorry
that I parted with it and more and
more so all the time. Little Hattie Kerr &
Julia Henry were bridesmaids. Julie was
dress in blue & Hattie in white with
pink ribbons. It was thought of just at the
last moment. Hattie wore the slippers that
I had made when I was bridesmaid for
Mrs Happer they were just a trifle large
I pinned on bows of pink ribbon on them
& on her dress & tied that pink chenille
sent from home so long ago around her
neck with a silver locket in front
and she looked very nice. The bride
was dressed in light gray silk with white
flowers in her hair. she is pretty with dark
hair & eyes. The bride groom wore a heavy
[u]black broadcloth suit[/u] sacrificing comfort
to the necessities of the occasion. The rooms
were decorated with trailing ferns and
flowers & looked very pretty. The walls were
so hot that the ferms &c withered very
quickly still they looked pretty.
Every one seemed to think it passed
off very successfully so we were all
pleased. I am afraid Mrs Sturge is
not much of a missionary. He is a really
devoted earnest one but I fear she will not
be a help meet for him in his work. She is
pleasant & agreeable fond of the opera +c +c--
We all thought she was at least thirty-two
or more but in the marriage certificate her age
is 28. He is [u]only[/u] 25 she seems much
older than he.

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
I dont know as
this long
description
will be very
interesting to you.
I think I have a
good deal of strength
for an old missionary
I was up at six
that day & hardly
sat down except
for my meals &
a little while in
the afternoon
until 1/2 past 7
in the evening
the hottest day
we have had
yet and yet
was not very
tired except
a little headache
The next day Sabbath
I went at Eight in the
morning to a funeral at the
other end then Sabbath School
Sermon Sabbath School again
lesson until 1/2 past four
You see you need not worry about me
Ever you aff Harriet



中国广州
1881 年 8 月 30 日。
我亲爱的母亲——我很遗憾在最后一封邮件中得知您生病了。
我希望在此之前你会再次好起来，
并且你会尽量小心自己。
这对你来说是最难学的一课我认为你能够在背部如此畸形的情况下随时进行运动是一个奇迹。
我很高兴你能坚持到玛莎回家和周年纪念日之后。
如果你不能在那里，
那就太糟糕了。
昨晚我梦见女士们送给父亲的沙发。
现在我想我必须告诉你“关于我们婚礼的一切”。
我给你写了上一封信，
说来自暹罗的斯特奇医生来广州会见他的新娘费城的安妮特纳夫人。
星期四，
他把她从香港带回来。
他预计他们会在某个时候来这里，
但他们安排周六去。
克尔医生非常希望他们能在他家结婚，
但克尔夫人病了，
所以他们不能在那里结婚——我很高兴能在这里结婚。
不幸的是，
当时我唯一的仆人 AKwai 患了昆西病或类似的疾病，
喉咙里形成了溃疡，
他除了呻吟什么也做不了。
然而，
他的妻子为我们做饭，
我们保证了两天。
另一个除了摆桌子洗碗什么都不干的仆人。
不过我们相处得很好。
打理校舍的女人们进来帮我们把房间整理得井井有条，
亨利先生也来帮忙插花。
亨利夫人为这个场合做了蛋糕，
所以这是一次非常合作的事情。
他们在下午三点结婚。
这是我们今年最热的一天，
温度计从早到晚都是 94°。
西北风吹来了一阵微风，
这让我们这一边的房子在那天最舒适，
通常亨利先生的下午比较凉爽。
我们邀请了所有的传教士，
其中一些人刚刚离开，
科尔夫人病得太重，
不能来。
我可以告诉你我们的客人的名字吗 也许玛莎想知道谁在这里 Lillie、Mary和Verdie、White先生和夫人、Henry和他的妻子 Mr Pearce Carrow 医生现在代理律师Masters先生和夫人。
帕克斯先生和夫人、艾玛·威尔登小姐和迪特里希先生。
除了克尔夫人，
我们在库克凡的所有人。
奈先生总共只有 26 个，
这个数字不错，
对于我们客厅的大小来说不算太多。
亨利先生按照圣公会的形式举行了仪式她是圣公会的。
然后我们都祝贺了这对幸福的一对，
然后吃了点心，
蛋糕三种茶和冰柠檬水。
蛋糕非常好吃，
甚至 Nye 先生都说茶非常好“赞不绝口”，
这是一个温暖的一天，
每个人都喜欢柠檬水。
阿顺似乎对他们喝的柠檬水的数量感到惊讶，
说他们似乎都很高兴喝了。
我借了怀特夫人的一个银色冰壶。
我真的认为我必须重新买回我的。
并不是我们经常需要它，
但我总是为我与它分手而感到遗憾，
而且越来越多。
Little Hattie Kerr 和 Julia Henry 是伴娘。
朱莉身着蓝色连衣裙，
海蒂身着白色系着粉色丝带。
只是在最后一刻才想到的。
海蒂穿着我为哈珀夫人做伴娘时为哈珀夫人做的拖鞋，
它们有点大，
我把粉红色的蝴蝶结别在拖鞋上和她的裙子上，
把很久以前从家里寄来的粉红色雪尼尔用一根绳子系在她的脖子上前面的银挂坠盒，
她看起来很漂亮。
新娘身着浅灰色丝绸，
头发上插着白花。
她很漂亮，
黑头发和眼睛。
新娘新郎穿着厚重的黑色阔布西装，
牺牲了场合的舒适度。
房间装饰着尾随蕨类植物和鲜花，
看起来非常漂亮。
墙壁太热了，
蕨类植物很快就枯萎了，
但它们看起来仍然很漂亮。
每个人似乎都认为它非常成功地通过了，
所以我们都很高兴。
恐怕斯特奇夫人不是一个传教士。
他是一个非常忠诚的人，
但我担心她不会在他的工作中成为他的帮助。
她性格开朗，
喜欢看歌剧等——我们都以为她至少三十二岁或以上，
但结婚证上她的年龄是 28 岁。
他只有 25 岁，
她似乎比他大得多。
[注：信在第一页横着结束] 我不知道，
因为这个冗长的描述对你来说会很有趣。
我想我对一个老传教士来说有很大的力量那天我六点起床除了吃饭几乎没有坐下，
下午有一段时间直到晚上 7 点 1/2 点，
这是我们经历过的最热的一天然而并没有很累，
除了有点头疼第二天安息日我早上八点去另一端的葬礼然后安息日学校布道安息日学校再次上课直到四点半你看你不必担心我永远是你的，
哈丽特

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