Letter from Hattie to Mary, August 24, 1889

Letter from Hattie to Mary, August 24, 1889

Dreams; Movement education; Boardinghouses; Women in higher education

Harriet is glad that Mary had a good visit at Chautauqua and asks her for Mrs. Wallis's address so she can correspond with her. Harriet remembers when there were forty people staying in Mrs. Wallis's cottage and believes Edward would enjoy it. Sara has applied for school in Seville. She dreamt of her parents and the anniversary they never had.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #4

Unpublished

1889-08-24

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_431

[Note: Additional note in left margin]
Almost seven months since I left home -
Canton China
Aug 24th 1889
My dear Mary -
I was very much
interest in your letter
of July 6th written at
Chautauqua. Am glad
you had the trip and hope
it did you "lots of good"
so that you now feel as
good as new. I am glad
to hear from Mrs Wallis
again and to know that
she still retains pleasant
recollections of our visit
there .I hope she has forgotten
how badly we behaved that
last evening keeping our
neighbors awake with our
[illegible]. If you have her
address and will send it
to me I will [u]try[/u] and write
to her sometime .I think
Clara had her home address.
If I should write to her at
Chautauqua how should I

address her. If you care
send me both addresses perhaps
sometime I may write to her.
I felt a little sorry for the
persistent young lady who
did not succeed in securing
you but very glad that you
found your way finally to
Mrs Wallis' cottage. There
were [u]forty[/u] in it when we were
there .I wonder if you saw
the inside of our "sky parlor"-
where the "missionaries who
had been twenty years in
China-" slept on the garret
floor - much for Mrs Wallis'
distress . She would take
good care of you I know.
I do hope Edward can go
sometime he would enjoy it
I know . and it is just the
place for a S.S. superintendent.
ask Mrs Caughey if it is'nt.
I shall hope to hear more
about Chautauqua when the
next mail comes in, it is due

here next Wednesday.
I was surprised to hear that
"little Sara" has applied for
a school in Seville .I supposed
she would remain in Painesville
until qualified to take permanent
charge of one scholar. I presume
you may hear before we shall
of Mary Stoaks plans. As she
does not write to either of us but
prefers to correspond with
other Canton missionaries we
shall probably learn of her
plans indirectly . How strange
it was that I added two
years to your age and Clara's
I do not see what I was thinking
of perhaps I wrote very late at
night. I always think of you
as thirty five and she as
thirty eight . it seems incredible
that she is really in her [u]fortieth[/u]
year. It seems as though
she is about sixteen and
you about fourteen not yet
grown up nor quite competent

to decide important questions.
I had such a vivid dream
the other night of Father + Mother
thought we were having photographs
take and remember that
it was the 17th of June and
thought they had been married
56 years .and it would be
nice to have their pictures taken
together of the anniversary.
Then I remembered that
they did not have fifty six
years together and tried to
calculate in my sleep how many
years it was. It seems strange
to think of Father as a young
man going off so quietly to get
married. I think Mother must
have been a very pretty interesting
little bride. Now the long
years are all past and the
hard place walked over
and the troubles forgotten I
imagine they look back and
talk it over together and think
they had a pretty nice time

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
down here
and I
am sure
they look
forward
with "glad
impatience"
waiting
for our
home coming.
It seems
as though
Mother will
feel as though
she can
hardly wait
With love
[u]Hattie[/u].

我离家已经快七个月了。
中国广州
1889年8月24日
我亲爱的Mary
我对你7月6日写的信很感兴趣，
你在Chautauqua写的那封信。
/
我很高兴你旅途愉快，
/
我希望它给你带来很多好处，
让你感觉重获新生。
我很高兴再次收到Wallis太太的来信，
/
我很高兴她对我们在那里的访问仍然有美好的回忆。
/
/
我希望她忘记了我们在那里的最后一个晚上当我们不停地笑声吵醒邻居时我们的行为有多么糟糕。
/
/
/
如果你有她的地址，
可以发给我吗？
我想找个时间给她写一封信。
我认为
Clara有他家的地址。
如果我想要她在Chautauqua收到信
我怎么写地址？

麻烦你给我发她家地址和Chautauqua的地址，
也许有一天我会写信给她。
/
我为试图保护你的执着的年轻女士感到难过，
/
但我很高兴你终于找到了Wallis太太的小屋。
/
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当你在那里时，
里面有四十个人，
你看到在中国二十年的传教士睡在地上的空中客厅里面了吗？
/
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Wallis太太为此非常苦恼。
我知道她会好好照顾你。
/
我希望Edward有时间可以去，
/
我知道他会喜欢的。
据Caughey太太介绍那是一个非常适合主日学负责人的地方。
/
我希望在下周三收到邮件时能听到更多关于这个Chautauqua的消息。
/
/

/
听说小Sara在 Seville 申请学校，
我很惊讶。
我猜她会留在Painesville，
/
直到她有资格负责一个学生。
/
你可能会在我之前听到Mary Stoaks的计划。
/
她没有给我们任何人写信，
/
但因为她写信给广州的其他传教士，
/
我们可能会间接了解她的计划。
太奇怪了，
上次给你写信的时候，
我把你的年龄加了两年，
也许我没有想清楚，
因为当我给你写信时，
已经是深夜了。
我一直认为你三十五岁，
她三十八岁。
难以置信，这已经是她四十岁了。
我还是觉得你十四岁，她十六岁，
在我看来，
你还没有长大，

还没有能力做出重要的决定。
/
昨晚我做了一个非常生动的梦，
/
妈妈和爸爸正在拍他们的照片。
/
那是 6 月 17 日，他们已经结婚 56 年了。
/
要是有他们周年纪念日的照片就好了。
/
我知道他们没有在一起 56 年，
/
我在睡梦中试图计算出有多少年了。
/
把父亲想象成一个年轻人要悄悄地结婚似乎很奇怪。
/
我想母亲一定是个很有趣的新娘。
/
/
现在所有的漫长岁月都过去了，
/
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所有的烦恼都被遗忘了
我敢打赌，
回首往事，
回想他们上天堂之前在地上度过的美好时光一定很美好。

我相信他们也在天堂里兴奋地等着我们也来。
/
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似乎妈妈会觉得她等不及了。
/
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爱你，
Hattie

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