Letter from Hattie to Mary, September 7, 1889
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Mary, September 7, 1889
Subject
Finance, Personal; Barns; Dreams; Anniversaries; Life Expectancy
Description
Harriet writes to Mary about her finances and how soon she will be able to send Edward money to fix his barn, saying that she will probably have debts paid off and be able to send it early the next year. She mentions a dream she had the night before about chickens and a fence, before asking after the non-dream chickens. She reflects on the time that has passed, looks forward to Henry's return, and jokes about Mary's goal to outlive the rest of them.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #4
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1889-09-07
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_435
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
Sept 7 '89
My dear Mary,
I did not quite
finish what I wanted
to say about accounts in
my letter to Clara. I
have not saved much yet
because we had to spend
considerable in marrying
off our Sophie, and I
am still somewhat in debt
for all the repairing and
refitting that was done to
the house. Of course as Sophie
had decided to leave us
she did not take a share
and so we three divided
it. I hope however by the
end of the year to be
entirely or nearly out of debt,
and then next year I
wish very much to help
Edward fix the barn. I
do not want to think of his
"lugging" straw &c from
one barn to the other more
than one winter more.
If he can arrange to have
help and get the lumber
out in the winter as he
suggested, I will send
some money early next year
so that he can get it in
Feb or March. I think I
can send two hundred
dollars, one hundred and
fifty anyway. I shall
be interested to know how
your expenses come out at
the end of the year. I
dreamed the other night
of being at home and
thought I was going out to
see the hen house and some
of you said that when
Edward was going to dig the
post holes the ground was
frozen so that he could
not and so the fence had
not yet been made.
Do the chickens feel
reconciled to living there
yet or do they prefer other
quarters. I wonder if
you will have grapes this
year, whether the vines
are in good bearing order.
We have been having very
warm weather but begin
to feel that another summer
has almost passed. In
a few more days it will be
half a year since I
reached Canton. I was
thinking the other day that
the 16th of June 1897 will
make twenty five years for
the Boarding School. I
think I will think of that
as the [u] outside [/u] limit of my
stay this time in China.
There is little use in making
plans for the future, but I
always like to have something
definite to look forward to
even if it is some distance
ahead. How we would look
forward to Henry's coming
back if there could be any
pleasure in it for any of us.
I imagine it will be somewhat
different from what it has
been if she continues in
the mind of sending the
children back to you
home to be educated.
How I wish I could see
you all today. I suppose
Em and Sarah are both
away again and you
three are at home. You
must tell me if you are
feeling better. I hope Dr
Bigham will be able to
cure you up entirely. You
will have to look out for your
health if you want to carry
out your plan of outliving all
the rest of us. I do wonder
[Continued vertically on the first page]
if any of us
will outlive
B- if Henry
does not it
will not
matter to
us how long
she lives [u] I [/u]
do not know
though perhaps
she might make us
uncomfortable
in some other way.
With love
Hattie.
中国广州
1889 年 9 月 7 日
亲爱的玛丽，
我在给克拉拉的信中想说的关于账户的内容还没有说完。
我还没有存多少，
因为我们不得不花很多钱嫁给我们的苏菲，
而且我对房子的所有维修和改装还有些欠债。
当然，
由于索菲决定离开我们，
她没有分一杯羹，
所以我们三个人分了。
不过，
我希望到年底能完全或几乎还清债务，
然后明年我非常希望能帮助爱德华修复谷仓。
我不想把他从一个谷仓“拖”到另一个谷仓的“拖着”稻草比一个冬天还要多。
如果他能按照他的建议安排在冬天得到帮助，
把木材拿出来，
我会在明年初寄一些钱，
这样他就能在二三月份拿到。
我想我可以寄两百美元，
反正一百五十美元。
我很想知道你的费用在年底是如何计算的。
那天晚上我梦见自己在家，
想出去看看鸡舍，
你们中的一些人说，
当爱德华要去挖柱洞的时候，
地面结冰了，
所以他不能，
所以栅栏没有尚未制作。
鸡们是否对住在那里感到心甘情愿，
或者他们是否更喜欢其他地方。
不知你今年会不会有葡萄，
葡萄树的结果是否良好。
我们的天气一直很暖和，
但开始觉得又一个夏天快过去了。
再过几天，
我到广州就半年了。
前几天我在想，
1897 年 6 月 16 日，
寄宿学校将迎来 25 年。
我想我会认为这是我这次在中国逗留的外部限制。
为未来制定计划没什么用，
但我总是喜欢有一些明确的期待，
即使它还有一段距离。
如果我们中的任何人都能从中获得乐趣，
我们将多么期待亨利的回归。
我想如果她继续想把孩子送回你家接受教育，
这将与以往有所不同。
我多么希望今天能见到大家。
我想 Em 和 Sarah 又不在了，
你们三个在家。
如果你感觉好些，
你必须告诉我。
我希望 Bigham 医生能够彻底治愈你。
如果你想执行你的计划，
让我们所有人都活得更久，
你就必须注意自己的健康。
我确实想知道[在第一页上继续垂直]我们中的任何一个人是否会活得比B-如果亨利不这样做，
她的寿命对我们来说无关紧要我不知道，
尽管也许她可能会以其他方式让我们感到不舒服。
爱海蒂。
Sept 7 '89
My dear Mary,
I did not quite
finish what I wanted
to say about accounts in
my letter to Clara. I
have not saved much yet
because we had to spend
considerable in marrying
off our Sophie, and I
am still somewhat in debt
for all the repairing and
refitting that was done to
the house. Of course as Sophie
had decided to leave us
she did not take a share
and so we three divided
it. I hope however by the
end of the year to be
entirely or nearly out of debt,
and then next year I
wish very much to help
Edward fix the barn. I
do not want to think of his
"lugging" straw &c from
one barn to the other more
than one winter more.
If he can arrange to have
help and get the lumber
out in the winter as he
suggested, I will send
some money early next year
so that he can get it in
Feb or March. I think I
can send two hundred
dollars, one hundred and
fifty anyway. I shall
be interested to know how
your expenses come out at
the end of the year. I
dreamed the other night
of being at home and
thought I was going out to
see the hen house and some
of you said that when
Edward was going to dig the
post holes the ground was
frozen so that he could
not and so the fence had
not yet been made.
Do the chickens feel
reconciled to living there
yet or do they prefer other
quarters. I wonder if
you will have grapes this
year, whether the vines
are in good bearing order.
We have been having very
warm weather but begin
to feel that another summer
has almost passed. In
a few more days it will be
half a year since I
reached Canton. I was
thinking the other day that
the 16th of June 1897 will
make twenty five years for
the Boarding School. I
think I will think of that
as the [u] outside [/u] limit of my
stay this time in China.
There is little use in making
plans for the future, but I
always like to have something
definite to look forward to
even if it is some distance
ahead. How we would look
forward to Henry's coming
back if there could be any
pleasure in it for any of us.
I imagine it will be somewhat
different from what it has
been if she continues in
the mind of sending the
children back to you
home to be educated.
How I wish I could see
you all today. I suppose
Em and Sarah are both
away again and you
three are at home. You
must tell me if you are
feeling better. I hope Dr
Bigham will be able to
cure you up entirely. You
will have to look out for your
health if you want to carry
out your plan of outliving all
the rest of us. I do wonder
[Continued vertically on the first page]
if any of us
will outlive
B- if Henry
does not it
will not
matter to
us how long
she lives [u] I [/u]
do not know
though perhaps
she might make us
uncomfortable
in some other way.
With love
Hattie.
中国广州
1889 年 9 月 7 日
亲爱的玛丽，
我在给克拉拉的信中想说的关于账户的内容还没有说完。
我还没有存多少，
因为我们不得不花很多钱嫁给我们的苏菲，
而且我对房子的所有维修和改装还有些欠债。
当然，
由于索菲决定离开我们，
她没有分一杯羹，
所以我们三个人分了。
不过，
我希望到年底能完全或几乎还清债务，
然后明年我非常希望能帮助爱德华修复谷仓。
我不想把他从一个谷仓“拖”到另一个谷仓的“拖着”稻草比一个冬天还要多。
如果他能按照他的建议安排在冬天得到帮助，
把木材拿出来，
我会在明年初寄一些钱，
这样他就能在二三月份拿到。
我想我可以寄两百美元，
反正一百五十美元。
我很想知道你的费用在年底是如何计算的。
那天晚上我梦见自己在家，
想出去看看鸡舍，
你们中的一些人说，
当爱德华要去挖柱洞的时候，
地面结冰了，
所以他不能，
所以栅栏没有尚未制作。
鸡们是否对住在那里感到心甘情愿，
或者他们是否更喜欢其他地方。
不知你今年会不会有葡萄，
葡萄树的结果是否良好。
我们的天气一直很暖和，
但开始觉得又一个夏天快过去了。
再过几天，
我到广州就半年了。
前几天我在想，
1897 年 6 月 16 日，
寄宿学校将迎来 25 年。
我想我会认为这是我这次在中国逗留的外部限制。
为未来制定计划没什么用，
但我总是喜欢有一些明确的期待，
即使它还有一段距离。
如果我们中的任何人都能从中获得乐趣，
我们将多么期待亨利的回归。
我想如果她继续想把孩子送回你家接受教育，
这将与以往有所不同。
我多么希望今天能见到大家。
我想 Em 和 Sarah 又不在了，
你们三个在家。
如果你感觉好些，
你必须告诉我。
我希望 Bigham 医生能够彻底治愈你。
如果你想执行你的计划，
让我们所有人都活得更久，
你就必须注意自己的健康。
我确实想知道[在第一页上继续垂直]我们中的任何一个人是否会活得比B-如果亨利不这样做，
她的寿命对我们来说无关紧要我不知道，
尽管也许她可能会以其他方式让我们感到不舒服。
爱海蒂。
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Mary, September 7, 1889,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed November 23, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/491.