Letters from Martha to Clara and Mrs. Lang, January 23, 1888

Letters from Martha to Clara and Mrs. Lang, January 23, 1888

Death; Violence; Christian converts; Servants

Mattie tells Clara that their watchman was attacked and left unconscious outside of the house. He was taken to the hospital and died. Mattie talks about how good of a Christian he was and compares this experience to when her mother died. The letter to Mrs. Lang, which is crossed out, mentions a lost shawl.

Kerr, Noyes Martha

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #3

Unpublished

1888-01-23

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_711

Jan 23rd 1888
My dear Clara
My heart has gone out
in an indescribable longing
all day to day to talk with some
one in the dear old home
It seems as though we are
living years every 24 hours. This
morning we found the old
watchman had been attacked
with Apopley. He was lying
on the verrendah in an
[?unscious?] state and was
removed at once to the hospi
tal. Has not had a rational
moment since. I saw him
[--last--] this afternoon about
three oclock. His eyes were
closed and his breathing so
labored. The rattle in the
throat of which you wrote [--was--] in

Mothers case was present but
to him all earthly things
were among the things that
had passed away. I felt as if
I knew exactly how it was when
you stood by our dear little
Mothers during her last hours. The
Dr said it was exactly such a
case but this man was in
the unconscious stage of the disease
when he was first discovered.
I felt as though I could not keep
away from his room. Closed a
school Monday afternoon and
when I was going out to get into
the chair felt I must go into the
hospital again. About 9 oclock
no half past nine Miss Butler the
Dr and I went out once more
and when I came in after taking
Miss Butler home it was five
minutes to co They told us in the
morning he did about 10 so we

saw him only a few minutes
before he "entered in"- He was an
earnest Christian used always to
kneel down in front of the outside
front door and prey aloud each
evening. It has always seemed so
nice to hear him. He talked a
good deal lately about going to
heaven - exhorted Akai and the
other boys to be faithful true
Christians - and they say his conduct
was always "righeous" and "just". Just
think from caring for us he has
gone straight to Jesus. The last eve
he lived he was on duty. The
Sabbath eve service at the last
moment was transferred to Mr
Henrys because of the distressing
paroxysims of pain Mr Nye suffered
late in the afternoon. We felt the
people could not bear it if he
should have such an attack
during the service. The old
watchman was stationed at our

gate with his lantern and directed the
people to go in on the other side
After the service Verdie Happer
came rushing over saying she had
dropped her shawl somewhere.
The Dr called the watchman asking
if he had seen it. He said "yes he
had hung it outside the study door
He walked slowly around the door
and it was not there

[Note: Written upside down and crossed out
My dear Mrs Lang
You will conclude all
your attempts to hear from
Canton are useless, but I will
try and send a line in
reply to those we have received
since you left us. And first
that little hand glass in in
tended for Mrs Lang. Dr Kerr
wishes you to have it and he
thought

He fumbled about over the blinds
in a strange uncertain manner
and we finally found the shawl on
a chair in the study where I suppose
he had put it and forgotten after

[Note: Letter concludes sideway on page one]
wards where he had laid it. The disease was upon him
then - and that was the last time any of us spoke to him
His last service
was a ministry
to Gods people -
and had we known
how soon he would
[illegible] into the man
sion God has in
close for him how
we would have
sent messages
to loved ones there
As he lay in the em
brace of death - I looked
at his old worn gar
ments and thought
what a change it
would be when he
should be clothed
in the robes of the
redeemed. If one
could be the means of helping one soul into the
light it would be worth all we could [illegible] here.



1888 年 1 月 23 日
我亲爱的克拉拉
我的心已经出去了
在难以形容的渴望中
整天跟一些人聊天
一个在亲爱的老房子里
好像我们是
每24小时活几年。这个
早上我们发现了旧的
守望者遭到袭击
与阿波雷。他在说谎
在游廊上
无意识状态并且是
立即取出送往医院。
还没有理性
从那一刻起。我看到了他
今天下午大约
三点钟。他的眼睛是
关闭，他的呼吸如此
辛苦了。中的拨浪鼓
你写的喉咙

母亲的案子在场，但
对他而言所有尘世的事物
是其中的事情
已经过世了。我觉得好像
我确切地知道它是什么时候
你站在我们亲爱的小宝贝身边
母亲在她最后的几个小时。这
博士说正是这样
案子，但这个人在
疾病的无意识阶段
当他第一次被发现时。
我觉得我无法保持
远离他的房间。关闭了一个
星期一下午上学和
当我要出去进入
椅子觉得我必须进入
再次住院。 9点左右
没有九点半巴特勒小姐
博士和我又出去了
当我在服用后进来时
巴特勒小姐家五点钟
分钟到合作 他们告诉我们在
早上他做了大约 10 点，所以我们

只见他几分钟
在他“进入”之前——他是一个
虔诚的基督徒过去常常
跪在外面
前门和猎物每个都大声
晚上。似乎一直如此
很高兴听到他的声音。他讲了一个
最近关于去的好交易
天堂——劝勉阿凯和
其他男孩要忠诚真实
基督徒——他们说他的行为
总是“正义”和“正义”。只是
认为从关心我们他有
直接去找耶稣。最后一晚
他住他值班。这
最后的安息日前夜服务
时刻被转移到先生
亨利斯因为令人痛心
奈先生遭受的痛苦阵发
下午晚些时候。我们感受到了
人们无法忍受，如果他
应该有这样的攻击
在服务期间。老人
守望者驻扎在我们的

用他的灯笼门和指挥
人们从另一边进去
服务后 Verdie Happer
冲过来说她有
她的披肩掉在了某个地方。
博士打电话给看守询问
如果他看到了。他说“是的他
把它挂在书房门外
他慢慢地绕着门走
它不在那里

[注：上下颠倒并划掉
我亲爱的郎太太
你会总结所有
你的尝试
广州没用，但我会
尝试发送一条线
回复我们收到的
自从你离开了我们。首先
里面的那个小手玻璃
照顾郎太太。克尔博士
希望你拥有它，他
想法

他在百叶窗上摸索
以一种奇怪的不确定方式
我们终于找到了披肩
我想在书房里的椅子
他放了之后忘记了

[注：信在第一页结束]
他放置它的病房。病在他身上
然后——那是我们最后一次和他说话
他的最后一次服务
是一个部
对上帝的人-
如果我们知道
他多久会
[难以辨认] 进入男人
神在里面
为他关闭如何
我们会有
发送信息
给那里的亲人
当他躺在里面
死亡的支撑 - 我看了
看着他破旧的衣服和思想
有什么改变
当他
应该穿
在长袍中
赎回。如果一个
可能是帮助一个灵魂进入
光这将值得我们在这里[难以辨认]。

Letter