Letter from Martha to Mother, April 3, 1887

Letter from Martha to Mother, April 3, 1887

Shopping; Textiles; Gifts; Health; Grandchildren

Martha writes to her mother about the gifts she sent home to Bella. She did not send anything for Harriet on accident. Martha had shoes fitted in Ashland and she is pleased that they fit Miss Butler. Martha was sorry to hear about Emily's illness and starts to think about her own health and age. Martha mentions Bella and the boys coming to Seville. She talks about how the people of Seville would like to see the grandchildren of their old pastor.

Kerr, Martha Noyes

Loose, The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection

Unpublished

1887-04-03

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_922

Canton China
April 3d 1887
My dear Mother
The two [?Dr's?] have you
out and Mr Wisner is in
bed so I am alone Miss
Butler will be here before
very long and I am to go out
with her. She says to do some
shopping. I sent a few things
home by Belle only little
things. The pongee [?tidy?] do not
let Bella see please. She gave
me one just like it almost
and I fear she will think this
one was the present she gave
me. Also the handerchiefs
red and white are just like
one she gave Dr Kerr. I did
not after all put in anything

for Hattie Am so sorry- Did not
mean to let the parcel go off in
that way but the truth was I
put these things together and
meant to get her something
that was not Chinese. Then I
packed the box in a great hurry
the day before I came down here
and never thought but that the
things were all together until the
package had been sent up to
Henry's Am very sorry about it
The shoes I had made in
Ashland I have sent over to Miss
Butler and she says they fit her
Am very glad Do not know
but I shall be obliged to go bare
footed as I can not get anything
made by these shoe makers that
I can [?bear?] on my foor for a
moment
Later Have received the letters
from home dated Apr 15th-
Am so sorry to hear of Em's illness

as we grow older I suppose in [?this?]
line our anxieties will increase
It seems too bad Em has had
such hard work. She seems to
be always rather improved upon
But she is always so willing
to do any thing for any body.
Was intensely relieved to hear
that Mr Notestine was a little
better. If he only gets well the
people will I hope be more
careful of him. Now your next
anxiety will be about Bella and
the boys. But I hope you will
not be distressed beyond measure.
She will not make a long visit
I am sure and you will have a
chance to see the boys. They are
nice children. The Seville people
will be interested to see the "grand
children" of their old pastor and his
wife. As far as Willie is concerned
he could be put into a book just
as he is and it would read all
right. I can not realize that a

day or two after the arrival of this
they will be there. It seems as
if it were all a dream. Dont
[u]worry about any thing[/u] in the line
of home arrangements. We live
quite as well as they do on this
side. It has been such a rainy
week- rained every day and is
pouring down to night- is cold
and dismal but we are sitting
wit bright lights writing the Dr on
one side of the table and I the other
Oh Mother I have never told him
a word about your condition and
you need not fear I shall. He is a
good husband. I only wish you
could see him. Perhaps you will
some time. I make no calcula
tions at all about going home now
that will be when his strength
gives way- which I trust will not
be for some time. But I fear it
will come sooner than we would
have it even for the opportunity
of going home. Every day with him
is precious to me and I know we can

[Note: sideways on page on]
only have at best a few years together- I do not know how it was
ever permitted that I should marry such a man as Dr Kerr is. It
seems more wonder-
ful to me every day
that God should give
me such a gift.
I am so happy
with him and
he says he is very
happy. He seems
so much like
father in many
ways. I must stop
I do hope you
are not feeling
badly as when I
was at home. It is
so hard to live on
in that way. Would
we could do some
thing for you. I think
of you all
so much. The
Lord bless you all
Your loving daughter
Martha



中国广东
1887 年 4 月 3 日
我亲爱的妈妈
两位医生有你
出去，威斯纳先生进来
床，所以我一个人小姐
巴特勒会在此之前
很长，我要出去
和她一起。她说要做一些
购物。我寄了一些东西
Belle 的家只有一点点
事物。春亚纺整理不
请让贝拉看看。她给了
我一个几乎喜欢它
我担心她会这么想
一件是她送的礼物
我。还有手帕
红色和白色就像
她给了克尔博士的一份。我做了
毕竟没有放任何东西

对于海蒂，我很抱歉 - 没有
意思是让包裹进去
那样，但事实是我
把这些东西放在一起
打算给她一些东西
那不是中国人。然后我
急忙收拾好箱子
我来到这里的前一天
没想到
事情一直在一起，直到
包裹已发送至
亨利对此感到非常抱歉
我做的鞋子
阿什兰我已经寄给小姐
巴特勒和她说他们适合她
很高兴 不知道
但我将不得不光着身子
脚踏实地，因为我什么也得不到
由这些制鞋商制造
我可以忍受我的脚
片刻
后来收到了信
4 月 15 日从家里出发-
听说艾姆生病了，我很难过

随着我们长大，我想在这
我们的焦虑会增加
Em似乎太糟糕了
这么辛苦。她似乎
总是相当改进
但她总是那么愿意
为任何身体做任何事。
听完后大大松了口气
诺斯汀先生有点
更好的。只要他好起来
人们会希望更多
小心他。现在你的下一个
焦虑将是关于贝拉和
男孩们。但我希望你会
不至于难过。
她不会进行长时间的访问
我敢肯定，你会有一个
有机会见到男孩。他们是
好孩子。塞维利亚人
将有兴趣看到“盛大
他们的老牧师和他的孩子们
妻子。就威利而言
他可以被放入一本书中
就像他一样，它会读到所有
正确的。我无法意识到一个

在这个到来之后的一两天
他们会在那里。好像是
如果这一切都是一场梦。别
担心线上的任何事情
的家庭安排。我们住在
和他们在这方面做得一样好
边。下过这么大的雨
周 - 每天都下雨，是
倾盆大雨-很冷
和令人沮丧，但我们坐在
用明亮的灯光写下医生
桌子的一侧和我的另一侧
哦，妈妈，我从来没有告诉过他
关于你的情况的一句话和
你不必担心我会的。他是一个
好丈夫。我只希望你
可以看到他。也许你会
一段时间。我现在根本不考虑回家
那将是他的力量
让路——我相信不会
待一段时间。但我害怕它
会比我们来得更快
即使有机会也要拥有
回家。每天和他在一起
对我来说很珍贵，我知道我们可以

[注：页面侧身]
最多只能在一起几年-我不知道情况如何
曾经允许我嫁给像克尔博士这样的人。它
每天对我来说似乎更美好
上帝应该给予
我这样的礼物。
我太高兴了
和他和
他说他很
快乐的。他似乎
非常喜欢
许多父亲
方法。我必须停下来
我真希望你
没有感觉
像我一样糟糕
在家里。这是
生活如此艰难
以这种方式。将
我们可以做一些
给你的东西。我认为
你们所有人
非常。这
主保佑大家
你爱的女儿
玛莎