1911 Courtship: Mar 19 Dear Noah

I find that as each week passes and Noah and Ethel mention more people, I find myself with a growing list of people to research. Who are friends, and who are relatives? Who do I give details on, and who do I merely mention? I'd love to research them all, but unfortunately, time restraints won't allow that.

And then I find a letter like this one when Ethel turns her thoughts inward and reveals how she's really dealing with this courtship year.

Our last 1911 Courtship letter was Mar 14, Dear Ethel.  If you've missed some of the courtship letters, click here for a list of links.


Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age  21
Dated:  March 19th, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C Draper, Grand Coulee
Mailed from:  Belhaven
Relationship: Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter

Writing  instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink,
Written on: Slightly thick, textured linen-like paper,
9 inches x  6.5 inches. Ethel has written page 1 and 4 as covers, but inside,
pages 2 and 3  are written together as one long page.


People mentioned in this letter:

- the Kings including Orville - neighbours of Ethel's family
- the Crowders - neighbours of Ethel's family
- Professor Dales*
- School Teacher, Miss McClure
- Mrs. Dafoe*
- Pollacks
* see Genealogy notes at bottom of post


Famous quote: "Time flies"

Belhaven, Mar 19, 1911

Mr N.C. Draper,
        Grand Coulee,
My Dear Noah, -
                           Well here I am again
with some more of my scribbling.
and I was disapointed last night
for I missed your letter last
week. And I wonder why it failed
to get here? I will look for two this week.
                                We were up to
Sunday School this afternoon, and
Kings came home with us for tea.
We were to go to Church but it
was snowing to hard. And my
Ma said I had better stay at home.
Oh say; I have a dreadful cold in
           my head.

2.

We rang Crowder's up and they were
telling us, Professor Dales preached
and our School Teacher, Miss McClure
gave a solo. Orville King plays his
violin in the Sunday School now. He
says we've got to make the music go
now.
         Mrs Dafoe died last Monday
at 12 o'clock. and buried on Thrusday.
Will Dafoe came down from Swift
Current, but he did not get here until
the next morning after the funeral.
          Well it seems to me the past
week has been a very lonesome one,
I don't know but I guess I must be
foolish, for I get so lonesome I hardly
know what to do to pass the time.
          People say, Time flies.
but I don't think it is fling any
to fast to suit me at the present
time. I don't know what you think
about it.

3.

     The clock has just struck
eleven, and everyone is asleep
but me. I guess. So I think
you would be saying you had
better say your prayers and
go to bed.
     There has been quite a few
from around here start for the
West this spring. I think Pollocks
went last week. Saw a man
from the west. and oh the
wiskers he had. He said it was
cold up there, so he grew them
to help keep his face warm.
What about it, Eh. Well Noah. I
close my scribble for this time
and hope to hear from you.
Soon. Hope all are well. From
One who loves you. Ethel.
X X X x & lots more.

That point about growing the whiskers to keep your face warm is a fact. One of the worst things you can do in sub-zero temperatures is shave and then go outside while your face is raw. It'll sting and hurt for sure. This photo isn't even old enough to be called vintage, but it's right on topic as it shows my husband, Nelson Draper, when he was in the Canadian military and serving at Alert, which is the closest inhabited site to the North Pole. The CAF doesn't allow beards unless you're in the Navy or you have doctor's chit for a medical condition, but men in remote northern stations are allowed to grow one if they wise. Nelson served there for 4 long months and when he came home, his beard was three times as bushy as this:

Nelson Clement Draper, grandson of Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson, 1987, Canadian Forces Station Alert, Northwest Territories (now known as Nunavet).

Genealogy Notes

Back to the courtship letters of Nelson's Grandpa Noah and Grandma Ethel...

This week while looking for one of Ethel's mentions, Professor Dales, I stumbled upon the website of http://news.ourontario.ca/newmarket/ which lists newspapers of the Belhaven area.  I couldn't resist and brought up the issue that carried the same date as this courtship letter of Ethel's. Although it's digitized, the newspaper is difficult to read in the bottom left of every page which happens to be where the Belhaven news is, so like the letters, I'll post the image then transcribe the words except this time, I'm skipping the hyphenated words.

The first column talks about something Ethel and Noah have mentioned a couple times - that of her Pa selling their farm. That's when I knew this was the perfect type of newspaper to get all the information I've been searching.

Belhaven

   It was reported that Mr. James
Nelson has sold his place. Don't
you believe it.
   The sleighing has nearly gone, we
use buggies now.
   The special meetings at Keswick
still go on. We thank Mr. McCarthy
for the good he is doing.
   Sorry to hear Mrs. Albert Dafoe
passed away on Monday, March 13.
We mourn the loss in Belhaven.

     Service was held in Belhaven on
Sunday night.   But Keswick got
the largest crowd as a very queer subject was to be discussed. Ask the men about it.
     Mrs. W. Rose is still improving.
We rejoice with her relations.
    Belhaven is looking up. Mr. Norman York is buying butter and eggs 
and shipping them to Toronto.
     Mr. Ough and Mr. allison made a
flying visit to friends near Fish Market.
     Mr. Wm. Wrightman is moving to
Mr. Steve Winche's house at Belhaven.
     Mr. Wm. King is still in Toronto.
  

Of course, the first paragraph in the 2nd column intrigued me, especially since it was about Mr. McCarthy who was also mentioned in the right column, so I dug out Ethel's last letter and this is what she'd written:

There are special meetings being held
in the Christian Church,  Keswick by an
Evangelist, Mr McCarthy. I have been up
three times and say he is a fine speaker.
Friday night his topic was Impure
Amusements. He spoke of Theatre, Dances
and card tables. His topic to-night was
"He blamed his wife for it". Wish you were
here to hear him.

And that's when it clicked in what the newspaper was talking about... "He blamed his wife for it." It must've been a fun speech if the reporter said to "Ask the men about it." Haha

On a sad note, the newspaper gave a brief mention that Mrs. Albert Dafoe died. Another issue of the newspaper mentions her son, Will, came down for the funeral. What the paper doesn't say is what Ethel says with such emotion in her letter - and the misspelling is Ethel's not mine:

Mrs Dafoe died last Monday
at 12 o'clock. and buried on Thrusday.
Will Dafoe came down from Swift
Current, but he did not get here until
the next morning after the funeral.

However, back to Professor Dales, several editions mentioned he would be conducting services in Belhaven, and one mentioned that he was from Toronto. I'm assuming his title is for theological training.

I've read some upcoming issues of the Newmarket Era and think showing the stories side-by-side with Ethel's will had a new dimension to these posts.

What do you think? Did you like when I added the newspaper clipping above?