Our last 1911 Courtship letter was Mar 19 Dear Noah. If you've missed some of the courtship letters, click here for a list of links.
Although I have a receipt that states Noah bought five quarters of land back on Dec 29th, 1909 for $1412.75, this is Noah's first letter where he talks about the home he is building as he readies himself for married life. I notice that when he first starts talking, he's saying my barn and my house and then suddenly, he crosses out the my and adds our. I can only imagine what Ethel is thinking at that point.
Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper
Dated: Mar 20 (1911)
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont.
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks blue-grey in places
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half and written in booklet form although unnumbered.
People mentioned in this letter:
Louie - Sarah Louisa Draper, Noah's older sister
The Mahoneys and Della* - First mentioned in the Mar 12th letter when Ethel writes, "Mr Mahoney's had buggy to S. School."
Although I have a receipt that states Noah bought five quarters of land back on Dec 29th, 1909 for $1412.75, this is Noah's first letter where he talks about the home he is building as he readies himself for married life. I notice that when he first starts talking, he's saying my barn and my house and then suddenly, he crosses out the my and adds our. I can only imagine what Ethel is thinking at that point.
Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper
Dated: Mar 20 (1911)
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont.
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks blue-grey in places
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half and written in booklet form although unnumbered.
People mentioned in this letter:
Louie - Sarah Louisa Draper, Noah's older sister
The Mahoneys and Della* - First mentioned in the Mar 12th letter when Ethel writes, "Mr Mahoney's had buggy to S. School."
| Grand Coulee. Mar 20. Dear Ethel, Received your letter last Thursday & was glad to hear you were still in the land of the living. Well Ethel I some times miss writing on Sunday as you will see but I was down to Louies for tea & didnt get home untill the wee small hours. Am busy building my barn. & it will take about 2 days yet. I can tell you it is a change from watching other people work but it does a person good. I dont know wheather I told you in my last letter or |
| not but I have sent for a tent & am going to live in it untill fall & then build my house (the nest for my bird). eh Say kid I am going to send you my plans for our house & if you see any alterations you would like to make. why you can just say so & it will be as you want it. is'nt that fair. you will be the one that has to run it. so i think you should have it preety nearly as you want it. Am going to dig the cellar & cement it this summer so as to have it ready for fall for when I start it I want it done quick. (in the sweet bye & bye. |
| am going to the Coulee in the morning after lumber so will have a chance to post this. The roads are preety near impassable so expect to have a big time but cant stop for that as spring work will soon start. & I have got to clean over 800 bushel of wheat for seed. & over a 100 of oats. & I have no strawing done yet. Oh. say you might come out & help. Well Dearest I guess you will think I am trying to stuff you but it is all to true. Ha. Ha. How is Mahoneys getting along. Isent Della a card. but have not got any answer |
| another case like 2 years ago (eh) Well I guess you will be in bed while I am writing this. it would be half past ten by your time now. & we have just come in from the barn. Well Ethel I have not much to tell you in aletter but if I were there I guess I could find lots to say. but just now I am going to say. Bye Bye & write soon to your Prairie Boy. N.C. Draper, |
Although Noah isn't the greatest writer, I believe this is his worst letter yet for grammar and spelling errors. But when you consider how tired he must be after working all day doing the physical work out in the cold, the mistakes in his writing doesn't matter. It's the fact that as tired as he is, he's taken the time to write to Ethel and let her know his plans.
Genealogy Notes
To find out who Della Mahoney was, I went to the ancestry.com website and searched for Della Mahoney who once lived at Belhaven, North Gwillimbury Township, York County, Ontario, Canada which is the address for Ethel.
The results brought up an 1891 and a 1901 Canada census as possibilities. I clicked on each in turn which showed that the Thomas Mahoney family lived down the road from the James Nelson (Ethel's) family and the David Draper (Noah's) family. But 10 yrs between census records is a long time in a family's life, and I wanted to see where the Mahoney family was at the time Noah wrote this letter. The 1911 Canada census is dated on June 1st of that year and shows the Mahoney's living on the same farm down the road from Ethel.
As to why Noah asked about Della and no one else in the Mahoney family... the census records show that Della was born in 1887, while Noah was born in 1888. To confirm that they knew each back as children, I pulled up the 1897 school photo of SS #4 Belhaven school as seen below.
The results brought up an 1891 and a 1901 Canada census as possibilities. I clicked on each in turn which showed that the Thomas Mahoney family lived down the road from the James Nelson (Ethel's) family and the David Draper (Noah's) family. But 10 yrs between census records is a long time in a family's life, and I wanted to see where the Mahoney family was at the time Noah wrote this letter. The 1911 Canada census is dated on June 1st of that year and shows the Mahoney's living on the same farm down the road from Ethel.
As to why Noah asked about Della and no one else in the Mahoney family... the census records show that Della was born in 1887, while Noah was born in 1888. To confirm that they knew each back as children, I pulled up the 1897 school photo of SS #4 Belhaven school as seen below.
SS #4 Belhaven 1897 School Photo. Mom is Ethel Nelson, Dad is Noah Draper. Noah's sister, Jennie, is check-marked in 2nd row from the top.
According to the above info, Della Mahoney is 2nd from the right in the 2nd row from the top. That puts her right in from of Noah. Not only that, but the Newmarket Era regularly printed exam results for each grade from Primary up and prove that Della and Noah competed against each other in the one-room Belhaven school.
The 1911 census records Della as being 24 yrs old and still living at home. Her occupation is listed as Farmer's Daughter with 5 younger siblings, all in their teens. Most farmers' daughters were married at that age - partly because they'd found a love, but many because they tried to escape the drudgery of home life and have freedom from siblings. Her older sister, Stella, is already married with a small family. What was Della's case?
And then I noticed that the 1911 census didn't show the mother, Ellin Mahoney and that Della's father is listed as a Widower. If Ellin died recently, and the family was in turmoil, that could explain Noah's worry.
So I went back to the 1901 census and realized that it also listed Thomas Mahoney as a widower with 7 children and in the column for relationship to the head of the family, Ellin is listed his Housekeeper and single. Since they share a name, and she's listed above the children's names, (and not below where their 17 yr old domestic servant is listed), I can only conclude that Ellin is Thomas's sister.
Yet there must've been a Mrs. Mahoney at one time to produce 7 kids. So, I went farther back to the 1891 census, and there she was - Lucy Mahoney. Since with the youngest Mahoney child is listed on the 1901 census as 5 yrs old, Lucy Mahoney died in the 5 yrs before the 1901 census was taken. Between the years Dellas was 9 and 14. That's a rough age to lose a mother in any period of time.
But, did I really need to do all this research to discover a mention in Noah's letter?
Nope. However, I wanted to show you how easy it sometimes is to find your ancestors. All you need is a name and a location. They don't even have to be exact since the internet and computer systems offer suggestions of similarly spelled names and a range of close dates. Give it a try and then let me know how you made out. And let me know if you need help and I'll try my best to help you on your journey.
The 1911 census records Della as being 24 yrs old and still living at home. Her occupation is listed as Farmer's Daughter with 5 younger siblings, all in their teens. Most farmers' daughters were married at that age - partly because they'd found a love, but many because they tried to escape the drudgery of home life and have freedom from siblings. Her older sister, Stella, is already married with a small family. What was Della's case?
And then I noticed that the 1911 census didn't show the mother, Ellin Mahoney and that Della's father is listed as a Widower. If Ellin died recently, and the family was in turmoil, that could explain Noah's worry.
So I went back to the 1901 census and realized that it also listed Thomas Mahoney as a widower with 7 children and in the column for relationship to the head of the family, Ellin is listed his Housekeeper and single. Since they share a name, and she's listed above the children's names, (and not below where their 17 yr old domestic servant is listed), I can only conclude that Ellin is Thomas's sister.
Yet there must've been a Mrs. Mahoney at one time to produce 7 kids. So, I went farther back to the 1891 census, and there she was - Lucy Mahoney. Since with the youngest Mahoney child is listed on the 1901 census as 5 yrs old, Lucy Mahoney died in the 5 yrs before the 1901 census was taken. Between the years Dellas was 9 and 14. That's a rough age to lose a mother in any period of time.
But, did I really need to do all this research to discover a mention in Noah's letter?
Nope. However, I wanted to show you how easy it sometimes is to find your ancestors. All you need is a name and a location. They don't even have to be exact since the internet and computer systems offer suggestions of similarly spelled names and a range of close dates. Give it a try and then let me know how you made out. And let me know if you need help and I'll try my best to help you on your journey.
