1911 Courtship: May 7 Dear Ethel

Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Canada. The town is off to the right side. Undated postcard, suspect around 1910. Courtesy of http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/mainstreet/images/033a.jpg

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Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated:  May 7, 1911
Addressed to: Miss E.Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dear Ethel 
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer 
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks grey in places and pencil-like in others.
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, with a front and back page, but inside, Noah has turned the paper lengthwise and written straight down both pages. 


People/places mentioned in this letter:

Mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper, Noah's widowed mother 
*Steward - Noah's cousin, Stewart Trueman Draper of Indian Head, Sask
*Louie - Noah's sister, Sarah Louisa Draper, married to Fred Coventry
*Veda - 16 yr old daughter of  Noah's sister, Eva & Joseph Perault who live nearby


Other mentions:

-Alf - Noah's *hired man, also referred to as 'that man'
- manless - doesn't have a hired man working for him at the moment
- Will's man - also referred to as the parrot - hired man of Noah's brother-in-law, Will

- the dog mentioned in Noah's postscript (written along the side of the last page) refers to Ethel's last letter where she wrote, "Manuel got bit on Friday night by our dog. It is torn to the bone on the one side of his leg." Emanuel is Ethel's 5 yr old brother, so this is a very traumatic experience for the Nelson family.

* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this 
  person/place/thing.
** see Genealogy Notes below 

Grand Coulee, May 7/11.

Miss. E. Nelson,
         Belhaven, Ont.
Dear Ethel; --
      Well I got two letters
this week but none the
week before so you see it
is either a feast or a famin
     Well I hope you are all well
as this leaves me. Mother is
down at Steward's went down
last night expect she will
stay a week.
      Have not started batching
yet but I guess I will to-morrow.
       Am going into Regina in
the morning after my buggy
have been getting it painted 
Wine. colour. come up and have
the first ride in it. 

     Say Ethel mother is afraid to go east alone
& wants me to go along but I am afraid
to go unless you will come back with
me. cant you see your way clear to come
back about the first of August. it would
only be about five months and I guess
I could get you enough to eat for that
much longer . . eh. But if for any
special reason you feel it your duty
to stay at home that much longer
why just say so and that ends it.
but I dont think they love you any
better than I do.
       Well Ethel I guess you will think
I am selfish & I cant deny the charge,
so far as you are concerned anyway
so if you can over look it I guess I
can.
     Well I finished seeding wheat on the
4 of May. and will sow the oats next
week. thot it was a little early to
sow them when I finished the wheat.
      Say that man of yours must be a
sticker. I have had two this spring
already sosoon, no. yes. but as they
say am manless just now. & I didnt
have any trouble geting rid of the 
last one either. Mother & Louie were
up last Wed. & Louie asked me if I
were going to keep Alf. and I said I did
not know. I did not like him nor never
did. & our parrot (that is Wills man.) went
& told Alf so as his his time was up
next night when I went out after      

supper he said will you make
up my time please and I said
all right. He had told Will what
the old man said so I did not
blame him for leaving. Eh.
   But he had told Will the day
before he was going to stay for
the summer. Ha Ha.
        Say did'nt I tell you Veda
did not go to College. She is
having her hands treated in
Regina with the ex-rays &
radium. but I hope she
will be able to go after summer
hollidays.
        Well Ethell I guess this is all
for this time. so good Bye
am looking for a letter on
Thursday. Bye Bye.
May your shadow never grow
less. write soon to your little Willie
                     x x x x x         N.C. Draper

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P.S. Have you shot that dog. if you dont. we will
have a funeral when I go down. N.D.

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Genealogy Notes

Since Noah keeps referring to the Stewart's, this would be a good time to show you my research on the Stewart Draper family, continuing with what I've already posted:
- Stewart's name (Stewart/Steward)
- map showing Indian Head, Saskatchewan 

 Stewart Trueman Draper  b 1876, Belhaven, N Gwillimbury, York Co, Ontario
Bertha Charlotte Hamilton b 1879, Mount Pleasant, N Gwillimbury, York Co, Ontario

Stewart and Bertha married on  29 Jan 1902 at her family's home in Mount Pleasant, North Gwillimbury Township, York County, Ontario, Canada:

Taken from The Newmarket Era dated February 21, 1902. (Note spelling of Stewart's name.) Courtesy of www.ink.ourontario.ca

Sequence of Events:

Nov 1902 - Elvyn Hamilton Draper is born, but he dies 9 months later of meningitis. 

Aug 1904 - Norma Elizabeth Draper is born. 

Based on the above confirmed facts, I suspect the date of 1904 on the photograph below  is wrong for the following reasons:
  - the child Bertha is holding (behind Stephen and Martha, sitting) cannot be Elvyn, nor is it a newborn.
   - Almeda and Edward didn't have a child until 1905

Farm home of Stephen Draper and Martha Barnhart and Family, ca 1904 ?, Keswick, Ontario. Courtesy of a member on ancestry.ca

I'm so very grateful to the ancestry.ca member who contributed the above photo as it's the only one we have of Noah's cousin, Stewart Draper and his wife, Bertha Hamilton, who play a big part in the upcoming courtship letters. Although we can't make out the actual faces, the notation shows us:
   - Stewart's parents: Stephen Draper (1846-1919) & Martha Barnhart (1846-1923)
   - Stewart and Bertha's child - Elvyn b 1902 or Norma b 1904
   - Stewart's sisters:
        - Almeda with her husband, James Edward Baker, and child, Milburn b 1905 
        - *Edith Draper and future husband, Frank Kavanaugh
**see Genealogy notes below for more info on Stewart, Bertha, and their child

Apr 1906 - Lennox Draper is born.

The Newmarket Era. April 13, 1906

Stewart & Bertha head to Canada's North-West Territories (the prairie provinces).

The Newmarket Era, Apr 12, 1907

I suspect the family photo above was taken during the summer of 1906 as preparations were underway for Stewart and Bertha to move West.

This brings us to the date of Noah's letter of May 7, 1911. Stewart and Bertha and their 2 children are living a few miles out of Indian Head, Sask (image at the top of this post). 

Noah's mother, Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper, spends time at Indian Head because Stewart is her nephew by marriage. (Noah's dad, David, and Stewart's dad, Stephen, are/were brothers.)

If anyone has more information, or would like to dispute my research, please let me know as I strive for accuracy.

I have more images of early Indian Head, but I'll save them for future posts.