Blog Archives

1911 Courtship: Apr 23 Dear Noah

12/31/2012

After stopping for a week of Christmas, we're continuing with the 1911 Courtship Letters of Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson. You can find an index to all the letters at Genealogy Posts Index.

Ethel seems out of sorts this week. She says she's writing the letter before church and Sunday School instead of after, which may account for some of the rush, but she either skips or repeats words. It isn't like her to have this many mistakes in a missive. Check my Genealogy Notes below for more thoughts on this.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21
Dated:  Apr 23, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper... Dear Noah
Mailed from:  Belhaven, Ontario
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, black ink
Written on: Light bluey/gray, slightly thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half. Ethel has written with a front and back page, but inside, the letter is written across the long width and down the 6.5 inches so that the paper must be turned to read the inside.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:
- Uncle John - too many Uncle John's to figure out which one she means
- *Veda Perrault - Noah's 16 yr old niece in Regina
- *Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister
- **John Sheppard (not the William Sheppard who tried to buy their farm)
- **Ross

*Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more posts on this person.
** See Genealogical Notes below

Belhaven. Apr. 23. 11

Mr. N C Draper,
Grand Coulee,

Dear Noah, --
Well another Sunday
is here, and it is just a lovely
day. the dust is even flying.
Now I don't believe you could
say that (in truth) about your
roads.
Am writing this letter
in forenoon. for I find when I
wait until later. there is S. School
& church that I am for ever being
stopped by something. also we are
looking for Uncle John's up to-day.
Say: here is this Sadie now. I just wish

you were here to help me alittle with her. I think her and
Veda should be to-gether. How is Veda getting along at college
I was over to John Sheppard's Friday night to a party given
by them for Ross. We certainly had a fine time. They drove
over for us. (so kind eh) Ross is going to South America for three
years. He gets his B.A. in June.
Prof H. C. Kent was here on Friday night. he is a character
reader. he read Sadie's head. he is coming back some day
and we are all going to have our heads read. What do you
say to it?
I am just going to tell you a little trick Crowder's did -
there sheep were on the road, also ours we missed one so we
phoned over there to see if he had got with theres. They said no.
So pa went to look for it, and he was told by a man that
Gordon drove our sheep in with his. Gordon told that one of there
sheep were with ours. and that he was going to have one our ours.
So we are one sheep less, for we never had one of theres. He said that man errorred.

Pa saw the sheep and ask him what
about it and he said it had never been
on the road.
Well Noah the time is passing but it
seems to be very slow indeed. I think
I would like to push the calender
around a little if I could. if it
would start you down here.
Hope you are having a good time
as I am. but I think I would have
better if you were here! I all I
can do is wait until you come eh.
Monday morning.
Here I am this morning before breakfast
Sadie is going to take this with her. and I
have to take her to Uncles. We were up
to S.S. & church. Sadie sang at church.
Well Noah I think I could write you a
good many more words. but you would
think I had gone crazy. just wait until
you come. I close with all a sweethearts love.
X X X Bye - Bye from Ethel. XXX

Genealogy Notes

Having read the letter, what do you think? Do you think Ethel is agitated by her neighbours, the Crowders? She calls it a trick and now her family is one sheep less because of the encounter. Yet in the preceding letters, the Crowders appeared to be very good friends with Ethel's family. Which makes me wonder of their future relationship.

It took me awhile to find out who John Shepperd and Ross was. At first, I thought it was the Mr. Shepperd who tried to buy the Nelson farm, and I didn't understand why Ethel would go to a party there when the men didn't part on good terms. However, in checking back to 1911 Courtship: Mar 5 I saw that was a Mr. William Sheppard from Michigan.

So I searched the digital library of Ethel's local newspaper and found tidbit:

The Newmarket Era. April 28, 1911 - Page: 6 of 8

Our good friend John Sheppard,
Esq., Belhaven, was gloriously full
of fatherly pride the other day. His
son, Ross, 22 years of age, has pass-
ed through his university career with
flying colors. After winning prizes
and scholarships year by year, he has
passed his final, winning a scholar-
ship entitling him to three years spe-
cial study in astronomical science at
Lick University, California, and up
among the Andes at Santiago, South
America. He also gets a large fi-
nancial consideration. Ross must be
a brainy chap.

So that explains the party Ethel went to for Ross.

Because the newspaper article is so hard to read, I wasn't sure of the name of the university Ross was attending, but it looked like 'Lick' so that's what I googled, and here's what I found...

Lick Observatory, Mt Hamilton, California ca.1910

The Link Observatory has been part of the University of California since 1888. For more information about this distinguished research observatory, check this website:http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/public/about_LO/

Christmases of my Past

12/23/2012

I've been using this blog to post the 1911 Courtship letters of Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson, but since I don't have any Christmas photos of them, I thought I'd take this Christmas week to show you photos of my own Christmas past.

Last December as I gathered the old photos for my Christmas post, Big Christmas Trees From Logging Country at my group blog, Inkwell Inspirations, I came to a realization I should have figured out long ago... my love of photography comes from my mother. You may laugh at my surprise, but truly I've always thought my mother and I came from different planets.

Although I was born in a hospital in a Northern Ontario gold mining town, we lived at a logging camp out in the bush near Stevens, Ontario. I still have an old flour sack laundry bag with Camp #5 stencilled in black in across the top. I don't remember much about living there except that we lived near a cliff with a lake full of floating logs below the camp. And I remember the Christmases when Mom set out bowls of nuts and candy, and we put glass pine cones and metal icicles on the tree.

Christmas Morning at Camp #5, ca 1960. Anita 3, sister Bonnie, 4, both holding Lulu dolls.

Christmas morning, 1960. I was three years old, my sister, Bonnie was 4, and our brother was only a couple months old. That was the year Bonnie and I both received Lulu dolls for Christmas. As you'll see, we received other things, too, but the Lulu dolls will go down in history as my favourite doll of all time. The only problem was that my Lulu doll looked exactly like Bonnie's Lulu doll. So a few months later when Bonnie couldn't find hers, she took mine. Of course, I hung on to mine like a bear cub's momma and there we were, each pulling an arm of the soft vinyl rubber-like doll. After a few minutes, the arm Bonnie was holding ripped off! I was in shock! Bonnie wasn't because she dropped the arm and flounced off saying she just remembered where she'd left hers. My poor little Lulu doll. Mom sewed her arm back on, and I loved her, but she was never the same again.

Dec 26, 1960 (Boxing Day) at Camp #5. Anita 3, Bonnie, 4, playing with Christmas gifts.

Mom spent a lot of time dolling us up as you can see by my pretty ringlets in this photo taken on Boxing Day of 1960. That Christmas was special as Dad was making good money. Along with my Lulu doll, I received a nurse's kit and tea set.

Christmas 1961 at Camp #5. Anita 4, Johnny 1, Bonnie, 5.

Johnny joined us for the Christmas of 1964 photo and although Mom snapped this after Christmas, I have no recollection of our presents. I do know that we were still in Camp #5, because Bonnie and I sang Silent Night in Finn in front of the whole community at the Camp Christmas Concert. And yes, I do remember the experience. It's probably what gave me the stage fright that lasted well into adulthood.

Christmas 1963 in Geraldton, Ontario.

We moved to the gold mining town of my birth in Geraldton when I was five, but we lived on a hill on the edge of town. Trying times of turmoil fell upon Bonnie and I as we were involved in a custody battle and shuffled between our biological parents and forced to live with step-parents who felt threatened by our existence. I don't have photos of those years. Truthfully, they feel like pages from someone else's book and I'd rather not look at them.

Christmas 1967 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Johnny 7, Anita 10, Bonnie 11.

The Christmas of 1967 found us living once again with our mother and step-father in the city of Thunder Bay, at the head of Lake Superior. Here we are on the stairs with the stockings Mom made for each of us when we were small. The little plastic mesh stocking was for our brother, Peter, who was 2 that year but I guess Mom hadn't had time to make him one yet. She crafted ours out of felt and lined it with plastic. That way, the candies wouldn't stick to the felt and it would be an easy clean up if our Christmas oranges got squished and leaked. Our stockings were used for food only and if you look close, you can see a box of Pink Elephant popcorn poking out.

Christmas 1967 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Johnny 7, Anita 10, Bonnie 11.

Those were hard times as our step-father was gone for months at a time while working road construction. I don't remember any of the gifts I received that year although I know those snow shovels were for Bonnie and I so that we could help Mom while Dad was gone. I don't know if it was the lack of money, or the move to the city, but our tree sure looked sparser than it had when we lived in the logging camp.

Christmas 1968 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Johnny 8, Anita 11, Bonnie 12.

Another year passed and 1968 we're all a year older (12, 11, 8 now) and we're still holding the same stockings and yes - it looks like we have more Pink Elephant popcorn. We were allowed to empty our stockings as soon as we awoke, but Mom's always been an early riser and took this photo that Christmas morning. Considering the smile on my face and the position of my box of Pink Elephant popcorn, I may have emptied part of my stocking before she got us to pose.

Christmas 1968 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Bonnie 12, Johnny 8, Anita 11.

Here we are several hours later, holding our gifts and looking presentable. I received several musical instruments over the years as if Mom had hopes of getting me interested, but they weren't the real ones and I spent more time reading and writing than singing and playing. Once again, three-year-old Peter is missing from this photo, but he had a good excuse that year...he was sick in the hospital and didn't come home until several days later.

Christmas 1968 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Peter 3.

Mom and Dad tried to make it up to him with a shiny red pedal car. Do you think it worked?

Christmas 1969 at the farm, Thunder Bay, ON. Anita 12, Johnny 9, Bonnie 13, Peter 4.

We moved again in 1969 - this time to a farm 7 miles outside of Thunder Bay. And with the tree being so lush, it looks like we may have cut it on our own property. Now 12 yrs old, the gift I'm holding is a plush pajama doll. I don't think they even make pajama dolls anymore, but all day long she sat on my bed, all puffed out with my jammies inside. Then at night, I'd open the zipper, take my jammies out, and spend the night cuddling her. And she safely held my secrets along with my jammies.

Now do you see what I mean about Mom taking pictures? I never knew how many rolls of film she went through until I visited her last summer and took photos of her pictures so I could preserve them digitally. All I can say is thank you, Mom, for allowing me to see my past.

I also have my mom to thank for my stocking. Do you remember the stocking with my name on it from the above photos? Well, I still have it. Not only do I still have mine, but I made a green one for Nelson when we got married, and followed the tradition with the kids.

Homemade Felt Stockings. Anita's stocking made by Mary Safroniuk (nee Hendrickson) ca 1958-59

We gave Crystal her stocking when she moved out after graduation, and I believe she lost it along the way. Jessie moved out 2 yrs ago, but is leaving hers at home until she has her own home and family. I'd like to note that the plastic in Jessie's stocking is nice and thick - it's from the bag her Huggies diapers came in. Instead of candy, nuts and Japanese oranges though, we use our stockings for gifts and chocolate. Being flat however, limited these stockings to small gifts only.

A couple years ago, when my stocking turned 50, we decided to retire all the homemade ones. Now, they hang on one side of our hall as reminders of Christmases past...

Modern stockings hanging at Draper's Acres, Montmartre, Saskatchewan, ca 2012.

...while on the other side hang our bigger, modern stockings with all kinds of room for goodies.

Thank you for taking this old Christmas journey with me whether you read the text or only looked at the photos.

Now look at your own photo of a past Christmas. What do you remember about it? The gifts? The location? The people? Do you remember how you felt as you waited for the 'click' of the camera?

1911 Courtship: Apr 17 Dear Ethel

12/16/2012

This letter finds Noah still living at the house of Ethel Maud, his sister and her family, as he prepares his own land for building. He's making progress, but I sure would like to know how far his land is from Ethel's. It can't be that far if Noah goes back and forth for tea, etc as detailed in his letter this week. Noah can also see Will coming from Grand Coulee. Furthermore, Ethel has 'called' him down to her place to shoot some Canada Geese. Noah wouldn't have a phone yet since didn't have a building or even a tent up yet, hence, her calling him would have to be the oral kind.

This map shows the distance between Noah's farm (near Adams) to Grand Coulee, a distance of 5.8 km (3.6 miles). And it's 20.5 km (13 miles) from Adams to Regina's Union Station (near red dot).

Adams, Grand Coulee, and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Courtesy of Google Earth, 2012

The hamlet of Adams was one of many grain elevator stops on the old CNR line which passed through part of Noah's land, however, at the time of these letters in 1911, the nearest Post Office was in Grand Coulee which is why Noah used it as his address.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: Apr 17/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dear Ethel (22 yrs old)
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, with a front and back page, but inside, page 2 is on the right, and page 3 is on the left.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

*Ethel - Ethel Maud Rigler - Noah's older sister
*Will - William Rigler, married to Noah's sister, Ethel
*Joe's -The family of Joe Perrault and Eva Amelia - another of Noah's sisters
*Sedore's - Hugh Sedore's family who are related by marriage to Noah via Joe Perrault whose cousins are Sedores through his mother's side

*diptheria
**Sayings "absence makes the heart grow fonder"

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

Grand Coulee, Sask.
Apr 17/11

Miss. E. Nelson,
      Belhaven, Ont.
Dear Ethel; --
       Well I did not get a
letter last week. hope
you are not sick. and
have not caught the
diptheria. I am feeling
like a two year old this
spring.
       Well Ethel just called me
down as there was a flock
of Geese comeing but they
did not come near enough
to shoot at.
       I see Will is just come
from the Coulee hope he

has a letter for me will tell
you later on.
    Well Ethel I just finished
the hen house today and
expect to take my hens
down to night.
   Suppose you are seeding
down there now. we have
not got started here yet
but will start in a couple of days I guess.
   Was at church twice
yesteraday and at Joe's
for dinner and tea had
a great sermon I can tell
you.
   Well Ethel I wish I were
down there for a while to
see how. you are getting along

but they say absence makes
the heart grow fonder so you
know how well I would
like to see you (& squeeze you)
   Am going to put up my
tent tomorrow I guess
am getting tired walking
over here so much.
   Say Ethel I wish you
were here to get my breakfast
these mornings eh
      Say we have had bad
roads here but they are.
getting good now. and by
next Sunday will be all
dry. I guess.
      How. is Sedores.getting
along? & who was sick?

Well they are calling for
tea so bye bye for the present
will come back son. Ha. Ha.
   Well it is now. 8.15. have
had tea. carried over 11 hens
& 1 rooster. cleaned 4 horses.
and. came back at last.
     They are working at
the railroad through hear
now. guess it will bedone
by fall.
     Well Ethel like you
I can talk better than
write. but still you
can guess at the things
I leave unsaid. but you
know. that I love you
all the time even. tho I
am slow at expressing my.
feelings. Well good bye. Little girl.
Dont forget. to send those letters. N.C.D.

x x x
(in upper right corner)

Along the left side, Noah has written:

Ethel - if every letter was a X it would not be half
I am a pig. Half No enough.

Genealogy Notes

This is the second time Noah has made reference to the saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" since he first used it in 1911 Courtship: Mar 14, Dear Ethel so that got me wondering where the phrase came from originally. A google search was in order.

Several sites give reference to Thomas Haynes Bayly who used it at the end of his poem, The Isle of Beauty in 1850:
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Isle of Beauty, fare thee well!

Another site says Isle of Beauty appeared in Bayly's two-volume Songs, Ballads, and Other
Poems in 1842.

Those same sites say although Bayly popularized the phrase, it was originally found in an anonymous poem within F. Davison's Poetical Rhapsody ca 1602.

According to www.phrases.org.uk, "The contemporary version appears in The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature, 1832, in a piece by a Miss Stickland: 'Tis absense, however, that makes the heart grow fonder.'"

Yet some of the above go way back and credit the Roman poet Sextus Propertius as giving us the earliest form of this saying in Elegies: "Always toward absent lovers love's tide stronger flows."

So there you have it, a phrase so popular it has lasted over the centuries. I wonder how Noah heard of it?

1911 Courtship: Apr 16 Dear Noah

12/10/2012

Look what I found in a collection of prairie images called Prairie Postcards in the Peel Library virtual collection at the University of Alberta holdings....

Victoria Avenue (looking West), Regina, Sask, after 1910, Prairie Postcards PC002741, Published by Lewis Rice, Moose Jaw, Sask,

I wanted you to see it is because this is how it looked back in Noah and Ethel's courtship year of 1911. Noah has probably travelled this road dozens of times since it's one of the main east-west throughfares in Regina, and Grand Coulee is due west of Regina. For all I know, Noah could even be one of the two men driving in the vehicle. Isn't that a thought!

Of course, it looks a lot different now as it's one of the busiest roads in Regina, being commerical buildings to the east of Albert St and residential to the west. I'll see if I can find this exact spot my next trip in an take a photo so we can see what a difference 100 yrs makes.

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21
Dated: Apr 16, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper... My Dear Noah
Mailed from: Belhaven, Ontario
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Blue ink
Written on: Light bluey/gray, slightly thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half. Ethel has written with a front and back page, but inside, the letter is written across the short width and down the full 9 inches so that the paper must be turned to read the inside.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:

- *Elva & Will: Elva Jane Nelson is Ethel's cousin (Genealogical notes Apr 11 Dear Ethel)
- **Steward's: Noah's cousin, Stewart Trueman Draper and family, in Indian Head, Sask.
- *Pa - James Nelson of Belhaven
- *Ma - Ida Amelia Glover
- Leslie Nelson: another of Ethel's cousins, and 20 yr old brother of Elva Nelson (above)
- **Martha Brooks
- *Edna Crowder
- Mrs Ellie/Ellice Sweet
- *'that man' - the hired man

- ** hustle
- ** Galloping Consumption

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

Belhaven. Apr 16.

Mr N. C. Draper.
             Grand Coulee.
My Dear Noah, ---
                         Rec'd your postal
card on Friday evening. Hope
you had a good time while
you were visiting.
                          We never were more
sup rized than when we
heard Elva & Will were up
there. Are they working for
Steward's? Would you try and
find out if Leslie Nelson is
up there or not? His people don't
know where he is.

Think you had better hustle and get
started at your seeding, or Pa will be ahead
of you. I think he intends starting in the
morning.
             Martha Brooks is engaged, and her
Fiance wants to go west. but Mrs Brooks
say's he'll never take Martha with him.
What will poor Martha do?
              Edna Crowder is the same old girl
having a good time. Mr. Crowder. Suppose you mean (Father Crowder.) ha ha, Oh Crowders are
all well. I guess. Hav'nt saw Gordon that
to speak. for about 2 weeks.
                   I don't know why but it makes me
feel lonesome, when I am writing to you.
I wonder if I am spending my
Easter at home to-day for the last
time. (at least for some time) Wish you
were with us. I hope to be with you next
-Easter. Anyway. I have eaten three eggs to-
day.
                      Ma and I were down to see
Mrs Ellie Sweet to-day. she died last
night about half-past six. Galloping
Consumption she had.

You seem to be affully busy.
Hope you soon get that man
and get him to work.
         Say : you will get to be a
pretty good coook this summer.
You will be able to learn me
a little about it. (If you can
pound in my old head) eh. that
will be the trouble won't it.
       How are all your people?
   I shall now close with love
and lots of x x x. not as stingy now
as you say I was when you were
here.        Bye - Bye from one who loves.

          E. Nelson.

Genealogical Notes

- Stewart Trueman Draper: In the Genealogical notes of Apr 11 Dear Ethel we first learned of Noah's cousin, Stewart Trueman Draper living in Indian Head, Sask with a map included. Stewart has one of those names that no one seems quite sure how to spell, including the man himself:
1876 Birth Record - Steward Trueman Draper
1881, 1891, 1901 Canada Census - Stewart
1902 Marriage Certificate to Bertha Charlotte Hamilton - Stuart
1916 Canada Census - Stewart
1937 & 1941 Border Crossing Cards into the United States - Stewart

As his cousin, Noah refers to him as Stewart, whereas Ethel uses his birth name. Since Stewart seems to be his own preference, that's how I shall refer to him from now on.

- Martha Brooks: since neither Martha, nor her finance, are part of our family tree, I haven't taken time to research at her this time. However, it will be interesting to see what plays out. Will love win out, or will parental pressure?

- hustle: I honestly thought this was a modern term, probably because of the connection with the Disco era of the 80's. It sounds out of place for Ethel to be using it in a 1911 conversation. Very interesting.

- Galloping Consumption: An infectious disease which is caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was known as consumtion, or TB for short. Although there are several forms, Pulmonary tuberculosis is the most common form where a patch of inflammation develops in the lung, with formation of an abscess. This often heals spontaneously, leaving only scar tissue. However, when the disease spreads rapidly through both lungs, it was often referred to as ‘galloping consumption’. Another form is miliary tuberculosis where the disease is spread throughout the body via the bloodstream. Tuberculous meningitis is when the disease enters the membranes surrounding the brain.

Back in 1911, the vaccine (discovered in 1920) and the drugs to combat the disease (released in 1940's) weren't known yet, and people with TB walked, shopped and lived among the rest of the general population. No one knew it was spread by air-borne particles similar to the common cold.

Today, even with vaccines and drugs readily available, millions of people around the world contract TB every year. Once in decline, the disease is making a comeback:

The increase has been most marked in deprived inner city areas, particularly in the USA, and here there is a clear link between TB and HIV, the virus which causes AIDS. TB is the main cause of death in HIV positive individuals.
For more, click here.

Cast of the TV Show, The Waltons.

I remember watching the TV show, The Walton's, which aired from 1971-81 and was set in the years of the 1930's and 40's. Do you? Many people don't remember what happened to Olivia Walton when she disappeared from the show, but for some reason, that's one of the subplots I remember most. During that 7th season, Michael Learned, the actor who played Olivia Walton, wanted to go on to other projects yet the character she played wouldn't just leave her kids. Because her persona was so ingrained in the show, they didn't want to replace her, either. Having Oliva die would have set the show in a dark direction where they'd all be dealing with the after-effects instead of being a loving, family that put smiles on our faces as well as tears every week.

The writers and producers of The Waltons solved this by showing Livvy as getting sick. As she coughed more, we began seeing a spot of blood here and there on her hanky. Finally, the episode came where she left for a sanitorium in Arizona to heal from the consumption, or TB that was slowly killing her. The theory was that a dry climate would enable easier breathing and heal the lungs. Many people did return after spending years in a sanitorium, and that's exactly what Livvy did in The Waltons when she made occasional guest appearances both on the tv show and in the special made-for-tv movies afterward.

Tuberculosis in Popular Culture is a very interesting Wikipedia site that shows how TB has been portrayed in books, songs, operas, film, art, and even videogames. Although The Waltons TV show isn't mentioned, here is a small sampling of what you can find:

- In Anne of the Island, the third book of the Anne of Green Gables series, Ruby Gillis, one of Anne's childhood friends, dies of "the galloping consumption."

- Mimì, the heroine of Puccini's opera, La bohème has tuberculosis.

- Jimmie Rodgers (1897 - 1933), country music singer, sang about the woes of his
tuberculosis in the song "T.B. Blues" (co-written with Raymond E. Hall) which he recorded on January 31, 1931, at San Antonio, Texas. He also recorded Whippin’ That Old T.B. in 1932, but ultimately died of the disease days after a New York City recording session.

- In the Samurai Shodown series of videogames, Ukyo Tachibana is depicted to be at times coughing out blood, which is a symptom of tuberculosis. In order to heal himself of his illness, he sought the Ultimate Flower. However, out of gratitude, he
presented it instead to his confidant Kei Odagiri. He later found another way to cure his illness, but he instead gave it to his final lover, Saki (when Kei married another man), and died of the illness.

That's it for this week. Let me know if you want any more research done on anyone or anything you read here.

1911 Courtship: Apr 11 Dear Ethel

12/3/2012

This week in the 1911 Courtship letters of Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson we learn of some new relatives on the eastern side of Regina near Indian Head. This opens up a new aspect of our family tree because Indian Head is only 30 mins from our present-day farm - half the distance we have to travel for a cup of Tim Horton's coffee in the city. If you've missed any of the 1911 Courtship letters, you can catch up here.

Part of Wish You Were Here: Canadiana Pamphlets Collection, 7-70-278, University of Saskatchewan Library

The above photo is a Saskatchewan postcard c 1910 showing a farmer loading a hay rack. I'm showing this image because in his letter, Noah mentions 'strawing' and how he uses a hay rack for the job.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: Apr 11 (1911)
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dear Ethel (22 yrs old)
Mailed from: Grand Coulee (Saskatchewan)
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, with a front and back page, but inside, the letter is written across down the full 9 inches so that the paper must be turned to read the inside.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
**Elva and Wm Mitchell - Elva Jane Nelson is Ethel's cousin.
**Stewart's - Noah's cousin, Stewart Trueman Draper and family
*Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister

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

Grand Coulee. April, 11.

Miss. E. Nelson.
       Belhaven. Ont.
Dear Ethel ; --
    Rec'd your letter Sat.
and was glad to hear you
were still of some use in the
world.
    Hope you are all well as
this leaves us as present.
     Well I got back from the
Head this morning.
      Your cousin Elva. and.
Wm is at Stewart's.
      I told Elva she looked
just the same as she did
twenty years ago and she
wouldn't believe. me. Ha.Ha.
       She asked me if you

had a beau & I told her she would
have to ask you but I did not think
you were much of a hand for the
boys. Ha. Ha.
       Have all that hard work done I
was telling you about & expect to
start seeding next week. that is
when we go some.
        Say Ethel I have not got my
hen hous up yet so have not got
my hens over, but expect. to build
it tomorrow. but the will not lay.
for a while I guess but if you
come up for Easter I will go out
and buy you three whole egg's.
and a rabbit. shot five down at
the Head with a twenty two rifle
oh say I am a great shot.
       Have seen a few geese but I
intend to have one for dinner
Sunday so you had better hurry
and get here. also shove around
the calendar about eight months.
       You asked what strawing is. well I
will try and describe it. first we
hitch a team to the waggon that
has the rack on then we drive
to a stack and proceed to get
as big a load as possible on (the
rack.) not our selves

then we drive out along the
edge of the stubble and throw
it (the straw) off in a row. so as
to get a good start for the fire
when we go to burn the stubble
in the Spring.
    Well Ethel I guess you will
think I am crazy & I guess you
would not be far out. but I was
borne that way & guess I will
die that way. Eh.
     Am going to send Sadie a
post card some of these days.
& tell her a few things. Ha.Ha.
      Well Ethel I guess I will
close for this time so good
bye. Little girl good Bye.
P.S. ask. that man       From Yours as B4.
if he can play. O                           N. C. D.
    I dont know. why I love you
                                but I do. NCD

Genealogy Notes

Elva and Wm Mitchell - Elva Jane Nelson is Ethel's cousin. Elva was born at Roche's Point which is a few miles northwest of Belhaven, but on the shore of Lake Simcoe. In 1907, Elva married William Francis Mitchell and subsequently moved to Saskatchewan. It appears they are working on Stewart Draper's farm. (I have a letter from Elva dated July 15, 1911 which I will post here when July 1911 rolls around.)

Indian Head added to the map (in green).

Noah's cousin, Stewart Trueman Draper and family are from the same North Gwillimbury Township in Ontario as Elva and William, Noah and Ethel. The Stewart's farm a few miles out of Indian Head on the eastern side of Regina.

1911 Courtship: Apr 23 Dear Noah

Christmases of my Past

1911 Courtship: Apr 17 Dear Ethel

1911 Courtship: Apr 16 Dear Noah

1911 Courtship: Apr 11 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories