Category: Baseball

1911 Courtship: June 12 Dear Ethel

4/7/2013

Saskatchewan c1911, Courtesy of the Prairie Postcard Collection, http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards/PC002983.html

In this week's letter, Noah writes that he's now living in a grannary, (or grainery) next to the tent on his land. A grainery is a small building, traditionally wooden, but more recently metal, which is used for storing grain. In the above postcard, the grainery is the small building in the centre of the image, on this side of the fence. The smaller building beside the grainery could very well be an outhouse or an equipment building of some sort. The above image is a typical layout for a Saskatchewan farm and the house could even be an Eaton's kit house as shown in 1911 Courthship May 21 Dear Noah.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: June 12th, 1911
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, My Dear Ethel (21 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, written on front and back like a book, but inside, paper is turned sideways and written across short length.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:
- Fred's - Noah's sister, *Louie, is married to Fred Coventry, and they live nearby
- Mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yrs old sister- *Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, Eva Amelia and Joe Perrault
- *Fanny - niece of Joe Perrault, husband of Noah's sister, Eva Amelia
- your Aunt's - Ethel's Aunt *Sarah Elizabeth Glover, sister of Ethel's mom, Ida Amelia Glover
- Dora *Mahoney - a neighbor and school friend of Sadie's

- "get a man" - a *hired man to work on the farm
- Bell Plain - a town (Belle Plain) to the west who play baseball with Grand Coulee

- a rod** = approx 165 feet

* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more on posts on the above people.

**More info under Genealogical Notes

Grand Coulee, June. 12./11

Miss. E. Nelson,
Belhaven Ont;-
My Dear Ethel;-
Received your letter Saturaday
Morning and was glad to hear
you were well as this leaves me
at present.
Am going into Regina today
to order the lumber. also a circus
in town but dont know as I will
go. As I want to get a man and
get back home to work.
Well Pense did not get down
to play ball last Wed. on
account of the rain but will
be down this Wed. We were
up to Bell Plain on Sat.
and beat them 10 to 7. not
Bad for the coulee.

Say I guess Dora would be mad all
right when the teachers told her
she could not pass her exams. I'll bet
she told the teachers a few things.
No I dont think mother will go down
in the winter for it is not near as nice
as it would be in the summer time
for her as she does not like the cold.
Say I hope you can go up for a few
weeks to your Aunt's it would do you
a lot of good I am shure.
Guess I will not get down to the
raising but I would like to I guess
I would be a dandy at it as I have
only been at two that I helped
at.
Oh. say Ethel! Veda seems to know
me better than you do but still I guess
I would not have to die an old bachelor
if I had tried very hard. HaHa.
She sure is a great kid I showed
her that part of the letter and she said
it was Fanny sent it. Fanny asked her
what but she wouldnt tell so Fanny
said some more of your lies eh.
I was down to Fred's last night
after church for a couple of settings
of eggs. sothegirls went along and I
laughed untill I thot. I would
hurt my self. Veda kept bothering
Fanny untill she got about half mad.
so she said if we would stop the

horse she would get out & walk
back home. so of course we
stopped & she got out and started
back she went about 10 rod & we
sat in the buggy laughing at
her and she turned around & run
back. Oh gee but it was funny.
Am living in a grannary beside
the tent and having a bigtime.
batching mother will be coming
down this week I guess. so it will
soon be over for this time.
Well I guess this is all for this
time only be a good little girl
untill I get down & after that
I will make you. Ha Ha.
Well good bye untill next time
I am yours as B. 4. N. C. Draper.
xxxxxxxxx and a thousand
and one more.

Genealogy Notes

Note #1: A Rod

In this week's letter, Noah writes, "...she went about 10 rod & we sat in the buggy laughing at her..."

Do you know what a rod is? In its simplest term, a rod = 16.5 ft, so if Fanny walked 10 rods ahead, she was about 165 feet away. I tried writing a good explanation, but after struggling, I decided to give you the wikipedia version:

The rod is a unit of length equal to 5½ yards or 16½ feet. Under an agreement in 1959 between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, the yard (known as the "international yard" in the United States) was legally defined to be exactly 0.9144 metres. Prior to that date, the legal definition of the yard when expressed in terms of metric units varied slightly from country to country.

In surveying, fields were measured in acres, which were one chain (four rods) by one furlong (in the United Kingdom, ten chains). Bars of metal one rod long were used as standards of length when surveying land. The rod was still in use as a common unit of measurement in the mid-19th century, when Henry David Thoreau used it frequently when describing distances in his work Walden.

Note #2 - An update on Melvina Cole

In the Genealogy Notes of 1911 Courtship letter of May 7, Ethel mentions that her cousin, Melvina Cole, will have a June 1911 Wedding. Although Ethel doesn't mention it further in her June letters, I found the following snippet in this week's 1911 Newmarket Era:

1911 Courtship: June 5, Dear Ethel

4/2/2013

www.ourroots.ca Pense Community, 1882 to 1982 pg 185

In this week's letter Noah mentions the Blink Bonnie school as being 2 miles west of his land, so I've included an image from the local Pense Community, 1882 to 1982 history book. Noah also says the railroad is putting down track which will go through his land, so I'm adding a map and some family information in this week's Genealogical Notes.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: June 5th, 1911
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Dearest Ethel (21 yrs old)
Mailed from: Grand Coulee (Saskatchewan)
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks blue-grey in places until he refills his pen
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 straight across the full 9 inch width. Although this might have looked good to Noah, it makes for hard reading in pdf form as well as here as a jpeg image.

People/Places mentioned in this letter:
- *Percy - Noah's older brother who lives nearby with his family
- *Ethel - Ethel Maud Rigler, Noah's sister
- Mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper
- *Sadie Nelson - Ethel's 16 yrs old sister
- G.C. - Grand Coulee, Sask.

Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more on posts on the above people.

Grand Coulee, Sask.
June. 5th./.11.

Miss. E. Nelson,
Belhaven, Ont.
Dearest Ethel;-
Received your letter
Saturaday night and was
glad you were pleased with
your watch. So you think
I have received nothing eh.
What about the love of the
Best Little Girl in the world.
I think it is me that needs
to be thankful and I am.
also I try to be patient.
untill the time comes to go
down after said little girl.
Well Ethel we have had

quite a wet spring here. had a big
rain yesteraday so I was not working
on the land to-day xxxx so have been
fixing up a place to live in. am still
at Ethel's but wont be much longer.
I hope for it makes her so much
extra work.
Better come up to the base-ball
match Wed night. expect a big time
but dont think we will git beaten.
hope not any way.
Louie & Fred were up yesteraday
also Percy so we had quite a day ofit.
Suppose you are in bed now it
would be just 10 past 11 by your
time & I just came in from the barn.
Have you started to build yet and
who is doing it. I have not got started
yet but have let the contract & they
will start some time this month.
Well I guess when you come up
we wont have to come very far from
the station as they are gradeing
next farm to mine now & will be
on mine by the end of the week & the
station is to be on my place. isnt
that handy.

Percy has the well diggers at
his place now has to pay them
a dollar a foot. I hope he gets
water for a person gets tired
drawing it so far.
Dont know wheather mother
will go down East this summer
or not for she doesnt like to
go alone. guess she is nervous.
Tell Sadie to cheer up the
worst is yet to come. & if she
does not pass this summer I
wont let her teach in the
Blink Bonnie school. which
is just 2 miles west of here but
I will give my consent to her teaching
in G.C. Well Ethel I guess this is all
for this time so Bye Bye. Yours as B.4.
xxxxx xxx N.C.D.

Genealogical Notes

Grand Coulee and area showing Noah Draper and family. (Click to enlarge)

As you can tell, I owe the above map (click to enlarge) to the nice people at GoogleEarth who have opened the world to our eyes like no other cartographer has done before.

When you look at the map, if all you see is a bunch of squares, then you're looking at it correctly. To simplify, the land is broken in townships (36 square miles each) and then sections. Each section is 1 square mile, so by counting the squares, we can figure out how far it is between points by the road, or the way the crow flies, which is a lot shorter.

Close up of Grand Coulee area showing distances and routes of travel.

In this closer view, I've tried to show the path Noah takes to get from his land to Ethel's house, where he's staying until his house is built. I didn't want to gum it up with too many squares and colours, so I've done the bare minimum...

- top left is the Blink Bonnie school (yellow pin) which is 2 big squares from Noah (orange pin). Each square equals one mile, hence the school is 2 miles away. (As he confirms in the letter.)

- if you look closely at those 2 white squares, you'll see from the different shades of green that they are divided in half. It probably looks that way because different crops are growing, or they could belong to different owners. Some sections are divided into 4 quarters, into eighths, etc. Regardless the divisions, each square mile section is 640 acres, a half section is 320 acres, and a quarter section is 160 acres.

Noah has 2 routes to get to Ethel's house:
- red line - 3 miles cross country (hope he asks permission!)
- blue line - 4 1/2 miles if he walks/rides by road

From the census records, I believe Louie & Fred, and Percy & Parthina live in neighboring townships. With each township being 6 sections/miles across, they shouldn't be too away. I'll keep checking and let you know as soon as I find out.

Clear as mud? Let me know if you need clarification. :)

1911 Courtship: May 28 Dear Ethel

3/18/2013

ca1910? Gideon School Picnic and Ball Game, Saskatchewan. Courtesy of the Online Learning Center in partnership with Western Development Museum.

Noah tells Ethel about the ball games the Grand Coulee team played on the 24th against Pense, and although I dug deep into the Saskatchewan Archives, the above image is the closest I could come to showing what Noah experienced that day. The scene is from a Picnic at the Gideon School in the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan area around that 1910 era.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: May 28/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dearest Ethel
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, which he runs out of, so continues the next day with fresh ink
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, and written in a 4-page booklet form, except Noah has turned the paper inside and written down the full length.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
- Mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell Draper, Noah's widowed mother
- *Ethel - Ethel Maud Rigler - Noah's older sister
- G.C. *Grand Coulee

- the 24th**

* 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.28/11.

Miss. E. Nelson,
Belhaven, Ont.
Dearest Ethel; -
Well here I am again & I can
tell you it would supprise you
if you were here and could
look out of the window. We
have just had our annual
snow storm. it snowed
all day before yesteraday &
yesteraday. but it is over
now and the snow nearly all
gone to day.
Well I suppose you have
your watch & pin by this
time and I hope you like them
Well how did you spend
the 24th. The G. C. ball team
went up to Pense to play
ball. we won the game 6 to 5

and then played Bell Plaine and
beat them 2. to 1 so we had a big day.
there was nothing only base ball
but a dance at night & only 2 of the
team stayed. about a dozen girls &
ten menwent up to the game from
the Coulee. We are forming a league
Bell Plain Pense and G.C. we will
have to gotwice to each place &
have 4 games at home 8 games in all
guess we will get the cup eh.
Well Ethel I guess you will think
I dont intend to batch much & I
dont. unless mother goes east. I am
still at Ethels. I seam to have a great
fancy for Ethels.
Well Ethel I guess I will start at
the shack week after next so am going
to send you the plan of the ground
floor & will fin the upstairs as I go
along. you know the ground floor
is the most important. so if you see
any way to change it to advantage
why just say so. The stair way goes
up out of the hall & the hall leads back
into the kitchen. but you will be able
to see all this by the plan. there is
big sliding doors between Dinning
room and parlor. & a bay window
in front. but you will be able to see

the rest by the plan.
Well I wish I could drop in
for tea to-night but I guess it is
impossible but will make up for
lost time when I do get the chance
Ha. Ha.
Mother is here but she is going
down with me if I ever move I
guess she thinks I dont intend
to. eh. but we have had
such cold weather it has not been very nice in a tent.
Well Ethel I guess this is
about all I can put on paper
this time but it is a lot easier
to talk than write. have
not got your letter yet as Iwas
not down to the Coulee since
Friday but expect to go in the
morning. Well Bye Bye. Yours as B4.
x x x x x N.D.

Genealogy Notes

On page 2, Noah says, "there was nothing only base ball but a dance at night". The reason he says that is because back in Ontario, May 24th was a huge event. Yes, it was (and still is) a community sports day, but there were fireworks, as well as a dance. Here are some clippings from The Newmarket Era of things that Noah was missing out on:

The Newmarket Era. May 12, 1911

The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1911

The Orchard Beach clipping is from 1922, but it shows what the Victoria Day weekend means to Canadians. (Did back then, still does today.)

The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1922

Since Victoria Day is a celebration of the reigning monarch's birthday, Fire Works were available and very much looked forward to at the annual event.

In the column on the left, the first clipping is an ad from a local Newmarket store. The second is a report following the 24th and mentions a two-hour firework show! It goes to say that on top of the fireworks, Pickering College had a huge bonfire that almost got out of hand. There was more to the article, but due to readability degradation (and boring subject matter) I cut it off where it descended into the logistics of the event.

Immediately below this is a clipping from the report of the huge Sports Day part of the celebrations. I've cut this one as well due to horrid legibility, but May 24th, 1911 wasn't just a Sports Day - it was the Ontario Championship Races and Coronation Trials. The winners of the day's events had 2 weeks before heading off to the Olympics in London, England. These events included:
- 10 mile marathon
- 5 mile Run
- 1 mile Run
- 1/2 mile Run
- 440 yd Run
- 220 yd Run
- 100 yd Dash
- 120 yd Hurdle
- 2 mile Walk
- Running High Jump
- Running Broad Jump
- Pole Vault
- Putting (16 lb?) Shot

The article concludes by saying the day's events wound up with an exciting motor race.

(I've linked this clipping to the source in case you wish to read it in its entirety.)

Clipped from: The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1911, Page 3

1911 Courtship: May 21 Dear Ethel

2/24/2013

1910 Rosetown Ball Team; Virtual exhibits: Part of Wish You Were Here: Saskatchewan Postcard Collections

Noah mentions in his letters that he's playing baseball against teams from Pense and Belle Plain. I tried digging up an old photo of the area around Grand Coulee, but this was the closest I could find. Rosetown is about a 4-5 hr drive in today's terms from Grand Coulee. Noah's team would've been like the above photo as they were just a bunch of farmers out for some competitive sport with neighbouring towns. No uniforms, although they made have sewed their name or town on their shirts. This 1910 Rosetown Ball Team photo is representative of the baseball clothing and equipment at the time.

Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: May 21/11
Addressed to: Miss E.Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., My Dear Ethel
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, which he runs out of, so continues the next day with fresh ink
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, and written in a 4-page booklet form, except Noah has turned the paper inside and written down the full length.

People/places mentioned in this letter:

**Miss Hunt from last week - See Genealogy Notes for photos Ethel's family including Miss Hunt

* The Belhaven fires

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

Grand Coulee Sask
May 21./11.

Miss. E. Nelson,
Belhaven, Ont.
My Dear Ethel; -
Received your letter last
night and was glad to hear
you were still in the land
of the living. & you will
see by this that I am not
very bad in fact nothing
worse than lazyness. HaHa.
Well I guess by the time
you get this you will
know all about the big
time at Newmarket. & I
will know all about the

big time at Pense. We gothere the
24th to play ball. expect we will
get it in the neck for we have had
only one pratice but there is nothing
like being game so we are going to
try them any way.
Say Ethel you know your self where
your duty lies this summer and as
much as I would like to have you
here with me I would not like to
influence you to leave there this
summer. for like you I think the
burning of the barn makes a big
difference.
Well the clock is just striking
ten that would be 12 P.M. by your
time and I suppoe you woulbe
in bed asleep.
Say my pen is dry & I guess I will
finish with
Monday. night. well I was going to say
with a pencil but I could not find
one so I am at it again with Ink. Ha.Ha.
Am going in to Regina in the
morning & am going to try to get you
a little birthday present. & hope
you will like it when you get
it.
The carpenter was here to night
to see about building (my) house but
I know as much about it now as I

did before so am going to see
about it tomorrow & get some
other contractors prices.
Well it is preety cold and
windy to night hope it does
not last long.
Say do you think the barns
were set on fire by some one. It
certainly looks suspicious.
Oh say you should see
my bugg. Gee it is swell
nit .):) wish you were here
to ride in it any way. but I
guess it will keep. what
do you think. Well I guess I
will ring off for this time
so Good Bye. May Your shadow
never grow less. I remain forever.
Your faithful lover. N.C.D. xxxxx

Genealogy Notes

Last week, Ethel wrote to Noah, "Miss Hunt speaks of you each time I see her."

Well, I still haven't figured out where Miss Hunt fits in the Family Tree although I found a photo of her in Ethel's treasure box. The back of this photo reads:

Alice and Miss Hunt
Great Great Cousin

And although Alice is mentioned in another Courtship letter, I don't know where she fits in the tree either.

Look at this photo of Ethel's family taken the same day:

James H Nelson Family c 1931, (L to R back) unknown, unknown, James A Nelson, Emanuel Nelson and wife Vera Horner, Cousin Alice, Miss Hunt, Ida Amelia Glover (Ethel's mother), and James Henry Nelson (Ethel's father); (L to R front row: Frank Thompson, Leland (?) Nelson, Glenna Nelson, Clifford Thompson, Benny Thompson.

This family photo could very well show Ethel's complete family if I guess at the women on the left. We know the 2 on the right are Ethel's parents from other photographs. And we've identifed Miss Hunt and Counsin Alice at the top of this post.

We know that the 2 young men are Ethel's brothers, James A and Emanuel, while the woman in the cloche hat is Emanuel's wife, Vera. You've met this young man, Emanuel in Ethel's letters because back in 1911, he's 5 yrs old and gets bitten by the family dog after teasing him. The little girl, Glenna, is Emmanuel's oldest child, and the toddler could be her brother, Leland.

So that only leaves the 2 women on the left. Ethel had 2 sisters, Sadie, who was 5 yrs younger than her, and Christie, 10 yrs younger. So far in the letters we haven't heard about Christie, but we've heard plenty about Sadie and her schooling and teasing.

In the photo, 3 of the children are the Thompson boys and since Christie grew up to marry Roy Thompson, I suspect one of the women is Christie - my guess is the one on the end because she looks like a mother ready to chase after a wayward child.

So that leaves the lady second on the left with the white hat and carrying a Bible or camera. Could that be Sadie? I really wish I knew.

I believe the photo was sent to Ethel and Noah in Grand Coulee, SK from Belhaven, Ontario, which explains why Ethel and her children aren't in the photo.

If someone can help identify the people in this photo, we'd really appreciate if you let us know, either here, through my contact page, or on ancestry.ca/com.

Forward>>

1911 Courtship: June 12 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: June 5, Dear Ethel

Genealogical Notes

1911 Courtship: May 28 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

1911 Courtship: May 21 Dear Ethel

Genealogy Notes

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