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1911 Courtship: June 12 Dear Ethel

4/7/2013

 
Picture
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
Picture
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.

Picture
      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
Picture
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:
Picture

1911 Courtship: June 4, Dear Noah

3/26/2013

 
Picture
Clipped from The Newmarket Era. May 26, 1911 - Page: 7, Courtesy of OurOntario.ca Community Newspapers Collection
In this week's letter, Ethel writes, There is going to be a wild beast show in Newmarket on June the 6th. I think it's cute that she would call it a "wild beast show" instead of of a circus.  But don't you wish Ethel had a chance to go?

Sorry for the delay this week... I've had a bit of a problem with one of Ethel's letters because she dated it June 2nd, 1911, but after I had it all done, I realized that it was all out of context. So that meant research to jive the events in her letter with the events in the June 1911 newspaper. Of course, I had wondered why she'd written one letter on June 2nd and one on June 4th, but I figured she may have been missing Noah, eh. However, dates mentioned about her father's barn raising, her trip up to Aunt Sarah, etc all point to her writing June when she meant July. Hence, you'll get that letter in a a few weeks.  Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming: 


Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (born 31 May 1890)
Dated:  June 4th, 1911
Addressed to: Mr. N. C. Draper, Grand Coulee, Sask. (Dear Noah)
Mailed  from:  Belhaven Post Office, Ont. 
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 inches, folded in half. The paper is folded in half with the first page on the front and last on the back, but inside, she's turned the paper and written across the short width and turned both pages into one long page. Hence this letter has only 3 pages.


People/places mentioned in this letter:
- *Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, Eva Amelia and Joe Perrault
- Noah's mother - *Sarah Sophia Deverell
- Aunt Sarah -  Sarah Elizabeth Glover, sister of Ethel's mom, Ida Amelia Glover 
- Dora *Mahoney - Ethel's neighbor and schoolfriend

**Howe's Great London Circus

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

Picture
Belhaven. P. O.
June 4th, 1911.

Mr. N. C. Draper,
             Grand Coulee,
                            Sask,

Dear Noah,-
                       Rec'd your letter 
Friday evening, and the same 
as usual, was flad to get it,
and to know you still continue
to have good health, the main
thing in this world, "eh".
                         I had a card from
Veda, Thrusday, I think I
shall have to tell you how
she started it.

Picture
2.
     Dear Aunt Ethel, "ha, ha," said she
was glad you had got a girl for she
was afraid you was'nt going to get
any. I think I shall write and tell
her. I am glad I had the chance then
to help you out a bit. She certainly is
quite a girl. Say I am glad your mother
is going down to stay with you this
summer. If she does'nt come down East.
Now, will she come with you this winter,
Well you certainly did fine at your
ball game. There is going to be a wild
beast show in Newmarket on June the 6th. 
but I don't hardly think we will be able 
to go. we will have 7 or 8 men then.
They start in the morning at the wall.
I got a letter from Aunt Sarah, wanting
me to go up there for July and August,
I may be able to go for a week or so, but
I am afraid it will be hard work to get
away from work.
      And as to your message it certainly
does seem hard to get away.
     Wish you were coming down to the
raising. I think they intend to raise the 

Picture
barn about the first of July.
Dora Mahoney has quit school.
The teachers told her there was no
use of her trying her exams
than anything.
We had some quite windy 
weather a little while ago. I suppose
about the time you had your
snow storm.
The plan for the house seems
allright so far as I see now, and
I guess if you build the way you
think best, it will be allright.
And Noah built it Just as you
feel that you can. For everything 
put to gether means a lot, I know.
I guess I will write Veda a card
when I get your letter finished, and 
I guess it is nearly to a close for this
time. So must say good-Bye. with
love from Ethel. (Yours) "eh" xxxxxxxx

Genealogy Notes

Here's a write-up I found in the Newmarket Era about Howe's Great London Circus that Ethel calls, the wild beast show. 
Picture
The Newmarket Era. June 2, 1911, Courtesy of http://ink.ourontario.ca
Many Great Features
Coming With Howe's Great Lon-
don Circus.
   The shake-ups to the nerves, the
rag-time beat of your heart, the
fear that someone will be hurt,
with the accompanying apprehen-
sion that they may not, all of this
--and this is the delight of the 
Great London Circus, to be at
Newmarket, June 6th, must be giv-
en by the professionals who shake
dice for their lives with fortune
every performance.
   The Great London Circus is high
hygiene. It is a Yankee Doodle
circus for Yankee Doodle kids from
"six" to "sixty." One of the big
acts is the original Eddy Family.
What this wonderful family do
looks easy. Suppose you try it,
and newspapers will write a story
about it, with a diagram showing
the place where your body struck.
   Another of the best-ever acts is
the leaping contest. Fifty leapers
take part. Charles Lumkin is the
champion and does a double som-
ersault over elephants, camels and 
horses. Marle McPhall, Elding
Wallotts and many other big acts
are presented in many new riding
stunts.
   You will see the Ben Hur herd
of Arabian stallions and the Black
Hussar horses perform. They prove
what a perfect world this would
be if all men had as much intelli-
gence as horses. You will see ele-
phants waltz, teeter, play hide and
seek, and undress and go to bed
like people. You will see dog
shows and mule? shows and count-less clowns. The Howe Circus is a
great show, presenting magnificent
good old barbarous sport that
makes you happy in feelling that
civilization has not eliminated all
the traits your grand-dads of the 
stone age left you as a message.
The $25,000 Dublin Gray Horses are
also coming and they are a show 
in themselves.

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