1911 Courtship: May 14 Dear Noah

May 14th, 1911 was Canada's 2nd ever Mother's Day, and it's how Ethel starts this week's Courtship letter. 

Clipping from the Newmarket Era  
5 May 1911, p. 1. 

Northern Pacific Railway postcard for Mother's Day, ca 1916

---

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21
Dated:  May 14, 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 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 it clockwise and written straight across the whole width so technically, there are only 3 pages.

People/places mentioned in this letter:
- Ma - *Ida Amelia Glover
- Pa - *James Henry Nelson
- Maud *Bruels
- Grover Morrison - a young man from the nearby village of Baldwin
- **Mrs. Deverell  mother of *Herbert Deverell - **updated info below!
- *Uncle Emanuel Nelson - brother of James Henry Nelson
- *Manuel  - Emanuel Nelson - Ethel's little brother 

More info on the *Fire(s) and current *market prices were posted under 1911 Courtship: May 14? Dear Ethel.


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

Bellhaven. May 14.1911.

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

Dear Noah, --
                     Well here I am again
with some more of my scribbling
I have just come home from
Church. Mr. Fletcher of Keswick
Christian Church preached.
To-day was Mothers day
Everybody was supposed to
wear a white flower.
                I was home with 
Maud Bruels to-night for tea
Grover Morrison took her home
from Church. He was driving a
colt and say I just had to
jump for my life to get out of the rig.

2.

      Oh Noah I got your letter last night
asking me to try and think that I would
be able to go home with you the first of
August if you came down. Oh Noah I do so
wish you could come, but just think, of my leaving 
Ma with so much extra work that she will
have this summer building the barn.
I believe if our barn had not of burned I
would have said yes, without any hesitation.
It is'nt the lack of love for you (on my part)
that keeps me here. Now Noah what do you
say? Considering all. Oh if you were only here
so that I could talk and tell you everything and
just how I feel about it.
         Stanley Mahoney and his May were up to
Church to-night. I heard to day Morn Yorke
was to married in June. 
     Mrs. Deverell has been visiting at Mrs. Bruels
a couple of days. I guess she feels awfully 
bad about Herb's death. 
         We heard yesterday that there had
averaged a barn burning each day this
week except Saturday. Ours Monday, Rialton's 
on Tuesday. they caught fire in just the
same place. Riddels on Wed, one near
Newmarket on Thursday, and a fire on
Friday we heard was Moleses barn.

   We got Eleven Hundred
insurance. Everyone has been so
good. It shows you who your
true friend's are. No we have not
killed that dog yet. It was'nt
the dog's fault. Manuel was teasing
him. Uncle Emanuel is very sick 
we are afraid he'll not recover.
Miss Hunt speaks of you each time
I see her.
    Well how do you like batching it
alone. I often think of you, and
wonder what you are doing. haha
wether you are mixing bread or not.
Ethel would do your baking for
you would'nt she? I guess you can
tell by my writing about what my
pen is like, it scratches. Everyone
is well here in body. but rather
down hearted since the fire. I think
I must close for this time. with all
love I say good-Bye from your 
                                                    Sweetheart,
x x x x x x x x (Ethel Nelson)

Genealogy Notes

This week's genealogy notes are in 2 parts:
1. The Deverell's
2. Uncle Emanuel

The Deverell's

A few weeks ago, I talked about the death of Herbert Deverell under Genealogy Notes in the post, 1911 Courtship: May 1 Dear Noah, and how many circumstances matched - and didn't match - Noah's mother, Sarah Sophia Deverell. 

In that post, I stated the facts as I know them and then said,

but they can't be siblings for the following reasons:

1. they share the same birth year but were born a couple months apart
2. their parents have the same names & jobs, but not the same birth years
3. if they were siblings, William would show up on Sarah's 1861 census. 

So what relation are Charles and Herbert to Sarah Sophia? 

On the right is the obituary of Elder W. Deverell taken from The Newmarket Era May 11, 1888, Page 2.

The copy reads:
        Another aged pilgrim has fallen in the
person of Eld. W. Deverell who departed
this life April 22, 1888, at the advanced
age of 81 years.  Deceased was taken ill
while on a visit at the home of his son-in-law Mrs. D. Draper, but his illness was of short duration...

According to that, Sophia's father, a minister, died at her own home since  she was married to David Draper. 

However, if you read the final line of this obituary, it says he left a wife and six children to mourn his loss. 

The crux of the above summation is that last line because according to the family tree,  Sophia had 5 siblings.  So taking that, the above questions, and the fact that William Deverell is a very common name into consideration, the other William Henry Deverell family didn't fit with ours. 

Update: Well, guess what? I was searching for family names in The Newmarket Era this week,  and found this little, notation in a 1900 edition... 

BOOM! And there it is - the missing piece. Louie is Noah's sister. Their mother is Sarah Sophia Deverell. But how does William Deverell of Toronto fit in the picture if Sarah already has 5 siblings already? I went back to Elder W. Deverall's obit and read that last line again. This time I realized that it doesn't say he has 6 children... it says he's leaving 5 of them behind. What if one had already died? I checked the family tree again and wouldn't you know it... Frances Jane Deverell died in 1876, 12 yrs before. With her passing, that left a widow and 6 children to mourn his loss, including both Sophia and William, so yes, he is her brother. 

As for the dates, I've discovered that Wm Deverell of Toronto was born one year before Sophia, so he is, in fact, one year older than her. As for the parents' dates, I have to assume mine are right - at least for Elder William Deverell based on his obituary.

And that explains why Ethel felt it necessary to send Herbert's obituary with her letter. 

Uncle Emanuel

In this week's letter, Ethel mentions that her Uncle Emanuel is very sick. When she first mentions him back in Courtship Letter Apr 9 Dear Noah, I thought her Uncle Emanuel lived close to them in Belhaven because he was the one who told her father not to sell the farm. 

***Update... Uncle Emanuel is the one who lives close to Belhaven! Uncle Emanuel Nelson (of Ontario) is the brother of Henry Nelson (of Iowa) which makes him the uncle of Ethel's dad, James Nelson. I was confusing Uncle Emanuel Nelson with Emanuel Francis Nelson (son of Henry Nelson and Eliza Crouch) who is down in Iowa. Clear as mud?