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