1911 Courtship: Apr 16 Dear Noah

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.