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This collection is made up of 2 letter books, which contain over 270 secretarial copies of Captain Anthony H. Hoskins's official outgoing correspondence. His letters pertain to service aboard the H.M.S. Hecate (May 22, 1860-January 1, 1861), H.M.S. Plumper (January 1-July 2, 1861) and the H.M.S. Eclipse (July 20, 1869-September 27, 1871, and September 25, 1871-October 20, 1872) in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Hoskins corresponded with superior officers and fellow captains about his ships' movements, personnel, upkeep, and orders. P.H.W. Mayow and Henry F. Nicholson, acting captains on the Eclipse, wrote the letters dated between July 20, 1869, and September 20, 1869.

This collection is made up of 2 letter books, which contain over 270 secretarial copies of Captain Anthony H. Hoskins's official outgoing correspondence. His letters pertain to service aboard the H.M.S. Hecate (May 22, 1860-January 1, 1861), H.M.S. Plumper (January 1-July 2, 1861), and the H.M.S. Eclipse (July 20, 1869-September 27, 1871, and September 25, 1871-October 20, 1872) in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Hoskins corresponded with superior officers and fellow captains about his ships' movements, personnel, upkeep, and orders. P.H.W. Mayow and Henry F. Nicholson, acting captains on the Eclipse, wrote the letters dated between July 20, 1869, and September 20, 1869.

Hoskins wrote his first letters from the Hecate while stationed at Woolwich and other English ports between May and July 1860. The ship then traveled to Madeira and, after rounding Cape Horn, to the Pacific Ocean, where it spent time at Valparaíso, Chile, and the Hawaiian Islands. In his letters to Commodore James R. Drummond and other officers, he reported on aspects of the ship's daily operation, including its arrival at different ports and travels around the Pacific. He frequently informed his superiors about disciplinary measures for the sailors onboard, and often mentioned financial reports, which are not copied into the volume. On January 1, 1861, Hoskins transferred to the Plumper, which traveled from near Esquimalt, British Columbia, back to Valparaíso, around Cape Horn to Rio de Janeiro, and finally to Portsmouth, England, where he arrived in June. In addition to reports on disciplinary measures, changes in rank, and ship movements, the commander's letters include content respecting the search for information about the missing gunboat Forward and the lost crew of the Charles Tupper. A 4-page report respecting the Forward documents interactions with the crew of the trading yacht Templar and with Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth) natives in November and December 1860. A 2-page letter provides a summary of the Plumper's search for information about the Charles Tupper near the Straits of Magellan (April 22, 1861). Although they discovered the shipwreck, the fate of the crew remained ambiguous. The commander wrote that they probably did not take refuge with Indians and that they likely perished while attempting to reach a settlement.

The remainder of Volume 1 (roughly 3/4 of the volume) and the entirety of Volume 2 were composed while the Eclipse served in the Caribbean and along the eastern Canadian coast between September 1869 and October 1872. The first letters in Volume 2 are attributed to P. H. W. Mayow and Henry F. Nicholson, and relate to the recent sudden death of the ship's commander, Captain Harvey. Hoskins assumed command in late September 1869. The Eclipse spent much of its time at Barbados, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Halifax, St. John's, and other ports. In letters addressed to superior officers and colonial governors, Hoskins reported on the ship's sailors, courts martial and other disciplinary actions (for desertion, theft, drunkenness, etc.), ship movements, repairs, and daily operations. Hoskins served as a regional commander in the Caribbean, and some of his letters are sailing orders for subordinate captains. One such order is a response to a request from Belize, British Honduras, for assistance against an attack by natives (May 3, 1870). Others report interactions with French, Spanish, American, and other ships (including prizes). Though the volumes overlap slightly, only one letter is common between them.

A copy of a recommendation letter Hoskins wrote for David O'Sullivan is laid into the first volume (October 11, 1872).

This collection contains 212 letters, postcards, greeting cards, and telegrams that Second Lieutenant Arthur Richard Roussin ("Dick") of Durand, Michigan, sent to and received from his parents during his service in the United States Army, February 1944-August 1946. Roussin wrote about life at Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Stewart, Georgia; and Camp Robinson, Arkansas, from February 1944-April 1945, and about his experiences traveling to and serving in Yokohama, Japan, from October 1945-August 1946. His parents shared personal and local news and discussed their store in Durand.

This collection contains 212 letters, postcards, greeting cards, and telegrams that Second Lieutenant Arthur Richard Roussin ("Dick") of Durand, Michigan, and his parents exchanged during his service in the United States Army from February 1944-August 1946. Roussin wrote about life at Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Stewart, Georgia; and Camp Robinson, Arkansas, from February 1944-April 1945, and about his experiences traveling to and serving in Yokohama, Japan, from October 1945-August 1946. His parents shared personal and local news and discussed their store in Durand. Roussin also received a few letters from other acquaintances.

The first letter, from Durand's high school, pertains to his academic affairs (May 21, 1943), and the remaining correspondence relates to his time in the military. The bulk of the collection falls within two time periods: February 19, 1944-April 25, 1945 (120 items), and October 12, 1945-January 31, 1946 (98 items); 6 additional items are dated February 4, 1946-August 24, 1946. Roussin wrote 122 letters to his parents, received 90 letters from his parents, and received 13 letters from other correspondents. Some envelopes contain multiple items or letters written over the course of several days, and some letters enclose newspaper clippings.

Roussin's earliest letters home concern training exercises at Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Stewart, Georgia; and Camp Robinson, Arkansas, where he was stationed from February 1944-April 1945. He described specific tasks, such as his work with machine guns, and the everyday occurrences of camp life during infantry training. He sent his parents 3 picture postcards of sights in and near Camp Stewart, Georgia, in the summer of 1944, and commented regularly on his training experiences until mid-March 1945. Between March and April 1945, Roussin's parents wrote almost daily about their lives in Durand, Michigan. Their letters include updates on their son "Gene," war news, descriptions of social activities, and discussions about their store. On March 20, 1945, a friend sent Arthur R. Roussin a postcard depicting the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

The Roussins resumed their correspondence in October 1945, when Arthur, then a second lieutenant with "Infantry Company B, 4th Platoon" (his mail traveled through the 194th Quartermaster Detachment APO), anticipated his deployment to Japan. He mentioned his duties as his unit prepared to sail from California, and described his journey from the United States to Japan onboard the USS General George M. Randall. After his arrival in Tokyo on November 1, 1945, he traveled to the Naval Air Facility Atsugi and to Yokohama, where he was stationed until the following August. While in Yokohama, Roussin wrote to his parents about his daily activities, such as bookkeeping duties for a post exchange (PX) store, visits to Tokyo, and his social life. He sometimes reported on his drinking habits and explained the army's rationing system for alcohol, which divided drinks into several classes before distribution. During this period, he occasionally received letters from his mother and father, who continued to discuss their daily lives and local news, including the possibility of labor strikes. On December 29, 1945, Roussin mentioned a fire in the PX warehouse, and on February 4, 1946, reassured his parents that he had not been seriously injured in a recent car crash, though a friend had been killed. He also sent postcards of Mount Shasta (California) and of a Japanese building. His final communications are three telegrams from late August 1946, in which he shared his expectation of an imminent journey home.

Arthur Richard Roussin often wrote on decorated U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, American Red Cross, or personal stationery. One letter has a humorous printed illustration of a family of birds (June 15, 1944), and Roussin drew a picture of a cyclone in his letter of October 22, 1945.

The Butler Clarkson journal contains an account of the author's 1855 voyage from the Bass Strait in Australia to Holyhead, Wales, as well as financial accounts for numerous expenses after Clarkson's immigration to Lansingburgh, New York.

The Butler Clarkson journal (approximately 45 pages) contains an account of the author's 1855 voyage from the Bass Strait in Australia to Holyhead, Wales, as well as financial accounts for numerous expenses after Clarkson's immigration to Lansingburgh, New York.

Clarkson began his travel journal on March 23, 1855, in the Bass Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania, and recorded brief daily entries until sighting Holyhead, Wales, on June 8, 1855. His entries report weather and wave conditions and often take note of the scenery, with frequent remarks on the ship's location and places passed, such as New Zealand, Cape Horn, and Trinidad. He occasionally mentioned marine life, including turtles, porpoises, and whales, and on one occasion he saw a whale attacked by a swordfish (May 8, 1855).

The volume also has accounts that Clarkson kept between 1857 and 1866. These related to a variety of services and goods, including expenses for keeping horses and accounts with the Rensselaer County Bank. Some accounts are dated at Lansingburgh, New York. Financial agreements between Butler Clarkson and George Clayton are also present. Other entries are a list of addresses, a drawing of a person, and a birth record for Clarkson's children. The journal is one of "Henry Penny's Patent Improved Metallic Books" and includes a metal stylus for use on its special paper.

This diary chronicles the author's sea voyage from New York to China in the spring of 1859, as well as his life in Shanghai between July 1859 and July 1860. At sea, he detailed the daily weather, scenery, and life onboard the ship, and in Shanghai he described his everyday life as a doctor and shared numerous observations on the effects of foreign trade on the country, local missionary efforts, and military conflict between the British and Chinese.

This diary (289 pages) chronicles the author's sea voyage from New York to China in the spring of 1859, as well as his life in Shanghai between July 1859 and July 1860. The first entry, dated February 28, 1859, opens with the author embarking for China on the N. B. Palmer, an American clipper under a Captain Frisbie. Over the next several months, he recorded daily observations of the weather and of life onboard the ship, including the captain's occasional harsh treatment of the crew. In addition to recording daily measurements of latitude and longitude, he occasionally described the scenery as the ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope and made its way to China by way of Indonesia. After a brief stop on Java in mid-May, the ship proceeded to Hong Kong, where it arrived on June 11 to discharge its cargo. During his brief time in Hong Kong, the author noted several aspects of local life, including the influence of foreign missionaries. On June 27, the N. B. Palmer departed Hong Kong bound for Shanghai, which it reached on July 4 amid Independence Day celebrations. Once in Shanghai, the diarist recorded his impressions of the city and incidents from his medical career, which included administering vaccinations as well as caring for the sick. The diary contains many references to political affairs and to the local efforts of foreign missionaries; much of the political focus is on the influence of Great Britain, particularly after the escalation of the Second Opium War. In addition to political commentary and descriptions of his daily life as a doctor, the diarist occasionally expressed his hope that Christianity would eventually win over the locals. The author remained in Shanghai until at least July 21, 1860, the date of his final entry. Two items laid into the volume include an undated note of thanks for the doctor's services (pp. 58-59) and a sheet of paper containing two Chinese characters (pp. 90-91).

This volume contains D. Coffin's daily account of the first leg of a sea voyage from New York City to California, covering the progress of the clipper ship Grecian between New York and Cape Horn in early 1852. The journal also includes drawings of scenery made during the voyage, newspaper clippings, penmanship exercises, and children's sketches.

This volume contains a 20-page daily account of the first leg of D. Coffin's voyage from New York City to California, covering the progress of the clipper ship Grecian between New York and Cape Horn in early 1852. The journal also includes 18 coastal profiles drawn in pencil during the voyage. A newspaper clipping at the beginning of the volume concerns the clipper ship Grecian's arrival in San Francisco. It provides names of passengers, names of three people who died during the voyage, a list of goods shipped onboard, and names of consignees.

The journal begins on February 19, 1852. The following day, Coffin arrived in New York, where he purchased a ticket for the ship Grecian, which set sail on March 2. In his first entry, he detailed the ship's specifications, including its size and number of passengers. He kept a daily record of weather and events onboard and frequently mentioned his negative opinion of "immoral" passengers who enjoyed alcohol and gambling. Several of the entries concern medical problems, such as the death of passenger John Morrison from smallpox on March 12, the author's own bout with side and bowel pain, and several other cases of smallpox reported by the ship's doctor on March 21. Though many passengers suffered from illness, they were allowed to go onshore after the ship's arrival at Rio de Janeiro on April 12. Coffin wrote lengthy descriptions of the fort and the city, including its geographical surroundings and a visit by the emperor. On April 15, he reported on local markets and made brief observations about slaves. The Grecian departed Rio de Janeiro on April 19 and Coffin's continued to make daily entries until April 24.

Newspaper clippings, penmanship exercises, and children's sketches make up the rest of the volume. The first 42 pages have pasted-in newspaper clippings of proverbs, humorous anecdotes, informational articles, news articles, and poetry. The creator pasted the clippings over earlier, mostly inaccessible pen writing. Some of the clippings relate to farming, housekeeping, nature, and recent gold discoveries. Two of the articles are a report on a lecture given by Lucy Stone on women's rights, and a brief feature on an "Emancipation Movement in Virginia."

Penmanship exercises and notes (two dated 1862 & 1888), signatures, and children's sketches (three associated with Edna Jane Coffin) are scattered throughout the volume. A pencil sketch of a three-masted sailing ship was signed by Mathew Doyle.

This collection contains 31 letters written by Ezra Caryl and Grace Brownell from China, where Ezra worked for the Asia Banking Corporation. The couple wrote their family and friends in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York, about their journey to China in the fall of 1918 and subsequent life in Shanghai and Tientsin (Tianjin).

This collection contains 31 letters written by Ezra Caryl and Grace Brownell from Shanghai, China, where Ezra worked for the Asia Banking Corporation. Many of the letters are addressed to Frederick Coram of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, and his family, whom Ezra often referred to as "Mother and 'Dad' and the Girls." He also frequently wrote to his sister (or stepsister), Bertha Coram, and Grace wrote to their friends, Louis and Mabel Nebauer of Brooklyn, New York. A few early items detail the couple's trip to China via Honolulu, Hawaii, and Yokohama, Japan, including a letter Grace wrote on September 23, 1918, while onboard the Manila-bound SS Nanking. The couple's correspondence primarily concerns their daily life in Shanghai and, later, Tientsin (Tianjin), including reports on the warm weather and on the local cuisine. Ezra, who wrote more often than Grace, occasionally mentioned censorship of trans-Pacific letters, as well as his work with the Asia Banking Company. His work led to a move to Tientsin in the spring of 1919. Though the couple focused on describing their foreign surroundings, they sometimes referred to news events, such as the end of the First World War (January 27, 1919) and a railroad strike (October 26, 1919). Many of the letters are enclosed in envelopes with Chinese stamps.

George Hamilton's 1783-1785 journals record his travels in England and the United States and describe the modes of transportation, the local inhabitants and businesses, and the landscapes of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. His 1786 journal chronicles his early life, from birth to his trip to America.

The George Hamilton papers contain five journals that record Hamilton's travels in England and the United States between 1783 and 1785, and a journal written in 1786 that chronicles his early life, from birth to his return to England. The journals are full of details and opinions about the people he met and lifestyles he observed in London, on board ship, and in the eastern United States. He recorded details on American culture and city life, as well as on modes of transportation and the physical features of the land. Hamilton commented on some of the battles and incidents of the American Revolution, which had just recently ended, and related amusing anecdotes of various adventures and notable characters he met during his travels.

The first diary (May 9, 1783-March 1784, 50 pages) documents his trip from London to America in the spring of 1783, and his trip between Philadelphia and Richmond. The journal is full of descriptions of the characters he met on his journey. For instance, on page 7, Hamilton playfully described a fellow passenger named Foulke: "He has the affected beliefs of the Frenchman with the rough plainness of the Quaker. The rancor of a Whig with the servility of a Tory, and the illiberality of a Methodist with the principles of a Deist." The journal's last page includes a list of towns where Hamilton stopped during his travels in Pennsylvania and Virginia; he marked the towns with good and bad taverns.

The second item (October 16-November 8, 1783, 14 pages) is a daily diary of his trip from Philadelphia to Mahoning Creek and the Susquehanna, 85 miles from their starting point. Along the way, Hamilton wrote of his interactions with the local population and described, in detail, the natural beauty of the area (rivers, mountains, cascades etc.). He also provided his impressions of the Moravians in the frontier town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The third item (May 12-28, 1784, 20 pages) contains entries from Hamilton's "Tour to the Northward," which document travels from Philadelphia through Trenton, New Jersey; to Princeton (where he noted the gardens, storms, and locals meals); to Elizabeth Town; New York City; Long Island; and finally Connecticut. About New York City he wrote: "all the woods being cut down, the fields neglected and the fencing carried away. The Town is by no means remarkable for elegant streets or handsome buildings. The streets are irregular and excessively dirty" (page 9). He also mentioned a statue of King George that had been severely vandalized.

The fourth item (July 17-August 1, 1784, 31 pages) documents Hamilton's travels from Long Island to Boston and throughout New England and the eastern part or New York (Albany, Saratoga, Fishkill). He stopped at Stillwater, New York, and remarked that the British General John Burgoyne had penetrated this far north (to 27 miles from Albany) "…where the German lines were forced by a lucky mad strike of Arnold. Upon this they retreated to Saratoga" (page 29). He journeyed as far north as Fort Edward near Saratoga Springs. Throughout these pages, he recounted events of the Revolutionary war, including a detailed, though second hand, eyewitness account of George Washington's resignation of his commission to Congress (page 11). He also mentioned Generals Greene, Cornwallis, and Clinton.

The fifth item (1784-May 29, 1785, 28 pages and 29 blank pages) is the final travel journal. Hamilton started it in Ticonderoga and continued his entries while traveling to Mount Independence, and eventually to Niagara Falls.

The sixth item is a 14-page reflection on Hamilton's early life, written from Edinburgh, June 29, 1786. He noted that his mother died when he was two years old, that his father had wanted him to join the church. He wrote about his education and travels through 1783, when he set off from London for America.

The Hemenway family collection is made up of correspondence, documents, books, and other items related to the family of Asa and Lucia Hunt Hemenway, who worked as Christian missionaries to Siam (Thailand) in the mid-19th century. Most items pertain to family members' lives in the United States after their return in 1850. One group of letters pertains to the ancestors of Maria Reed, who married Lewis Hunt Hemenway.

The Hemenway family collection contains correspondence, documents, books, and other items related to the family of Asa and Lucia Hunt Hemenway, who served as Christian missionaries to Siam (Thailand) in the mid-19th century. Most items pertain to family members' lives in the United States after their return in 1850.

The Correspondence series is divided into two subseries. The Cotton Family Correspondence (26 items, 1819-1848) primarily consists of incoming personal letters to Frances Maria Cotton, whose father, siblings, and friends shared news from Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts. Her brother Henry, a member of the United States Navy, wrote about his travels to Cuba and Haiti on the USS St. Louis in the 1830s. The subseries also includes letters to Frances's father, John Cotton, and her husband, Joseph Reed.

The Hemenway Family Correspondence (116 items, 1857-1899) is comprised of letters between members of the Hemenway family. Lucia Hunt Hemenway wrote to her niece, Isabella Birchard, and her son, Lewis Hunt Hemenway, about her life in Ripton, Vermont, in the late 1850s and early 1860s, and corresponded with her sisters, Charlotte Birchard and Amanda Tottingham. Her letters contain occasional references to the Civil War. Other items include a letter from M. R. Rajoday to Asa Hemenway, written in Thai (March 23, 1860), and a letter from S. B. Munger to Asa Hemenway about Munger's experiences as a missionary in India (February 23, 1867).

The bulk of the subseries is comprised of Lewis Hunt Hemenway's letters to Isabella Birchard, his cousin, written between the 1860s and 1880s. He discussed his studies at Middlebury College, his decision to join the Union Army, and his service with the 12th Vermont Infantry Regiment, Company K, in Virginia in 1862 and 1863. He later wrote about his work at the King's County Lunatic Asylum in Brooklyn, New York; his medical practice in Manchester, Vermont; and his brief stint as a partner in an insurance firm in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His letter of February 16, 1877, includes a illustrated view of Saint Paul's city limits. Lewis and his wife, Maria Reed, corresponded with their children. Their daughter Clara also received letters from her grandfather Asa Hemenway.

The first item in the Diaries and Writings series is a diary that Lucia Hunt Hemenway kept while traveling from Boston, Massachusetts, to Thailand with other missionaries onboard the Arno between July 6, 1839, and September 21, 1839 (approximately 50 pages). She described her fellow passengers, discussed the religious meetings they held while at sea, and anticipated her missionary work in Thailand. A second item by Lucia Hemenway is a religious journal in which she recorded around 22 pages of Biblical quotations for her son Lewis from December 1, 1844-February 1, 1846. The final pages contain a poem entitled "Sunday School" and a list of rhymes that her son had learned.

The journals are followed by 15 speeches and essays by Lewis Hunt Hemenway. He composed Latin-language orations and English-language essays about politics, literature, the Civil War, death, and ancient history.

Maria Reed Hemenway kept a diary (39 pages) from November 20, 1875-[1878], primarily about her children's lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, after September 1877. The final item in the series is a 47-page religious sermon or essay attributed to Asa Hemenway (undated)

The Documents and Financial Records series (7 items) includes Asa Hemenway's graduation certificate from Middlebury College (August 10, 1835); a documents certifying his position as a missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (June 29, 1839, and May 26, 1851); and a United States passport for Asa and Lucia Hemenway (December 26, 1838). Two account books belonged to an unidentified owner and contain records of debts and credits, dated December 1, 1830-December 1, 1831 (volume 1) and December 1, 1831-December 1, 1832 (volume 2).

The Photographs and Silhouettes series (9 items) includes silhouettes of Lucia and Asa Hemenway, photograph portraits of two Thai women, a portrait of an unidentified Thai man, and a portrait of King Mongkut. Two photographs show a tree and buildings near the missionary compound where the Hemenway family lived.

The Books series (22 items) includes volumes in English, Sanskrit, and Thai. Subjects include the history of Thailand, Christianity, and missionary work in southeast Asia.

A volume of Genealogy (approximately 40 pages) contains records pertaining to the births, marriages, and deaths of members of the Hunt family and their descendants, as well as a history of the descendants of Ralph Hemenway of Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manuscript notes and letters are laid into the volume.

The Artifacts and Fabrics series includes baskets, textiles from Thailand, coins, and bottles.

This collection contains 6 letters written by Irving L. Blinn to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis W. Blinn of Los Angeles, California, during a trip around the world in 1892. Blinn and an unnamed companion traveled primarily by steamship and railroad, and made their way from Kobe, Japan, to Paris, France, between May 9 and September 14, stopping at Bombay, Cairo, and Athens.

This collection contains 6 letters written by Irving L. Blinn to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis W. Blinn of Los Angeles, California, during a trip around the world in 1892. In his first letter, written on May 9, 1892, Irving reported that he had just left Kobe, Japan, for Hong Kong on the steamer Ancona. He commented on the nationalities of the ship's passengers, who were mostly British, and noted that the ship was loaded for cargo intended for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In further letters written in India and on the Red Sea, he continued to report on his progress, and detailed his anticipated westward route, which included a stop at Cairo. He often described the geography of his surroundings as well as his fellow passengers on the Hassiha; among the passengers was a British soldier headed home after being stationed in India. Blinn maintained an interest in the presidential election cycle, and noted the nomination of Grover Cleveland, who ran for president against the incumbent Benjamin Harrison. In his final two letters, written in Athens, Greece (August 10, 1892), and Paris, France (September 14, 1892), he described his sightseeing activities and wrote about the experience of traveling.

Jenny Olin taught at a mission school on Kusaie, one of the Caroline Islands in the South Pacific. Her letters home to her friends describe her life and work with the girls in the mission school and the Kusaie natives who lived and worked with her.

Jenny Olin's thirty letters from Kusaie, dating from November 16, 1898 to March 21, 1910, are directed to her friends, Bessie and Annie Turner in Thomaston, Conn. Olin's lengthy letters describing her life and work with the girls in the mission school and the Kusaie natives who lived and worked with her are a pleasure to read. There are also two letters to Bessie from Miss Hoppin, written in July 1911, during Olin's final illness. There is a letter to Bessie, translated by Olin, from an island woman named Mareta, who had been "adopted" by Bessie, thanking her for some presents. There are two letters to Olin. The collection also includes a nineteen page copy of a journal she kept while touring the Marshall Islands, a ten page, unfinished manuscript about the life of Jenny Olin, some notes probably compiled by the unknown author of the sketch, a printed map of the world, showing the Missions of the American Board in 1884, and eight photographs of missionaries and the children of the mission.

The life Olin described was impossibly difficult, with inadequate shelter, clothing, food, or comforts of any sort. The native crops were fair but the supply was erratic. In this period, cyclones and tidal waves twice devastated both housing and much of the food crops. The mission depended on ships bringing mail and supplies but the visits were infrequent and unreliable. Yet in the face of these obstacles, these letters are shot through with humor, and with a feeling of purposefulness and devotion. Olin believed the natives, who were generally good-natured and appreciative, desperately needed her help, and there is the sense that for Olin, doing her work as well as possible was its own reward. As a result, she made light of her difficult situation: "I am well though often I feel cross, so presume I am not living in such repose of mind as I ought to. Can't you give me a sure recipe for keeping sweet tempered? I assure [you] I need one. Only I might do the way the natives do with the medicines we give them -- take a dose or two, and finding no great improvement, stop taking it" (1907 November 6).

Missionaries commonly thought of native peoples, both children and adult, as playful young innocents, and Olin was no exception: "These folks are just like children," Olin commented. "I wish you could know them, you would enjoy them" (1906 August 20). The islanders and the missionaries had high regard and affection for one another. Olin wrote about giving her students presents on holidays and birthdays, and making gifts if no supplies had arrived. She had many pets, including kittens, a pigeon, and a little wild chicken, which had been presented to her by the natives.

When provoked, Olin was capable of slinging sharp barbs. Her account of the people on board ship when she returned from her furlough to the States is in stark contrast to her fond descriptions of her "charges." There was a senatorial party from the U.S., including Sen. and Mrs. Hill of Connecticut and "many whom I do not care for in the least, among the latter is Miss Alice Roosevelt who ought to have a mother along to take care of her. She impresses me as decidedly loud, in many ways" (1905 July 22).

In 1902 the 50th anniversary of the missions on Kusaie was celebrated. The island people built the missionaries a small house and prepared a feast. 188 men were needed to carry all the food: breadfruit, taro, pork, pigeon, fwa fwa (which the men had made from breadfruit), sugar cane, corn beef and bread. Foods also occasionally available on the island included, bananas, papaya, coconuts, b'abai, eels, crabs, and clams. Once the school children caught 200 fish by poisoning the water deep down with a native vine that caused the fish to surface and be easily caught. Although the fish died from the poison, the people who ate the fish were not affected. The missionaries also had some livestock, including a milk cow, chickens, and pigs. Staples such as flour, beans, rice, potatoes, peanuts, raisins, and canned goods were all imported.

Even if food was plentiful, it could perish quickly in the face of the elements. After a cyclone had caused starvation on nearby islands, Olin put the islands' plight in perspective by alluding to the ongoing Russian famine: "I could not sleep after reading it. Starvation is so much worse when you are cold also . . . . When will the poor Russians get their rights?" (1907 June 25) Continual dampness also made it difficult to preserve food and even seed. Supplies from the States were equally unreliable, for it could take over a year from the date they were ordered for them to actually arrive.

In December 1903, Olin, eighteen girls from her school, and seventeen Marshall Islands boys, plus others, set out for an adventurous tour of the Marshall Islands on the Vine. There were five staterooms for forty-six people. The purpose was to visit other missions, replace the staff in some missions, and enable the young people who had been attending school at Kusaie to visit their homes. While on the islands, new members were admitted to the church, baptisms and marriages were performed, and other passengers were landed or added to the company on board. Seas were very rough, decks and staterooms were inundated often, cargo shifted to and fro, people got seasick and provisions were inadequate. The captain had to be kept from drinking at sea and from upsetting the natives on shore. The ship was too small for the many passengers and gear was old and needed repairs and replacements frequently.

The missions usually had a medical doctor and his family, but no dentist was available. More serious illnesses and dental problems required trips to Hong Kong, Sydney, or a return to the States. The excessive rainfall at Kusaie (24 ft. of rain per year) made malaria a constant threat. In 1909 Miss Olin went to Hong Kong to have her remaining teeth removed and plates made, taking the precaution of getting two sets. She also was fitted for new glasses, for hers had been broken awhile before. While in Hong Kong she also shopped for clothes, materials for sewing shoes, furniture, and of course, provisions. Olin noted that they "do not usually catch cold from the weather down here but have regular importation of influenza everytime the steamer comes, and then everybody on the island takes it" (1907 June 25).

The missionaries were not the only white people on the islands. The traders, responsible for importing goods and influenza, also interfered with the local flow of life. The King in Lelu, the village where the natives had built a small house and a church for Olin, made problems for his people and for the missionaries. "The King is getting old and is puffed up with a sense of his own importance, which the trader helps to puff," Olin reported (1907 November 6). In addition to these transients, there were several men who had settled there, including "6 white men on the island stayed from the Horatio," who married natives, although the English and the Germans had some marriage laws and restrictions, and the missionaries were far from enthusiastic about such unions (1899 April 15). In March 1910, Olin wrote of the pressing need to visit other islands. "It will be far from a pleasure trip. If there were no one but natives to run up against it would be all right, but white folks have a way of making things uncomfortable for one another sometimes. I wish it were not so, it is not a very flattering remark to make about white folks, but really, natives are generally easier to get along with. I wonder if you will think I have been quarreling with all my associates. I have not, really, but am quite peaceable at present" (1910 March 21)

All through the years there was worry about the future of the missions, questions of consolidating, having one mission on one island only, joining the Germans, who had an effective missionary program (the island was German territory), coping with inadequate funds for supplies, ships, and lumber for buildings. The disastrous earthquake in San Francisco was one of the factors involved in the decision to keep the school in Kusaie, "for lumber and vessels to bring it down have risen to twice their former price" (1907 January 16). In 1906 only two missionaries were left to care for twelve young students from the Giebero Islands and thirty from Kusaie. In these lean times, seventy natives brought supplies of food, prepared food, and collected $6.00 for Miss Olin. Olin, pictured here with a group of German missionaries, stated that she would stay and work with the Germans, even if the American Board pulled out.

An epidemic of dysentery broke out on Kusaie in February 1909. At least four people died, and Olin was seriously ill. Once she recovered, her letters focused more on her health; "I have never been so thankful that I am well, as this last year. It certainly is one of the greatest blessings" (1910 March 21). Her recovery might have been only partial, for she succumbed again to illness in 1911. Miss Hoppin wrote to the Turner's on Olin's behalf. "Jenny is very ill and very brave. No one else thinks she will recover . . . . Letters do her so much good though she cannot answer them" (1911 July 15). Hoppin persisted, "I will not let myself quite give up hope. We seem to need her so much in our work" (1911 July 21). Olin died in the latter part of 1911.