Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-07-17
:, ,,r Fireside Department.
A. Grandmothers Tea Party


a 6fanomotneTs Tea FakSy'
BY X. N. L.
From letter lately received,
written by former missionary
at the Sandwich Islands, we copy
an account of a tea party given
and prepared by one member
of what is called there 1.-The
Cousinhood.n This is an organ
ization of which none can be
members but the children and
grandchildren of those who were
ss iormerly missionaries at these
islands. They pay small sum
ofmoney annually, which they.
, u devote to some good subject;
call each other consia; are close
united in the bond oflove, and
keep up correspondence when
~ separated from each other.
.sNever was there a more
unique, interesting, or beautiful
I gathering as that which filed the
parlors of our dear cousin L
D. on the afternoon of -.
This dear cousin originated and
carried out the plan of a Grand
mothers Tea Party in honor of
the day on which her own grand
mother attained the ageiof nine
3 %ty years. The parlors were beau
tifully decorated with. ferns and
flowers. A wedding bonnet of
such dimensions as would make
nearly a dozen of our modern
ones was on exhibition, and when
the dear old lady put it on and
curtsied in the olden style, first
to Mrs.J-, and then to each
sHilady in. :the ROOM the younger
onesiwere entertained, and the
older ones reminded OF their
young days.
'sBut the tea room, with three
sactables, beautifully set out and
boantifully furnished, presented
the charming scene of the after
noon, when around the venera-
BILE lady, to whom all did honor,
were gathered the twenty eight
grandmothers and some Others
" present. At the head of the CEN
nal table sat Mrs. j. hav-
ling on her right hand two of
the Original sThaddeus' company
ofhfissienary { the vessel that car
ried the first company of mission
) aries sent out to the Sandwich
Island), and on her left the lady
shonored Of all as the mother of
the girls boarding school in sHa-
waii, now herself called grand
mother by the child of an adopt
ed daughter. sa
An were happy and did hon.
or TO the hospitable feast. Mrs.
j. ate her jelly out of a glass
two hundred years old. The cous-
ins, with badges of fern on their
shoulders, were priviledged to
wait on this beloved company"
Afew words now for the grand
mother who sat on Mrs isl
a left hand. Miss NJ o.
was one of the company that
went out in 1928 to REINFORCE
the missions established by the
"American Board" at the Sand
wich Islands. Through her pa
tienee and untiring efforts, hun
dreds of the poor Hawaiins were
taught to read, and pre-
pared for the higher classes. In
addition to this she had all the
domestic training of the girls, the |
keeping a house, the sewing, the
washing, the cooking; thus pre-
pairing them to become good
wives and mothers. And so she
went on, year after year, for near
ly forty years.
When the Board relinquished
its work in the Islands each mis-
sionary family was allowed toj
keep the house in which theyl
resided. Miss. O's was a small |
frame one which in the early |
days Ofmissionary labor had been
sent out from Boston: this she fit
ted up and furnished so she
might accommodate her family of
nearly a dozen adopted children.
These she instructed in the
things that belong to another
lire, as well as to this, and near
1y all of them became Christians
and useful women. What work
has been accomplished by this
single woman, and what a record I
is hers! But though no longer a
MISSIONARY, she is doing mission
work. --4
In her last letter she. says,
"You must not think am idle; 1
cannot do much in my eigAtNfrst
gear, but am a seh-constituted
tract distributor. Yo1 might see
me any day with my basket of
tracts, giving one here and there
or sitting in some shanty read
ing to some poor native; or hold \
ing a prayer meeting in the
Queens Hospital, trying to do
something for my Master" -
Then she tells of a wonder, and
says, we also have a Womans
Board to prepare women for the
Miconesion Mission. To think
that this flame of love which has
moved our hearts should have
sprung up in the hearts of these
converted Hawaiian women, and
make them willing to leave their
island homes to teach the knowl-
edge of a crucified Jesus! sIH-