Part 2
"Suffer the little children to come unto me; forbid them not; for to such belonged the Kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein."
And he took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.
Mark 10:13-16
This is a partial quote used by the staff of the Kueuit, 1931-1932 Yearbook of the Jesse Lee Home. I thought it was appropriate for Part 2 because the Home was started because of the children.
"Jesse Lee Home was founded at Unalaska in 1890. Dr. and Mrs. A.W. Newhall were the first missionaries sent out by the Woman's Home Missionary Society. The home was moved to Seward in 1925. Sixty children came from Unalaska. Twenty children were brought from the Lavinia Wallace Young Mission at Nome. These children had been orphaned by the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919."
In an unpulished paper written by Gloria O. Simpson, "In Partial fufillment Of the Agreement with Him for History 250,: she writes about the Jesse Lee Home. This is a quotation taken from that paper;
THE BEGINNINGS OF JESSE LEE HOME AT OUNALASKA
"Some flecks of gold dust were found in a bound volume called The North Star, a Monthly Publication on Alaska Missions, December 1887-December 1897, written by Sheldon Jackson and others. First mention of the future home was reported as follows:
'In a mtg. of the Women's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, held at Cincinnati, Ohio, July 5, plans were adopted for the Jesse Lee Memorial Home at Ounalaska, the commerical center of all trade in Western Alaska, and the natural outfitting station for vessels passing throught the Pacific and Arctic Oceans...., (continued with lists of gifts)...An Esty organ is ready to be shipped; also a clock for the chapel, a U.S. flag, and donations of bedding, pictures, etc.'
There are some different versions of the individuals who actually started taking in children, but the most accepted one is that of a young woman, Agnes Soule, who was a granddaughter of Methodist bishop, who left her home in Maine in 1889 to teach in the government school in the Aleut village of Unalaska. In a publication put out by the new Jesse Lee Home, now located in Anchorage, the 85th anniversary publications says of Agnes Soule that 'she found great poverty in the village and soon a family of six was sharing her small quarters. She wrote her friends in New England about the conditions of these children and asked for money to start a proper home. Word spread throughout Methodist women's groups in New England, and by the end of the school year she had thirty children under her care and a building under construction.' Mrs. Hatten. who was at the Home at the time my husband was there, repeated part of this story only, however, in the North Star the following was found:
'Mr. J.A. Tuck, of Unalaska has opened the long talked of 'Jesse Lee Memorial Home' by receiving two orphan Aleut girls from Attu into his family, six orphan girls are expected this fall from the Seal Islands, and a number of others are asking to be received. The Methodist women should hurry up their new building, more room is urgently needed.'
Also from 'The Woman's Home Missions; Oct 1880' comes this bit of information: 'Prof. J.A. Tuck is on his way to Ounalaska and J.M. Carr (returning) to Unga...No other missionaries of the Methodist Church are so isolated as these. No word from home may reach them until March or April. Let them be remembered in most earnest prayer...Let the same earnestness be continued as heretofore used, to complete the necessary amount of money in time for the earliest steamer in the spring.'
And yet another report; 'The Woman's Methodist W. National Home Mission Society are raising funds for the establishment of an Industrial School at Ounalaska. This has been brought about largely by the zeal and work of Mrs. L. Daggett of Boston, President of the Alaska Dept. of the Parent Society.'
Later, a further report of the activities of the newly built Home in Unalaska was as follows:
'For some months. the WHMS of the Meth. Espis. Church has maintained a school at Unalaska, Alleutian Is., for the training of native youth. In the meantime efforts have been making throughout the country to raise a sum sufficient to establish the school upon a larger scale. Prof. John Tuck and wife, who occupy a six-room house, one room used as a school room, and others as a dorm for fifteen girls--all that can be accommodated at present. The demand for admissions is increasing and great interest in manifested by the natives in the steps taken on their behalf. Several thousand dollars have been raised, and it is now proposed to erect a commodious structure, and if possible, to secure the services of additional teachers. The Society is advertising for bids for the charter of a vessel capable of carrying 100,000 feet of lumber, which is proposed to send at once.'
In recent reports observing the 85th anniversary of the Jesse Lee Home, it was said that 'The home was completed in 1890 and was named for Jesse Lee, a circuit rider who first took methodism to New England. In 1898, Miss Soule married Dr. Albert Newhall, a New England physician who became doctor, preacher, and a teacher in the village. In 1903 a small hospital was added to serve the children.'..."
Upon her return to Unalaska with her new husband, Mrs. Newhall became the Superintendent of the Jesse Lee Home. She held that position from 1896 to 1902 then her husband was given that position. He held that post until 1925 when the home was moved to Seward. He died in 1929. The Kueuit, 1929 Yearbook contains this page.
IN MEMORIAM
ALBERT WARREN NEWHALL
1872 - 1929
ONE WHO NEVER TURNED HIS BACK BUT MARCHED BREAST FORWARD,
NEVER DOUBTED CLOUDS WOULD BREAK,
NEVER DEAMED;
THOUGH RIGHT WERE WORSTED WRONG WOULD TRIUMPH,
HELD WE FALL TO RISE,
ARE BAFFLED TO FIGHT BETTER
SLEEP TO WAKE.
BROWNING.
No comments:
Post a Comment