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Interfoliata included with the album is the short note quoted above, written by Reverend Charles Little (1818-1892), Amelia's husband, shortly after her death in India, and placed into the album, as he returned it to her family.
Amelia was a young girl from Sherburne, NY, who shortly after marrying her husband in 1847, travel to India with him to work as missionaries. Unfortunately, she passed away shortly after arrival.
This friendship album spans the years 1841-1847,as a school girl, prior to her departure to India. The majority of the entries are from her friends from Sherburne, NY or near by towns in 1844-1846, and consist mainly of poetry/. The later entries in 1847, tend to be letters or short notes written as she prepares to start her journey to India. The latest entry in the album, on December 19, 1847, is by her brother, Isaac S. Newton (1825-1889), who is two years her junior, and her closet sibling in age. It is full of hope for the new life his sister will, and also talks about the strength of his love for her, and how the ocean between will not dim its strength. Additionally , some entries discuss Amelia's decision to take on the missionary lifestyle and the sacrifice, deprivation and suffering it will bring. and Below are excerpts from entries in the album:
"While youth's lovely light
Beams from thy laughing eye,
Account the precious hours of time
And seize them as they fly
They'll change thy raven locks to snow
And fade thy cheek of bloom
And oh! too soon they'll bear thee on
To moulder in the tomb
Then grasp them, vast eternity
Alone can fully tell
The value of thy fleeting youth
Oh then improve it well."
- N. A. Turner, Nelson, NY, July 14th, 1845
"Perhaps this is not the proper place, my sister, to express freely the feelings of the heart. Custom may have rendered it the appropriate receptacle of affected expressions & jingling nonsense. If so, let the occasion excuse the impropriety; for, standing as we do upon our country's border - you to bit it, and your friends a final farewell; myself, to accept your adieu and offer the same in return - it is no time for soulless assertions] of friendship and lasting love. What mutual affection which has always existed between us was of no ordinary kind I have often felt. Those natural ties which unite members of the same family are indeed strong; but may they not be - in our case have they not been - strengthen by circumstances? In childhood we joined in our sports - holding hands together as we sought the old school house... Though oceans roll between us, the ties of affection will not be severed. We have a sister in heaven. We loved her. Do we not love her still! At her Father's bidding she crossed the wide ocean that separates time from eternity, but to me, sad would be the thought that sister Maria's love died with her death.... If the strong hand of death severs not these ties why should mere separation? To India hereafter I shall look with different feelings not merely as to a land of millions starving for the bread of life, but as to the home of a Dear Sister - the land of her adoption - the abiding place of all I love. Amelia, that you have chosen a life of toil & inspiration. You well know, you will be called to suffer - to endure but these sufferings and this endurance will be borne in a glorious cause - the cause of out Master, he suffered to save souls..."
- Isaac S. Newton, Boston, December 19, 1847
"Dear Amelia, we are about to separate, we who just learned to love, just learned to reciprocate kind thoughts and feelings and whose hearts often beat in unison, we are soon to part, perhaps never to meet face to face, this side of eternity "
- R. A. Tweidy (Friend)
"You bid me go, my lady,
In search for gems of thought,
And my coming ready
To take the jewels bought.
Where shall I seek the treasure,
Which best may suit your taste?
And yield you greatest pleasure,
Now prove a total waste"
-L. L. Salisburg, Sherburne, NY, January 2, 1841
The album itself has red covers, with a gilt stamped lyre on both the front and back. The frontispiece is an engraving which shows an indigenous person kneeling by a river surrounded by woods. The rest of the engravings, four in total, don't fit the theme of the frontispiece. The engravings with hand finishes, are of illustrations of an open book, featuring an illustration of the flower and a poem about the flowers - which are crocus, harebell, woodbine, and mountain daisy. There are two pieces of original artwork, hand painted illustrations of flowers as well. Approximately two-thirds filled. Measures 7 3/4" x 6 1/4"
To view the album, please click on the following link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/H8GspNyWcRPvPGvk7. General wear. Rubbing. Stains on covers. Tape repair to binding. Some folios are loose. New endpapers. Minor foxing.
Friendship Album Belonging to India Missionary Amelia Mercy Newton Little, circa 1841-1847, from Sherburne, NY
Amelia Mercy Newton (sometimes Mercy Amelia) was born on February 7, 1823 to William Newton (1786-1879) and Lois Sage Butler (1790-1885) in Sherburne, NY. She had numerous siblings: William Butler Newton (1811-1901), Louisa A Newton Lathrop (1813-1904), Lucinda Newton Williams (1815-1892), Warren Newton (1818-1891), Maria Newton (1820-1836), Isaac Sprague Newton (1825-1889), Lucius L. Newton (1827-1912), Hubert Anson Newton (1830-1896), Albro H, Newton (1832-1919), Homer C. Newton (1835-1915), and Anny Newton (1840-?). She married Reverend Charles Little on September 29, 1847. In December of 1847, they traveled to India to become missionaries arriving in May 1848.. Unfortunately, Amelia would die in Madurai, India shortly after her arrival on July 18, 1848. Charles would return later that year, and eventually remarry, Susan Robbins (1825-1873), in September 1853, and again head to India with his new wife. There Charles and his second wife, Susan, lived for ten years before returning to the States. They had several children while in India, Including a little girl in 1857 named Amelia Newton Little in honor of his first wife. Unfortunately, they baby also died in India in 1857.
New YorkPrinting & Publishing: J C Riker, [1840]. "To the Dear Brother or Sister to whom this album may be allotted. I would gladly have kept this because it was prized by my dear Amelia, but considering the uncertainty of missionary life and the fact that the writers are strangers to me, send it to you knowing that you will prize it highly. Forty hours have past since the spirit of our beloved Amelia sped to its home in heaven. More blessed then we she has gone where sin and sorrow are not. Where her savior is and where angels as well. Her robes are white, a crown of gold upon her head, a harp in her hand, she bows before the great white throne and sings hallelujah to God and the Saints. Oh let us haste to prepare for our journey to the blessed above."Interfoliata included with the album is the short note quoted above, written by Reverend Charles Little (1818-1892), Amelia's husband, shortly after her death in India, and placed into the album, as he returned it to her family.
Amelia was a young girl from Sherburne, NY, who shortly after marrying her husband in 1847, travel to India with him to work as missionaries. Unfortunately, she passed away shortly after arrival.
This friendship album spans the years 1841-1847,as a school girl, prior to her departure to India. The majority of the entries are from her friends from Sherburne, NY or near by towns in 1844-1846, and consist mainly of poetry/. The later entries in 1847, tend to be letters or short notes written as she prepares to start her journey to India. The latest entry in the album, on December 19, 1847, is by her brother, Isaac S. Newton (1825-1889), who is two years her junior, and her closet sibling in age. It is full of hope for the new life his sister will, and also talks about the strength of his love for her, and how the ocean between will not dim its strength. Additionally , some entries discuss Amelia's decision to take on the missionary lifestyle and the sacrifice, deprivation and suffering it will bring. and Below are excerpts from entries in the album:
"While youth's lovely light
Beams from thy laughing eye,
Account the precious hours of time
And seize them as they fly
They'll change thy raven locks to snow
And fade thy cheek of bloom
And oh! too soon they'll bear thee on
To moulder in the tomb
Then grasp them, vast eternity
Alone can fully tell
The value of thy fleeting youth
Oh then improve it well."
- N. A. Turner, Nelson, NY, July 14th, 1845
"Perhaps this is not the proper place, my sister, to express freely the feelings of the heart. Custom may have rendered it the appropriate receptacle of affected expressions & jingling nonsense. If so, let the occasion excuse the impropriety; for, standing as we do upon our country's border - you to bit it, and your friends a final farewell; myself, to accept your adieu and offer the same in return - it is no time for soulless assertions] of friendship and lasting love. What mutual affection which has always existed between us was of no ordinary kind I have often felt. Those natural ties which unite members of the same family are indeed strong; but may they not be - in our case have they not been - strengthen by circumstances? In childhood we joined in our sports - holding hands together as we sought the old school house... Though oceans roll between us, the ties of affection will not be severed. We have a sister in heaven. We loved her. Do we not love her still! At her Father's bidding she crossed the wide ocean that separates time from eternity, but to me, sad would be the thought that sister Maria's love died with her death.... If the strong hand of death severs not these ties why should mere separation? To India hereafter I shall look with different feelings not merely as to a land of millions starving for the bread of life, but as to the home of a Dear Sister - the land of her adoption - the abiding place of all I love. Amelia, that you have chosen a life of toil & inspiration. You well know, you will be called to suffer - to endure but these sufferings and this endurance will be borne in a glorious cause - the cause of out Master, he suffered to save souls..."
- Isaac S. Newton, Boston, December 19, 1847
"Dear Amelia, we are about to separate, we who just learned to love, just learned to reciprocate kind thoughts and feelings and whose hearts often beat in unison, we are soon to part, perhaps never to meet face to face, this side of eternity "
- R. A. Tweidy (Friend)
"You bid me go, my lady,
In search for gems of thought,
And my coming ready
To take the jewels bought.
Where shall I seek the treasure,
Which best may suit your taste?
And yield you greatest pleasure,
Now prove a total waste"
-L. L. Salisburg, Sherburne, NY, January 2, 1841
The album itself has red covers, with a gilt stamped lyre on both the front and back. The frontispiece is an engraving which shows an indigenous person kneeling by a river surrounded by woods. The rest of the engravings, four in total, don't fit the theme of the frontispiece. The engravings with hand finishes, are of illustrations of an open book, featuring an illustration of the flower and a poem about the flowers - which are crocus, harebell, woodbine, and mountain daisy. There are two pieces of original artwork, hand painted illustrations of flowers as well. Approximately two-thirds filled. Measures 7 3/4" x 6 1/4"
To view the album, please click on the following link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/H8GspNyWcRPvPGvk7. General wear. Rubbing. Stains on covers. Tape repair to binding. Some folios are loose. New endpapers. Minor foxing.
Price: $475.00
Item #20202412
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