CLARA BARTON GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE Van Schelle, Albert Sept. 1898 - Dec. 1908[*A. van Schelle re his wedding. Sept. 27 - 98 -------------- 00*] [*file*] Grand Haven 27 / 7ber 98. Dear Miss Barton, I take pleasure in adding a few lines to Miss Fowler's letter; we are with her family in Grand Haven and I am happy to tell you that they have welcomed me as her fiancé. The marriage is to take place at Chicago on the 11th of 8ber and we would deem it a great honor if our President would accept our invitation to attend our wedding. We recollect with great pleasure the happydays we have spent with you in Santiago and feel deeply grateful for all the proofs of kindness and courtesy you have bestowed upon us during our stay in Cuba. Hoping we shall have the pleasure to see you at the wedding I remain, Dear Miss Barton Yours sincerely, A. van Schelle 24 Delaware Place Chicago. Ill. Miss Clara Barton, President American Red Cross Association Glen Echo, Washington DC. [*ack 11/16/98* [*33*] [*A Van Schelle*] N.Y. 16/11. 98. Dear Mr S Barton, I have just met Dr Tannner who informs me that you have some letters for me; Will you kindly deliver them to the bearer Excuse me not comming sooner to pay you my respects, but Mrs Van Schelle is suffering from a cold and I am hurrying back to the Holland house where we are staying. We arrived yesterday and shall be here a few days; We hope to see you soon. Will you kindly remember us to our President Miss Clara Barton and to our friends.I remain, Dear Mr Barton, Your Sincere and devoted, A. Van Schelle in a woman's life, and it is only fitting that the tutelary goddess should look benignly from the hearthside of the votaries. Life in a foreign Capital holds much of interest, and the cordial reception by Mr. Van Schelle's relatives and friends makes me, though a stranger, feel strongly drawn to the place and the country and not an alien. One has a very different impression of a country when one comes as a citizen, not a sight seer merely, here today and gone tomorrow. I trust you and all of our friends are quite well. Will you kindly remember us cordially to them, and give my love to Miss Graves? Believe me, with devoted esteem and regard Faithfully yours Anna F. Van Schelle [*AMERICAN NATIONAL ANSWERED MAR 31 1899 RED CROSS*] [*33*] [*Van Schelle*] Brussels, February 7, 99 My dear Miss Barton; We have been in receipt of much pleasant news of the Red Cross at home, through the thoughtful kindness of friends who have sent us Washington and New York papers and clippings as well as the report of Mrs. Lesser of the Red Cross Sisters' work in Cuba. I was especially interested in the excerpts given from your book, and to know that Congress has begun to realize the extent and scope for the work your unaided efforts were able to accomplishin Belgium. Will you kindly extend the invitation to any and all of our co-workers who may find it possible to come? Because I am in another land than my own by birth, I shall not let my relation to the Red Cross die. I am now a member of the Belgian Red Cross; as [the] wife of an old officer they did him the honor to elect his wife by acclamation. We have been asked to speak on The Cuban War, but I shall hardly attempt to trust of so important a matter in a foreign tongue. Dear Miss Barton, I am not going to let you forget your promise to send me your photograph; you have played the rôle of fairy-god-mother in the most important step during the war [My family?] offer our hearty congratulations for the fitting honor accorded our beloved President. Mr. Van Schelle thought you might be interested to see the pamphlet on The General Organization and Program published by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and he has sent you a copy by today's mail. It seems that this is the year for the International quinquennial Conference. If it is decided to hold it, Brussels will be chosen as the city in which the Conference will be held. We shall be very glad of this as it gives us the hope of seeing you, and we shall claim the pleasure of making our home yours and Dr. Hubbell's while you areBrussels 15th / 7ber 1900 My Dear President. I have duly received your amiable letter introducing Mr Frank D. Higbee of New York City. I shall be pleased to put myself at his disposal and to help him in any way in my power. I write to him by this mail to welcome his arrival. Mrs Van Schelle is in the United States; her address is, 24 Delaware Place. Chicago. Ill and I dare say she will pay her respects to our President on her way home. Hoping to soon meet you again. I beg to remain heartily and respectfully yours. A. Van Schelle [*33*] Délégué général de le Croix Rouge de Belgique à l Etat Major Général de l'armeé de Campagne [*24 conf 1902*] Glen Echo, Md., August 15, 1902. Gen. and Mrs. Albert Von Schelle, Merxplas, Brussels, Belgium. My esteemed and dear friends: It is always with regret that I realize that I have been in Europe, absolutely in Brussels, without meeting you. When I left for the journey to Russia, I had no expectation of going into your part of the country. On arriving at Paris, I became satisfied that there were questions connected with the the Red Cross and the late war which I could best solve by going to the Hague and Amsterdam. It was a sudden move and I had not time to inform you, and beside I had not your address at hand. It was with pain that I passed through Brussels, knowing nothing of you, and my only hope was that you might be in the Conference. I need not say to you how fine the Conference was, how more than anyone could have reasonably expected. Few nations can equal Russia in elegant magnificence. On arriving home, Dr. Hubbell informed me of a correspondence which he has had with you and I saw with still a grateful regret what I had missed in not reaching you. He tells me of a courtesy paid to me, of which I am very, very appreciative. It is one of the dear wishes of my life that something will bringyou both to America, and that I shall entertain you in my own house as I would have been glad to have been entertained in yours. With the most cherished memories of the past and gladness for the present, I remain, my dear friends, Sincerely yours, Clara Barton July 11th, 1903. General Albert Van Schelles, Brussels, Belgium. (Residence - Merxplas.) Dear General and Mrs. Van Schelles: If my memory serves me Dr. Lesser requires no introduction to you, for I believe you were fellow forkers on the hard, hot war fields of Cuba. Dr. Lesser is going abroad in the interest of his profession and of the Red Cross. Few things could give so great pleasure to him as to meet you again and nothing could give me greater satisfaction than to be able to bring you together - to live over the old days and plan for the new, as you are both so capable of doing. If this reaches you I hope it finds you in possession of all the strength and health and happiness that could form the desire of, Your respectful and affectionate friend, [*27*] CROIX ROUGE DE BELGIQUE [Red Cross symbol] sous le haut patronage DE LL. MM. LE ROI & LA REINE Comité-Directeur. Bruxelles, le 23/1 1904 Dear President, It gives me pleasure to inform you that I have been appointed as Special Commissioner by the Belgian Government to the St Louis Exposition. Will you kindly let me know if there will be, on this occasion, a Red Cross Congress and when it will be held. It will be so agreeable to us to meet you after all these years. If it is not so, we intend to pay you a visit in Alexandria. Our Red Cross Society has bought new carriages in Austria and is organizing a general plan covering the whole country. We shall have a long conversation about these questions which are to us of so great interest With kind regards from both of us and hoping to see you soon, We remain Dear President Your devoted friends A van Schelle. The boy is doing well.BOSTON WASHINGTON NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA Officers CLARA BARTON President Mrs. J. SEWALL REED Vice-President ROSCOE G. WELLS Assistant to President H.H. HARTUNG, M.D. Treasurer & Medical Director MARY I. KENSEL Secretary The National First Aid Association of America Chartered under the Laws of the District of Columbia Counsel GEORGE GRANVILLE DARLING EXECUTIVE OFFICE 6 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts Advisory Board LIEUT. GEN. NELSON A. MILES Boston, Mass. EUGENE UNDERHILL, M.D. Philadelphia, Pa. EX-GOV. JOHN L. BATES Boston, Mass. CHARLES R. DICKSON, M.D. Toronto, Canada JOSEPH GARDNER, M.D. Bedford, Indiana [*[1906]*] General Albert Van Schelle: Brussells, Belgium My dear General: As president of the National First-Aid Association of America, I desire to have an international committee associated with the Organization, hoping thereby, to obtain an interchange of ideas between this association, and associations of a similar kind in other countries. To this end I am taking the liberty of begging you to serve on this committee as the representative of your country, and whatever surrounding nationalities might naturally be named, as I know your interests to be so large and varied. It is needless to add that this will involve neither labor nor responsibility on your part, but if it did, I know of no one of whom I should ask it so unhesitatingly as General Van Schelle. I confidently hope that the pleasure which your acceptance may bring to us will be fully returned to you by the satisfaction which our increasing growth and success may carry to you. BOSTON WASHINGTON NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA Officers CLARA BARTON President Mrs. J. SEWALL REED Vice-President ROSCOE G. WELLS Assistant to President H.H. HARTUNG, M.D. Treasurer & Medical Director MARY I. KENSEL Secretary The National First Aid Association of America Chartered under the Laws of the District of Columbia Counsel GEORGE GRANVILLE DARLING EXECUTIVE OFFICE 6 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts Advisory Board LIEUT. GEN. NELSON A. MILES Boston, Mass. EUGENE UNDERHILL, M.D. Philadelphia, Pa. EX-GOV. JOHN L. BATES Boston, Mass. CHARLES R. DICKSON, M.D. Toronto, Canada JOSEPH GARDNER, M.D. Bedford, Indiana I cannot express the pleasure which the writing of these few lines gives me, in recall of the happy days spent together by us all and the friendship that has grown and strengthened with each succeeding year. I hope the winter has been kind, and the past year healthful and helpful to you, and that no harm has or shall come to the beautiful charge intrusted to your dual care. I am happy to report to you the phenomenal growth of our Organization which surprises even ourselves, and of which we shall be pleased to tell you from time to time - With dearest love to Mrs. Van Schelle, I remain my esteemed General, Most Cordially yours Clara Barton[*27 61*] CROIX ROUGE DE BELGIQUE [Red Cross symbol] sous le haut patronage DE LL. MM. LE ROI & LA REINE Comité-Directeur. Bruxelles, le 2d June 1907 Miss Clara Barton, President National First Aid Association of America. Washington D.C. My Dear President, In pursuance to the letter of March 29th received from Mr John Hitz of Washington, I have been negotiating along the lines of instructions. Through my friend Monsieur Albert Lejeune of Antwerp I have succeeded in obtaining the collaboration of a group already working in the same direction but under another name. In charity the more emulation the better; the number of charitable works official and private is large, but this one seems to me the best able to carry out your good work. You will find herewith a letter of Monsieur Albert Lejeune and the most practical way will be to correspond direct with Madame Robert Osterrieth, whose name you will find on the list and who is the leading member of efficient relief workers, and their scope is International. My intention is to go over to Paris some day and not far off and I will endeavour to put you in communication with some influential group My wife is helping me to put your noble views in practical shape and joins me to address you our best wishes for success and happiness. We remain, my Dear President Your true and Sincere friends A. Van Schelle Délégué General. 18 AVENUE DU PRINCE ALBERT Antwerp May 30th 1907. My dear Mr Van Schelle, Excuse my not having written to you sooner re the question raised by the letter of the First Aid Society you communicated to me, but shortly after your visit I had to leave on business & have only just returned - I understand your friends in America have formed an Association whose object is to give ladies a practical knowledge of the3 several years, supported by private means and is now flourishing — Briefly this is what we have done: An Institution has been formed under the name of "Dispensaire Clémentine" (so called after H.R.H. Princesse Clémentine of Belgium, patron of same) This Institution supported by private & voluntary subscriptions has opened 2 establishments where everybody, without distinction as to nationality, religion, colour or opinion, may freely go and have any sort of bruise, ailment or complaint treated, free of charge — [....?] Of course the "dispensaire" is only 4 for those who are not sufficiently ill or bruised to be admitted in an hospital or for "first aid" cases i.e. when an accident has occurred to give the first help needed before the patient can be removed to hospital — Two Doctors are permanently in charge at the "Dispensaire" & under their supervision a number of ladies & young ladies of the best society, who have passed their Red Cross examinations, attend as nurses the patients who require their aid — I believe that the "Dispensaire Clémentine" answers exactly to your American friends ideas & so I do notfirst aid & treatment to be given in case of accidents & wounds so as to be able to assist sufferers & make themselves useful in cases of emergency when medical attendance is not at hand — I also understand that the Association has in view the promotion of this humanitarian purpose by creating similar Institutions throughout the civilized world — As I told you, I am glad to be able to state that identical views have been entertained out here and that in this City an Association has been formed since 5 18 AVENUE DU PRINCE ALBERT 5 think it would be necessary nor even advisable to attempt to start here a new Institution with the same aim — But of course charitable & useful Institutions of the kind can only profit by being made known & if your American friends have any view of communicating with their Sisters in Charity & Humanity in Antwerp perhaps with the intention of exchanging ideas & federating, I should be most glad to assist you in order to succeed in your work. 7. my auspices either to have information re. the management & working of the Dispensaire in Antwerp or to get into direct communication with its patrons is certain to receive a hearty welcome - This letter will serve as an introduction in any case - Be sure & dispose of my services if I can be of any further use to you in this matter & believe me, Dear Mr Van Schelle, Yours very sincerely, Albert Lejeune [*27*] THE GORDON HOTELS, LIMITED. THE HÔTEL MÉTROPOLE } AND } THE WHITEHALL ROOMS, } LONDON. THE GRAND HOTEL, LONDON. THE FIRST AVENUE HOTEL, LONDON. THE HÔTEL VICTORIA, LONDON. THE GROSVENOR HOTEL, LONDON. THE HÔTEL MÉTROPOLE, MONTE CARLO THE GRAND HOTEL, BROADSTAIRS. THE HÔTEL MÉTROPOLE } AND } THE CLARENCE ROOMS, } BRIGHTON. THE LORD WARDEN HOTEL, DOVER. THE HÔTEL MÉTROPOLE, CANNES. THE BURLINGTON HOTEL, EASTBOURNE. THE ROYAL PIER HOTEL, RYDE, I OF W. THE CLIFTONVILLE HOTEL, MARGATE. THE HÔTEL MÉTROPOLE, FOLKESTONE. THE HÔTEL ROYAL. DIEPPE. THE HÔTEL MÉTROPOLE AND THE WHITEHALL ROOMS, LONDON, W.C. 15 JUNE 1907. [Lion] THE HÔTEL MÉTROPOLE LONDON TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS, "MÉTROPOLE", LONDON. -------------------- TELEPHONE: 8130 GERRARD (20 LINES) My Dear President The Conférence is closed and I hasten to address you a Copy of the proceedings of yesterdays meeting; you will feel happy and proud to see that you are not far from us and that your work and your devotion are in the memory and in the hearts of your old6 The lady Presidents of the Dispensaire Clémentine are Baroness J. Osy de Zegwaert & Mme Robert Osterrieth both of which I know well & a number of the ladies of the Staff are either friends or relatives of mine so dispose of my services whenever you please - I wish to add that one of the ladies who was most devoted to the Institution, a cousin of mine, has recently married & lives now in America, here name is Mrs. Paul Schmid and her adress: 1618 Beverley Road - Flatbush - New York any of your friends writing to her or calling upon her under friends. May God Keep you in good health and spirits and enable you to show to the world that the banner of charity is to stay as before in your hand. My wife sends you her Sincere congratulations. Your Sincere friend A. Van Schelle[*27*] CROIX ROUGE DE BELGIQUE [Red Cross symbol] sous le haut patronage DE S.M. LE ROI Comité-Directeur Bruxelles, le 4 July 1907. My Dear President On this glorious day I send [for] you, and for my good wife and boy, our best wishes to keep you amongst your friends for the benefit of humanity, and especially of your great country. While I was in London, I had occasion to see in the city, pillars with a Red Cross painted on it. Policemen had a key of the pillar and in case of an accident, they open it and are put in communication with a station of auto ambulances. These are placed at different points of the city always in readiness: thus many lives can be saved and agonies are spared to the victims. Do you not think that this improvement pertains to your service as very first aid to the injured and in a country like yours where people do not hesitate when progress can be realized. There is in my visit to London a lesson to be taken, the results from which should be turned to the profit of our American friends. If you are fit to carry out mysuggestion, you could apply to the Honorable Mayor of the city of London who will be pleased to send you photographs and particular instructions about the work accomplished since the adoption of their auto ambulances. Believe us, my Dear President. Your sincere friends A Van Schiled. Our hearty shake hand to all your admirers and followers. [Photograph of Faneuil Hall, Boston] FANEUIL HALL, "THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY" BOSTON, MASS. Brussells Aug 26 - 1907 My dear President The characteristic of the last congress is the more and more important part played by the women in our work, you are the Example and the representative of the whole world as proclamed. That your motto has always been charity and devotion Here the ladies have set to work and numbers of our best people are taking lessons to be able. to face the accidents to be met in life. Hence, my aim has been to find as your representative in Belgium some hard workers picked from among the best class. They are ready for work, and know how to do the work You must remain the head - the leader - the mother of the children called. charity, humanity, devotion - self-sacrifice - My task is to bring in touch people born in different countries, andthat is my ambition. They have applied to you, and are waiting for your reply. Belgium is the first to respond to the call. It will not be long before I shall be called to Paris, and there also your voice will be heard. When Mr Hitz arrives, we shall decide as to the best way to go ahead in Great Britain. My wife who accompanied me to London will be pleased to take an active part, thus tightening our bonds of friendship to you and to all fellow workers in America and And now at [most?] - believe me My dear President Your devoted friend A Van Schelle Delegate general of the Red Cross of Belgium and grand state Major General of the [service?] in Campagne - [*14 27*] CROIX ROUGE DE BELGIQUE [Red Cross symbol] sous le haut patronage DE S.M. LE ROI Comité-Directeur Bruxelles, le 26 / Aug. 1907. My Dear President The characteristic of the last Congress is the more and more important part played by the woman in our work; you are the example and the representatives of the whole world have proclaimed that your motto has always been "charity and devotion." Here the ladies have set to work and number of our best people are taking lessons to be able to face the accidents to be met in life. Hence my aim has been to find as your representative in Belgium some hard workers picked amongst the best class. They are ready for work and know how to do the work: You must remain the head, the leader, the mother of the children called charity, humanity, devotion, self sacrifice. My task is to bring in touch people born in different countries and that is my ambition. They have applied to you and are waiting for your reply: Belgium is the first torespond the call. It will not be long before I shall be called to Paris and there also your voice will be heard. When Mr Hitz arrives we shall decide as to the best way to go ahead in Great Britain. My wife who accompanied be to London will be to pleased to take an active part, thus tightening our bonds of friendship to you and to the fellow workers in America. And now at work. Believe, My Dear President Your devoted friend A. Van Schelle Délégué Général de la Croix Rouge de Belgique au Grand Etat Major Général de l'[armée?] de Campagne.[*Gen'l Van Schelle. Ansd Jan 20 1909*] [*27 1st aid*] CROIX ROUGE DE BELGIQUE COMITÉ DIRECTEUR M. Clara Barton. President The National First Aid Association of America Glen Echo. Maryland. U.S.A. [*Van Schelle*]GLEN ECHO DEC 24 A.M. 1908 MD