BLACKWELL FAMILY Ethel BLACKWELL BLACKWELL, KITTY BARRY[*Please return*]
Jolly Hill House,
Halifax, Vt.,
Oct. 3rd-, 1935.
Dear Cousin Kitty,
Another birthday!
How fast they come. Do
you suppose when we get
to heaven we shall 
still celebrate birthdays?
And if so, which one?
Forever incarnations,
conception, birth, death
or future events? Oh
life, thy mysteries!
Anyway our friends and
relatives insist on celebrating
here, dont they?
I wish you could see2.
on Oct.5th the marvelous
fall colors, Alfred & I are
looking at each day now.
It is so lovely from sun-rise
to sun-set. A rim of
blue mts, with three big
peaks about equally
spaced between them, and
nearer but distant hills
with great patches of gorgeous
orange & red foliage
& nearer still white church
spire, red school-house &
tomb-stones white in the
morning-light and black
in the afternoon and
evening; and all about
wonderful red orange &
yellow maples and brilliant
foliage of all manner of trees
bushes and grasses. Riot of color!

3.
Alfred loves it here. It is
his domain. I do too, & it
is a joy to see him so happy
& he tries to do everything to
make every body else enjoy
it as he does, - which is
sometimes almost pathetic.
Last night came our first
trouble since we arrived
here. He had a severe tooth
ache. So this morning he
took the country stage (which passes
our door) , to Brattleboro &
had the tooth out. It 
was badly abcessed. He got
me better shoes for tramping,
and another warm
undergarment, against
our tonicy climate here.
We have a big old-fashioned
school stove here in
the kitchen & as the
4 kitchen has a fine breakfast 4
nook with east
window & the morning
sun, and as I am cook,
we eat here & really
reside here - when we
are alone. This kitchen
is actually 22 ft by 18 ft
All the rooms in the house
are enormous! When we
have our friends here for
week-end parties, we
have fires in the big
fire-place in the -living-
room too. But the living 
room is 46 ft by 18 ft
so it takes many great
logs to heat it, & then
we are apt to sit there
wrapped in our warm coats,
in October.

5. We dont know whether we 5.
shall have guests over Columbus
Day yet.
Agnes can't very well
come unless Tom gets out
of the clutches of doctors; of
course we are hoping very
much he will, -- for every
reason. Then they could get
up a party. It is not so
easy to plan a party unless
starting from that
end with them.
When we have a group
of 8 or 10, Alfred gets a
Mrs Stanley to come & cook
breakfast & dinner & we
have cold suppers, so we
enjoy life & tramp, & drive
about. The men are
hauling Alfred's lumberdown from his three "Jolly 6.
Hills", past our house. We
walked several miles thru
the woods where they had
made rough roads hauling
4 ft logs, one day. The
men have shacks and
sometimes even a wife
& child, and a pig, and a
few chickens. Their clothes
are sometimes seen spread
out near a stream: It is
all fascinating. I should
think they would love it in
summer. Here & there a
stove-pipe sticks out of
a shack. A superintendent
is going to drive Alfred & me
over another further away
road tomorrow. Well I must
say "good night" dear Cousin Kitty
& many many happy birthdays to you. Very lovingly- Ethel B Robinson1.
WHITE STAR LINE.
ON BOARD S.S. "CEDRIC."
Thurs. May 16th, 1929.
My dear Cousin Kitty,
I thought you might
like to hear a word from old
England.
In the first-place, Antoinette
& I happened to
live in London at the Cora
Hotel on Upper Woburn Place
& it was just around the
corner from the Elizabeth Garrett
Anderson hospital. So
we took occasion to go in
there, and a Dr Eleanor Carless
showed us over the hospital.
I asked about the bed which
was to be endowed for Aunt3
see Cambridge & Hastings in our
two days left. So we took a
train one day to Cambridge & went
over 7 Colleges, including Newham
& Girton, the Round Church, &
a while at an Eng. cricket
Varsity game (which privately we
could not understand much of).
Then on our last day, we
"booked" for Hastings. When we
arrived, we made enquiries
& were told to drive to the "P.O."
where we could get reliable information.
I could not think of
"Exmour Terrace" & "Rock House"
was not quite enough. The kind
man there (the head one) said
he could easily find out for me,
but it would take a little time
so perhaps we better ourselves inquire
at the "Town Hall" or at

the "Observer Office", to save time.
Wait, he said, ask first from the 
old man who is a cook & has
a restaurant three doors off, a
"Mr Miller". So we went into
Mr Miller's little restaurant, &
there he or his little old wife sat
behind the counter. And sure enough
he was very delighted to talk about
Aunt Elizabeth, he often "saw her
around", "remembered her well",
"she was very well thought of",
etc. etc. We were to go past
St Clemens Church in High St
& go to Exmouth Place over West
Hill & Rock House was the last
house. We rejoiced. Our taxi
driver took us to the buses to
ask about time & then we
told him to drive us near "The
Castle", so we drove up that2. Elizabeth. She didn't know about
it as she had been there but a
short time, but she said she would
write me. No letter came before
we left London, but when we returned
I found one waiting for me,
which read, "Dear Mrs Robinson
On enquiry I find that the 
Elizabeth Blackwell Bed has
been endowed -
With kind regards,
Yrs sincerely
Eleanor M Carless".
from the 
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital
Founded 1866
(Formerly the New Hospital for Women)
Euston Road, London U.W. 1
When we reached London again,
& heard the heart-breaking news 
about Harry, we arranged at
once to return home as soon as possible.
Meantime, we decided to

5.
WHITE STAR LINE.
ON BOARD S.S. "CEDRIC."
way & then down & over & around
& walked up Exmouth Place
The house & gate was, were locked, &
not lived in, but in pretty
good condition. We read the
[sign] tablet on the house & Antoinette
copied it.
Here lived and worked for 30 years
Dr Elizabeth Blackwell
Born at Bristol, England 1821
Died at Hastings 1910
The first woman to graduate in
medicine in the United States, at
Geneva (Syracuse University) New
York in 1849
The first woman to be placed on
the British Medical Register 1859
"One who never turned her back but
marched breast forward, Never
doubted clouds would break,
7
of the verandah, & the lattice
into the area-way. Do you own
it now, Cousin Kitty? or has
it passed out of your hands? A
"to rent" sign was somewhere
on it, & a "for sale" sign lay on
the grass inside.
The lovely harbour is so very near,
& yet so delightfully away. The 
view of the ruins of the castle,
& the view to the hill opposite,
up which trolley-cars now run,
(did they when you were there?),
must have always been a joy.
I got a postal which I think
shows the dear little house.
Stupidly, I only got one. I
enclose it.
The taxi drove us back to the
centre of the town. Then we dismissed
him, and took lunch
at a nice little refined café

where they made a wonderful 8?.
omelet. We then took a bus to
Rye & Winchelsey. they said that
Battle Abbey was closed. Someone
said we could get in for a half
crown a piece. But several people
advised us to go to Rye instead. So
we finally did. We very much
enjoyed the little old church, &
ate oranges outside of Ypres
prison, (& saw Cammer Castle
in the distance, & nearly later as
we drove home via East Kent.
We went into the oldest house in
Rye (Friar's) & were shown over
it by the Mayor's wife (for six
pence a piece); She & her husband
were expecting the Mayor of Rye
New York to be there on May 
26th. He was now in Paris. They
were going to entertain him by
going over the church, & then by6. Never dreamed though rights
were worsted, wrong would
triumph;
Held we fall to rise
When baffled to fight better
Sleep to wake."
We had gone for a moment past
the house to look off at the cosy
fascinating near yet distant
view. Two little dogs came
tripping up by us & on, & made
me think of you. An elderly
gentleman followed, & I said, "This
is Dr Elizabeth Blackwell's house,
isn't it?" And he answered in 
the English way, "Yes, don't you see
the tablet on the house." I wished
afterward that I had said something
more, for he might have
been, at least an acquaintance.
We peeped over the gate into the
little garden & saw the two park

9.
WHITE STAR LINE.
ON BOARD S.S. "CEDRIC."
giving him a dinner in the 
town hall, etc. Her friends had so much enjoyed
their house that she decided to make
a business of it. She did craftman
work in leather, to sell, also. We saw the
Monastery & its garden where
they now serve afternoon tea,
& we took the red bus back via
Winchelsey; having that glimpse
of the Church & Abbey. We
had to make our train at 7.10
But on reaching Hastings, we had
a half hour on the beach before
walking up steps & around to
the station for London.
When we were travelling between
Tintern & Chelten, a
woman sat opposite, with a
black dog that looked like a very
handsome Jock. (Forgive me, no offense
to Jock). I asked what kind of aP.S. (Scribbled on a rolling deck)
We talked with a "Basil
Blackwell" in Oxford. They
have lived in Oxford for a
long time. He & his Uncle now living, & he has a small son.
His father, & now he, has the
big book place in Oxford. He
gave me a letter from some
other woman who had married
a Blackwell. And he
gave me the address of a friend
of his who looks up
genealogy (in Stratford): &
had sent him 3 Blackwell coat-of arms 2 with a hound & 1 with 3 white
dots.
2 spoke of the swan's head
rising out of a ducal coronet,
called "ducally engorged". He was interested.
He said we ought to
hunt up the Worstershire
Blackwells together some
day. 
E.B.R.

N.B. We saw a freight-car marked
"Blackwell", standing at a siding in Beminster;
which had gone off a few days later.
We also passed a small town, about 15
minutes before we reached Bristol, named
something & "Blackwell" - I think it was
Swansea & "Blackwell".
N.B. continued. In some ways I
would like very much to take up an
abode in England for a time, and look
up the Blackwells.
We didn't come upon any Titchbornes
or Blackwells who were labelled as
being beheaded, or dead in the Tower
of London, at the time of Oliver
Cromwell, [or later], but there probably
were such from accounts.10.
dog he was & she said some
name which I had heard you
say Jock had in his pedigree.
She said she was taking him to
a dog-show at Chelten. That it
lasted until 6 P M. That his 
name was "Black Tobias", and
that he had taken several
prizes. He was very black &
glossy. I said, "Oh, [is] are the
angel leading Tobias, X according
to be bible?" She looked
a bit jolted, & said, "Oh, I
don't know what I am!" &
after that she looked as tho' she
were praying. So I said no more
As she got out, we wished "Black
Tobias" success, which pleased her.
Forgive this ramble, dear
Cousin Kitty. With love from
(over) us both. Ethel & Antoinette.

[*Ethel B. Robinson*]
NEW YORK LEAGUE
OF UNITARIAN WOMEN
9 Glenwood Rd.
Upper Montclair,
Oct. 6th, 1924.
Dear Cousin Kitty,
How the days
fly by! And is it past
Oct. 5th again! Have
you not a beautiful month?
The colors are growing so
wonderful. I wish you
could have the fun
we are looking forward to.
I feel just like a kiddie.Halifax, and we all think it will be a great lark!
As the bath-room & water are not yet in the house, we
expect to take some kind of a wash-basin & go out to
the running stream (in a pool where the dog loves to
bathe), and do our ablutions. We plan to make coffee
on the kerosene stove (if it arrives in time) & have shredded
wheat for breakfast; & go 1/2 mile down the road to
our reliable builders home where his capable nice wife will
give us our dinners & suppers. We expect to spend our days
these roaming in the woods & looking for deer, & Agnes will
sketch. I'll have to finish the birthday letter after we
get back, & tell you of our adventures. Miss Bauer, our good
little English dressmaker, & I are making curtains for Halifax at a no
speed-limit. I wrote Florence urging her to come & join us at Halifax. I
do hope she will. With ever so much love & wishing joy unending to you,
Cousin Kittie, dear, Affy Ethel B Robinson.If all goes well, Agnes &
Tom & Alfred & I are going
to take an automobile trip
up to Halifax Vermont, over
Columbus Day. The Brenos,
May & Albert may go
too -- by train.
We plan to leave Thursday
night about 5 P.M. & get there on
Friday. It is 190 miles.
Our, or rather Alfred's
Halifax house, is not quite
done; but enough to picnic
in. The Jones have never seen