Note: This was a letter written to my great-great aunts, who lived at 2 Hales Cottage in Kingston. I would love to think that the descendants of Mary Parker are out there in the Internet-world, and are researching their history. Perhaps I might know more about this woman. Where is Waterville P.E? Springfield Farm? I may never know, but the journey is part of the adventure! Cheers!
Springfield Farm
Waterville P.E. Dec 18, 1856
My Dear Misses Stoughton,
Will you forgive me if I make a very great effort and try to make amends for a long silence and apparent negligence and forgetfulness of my kind Kingston friends?
The fact is that I was ever an undutiful correspondent and now with three children and my household duties to look after and not having the advantages of efficient or respectable servants, you will readily understand that it costs a great effort to collect my thoughts sufficiently to write a letter however having now made my apology I will now try to connect a few intelligible sentences- First I must tell you that we are still farming, and that our family has increased most wonderfully, being blessed with two girls and a boy, and every day expecting another to be added to our merry little troop. Billy is very like his dear papa, with large blue eyes, and curling hair he is full of fun and mischief.
We lead a very quiet but busy life and see but little society indeed we are a happy circle and care not for much gaiety, still we like to see and hear from our friends and would much wish to see yourselves and Doctor and Mrs. Diessl and a few more who were very kind to me when at Kingston. I will feel deeply obliged to you if you would convey our kindest regards to all those who may still be near you, as for our dear kind friends the Diessls we do not know where they are otherwise my husband would long ere this have written to the Doctor-Could you inform us as to their whereabouts?
I wish I could see you all together as of course but that cannot be unless some of you should by chance come this way in which case we should feel sadly disappointed if you did not make a long visit. I think we could make you comfortable.
I wish that your Mother and sister are well and enjoying good health- are you still living in the same cottage, and have you many flowers!- I still have a few but my own little blossoms sadly interfere with the culture of – I have scarcely time to make up a few necessary little articles which will be soon needed- by the bye you will smile when I will tell you that you nice little worsted shoes are now worn occasionally by my third (Louisa) I must now close this unconnected scrawl by wishing you my dear Miss Stoughton and your kind Mother and sister all the compliments of the season and
Believe me to be
Your affectionate friend
Mary Parker
Brushed With Mystery 
It is astonishing that I should read this today, as a couple of hours ago I was studying some 50 letters from the 1850s, all addressed to Miss (Elizabeth) Stoughton of Hales Cottages, that I acquired when we lived in Kingston many years ago.
That’s amazing! I’m sorry I missed this message for so long. I would love to connect with you and hear your story about the letters and being in Kingston!
It was nice to hear from you, and a bit of a surprise almost a year after I first wrote. Our family lived in Kingston from the mid-1980s to 2001, when we moved to Saskatoon. My wife and I taught at Queen’s U., and we lived along Bath Road just west of Amherstview. I am interested in postal history (collecting old letters, studying postal markings, etc.) and the Miss Stoughton letters were in a collection I purchased from a local stamp dealer. Most were tiny “lady’s letters”, some of them folded into a triangular shape. Quite interesting, but also very hard to read, as the handwriting was very small and sometimes was “cross-written” (the 2nd half of a message written at right angles to the first half, and overwritten on it. I was in Kingston to visit friends in August, and stopped to take some photos of Hales Cottage. Best wishes, Bob
Thank you so much for replying to my message Bob. Fascinating! I’m not sure if you have the letters anymore, but I would love to see any photos of them to uncover the correspondence, as these letters mark my family at Hales Cottage; a family history I have been uncovering.
Yes, I have seen the cross-hatching letters I have remaining from the one sister who moved to Napanee- it’s fascinating!
These two old great aunties welcomed my gran, her brother and their mother into their Hales Cottage when their family suffered the loss of Helen’s husband. They moved from Gananoque, back to Kingston to stay with the aunties at Hales Cottage #4 before they bought Hales Cottage #2..the home I grew up in, and was purchased by Helen Gamsby.
These two great aunties of my great gran (Helen Esson Gamsby) are connected with the Loyalists Adulphustown.