Jane Hyde

Letter
April 1921

Handwritten Excerpt (38 KB)

1904 Program:

Present address: 118 West Twenty-third Street, Baltimore, MD.

May 1905 Kalends:

Jane Hyde is studying in New York.

April 1913 Kalends:

Jane Hyde writes that she expects to return from China this summer for a visit inthis country. She will be here from June 1913 to September 1914. Her headquarters will be the office of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in New York City.

July 1935 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde is to be on leave this year from her work in China. She hoped to get back in time for Goucher's Reunion. She is to be at home with her mother, whose health is not of the best.

July 1939 Alumnae Quarterly:

We have not heard from Jane Hyde, but we know she is in Nanking holding her job during all this turmoil. We wish her well.

November 1941 Alumnae Quarterly:

"I still do not know whether I shall be coming home or not. Not, so far as I have anything to say, but higher powers may decide otherwise. In the meantime, I am going on, so far as I can, as though I would be here to the end of my time.
My regular work, as you know, is evangelistic work in this country, which of course has been seriously interfered with. During the past six months, however, we have been able to go to two or three places for a short time, and I expect to leave tomorrow morning for another. Mostly, it is not the enemy, but bandits, that interfere in these places, and they are less of a menace in the summer, though with food and clothing costing so many times what they used to, there is still much temptation to rob.
SInce I could not go to the country, I have been engaged in such relief work as I could do, with the funds at my disposal. I have tried to give a little help to a number of people rather than more to a few. I feel more inclined to keep a family from starving - or rathre several families- than to help one to keep a child in school, say. Others feel differently, and so, perhaps, I can help fill in the gaps. The city work that I do brings me in more close contact with the very poor, than is the case with those in charge of schools, or in charge of anything, for that matter, for they do not see the poor people in their homes, as I do. ANd those homes are very bare.
Just now the weather is getting warm, and I am appealed to for clothing, which I do not have. Many have nothing to cover their naked bodies when they take off the wadded clothing which has been given to them. Common cotton cloth is as dear as silk used to be - dearer than artificial silk. Everything else is the same way. I do not see how many of them live at all."

November 1942 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde, you will be interested to know, is safely back in this country from China. She is making her home in Walnut, N.C.

November 1948 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde has been living with her widowed sister Etta, near Port Royal, Pa., along the Juniata. If you want to know about the arduous labor of real honest-to-goodness gardening, ask Jane. Since she could not go back to her missionary work in Nanking, China, she turned her energies toward helping to feed the world. We ought to have learned more of Jane's activities during those difficult days and years in Nanking and Shanghai when the Japanese first invaded China. What tales she could have told!

Spring 1949 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde writes that she and her sister Etta had all the mess and plaster-dirt of refinishing ceilings and walls of several rooms all at once. Her sister had the "flu," which postponed Jenny's visit to her brother in North Carolina.

Winter 1950 Alumnae Quarterly:

In response to a letter last August to Jane Hyde, I received: "...And I haven't yet said 'Happy Christmas,' which is what this was written for. Now, though, I have, and I will add 'A peaceful New Year.' Inwardly it may be, though outwardly the prospects are dim.
You warn me about the hot sun (that was August, you know). Well, I should like a bit of that sun right now. It was 18 degrees this A.M., 22 before supper, and 17 now. And the plumber is busy in a little room Etta has had made out of a porch, putting in a lavatory - and the door is open. Brrr!
Etta's lame back is still with her. She has been able to get wood split, but lately has had to do some herself, and had to cut by hand several rows of corn and later get the fodder. Now there is the prospect of cutting ice for the cows to drink, and maybe having to haul it, if it is as cold as two years ago. I hope not." - Claire Ackerman Vliet.

Winter 1952 Alumnae Quarterly:

Christmas greetings from Jenny Hyde gave the highlights of the past year on the farm, where she lives with her sister Etta. Farm work, especially in winter, is hard on two women, what with chickens, garden and barn work, caring for the animals, etc. Particularly since Etta suffered a severe back injury. But Jenny's joy is in the garden, where she grew tomatoes practically free from blight, fine potatoes, and she has even tried her hand at cantaloupes.

Spring 1954 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde is visiting her brother in Swannanoa, N.C., and what a wonderful time to visit there, for sping in that state is something very special.

Winter 1956 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde, in spite of some bad luck, seems to keep busy as usual. "At last I have a snapshot to send you, - not too good, for it was taken when I had recently recovered from an attack of pneumonia in Carlisle Springs where I went to help my sister, Anna, who had broken her wrist three weeks before. My own recovery would have been faster but for a fall while in the hospital which rather twisted my back. It has been a difficult year, with pneumonia, then the fall, then the drought and the great heat of the summer, and a second hurt to my back while carrying water to the more important plants and pulling up so many tall weeds. An auto wreck resulted in a hip injury to my sister, who has been out of the hospital for two months now, going about on crutches. My brother and she are alone except for the cleaning woman, who comes once a week, so I keep myself in readiness to join them if I am needed. My brother's daughter, Anna, was with them until November 10, when she had to go back to her home in the Canal Zone. The news about Anna in the Quarterly was somewhat mixed. Anna hasn't been of Albany since July last year, when James retired and they came to live at Carlisle Springs, to which place they returned in June, after a stay in North Carolina, follwing the car wreck in Ohio. Wishing all of you a peaceful New Year."

Summer 1957 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde wrote from Swannanoa, N.C. where she was making her annual visit to her brother and his wife. "After my sister's death last year, there were many adjustments to be made and much to be attended to. In the autumn I hurt my back pulling weeds, but found as time went by that the exertion became more and more difficult because of shortness of breath. I checked up with the doctor here, who told me I had overexerted my heart. Finding that treatment and rest did not relieve it )I had also picked up a flu germ and that didn't help) she told me that I must not go up and down stairs, sweep, mop, nor garden. That meant that I could not continue indefinitely as I was. With my sister gone, I was just staying with her sister-in-law, a woman more than two years older than I, who refused to go into a home for the aged and who had no relatives who could stay with her. So now I have made application for entrance to a Home operated by our Board of Missions, and I hope I shall be accepted. The report from my own doctor and from the cardiologist says that I am in good shape for a woman of my age."

Fall 1957 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde writes a good letter to us in spite of many difficulties and complications. "As you can see, I am still on the old camping ground with my sister's sister-in-law, but not for long. I have been accepted for entrance into the Merriam Home in Newton, N.J., and shallprobably leave for the new address about Sept.1. It sounds very attractive. A letter from the superintendent about things to bring, date of arrival, etc., was most kind and understanding, for I have difficulties. When I left to go to Swannanoa, I put as many things as I could into drawers and boxes, for no one would be going into my room and things would get dusty. When I came back after ten weeks, there was the necessity of disposing of everything that I owned, that could not be taken to the Home, for I did not wish to leave anything for others to bother with, and my health would not permit me to go upstairs to refresh my memory as to where things were and what I could keep. There were copies of my own letters from China that I had hoped to use as a sort of diary. Those plans have gone up in smoke. Now my problem is to get things packed in a room full of furniture and no place to put anything except into cartons. After eight weeks I went upstairs once a week, then twice a week for three weeks. I think my heart condition is better but have not had the doctor tell me so. Acidity and arthritis of the spine also make it hard for me to do some things. I am glad we are planning a reunion next year and do hope I can be present."

Winter 1958 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde writes from her new home in Newton, N.J. "I haven't been here long enough to make myself necessary to anyone, but perhaps the Lord will give me something to do later. I was interested to know about Thyra's marriage, and see that the home where she is now is in Philadelphia. I wonder what the requirements are. Is her husband, by any chance, a minister? I hope our informal reunion will be well attended; I shall certainly come if possible, for it is doubtful if I should be able to attend another one, though that is too far away to speculate about. Dora Moody did not graduate so some of you may not have known her, but in 1936, when I attended General Assembly I was assigned to her home, and we became well acquainted."

Summer 1959 Alumnae Quarterly:

...a good letter from Jane Hyde, who says her family is nicely situated for visiting, in Falls Church, Va., Bethesda, Md., Swannanoa, N.C., and Beaufort, N.C. Jane joins me in recommending The Small Woman, a curious story of an English missionary in China. It is a fascinating tale.

Winter 1960 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde says she is a bit unsteady when walking; ambulation gets to be a problem with us oldsters. We send our sympathy to you, Jane, in the loss of your brother.

Summer 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

Jane Hyde did not need to sign herself "Remorsefully yours" for not writing sooner, for she had good reason for delaying. She postponed her usual trip to North Carolina because of the weather (Remember it ?) then had three rather serious physical ailments that would have discouraged anyone. But nothing is the matter with your mind, Jane, and garrulity, for which you apologize, is not confined to us oldsters. Now is it?

Summer 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

I close these notes with the sad news of our oldest member, Adelaide Jane Hyde who died at the Merriam Home in Newton N.J. where she had been living for the last few years. Jane attended our fiftieth reunion, taking a lively interest in everything we did, feeling as if she ought to look after us, she said, as she did sometimes back in our own college days. I do not know whether her brother in North Carolina is still living.

In the death of Jane Adelaide Hyde, 1903 loses its oldest member and the one whose life was, perhaps, the most colorful. After graduation she continued her nurse's training and had a year of private nursing before she entered the Biblical Training School of the Presbyterian Church. This was in preparation for her missionary work in China, where she labored among the villages southeast of Nanking, traveling on donkey-back, in a wheelbarrow, or on foot. She helped wherever she could lend a hand, with the babies, with field, or house work, talking, praying, reading, or preaching. When Nanking was occupied by the Japanese, travel was practically stopped, but there was much to do in the cities to relieve the distress of those beggered by the war. The attack on Pearl Harbor put a stop to that, too, for foreigners could not leave the compounds. She was repatriated on board the S.S. Grisholm, in June 1942. After her return to the United States, she lived for a time at the home of her brother in North Carolina, then with a widowed sister in Juniata County, Pa., until her retirement to the Merriam home, in Newton, N.J.
Jane's rule of life seemed simple enough, though it did result in some most unusual experiences: "Here is a duty that has been presented to me. I must accept it." Just that. Through 37 years of life among the desperately poor of China, there was never the slightest complaint or question; she was just doing her duty. -Eda Briggs Frost