It’s November. I need to start planning my Christmas card. I’ve been making my own Christmas cards since I was in college, and I enjoy the process of planning and creating the yearly card. I feel like I’m carrying on a family tradition. Both my mother and my aunt Melissa made cards for special occasions. This one, painted by my mother in 1946, may have been meant for my grandmother, Agnes.
Birthday Card, Janet Hall Crump, 1946
Agnes was born on November 1, 1887 in England, and today I want to celebrate her birthday, just a few days late. When she was six months old her parents brought her across the ocean to Connecticut, where she grew up in a happy household with her parents and brother and three sisters. The Biggs family went to the Episcopal Church in Glastonbury, Connecticut. And even after she joined the Congregational Church in Wallingford when she married my grandfather and came to live on the farm, she remained religious in a practical sort of way – going to church when she was able, and making sure her own children got a Sunday School education.
The Biggs family in 1895. Ethel Rosabell Biggs in front on the left, Agnes Maud Biggs on right. Behind them are their parents, Joseph and Maud Sophia Biggs
Agnes Maud Biggs, eighteen years old
My grandmother was bright and a good student. Her quick mind and cheerful work ethic endeared her to her childhood Sunday school teacher, J. O. Hulbert, who made and sent exquisite birthday, Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter cards to her for over thirty years. When Agnes married my grandfather Ellsworth Hall in 1913, Mr. Hulbert gave her a Book of Common Prayer with this inscription on the front page.
Inscription in Book of Common Prayer
I’m happy that my grandmother, and then my mother, saved these unique cards. I’m sure they influenced my mother’s love of making things. They’ve certainly been an inspiration to me. I admire the care and thought and skill that went into creating such treasures. And I try to picture my grandmother, who I only knew as a mature woman, standing in her parlor wearing her best dress and delighting in the birthday greetings so beautifully made just for her. Happy Birthday Agnes!
Birthday Card for Agnes, J. O. Hulbert, 1898
Birthday Card for Agnes, J. O. Hulbert, 1900
Birthday Card for Agnes, J. O. Hulbert, 1901
Birthday Card for Agnes, J. O. Hulbert
On Wednesday: TV Dinners
What a beautiful woman your great grandmother is. People in your family really take time to create lasting treasures to share with others. Carol, you are continuing this wonderful family tradition by working with your grandson. Carry on ….
Thanks, Netzy. It’s fun to carry on the tradition with my own grandchildren. Maybe you’re doing the same with yours? I miss seeing your paintings – hope you’re still creating wonderful things!
Wow, those cards are fantastic and something I knew nothing about. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Patti. I have a few more that I’ll share in the spring. I wish I knew more about that Sunday School teacher.
Happy Birthday to Agnes! OK, who is this guy and what’s the story? How many years senior was he? How old was she when she was in Sunday school? He is a very talented artist, no question, and a striving poet. 30 years !?! He apparently had it bad for her. Did he ever make his feelings known? Did he ever marry? What did Ellsworth think of all these elaborate cards being sent to his wife? Wow, a real romantic thriller on the Hill. Who knew?
I know nothing about him, Mike, except that he was closer to her father’s age. Bespectacled and proper looking, he may have been a friend of the Biggs family. I think he sent many cards to many people – I have actually seen one online. My grandfather was as handsome and dashing and romantic-looking as they come, and he and my grandmother were devoted to each other for their whole lives. I think THAT was the romantic triller on the Hill.
But it would be fun to know more about Mr. Hulbert. Maybe there’s a historical society in Glastonbury that would know.
Jill points out that many folks in those days were very dedicated to years of correspondence and much more effusive in their poetic and artstic expression of admiration. Of course this was all tongue-in-cheek and i never meant to imply anything untoward going on. That young Agnes was a looker though….
Mike, you didn’t say anything I didn’t think! But to Jill’s point–what a lovely thing to think of, people sending lovely personal handmade cards over decades. Even with all of our modern “time-saving” devices it’s hard to imagine the possibility of doing that!
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