Dear Friends,
We are excited to share a new essay from Marty Wendler. She has authored, “Harriet Hole Jukes: Her Story.” We have published her essay on the parish website for everyone to enjoy. History tends to focus on men and their stories. Marty has taken an interest in the stories of strong women in history. Harriet lived an incredible life.
Harriet was the wife of St. Paul’s Rector, Mark Jukes. She raised six children in the rectory, which I call home. Harriet and Mark both died in the rectory from the cholera epidemic of 1854. Their seven children survived.
We are blessed with insight into Harriet’s life from her letters to her mother in England. We are also blessed with Marty’s historical research. For example, we learn that Mark’s mother was a godchild to King George III. Harriet’s uncle was a lieutenant in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). He later became a Rear Admiral in the British Royal Navy. Before Mark was a priest, he was a shipbuilder. All seven children survived the cholera. Five of them became missionaries. One was a medical doctor.
Opening Excerpt:
“December 24 -This is Christmas Eve, and all are gone to church excepting the little ones who are in bed, and myself.”
The above is an excerpt of a letter written by Harriet Jukes on December 24, 1853, while sitting alone in her Maumee home, an ocean away from her family in England. Although her words reveal no hint of nostalgia in this rare moment of solitude, her thoughts may have drifted back to past celebrations within her family circle in Newport or more recently, her new friends in Canada. As always, she avoided raising concern about her own well being in her correspondence, assuring family members that the Episcopalians in Maumee also made “a great deal of this night” while following the English tradition of “illuminating the churches and decorating them with evergreens.”
A review of Marty Wendler’s essay:
Marty, thank you for allowing me to read your manuscript about the fuller life of Harriet Jukes. I was spellbound reading it. I learned much more about her very productive life in England and Canada before coming to Maumee. Like so many women of her time, she was pregnant almost all of her married life, and yet she was living a rugged pioneer life that is difficult for me to imagine. All the information you reveal displays a woman of deep faith and cheery disposition; this is somewhat amazing in light of the easier comfort world of today, where such verbal expressions of faith are not so commonly heard. — Fran Board, Ph.D.
Please enjoy this incredible story. You will find it posted on the parish website. (Homepage and also About Us/History).
Merry Christmas,
Paul+
