Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen - The China Years - Part 2

In part 1 of Hulda May’s China Years, I mentioned the birth of her second child, Kathleen Ethel "Kay" Carscallen on 21 July 1908. Now the Carscallens were a family of four.

Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen in China with her childen, Charles Newton (left) and Kathleen Ethel "Kay" (right). Photo courtesy of Betty (Carscallen) Marmura.

Up to this time, the Carscallens had been living in a house previously occupied by another missionary family. In February 1909 they moved into a house that Charles designed himself. 

 

Hulda May and Rev. Charles Carscallen in their living room on the Canadian Crescent in Chengtu, China in June 1911. Photo courtesy of Wendy (Gowland) Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

On 9 March 1909, the school for missionaries’ children opened in Chengtu. Hulda May had some responsibility in its beginnings.

Image via Canadian School in West China.

There was much to be done by the Carscallens in China. Their goal was to establish a university. The successful result was West China Union University in Chengtu which formerly opened in March 1910[1]. W.C.U.U. was the first modern university in western China. Teaching techniques involved a blend of Chinese, British, and North American ideas.

The gate to West China Union University in the 1920s.

Hulda May was the first woman on the staff of the university. Years later, she would be one of two Vice-Chairmen of the Board of Governors.

Of paramount interest to Hulda May was the education of young women. For centuries, Chinese women were subjugated, and considered inferior to men. This was an age of foot-binding, the cruel custom of applying tight binding to young girls' feet to modify their shape and limit their mobility. Women were considered incapable of learning. Denied education, many women were illiterate. Hulda May and her associates worked to establish a Middle School and a women’s college in Chengtu.

Hulda May also taught English to wives of Chinese Christian evangelists.

Besides teaching, language study, committee work, attending meetings, lectures, prayer services, teaching Sunday school, managing the household, making time for her children, and writing articles, Hulda May did much volunteer work. A quotation about her, found in the United Church Archives says, “Mrs. C. R. Carscallen has a remarkable capacity for a great volume of valuable work.”[2]

Socializing was an important part of missionary life. She held dinner parties and afternoon teas which were a ritual among the missionary women. She made time for hobbies including tennis, reading, and astronomy. She wrote out a course in astronomy for the Union Middle Schools. She was thrilled to witness Halley’s Comet in 1910, a once in a lifetime event.

Photo of Halley's Comet published in the New York Times on July 3, 1910.

Hulda May wasn’t entirely on her own with household duties. Like other missionary families of the time, the Carscallens employed servants. A cook prepared their meals and a coolie did laundry and other odd jobs.

After a certain number of years at the West China Mission, the missionaries were permitted a leave of absence called a furlough. The furlough was a time of physical rejuvenation and spiritual renewal. It was also an opportunity to engage in what today we would call professional development; furthering their education through courses. A missionary on furlough would also give sermons, speeches, and visit church groups. In late 1911, the Carscallens embarked on their first furlough.

The Carscallens spent Christmas day on a Chinese junk on the Yangtze River. 

Chinese junk

They travelled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Egypt, France, and Gibraltar. They spent a month in England, visiting old friends and sight-seeing.

On 1 April 1912, the Carscallens arrived in Canada at Halifax, Nova Scotia. They made stopovers to visit friends and relatives in Moncton, New Brunswick; Montreal; and Toronto.

They reached Poplar Farm (the Culbert homestead) in Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario on 9 April 1912. Here they were met by Hulda May’s parents and her brother, Myron Culbert.

The Culbert family homestead (Poplar Farm) on the Coursey Line in Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario. The older couple (centre) are Hulda May's parents, Jane & Richard Culbert. The woman seated far right near the bicycles is Hulda May's sister, Mary Elsie Culbert (later Mary Elsie Hodgson.)

On 15 April 1912, they boarded a train for Dresden, Ontario to visit Charles' family.
 

Charles Rupert Carscallen was born in this house on Camden Street, Dresden, Ontario. Pictured standing in front is his mother, Ann Jane (Wilde) Carscallen. His father, Isaac Newton Carscallen is seated at right. Photo courtesy of Wendy (Gowland) Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

Their homecoming coincided with the golden wedding anniversary of Charles' parents.

Charles Rupert Carscallen's parents: Isaac Newton Carscallen & Ann Jane (Wilde) Carscallen. Isaac was a hardware merchant and was at one time the Mayor of Dresden. Photo courtesy of Wendy (Gowland) Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

The Carscallens returned to Poplar Farm in early May 1912 but Charles would soon be busy with meetings and conferences throughout the province. In New York City, he took a post-graduate course at Union Theological Seminary.

Charles made it back to Poplar Farm for the birth of their third child, Alice Patricia Carscallen on 15 April 1913. Of their four children, Alice was the only child not born in China. Alice would grow up to be a librarian, art connoisseur, and world traveller.

Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen with her daughter, Alice Patricia Carscallen in 1914.

Today we celebrate Canada Day on July 1^st but until 1982 it was known as Dominion Day. On July 1st, 1913 the Carscallens enjoyed a family picnic in the woods and a garden party in the evening in Lucan.

While staying at Poplar Farm with her Culbert family, Hulda May home-schooled her children. She took time for walks in the woods and “blackberrying.”

Many of Hulda May’s old school friends visited her at this time. The photo below shows Hulda May and a group of women enjoying a tea party at Poplar Farm. There’s no date on this photo but it’s possible it was taken while she was on furlough.

Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen, second from right. Tea party at Poplar Farm. How genteel! Photo courtesy of Wendy (Gowland) Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

On 8 August 1913, the Carscallens bid farewell to their Lucan family and boarded a train for Toronto. From there, they travelled west, visiting friends and family along the way.

In November 1913 the Carscallens set sail from Victoria, British Columbia for China. By 6 February 1914, they were back in Chengtu.

Since leaving Lucan in August, Charles and Hulda May spent over six months travelling by trains, steamer, junks and rickshaws with two young children and an infant. Although it would have been difficult to leave their family and friends behind, it must have been a relief to settle into their routine once more in China.

To be continued, here…

Footnotes:  
[1] Eula C. Lapp, China Was My University. Agincourt, Ont.: Generation Press, 1980, 44.
[2] Ibid., 49.