There is no one else who has the power to be so much your friend or so much your enemy as yourself.
—Isabella Alden
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Too Much of a Good Thing, and a New Free Read
Isabella Alden was very close to her sister Marcia, who married the Reverend Charles Livingston. For many years Isabella’s and Marcia’s families lived together under the same roof.
In the summer months the Aldens and the Livingstons traveled to Chautauqua, New York and shared a cottage on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution.
In the winter they made the pilgrimage to Florida, where the two families lived in a large house in Winter Park.
Isabella’s son Raymond and Marcia’s daughter Grace attended Rollins College in Winter Park, and Grace went on to teach physical education classes there.
Before Grace took up her pen to write some of America’s most beloved novels under the name Grace Livingston Hill, she was one of the first teachers at Rollins College. She was also a true advocate for the “physical culture” movement that was sweeping the country at the time. She recognized the freedom it gave women to pursue physical health in a way they hadn’t been able to before. At Rollins she taught ladies’ classes in calisthenics, basketball, gymnastics, and fencing.
She also taught men’s classes in physical culture, such as fencing and Greek Posture:
And when she wasn’t teaching at the college, she taught physical culture classes at the Florida Chautauqua.
Like her niece, Isabella appreciated the physical culture movement. She even featured the craze in one of her short stories, “Agatha’s Uknown Way.”
And she wrote “Too Much of a Good Thing,” a story about how one young girl got so caught up in the physical culture craze, that she made life difficult for her entire family. You can read “Too Much of a Good Thing” for free below.
Would you like to learn more about Grace Livingston’s teaching years at Rollins College? Click this link to read a fun story about one of her biggest challenges at the school, and how she convinced the faculty to see things her way.
You can read Isabella’s short story, “Agatha’s Unknown Way” for free. Just click this link.
You can also read a previous post about the birth of gymnastics at Chatuauqua Institution.
Enjoy Isabella’s story, “Too Much of a Good Thing”:
Too Much of a Good Thing
Downstairs everyone was busy. Uncle Morris and his entire family, just from Europe, were coming by an earlier train than it had been expected they could take, and many last preparations for making them comfortable had still to be attended to.
Mrs. Evans had been up since daylight, planning, directing, and helping to the utmost that her small strength would admit.
Indeed, her eldest daughter Laura had constantly to watch, to save her mother from lifting something heavy, or reaching for something high. Often her clear voice could be heard with a “Oh, mother, don’t! Please—I’ll take care of that.” And often the gentle answer was:
“Dear child, you cannot do everything, though your will is strong enough. Where is Millie?”
“Millie has gone to sweep and dust the hall room; you know we didn’t think we should need that, and I used it as a sort of store room; but since Arthur is coming with them, we shall have to get it ready; and he will need to go at once to his room, since he is an invalid, so I sent Millie to put it in order. I told her just what to do, and she will manage it nicely. She must be nearly through now, and I’ll have her finish dusting here, so I can help you with those books; they are too heavy for you to handle.”
No, Millie wasn’t nearly through. In fact, she could hardly have been said to have commenced. The truth is, she had been thrown off the track. It was an old print which fell out of an, unused portfolio that did it. The print showed the picture of a girl in fun Greek costume, and reminded Millie of what was not long out of her mind, that in the coming Physical Culture entertainment she was to chess in a costume which was supposed to be after the Greek order.
“Let me see,” she said, bending over the print, “this girl has short sleeves and low neck. Why, the dress is almost precisely like the one which Laura wears with her lace over-dress; I might wear that. It would be too long, of course, but it could be hemmed up. I am almost sure Laura would let me have it; and with her white sash ribbon tied around my waist it would be just lovely. Then that would save buying anything new, and save mother any trouble. I mean to go this minute and try on the dress, before I say anything about it.”
Away dashed the Greek maiden to one of the guest chambers which Laura had left in perfect order, dragged from a seldom used drawer the elegant white mull dress with its lace belongings, all of which saw the light only on state occasions, and rushed back to the hall room again, where she had left the print she was trying to copy. In her haste, she dragged out with the dress various articles of the toilet. Laura’s white kid gloves which she wore when she graduated, a quantity of laces, and a handkerchief or two, to say nothing of sprays of dried flowers. These she trailed over the carpet, seeing nothing of them. The important thing in life just now was to get herself into that dress.
It was accomplished at last, not without a tiny tear having been made in the delicate stuff, but which Millie’s fingers were too eager to notice. She tied the white sash high up about her waist, after the fashion of the picture, seized the dust brush in one hand as if it were a dumb bell, or an Indian club, and struck a graceful attitude with her arm on the corner of the mantel.
“There!” she said, “I would like to have my picture taken in this dress; I have a very nice position now for it. I wish the girls were here to see me. Laura must let me wear this; it fits exactly. I don’t believe it is much too long for a Greek maiden. I should like to wear my dresses long; it must be great fun. I wonder if we couldn’t have our pictures taken in costume? I think it would be real nice; and our folks would each want to buy one. Perhaps we could make some money.”
There were hurried steps in the hall, and the Greek maiden’s musings were cut short. Laura came forward rapidly, talking as she
came.
“Millie, aren’t you through here? You have had plenty of time, and mother needs your help right away. Hurry down just as quickly as you can; she is over-doing, and it is growing late; the carriage may come any minute now. Why, Millie Evans!”
She stopped in amazement, for the Greek maiden was still posing. She smiled graciously and said: “Don’t I look fine? I borrowed it a minute to see if it will do to wear to the entertainment. It is just the thing, isn’t it? You will lend it to me, won’t you? Just for one evening? I’ll be awfully careful of it.”
“And you have been to that drawer where all the nice things are packed, and dragged them out! There is one of my white gloves under your feet, and my only lace handkerchief keeping it company! I must say, Millie Evans, you deserve to be punished. Here we are trying our best to get ready for company, and keep mother from getting too tired, and you neglect your work to rig up like a circus girl; and go to a drawer which you have no right to open. I shall certainly tell father of this.”
The Greek maiden’s cheeks were in an unbecoming blaze. Laura was hurried and tired, and spoke with more severity than was her custom. It certainly was trying to find the room in disorder, and her best dress in danger.
“Take care,” she said, as Millie’s frantic efforts to get it off put it in greater danger. “Don’t quite ruin that dress. Indeed you shall not wear it. I am astonished at you for thinking of such a thing; when father hears what you have been doing, I doubt if you will need a dress for the entertainment.”
Then Millie lost all self control. “You are a hateful, selfish thing!” she burst forth. “Take your old dress; I don’t want to wear it; and I won’t be ordered about by you as though you were my grandmother. I’m nearly fourteen, and you have no right to manage me. I’ll just tell father myself that I—”
“What is all this?” Mr. Evans’ voice was sternness itself, and he looked at the girl with blazing cheeks, in a way that made her angry eyes droop.
“What does it mean, Millicent? I heard you using very unbecoming language to your sister, and to judge from your appearance you have been about some very inappropriate work.”
“Well, father, Laura burst in here and—”
“Never mind what Laura did, Millicent. Unfortunately for you, I know which daughter tries to care for and spare her sick mother in every possible way. I overheard enough to show me which one is to blame. Laura may tell me what is the trouble, and you may listen.”
But Laura was already sorry that she had spoken so sharply, and tried to soften the story as much as truth would permit.
“Her mind is so full of the Physical Culture entertainment, father, that she does not stop to think. I know she did not mean to hinder and make trouble.”
“I see,” said Mr. Evans, speaking grimly. “I have heard a good deal about this Physical Culture business. If everyone is as much carried out of common sense by it as our Millicent is, I should say it was high time to have some moral culture. Millicent, you may put yourself into a suitable dress for sweeping, and do the work you were sent to do, at once; and you will not need to think any more about a dress for the entertainment, for you are to be excused from attending it. You may tell your teacher that I said so.”
Poor Millie! The hall bedroom floor might almost have been washed, if that were desirable, with the tears she shed. No hope had she of any change of mind on her father’s part. He rarely interfered with his children, but when he did, his word was law.
And poor Laura! She went downstairs heavy-hearted and miserable. Why had Millie been so silly, and why had she allowed her vexation to make matters worse?
The poor frail mother actually cried when she heard of Millie’s disappointment. “Yet I really cannot ask her father not to notice it,” she said sorrowfully. “Millie has been so remiss in her duties for weeks, all on account of the hold which that Physical Culture craze has upon her. It is too much of a good thing. I am afraid her father is doing right.”
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100 Years Ago at Mount Hermon
It’s summertime, and that means events at Mount Hermon Christian camp are in full swing. Nestled in the mountains of Santa Cruz, California, Mount Hermon is a place of quiet beauty, where people can renew and build on their relationship with Jesus Christ.
One hundred years ago, Isabella Alden was a frequent summer visitor at Mount Hermon. She and her husband Ross moved to the Santa Clara area in 1901. When Mount Hermon opened four years later, they were overjoyed to have a nearby place of rest and retreat similar to their beloved Chautauqua Institution.
Isabella Alden loved Mount Hermon, and she had many happy memories connected with it. She wrote:
I wish I could give you a picture of Mount Hermon, a blessed place where I have spent precious weeks living out under the great redwood trees. It was wild and quaint and beautiful.
As she had in the old Chautauqua days, Isabella spent as much time in the out of doors as possible at Mount Hermon:
Tent life seemed to belong to it as much as houses belong in most other places. We ate out of doors, and worked out of doors, and practically slept out of doors, with all the curtains of the tent looped high.
Nestled among the mammoth California redwoods of Mount Hermon, Isabella rested, read and worshipped.
Her spirit was fed by some of the world’s most prominent theologians who spoke at the camp: Dr. James Gray, dean of the Moody Bible Institute; evangelist Reuben Archer Torrey; and Reverend A. B. Pritchard of Los Angeles.
Isabella reveled in Mount Hermon’s program of Bible study. She immersed herself in classes about the Second Coming of Christ, and the Pentecost. She spent a week studying Colossians, and said afterward that she felt “as though I had a new Bible.”
Amid all the conference meetings, presentations, and Bible studies, she found time for her own writing.
I had a little retreat where I used to take refuge when I wanted quiet for writing or study. It was the burned-out stump of a sequoia tree. The space left was forty feet in diameter with a wall of stump all around. New branches had formed and had climbed till they reached away up toward the sky, and interlaced overhead to form a room of green. The sequoia leaves are odorous and make a lovely soothing atmosphere in which to rest.
It was in this atmosphere that Isabella was inspired to write The Browns at Mount Hermon, which was published in 1907; and her experience at Mount Hermon even inspired her novel’s premise. During one specific summer, over 60 people with the surname Brown attended Mount Hermon; Isabella used that bit of trivia as the catalyst for a merry mix-up of people named Brown in her novel.
Isabella cherished every lesson and every sermon she heard at Mount Hermon. Each summer for the remainder of her life—health permitting—she made the short trip to Mount Hermon, the beautiful place of worship and rest nestled in the mountains of Santa Clara.
Did you know Mount Hermon is still an active Christian camp and retreat? Find out more about Mountain Hermon by visiting their web site:
Or visit Mount Hermon’s YouTube channel to see the latest videos of what’s going on at the camp:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MountHermon
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Quotable
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Remembering Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin, renowned scientist, inventor, and raconteur, was the only person to sign all three key documents in the creation of the United States of America:
- The Declaration of Independence (in 1776),
- The Treaty of Paris (in 1783),
- The Constitution (1787).
Fellow patriot John Adams believed Franklin was “second only to George Washington in his importance in securing the victory of the United States” over England.
In 1900 artist Jean Leon Gerome Ferris completed his famous painting of Franklin reviewing a draft of the American Declaration of Independence (with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson looking on).
There are many books and films that chronicle Franklin’s efforts and tremendous contributions to the birth of the United States. What better way to mark the 240th anniversary of our country’s founding than to learn more about the sacrifice and determination of one of the key figures who created this great nation? Here are some ideas to get you started:
Watch this 90-minute film about Franklin’s efforts to bring about American independence:
Read this best-selling biography of Franklin:
Read this short, affordably priced biography that showcases Franklin’s accomplishments:
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The Bicycle Craze
Today it’s Bike to Work Day in Colorado and people all over the state are dusting off their two-wheelers and heading out to work.
Bicycles have been around since the mid-1800s, when they were something of a novelty. They were expensive to buy and maintain, and they were sold almost exclusively to men.
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It took exceptional balance and strength to operate an early bicycle and there were inherent dangers in their design.
When Isabella published Monteagle in 1886, bicycle riding was an acceptable pastime only for men of means. Her character, Hart Hammond, was a young man caught up in the bicycle craze.
He belonged to a bicycle club, attended races, and may even have ridden in some races himself.
Of all the many things which gave Hart’s mother anxiety, Hart’s involvement with a bicycle club “troubled her the most.”
As bicycle design matured, bicycling became safer. By the mid-1890s the early high-perch models had evolved into bicycles very similar in design to our modern bikes.
With those design changes, it was feasible for women to take up the sport. But there was an inherent danger of ladies’ skirts getting caught in the wheels.
And corsets made breathing difficult for women even when they were relaxing; when it came to bicycle riding, women could do little but coast downhill without fainting.
But that soon changed. As cycling became all the rage in America, a host of supporting industries sprang up. Clothing manufacturers produced ladies’ riding costumes.
And they marketed corsets designed specifically for the active woman.
Bicycle manufacturers also began to cater to women riders. They designed new models exclusively for ladies; and they held classes on how to correctly mount and ride bicycles.
Ladies joined previously men-only bicycle clubs or formed their own.
They published member magazines and sold guide books about the best routes for bicycle excursions through cities or into the countryside.
The bicycle opened up a world of new transportation and freedom for women back in the early 1900s; and today we celebrate the important place the humble bicycle still holds in our lives.
Here are some fun videos you can watch about early bicycling:
Restored footage of an 1899 display of bicycle riding by the Catford Ladies’ Cycling Club in London:
The history of bicycling in early Denver, Colorado:
A clip of “The 1900 House” featuring bicycle riding at the turn of the century:
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Come to Church!
Here’s a scenario that is often played out on Sunday mornings across the country: Imagine you’re in church, waiting for the service to start, and you realize your friend isn’t sitting in his or her regular place. You pick up your phone and type out a text message:
Where are you?
Or after the service ends, you send off a quick email:
You missed a great sermon this morning. Everything okay?
With just those few words, you let that person know that you care. Your words are a subtle encouragement to worship regularly.
But during Isabella Alden’s time, there were no electronic text messages or emails. Daily mail service was the fastest way for people to communicate, until the telephone came into wide use around the turn of the century.
In Isabella’s day, the scene described above would have played out using posted mail instead of wireless technology.
Back then, caring church leaders and Sunday school teachers sent out brief notes and post cards like the ones here.
Some were signed by the sender, and others were personalized with the time and place for the next service or meeting. On Monday afternoons, the “come to church” cards appeared in mail boxes across the country.
As a minister’s wife, Isabella probably sent quite a few cards herself over the years, to let someone know he or she was missed at church.
Churches still use similar communications to reach out to people today. A website called Ministry Greetings is one of many that offers different styles of cards for churches to send through the mail. And for those who prefer to text or email, there are plenty of fun or thought-provoking memes to choose from for encouraging a friend to go to church.
Over ninety years after Isabella’s duties as a minister’s wife came to an end, it’s nice to see a tradition like sending off “come to church” cards still goes on in today’s busy world.
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Rest Rooms: What a Great Idea!
An 1895 issue of Golden Rule magazine included an article about working women that caught Isabella Alden’s attention.
Here’s what she shared on the Christian Endeavor page of her own magazine later that year:
“REST ROOMS.”
The Golden Rule suggests a beautiful idea. It advocates the renting and furnishing, in large towns and cities, of what it calls Rest Rooms, for the use of working-girls during the noon hour. It proposes pretty furnishings, lounges, easy chairs, books, papers, pleasant games, etc. It also suggests that a small fee might be charged for the use of the room, because most girls would prefer to pay a little each week towards its expenses. The thought is certainly an important one. Let all the Endeavorers talk it up. Why could not a neat plain restaurant or lunch room be added, where coffee, and. sandwiches, and milk, and cookies, and crackers, and fruits might be had at very low prices?
Many working-girls now have such dreary places in which to eat their lunches and such dreary lunches to eat, that it would seem as though improvements were needed here.
Isabella’s description of a ladies’ rest room doesn’t sound at all like the cold, utilitarian washrooms we know today; but back in 1985, it was an idea whose time had come. Workers had few rights; they worked long hours under sometimes difficult conditions. Employers could give workers as many—or as few—breaks during the work day as they wanted.
So the idea of a rest room for workers was somewhat revolutionary, and it quickly caught on.
Progressive and far-thinking employers recognized the benefits of providing a dedicated rest room to their employees:
In some towns, Women’s Trade Unions or the YWCA repurposed space to create rest rooms for female workers.
And in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the city took the initiative to furnish a dedicated room for the use of “strangers, tired shoppers, and working girls.”
The concept of a rest room proved so popular, businesses began offering dedicated ladies’ rest rooms to customers, as well.
And by the 1920s, companies listed rest rooms for female workers as a benefit when trying to recruit new employees.
What began as a germ of an idea in 1895 became a wide-spread reality in the 20th century as retailers, factories, and municipalities established clean, comfortable restrooms for workers, customers, and visitors.
You can read more about women’s working conditions during Isabella’s lifetime by viewing these previous posts:
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New Free Read: Her Mother’s Bible
“Reading Bible verses doesn’t amount to much, you know, unless you do what they say.”
When Mrs. Selmser inherits her mother’s beloved Bible, she’s overjoyed. All the marked verses—in red and green and blue—are wonderful reminders to her of her mother’s Christian walk; so it seems natural to have her son Ralph read one of those marked verses each day as part of their family worship.
But Ralph knows enough about the Bible to realize it’s sometimes a hard book to live up to. With God’s help, can he learn to apply the teachings of the Bible to his everyday life?
This 1880 story was first published as a serial in The Pansy magazine. Click on the cover to begin reading Her Mother’s Bible now.
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Happy Anniversary, Isabella!
On May 30, 1866, twenty-four-year-old Isabella Macdonald married Ross Alden. Ross (whose full name was Gustavus Rossenberg Alden) was a thirty-four-year-old seminary student.
Six months later, Ross was ordained by the Presbyterian Church, and they embarked on a life together of ministering to congregations and sharing their Christian faith.
You can read more about Isabella and Ross’s early years of courtship and marriage in these posts:
A Special Slice of Pumpkin Pie
A Gift for the New Minister’s Wife
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Isabella Alden 