Generation
Sketch of the Life of Esther Tapping Maltby.
"Samokov, Bulgaria
August, 1910.
Dear Kindred and Friends:---
I received, by kindness of Mrs. C. S. Verrill, the first two numbers of the Maltby Booklet and found them very interesting indeed.
My life has been so full of work and my field of labor so far away from my family and friends that I have had little time and oppor- tunity to cultivate the acquaintance of even near relatives.
It was with much hesitancy that I undertook, at the request of Mrs. Verrill and my cousin, Miss Martha J. Maltby of Columbus, Ohio, to write a sketch of my life, for I have had very little chance to develop the little literary gift I have. Still, with the hope that some account of my past, on the great battlefield of life, may be of some interest to those of kindred blood, I send this manuscript.
It is vacation time and sitting under the pines at this beauti- ful wooded mountain resort, I have written this review of a very busy life of service. I am very glad I have had the privilege of laboring so many years for the girls of this young and progressive country of Bulgaria.
Sincerely yours in the bonds of Kindred,
Esther Tapping Maltbie.
"A Long Life Spins A Long Yarn"
In a large farmhouse in Southington, in the state of Ohio, on the last day of April, 1836, a mother looked into the face of her eleventh child and a patriarchal father thanked God for another lit- tle girl to love and cherish. The mother did not shrink from the added burden of care and anxiety when with almost its first breath the little one showed signs of the whooping-cough, but courageously nourished the feeble life that many times seemed to have taken flight until the solicitous father saw his little Esther, the mother's name- sake, a happy, joyous child upon his knee at morning and evening fam- ily devotions.
Childhood glided swiftly by amid the innocent pleasures of a large group of wide-awake children and the busy scenes of farm-life. A lasting impression was made upon Esther's young mind when her father speaking to a family friend of her baby illness that so many times threatened the life of his favorite, turned and laying his hand upon her head, as she stood near him, said solemnly, 'My dear child, God has not spared your life for nothing. He has a work for you to do.'
The parents resolved to give their large family of children all the educational advantages in their power, so the older ones, besides the district school, were sent to the Academy in an adjacent town. Dissatisfied with the superficial teaching of the ordinary district school, their oldest daughter was finally installed teacher of the young children.
It was in this family school at the age of ten that Esther's mind received an impetus toward higher intellectual development and she entered with great zest into the study of mathematics and nature study. "Dick's Works," of which two great volumes were in her father's small library awakened much wonder and thought, especially his theory of the universe.
VI.833. Esther Tapping Maltbie, b. Apr. 30, 1836 (Dan.5, Benj.4, Dan.3, Dan.2, Wm.1). (Sketch of her life on following page).
HOME
Page