Rebecca Haseltine and the Reverend Joseph Emerson II

In great mercy, I have been brought once more, to this hospitable and health restoring city. . . ~ Joseph Emerson in a letter

In this post, we continue the story of our cousin Rebecca Haseltine (3C7X) and her husband the Reverand Joseph Emerson.

Back to Charleston, SC

November of 1830 found Joseph back in the "hospitable and health restoring city" of Charleston, SC. While there, he wrote to Rebecca's family about the state of his health:

Charleston, Nov. 3, 1830.

Beloved Parents and Sisters, — In great mercy, I have been brought once more, to this hospitable and health restoring city. . . I find myself here apparently in much better health, and much more favorably situated, than I had dared to expect. My sister R. Eaton (5C5X), (Rebecca, his beloved first wife Nancy's sister) engaged here in a school, having hired a house, etc., with abundance of room for me and my books, was kind enough, about four weeks ago, to invite me to spend the winter with her. . .But still my joy is not full; nor my blessings without great trials. I am far away from my beloved family, doubting in some degree whether I shall ever see one of them again on this side the grave. And my dear, dear Rebecca! my heart aches for her from day to day. Subjected to temporary widowhood, which may prove permanent, what cares, what toils, what distressing burdens, are falling to her lot! May she find the grace of Christ sufficient for her.

Joseph also wrote to his first wife Nancy's father, our cousin Ebenezer Eaton (4C6X). It's clear from what he writes that his lost Nancy was, indeed, the love of his life.

Charleston, S. C, Dec. 1, 1830.

For neatly a year and a half, my diseases, three or four in number, seem to have been more alarming; and more than once have I viewed myself on the very brink of the grave. Last summer, having ridden two hundred miles for my health, under circumstances peculiarly favorable, I found myself much worse, and to appearance, rapidly sinking. . .Here (in Charleston) your daughter seems gratified to do every thing in her power for my convenience and health.

And now I feel that I have greater reason than ever to bless God, that he ever sent me to Framingham, and united me to your family by an alliance, to me so precious and endearing. Nor was I disappointed in what, I had anticipated as the choicest boon of heaven. Surely a sweeter, lovelier spirit I have never known, nor do I ever expect to know, on this side Paradise. To be thus intimately and tenderly allied to such a heavenly and heaven born soul, to feel that she was mine in the highest sense that creatures can possess any thing on earth, to enjoy her ardent love, her perfect confidence, her seraphic smile, was an honor, a pleasure far above my desert. Most heartily did I bless God for her — and bless him still. I enjoyed her in life, I enjoyed her in death, I have enjoyed her since, and hope to enjoy her, and to enjoy her more and more to all eternity. She seems to have brought heaven nearer to me, and I do hope she has been the means, in some degree, of raising me toward heaven. From time to time, she seems beckoning and calling from her celestial mansion, "Come up hither." None but the Omniscient knows, how much, how fondly, or how delightfully, I have thought of her, since she took her upward flight. It is astonishing, indeed, that any mortal should derive so much pleasure, and comparatively so little pain, from any created object. Immortal sister of my soul! I will not bid thee farewell; no, my lovely celestial, I never will dismiss thee from my heart. . .

Most affectionately and gratefully yours, Joseph Emerson.

In February, 1831, one of Joseph's sons, probably Luther (4C6X), came to visit him in Charleston and stayed there with him until May. By June, Joseph was well enough to return home. He wrote to his daughter Nancy that "[t]he last three months have been among the happiest of my life."

In 1838, Rebecca Eaton wrote a letter to Joseph's brother Ralph about her time in Charleston with Joseph:

For a few weeks after his arrival, he seemed depressed in spirits, very feeble, and able to do but little. He soon, however, began to be useful in the family where he boarded, making efforts for their improvement, and directing their attention to the study of the bible. They appeared to regard him as a father and a friend; one, in whose counsels they might confide with safety.

. . .you may be aware that I had the privilege of receiving him into my own hired house. And, indeed, it was a privilege, for which, I trust I shall ever have cause to be thankful. The extreme nervous debility, with which he was afflicted for a number of weeks, was the cause of some mental excitement, and much bodily suffering. Yet his path seemed eminently that of the just, and his light to shine more and more. Indeed, the moral atmosphere around, seemed illuminated with his instructive and heavenly conversation. His humility, his tenderness of conscience, his gratitude, his sincerity, his untiring efforts to impart instruction, could hardly escape the observation of the most thoughtless. . .

He had many friends in Charleston. They respected him, loved him, and delighted to hang on his lips to receive instruction. Among these, he exerted an extensive and happy influence; an influence calculated to elevate the mind, to improve the heart, to enlist their intellectual powers in the service of Christ.

On his courses in astronomy Rebecca wrote:

The mind was not confined to some faint emblem of the objects described; but carried beyond the confines of earth, and introduced to the celestial regions. With him to lead the imagination, we could with seeming ease, fly beyond the solar system, and behold the unstained beauty and glory of other suns and other worlds. We forgot our teacher. We forgot our earth. We forgot ourselves. We were lost in contemplating the harmony, the variety, the beauty, the grandeur of celestial objects. Nor would he allow us to stop here ; but carried the mind onward and onward, and led us, with ever-growing delight, to contemplate the Author of this amazing grandeur.

last years of Joseph's life

In july of 1831 Joseph wrote to his son Luther:

You will rejoice to learn that your feeble father has once more returned to our beloved home . . .Never before did I have such a joyous meeting with my family. . .I hope my health has on the whole improved a little, though, I fear, but little.

By October, however, Joseph was gone again to Beverly for the ministrations of his doctor there. His brother Ralph wrote of Joseph's apprehension about his mortality

From some expressions in the above letter, and from others of previous date, the reader may have been led to a part of the truth respecting the distressing apprehensions which my brother had occasionally felt, within a few years, respecting his preparation for death. This was more particularly the fact, I believe, just before his last visit to the south; and was regarded by his friends as chiefly the effect of disease, in connexion with an almost overwhelming view of the solemnities of an eternity just at hand.

By the beginning of 1832, Joseph was back in Wethersfield for six months then on to Boston for a few months. By then, he had less than a year to live and was feeling the effects of his ailments. On June 26, he wrote to Rebecca:

My good old friend Albi (the medication he was taking) has seemed to desert me. Its successor has proved rather injurious. It is doubtful, whether I shall derive any more benefit from eating meat, while the world stands. I have been much troubled with dyspepsy. I cannot but hope, that I may recover health a little, before I go hence, and be enabled to finish the work, upon which my heart is so fondly fixed. . .God be merciful to you, and bless you, and cause his face to shine upon you, etc. Ps. 67

Love to all the family and all the school. . .

At this point in their lives, our cousin Rebecca was running the school in Wethersfield as Joseph was"too infirm to continue his seminary." By the beginning months of 1833, he was basically bedridden. The second to the last chapter in Ralph Emerson's book about his brother is titled "His Last Sickness and Death."

In the title to this chapter, I employ the term, " last sickness," for want of a better. In one sense, the first sickness of his infancy, was also his last. He was never well after it. Nor was this final assault of his complicated and accumulating diseases, very sudden. The incipient attacks. . .had already commenced. Still, the present is perhaps the most distinctly marked period for commencing this last chapter of his labors, joys, and sufferings. Though life was prolonged for some months, he was now prostrate on the bed of dissolution.

In February we see his condition through letters to his family:

Wethersfield, Feb. 18, 1833 My Beloved Brother W. — May I not hope to meet my dear younger brother once more in the land of the living? If so, let me beg of you to hasten your journey. Since I wrote last, I have, to appearance, been rapidly descending to the grave. I am now unable to walk a step, and can scarcely turn myself in bed. I am not without hope of some relief. But my prospect is dim indeed in relation to this world; but I do hope it is brighter in relation to the world to come.

William did go immediately to see his brother. He wrote a letter to Ralph about the visit:

Dear Brother R., — I have just returned from Connecticut, where I left brother very feeble indeed, confined entirely to his bed. I arrived there Thursday noon, the same day that Luther arrived, and remained until Monday. During the whole time, we were unable to get him up but once. I never enjoyed myself so well in my life before, as on this visit. If possible, do visit him soon, or, I fear, you never will see him, till you meet him in heaven. I think it would give new energy to your soul, and comfort him exceedingly. I hope you will go, and enjoy a feast, which shall never be forgotten through eternity.

Yours affectionately, W. Emerson.

To his daughter and sister Joseph wrote:

Wethersfield, Feb, 19, 1833. My dear Daughter, and dearer Sister N. —Within two or three weeks, my decline has been very rapid; and probably a few weeks more will shut the scene.

To Rebecca's parents, the Haseltines, he wrote

Wethers field, March 1, 1833.

Respected Parents and beloved Sisters, — I have often regretted, that I could not visit you more, for the last two years, and especially, that I could not comply with your earnest request for my preaching. Most pleasant to me, has been your hospitable mansion, for more than twenty years. I trust I have found it, indeed, the house of God, and the gate of heaven; and been much aided in my devotions, by communion with you. This joy, I fear is not to be repeated on earth. But I trust we shall very soon occupy better mansions above. No doubt, I shall take my departure first; but, behold, you will come quickly; and in a moment as it were, (if our hopes are sound,) we shall all be in heaven together.

On March 12, he seemed to have a small ray of hope. He wrote that he was "now as comfortable, as I was a week ago, which appears to be a token for good, and raises my hopes, that I may yet be restored to some degree of strength."

It was not to be. After a long two months of struggle Joseph finally died on May 13, 1833 at age 54. A friend relates his last hours:

After an absence of a little more than a fortnight, I again find myself in this consecrated study of our dear, but now departed brother. After I left him, he continued gradually to grow weaker. There was no sensible alteration in him at any one time, until Monday afternoon, when he appeared more distressed, especially in his limbs, but not at all about the chest. He was then, for the only time, during his sickness, a little incoherent in his remarks. This was his last painful struggle. At evening, he appeared free from pain, and slept quietly as ran infant. About twelve o'clock, after several ineffectual attempts to wake him, one of the watchers called (his daughter) Nancy. She arose, and after trying in vain to awake him, called her mother, who came immediately. He did not breathe after she came; but gasped, and was gone so gently, that they hardly knew when.

Rebecca's later life

If you type in the name of Joseph Emerson, you will find a plethora of information on one of the "pioneers of women's education." If you type in the name of Rebecca Haseltine Emerson you find that she was the wife of Joseph Emerson and "of great assistance to him in teaching."

It's clear that Rebecca does not get her just props for the work she did in the educating of women. While the glowing accolades were going to her husband, Rebecca was the rock who remained steady during Joseph's many illnesses and absences. She also had to quietly bear the deaths of four of her children who died at the ages of two or younger.

After Joseph's death, Rebecca continued running the school. When the lease on the building ran out in 1836, she transferred the school to her home. Rebecca kept the school going until 1844 when she sold the house and the family left Wethersfield.

Below is a picture of the Emerson house in Wethersfield:

In 1934, a plaque was placed on the house commemorationg Joseph's work in Wethersfield:

The 1850 census shows Rebecca back in Bradford living in the household of a Susan F. Smith. I can find no relation between Rebecca and Susan. Sometime after that census, Rebecca went to live with her son Luther in Middlebrook, VA. She died there in 1854 at age 72. Her gravestone reads, "Rebecca H. Wife of Rev. Jos. Emerson and Sister of Ann W. Judson born in Bradford Mass Died Feb 13, 1854 aged 72 years." Sadly, Rebecca's own accomplishments in her her exemplary life of service to her family and to young female students was overshadowed by the lives of her husband and her sister Ann.