Letters from a Distant Shore: The Journal of Sarah Ann Breath 9781463216221

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LETTERS FROM A DISTANT SHORE: THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH

GORGIAS OTTOMAN TRAVELERS 1

Letters from a Distant Shore The Journal of Sarah Ann Breath

ANNOTATED AND INTRODUCED BY E. ALLEN RICHARDSON

GORGIAS PRESS 2008

First Gorgias Press Edition, 2008 Copyright © 2008 by Gorgias Press LLC All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. Published in the United States of America by Gorgias Press LLC, New Jersey

ISBN 978-1-59333-783-4

GORGIAS PRESS 180 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA www.gorgiaspress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Breath, Sarah Ann. Letters from a distant shore : the journal of Sarah Ann Breath / Sarah Ann Breath ; annotated and introduced by E. Allen Richardson. -- 1st ed. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-59333-783-4 (alk. paper) 1. Breath, Sarah Ann. 2. Missionaries' spouses--Iran--Urumiyah--Biography. 3. Congregational churches--Missions--Iran--Urumiyah. 4. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. I. Title. BV2611.B74A3 2008 266'.58092--dc22 [B] 2008033705 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standards. Printed in the United States of America

For Helen

TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents..................................................................................................vii List of Illustrations .................................................................................................ix Preface......................................................................................................................xi Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................xiii A Note on Transcription of the Journal..............................................................1 Plate 1 ........................................................................................................................4 Introduction .............................................................................................................5 The Journal of Sarah Ann Breath .......................................................................41 Plate 2 ......................................................................................................................73 Plate 3 ......................................................................................................................74 Plate 4 ......................................................................................................................75 Plate 5 ......................................................................................................................76 Plate 6 ......................................................................................................................77 Plate 7 ......................................................................................................................78 Plate 8 ......................................................................................................................79 Plate 9 ......................................................................................................................80 Plate 10....................................................................................................................81 Plate 11....................................................................................................................82 Plate 12....................................................................................................................83 Plate 13....................................................................................................................84 Plate 14....................................................................................................................85 Plate 15....................................................................................................................86

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plate 1

Photograph of Edward and Sarah Breath probably taken before their departure for Urmia. Breath family collection.

Plate 2

Sarah Breath’s journal. Breath family collection.

Plate 3

Miniature corbel and cuneiform tablet recovered from the ruins of the the Nimrud palace of Ashurnasirpal 11 (883-859 B.C.E.) by Edward Breath in 1855. Breath family collection.

Plate 4

Tract produced by the American Tract Society following the death of Julia Breath, daughter of Edward and Sarah Breath. Breath family collection.

Plate 5

The story of Joseph (Genesis, chapters 37-50 and in the Gospel of John) printed by Edward Breath in modern Syriac and given to his mother in 1845. This page shows John 8:38-44. Breath family collection.

Plate 6

Photograph probably of Mar Yohannan. Breath family collection.

Plate 7

The Port of Constantinople, from Julia Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus: Views of Constantinople and its Environs from Original Drawings by W.H. Bartlett (London: George Virtue, 1838) – (“Scene from above the palace of Beshik-tash”).

Plate 8

Boats near the village of Bebek, from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (“Bebec, on the Bosphorus”).

Plate 9

Bebek Seminary in Constantinople. Daugerreotype courtesy of Franklin Trask Library, Andover Newton Theological School.

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Plate 10 Egyptian obelisk in Constantinople from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (“The Atmedian, or Hippodrome”). Plate 11 Avenue in the Great Bazar in Constantinople, from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (Great avenue in the tchartchi”). Plate 12 Kaimac (sweets) shop in the Great Bazar in Constantinople, from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (“Kaimac shop in the tchartchi”). Plate 13 Armoury shop in the Great Bazar in Constantinople, from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (“The armoury bazaar”). Plate 14 Tomb in Constantinople, from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (“Tomb in the cemetery of Scutari”). Plate 15 Fruit market in Urmia in the early twentieth century. “Ourmiah, Persia – fruit market,” Library of Congress Digitized Historical Collections: Bain Collection (#3284-13).

PREFACE With the publication of a number of journals and memoirs written by missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in the nineteenth century there has been renewed interest in this part of American religious history. Sarah Breath’s journal is an important contribution to this growing genre of literature. Its real significance, however, is that it presents the perspective of a woman in a history that is frequently interpreted through the records of the men who shaped the American Board. The history of American foreign missions is dominated by the perspectives of the men who went to the mission fields, often representing the New England Congregational tradition in their college and seminary education. The voices of their wives, however, are too often silent. Many of them did not have the formal education of their husbands nor any exposure to the expanding Protestant mission field. Many had never traveled in the United States nor overseas. Most, like their husbands, would share imminent dangers of war and disease and all too frequently would succumb to an early death. In the midst of these hardships and the raw adventure that went with them, some, such as Sarah Breath, recorded their impressions of the journey. The only surviving copy of Sarah Breath’s observations (Plate 2) has been stored in the attics of her descendents for well over 150 years and never published. Filled with poetic imagery of a woman whose imagination soared with the world that opened up before her on a four-month trip by ship and caravan, her observations present a personal glimpse of Middle Eastern cultures and the arduous nature of travel. She writes as an explorer and adventurer but all the while leading the reader, as her partner, on her voyage of self-discovery. E. Allen Richardson Cedar Crest College Allentown, Pennsylvania

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to a number of people who have made the publication of Sarah Breath’s journal possible. Dr. Steve Wiggins at Gorgias Press provided support and encouragement throughout the project. Dr. J. F. Coakley read and critiqued the manuscript sharing his considerable expertise in the field. Rita Doherty painstakingly transcribed the journal. She contended not only with the problems that arose from the copyists’ elegant, albeit often difficult handwriting, but also with the demands of turning the text into a publication. Bernadette Silfies developed the maps in the text with her skills in graphic design. Dr. Barton Shaw and Dr. Carol Pulham, both of Cedar Crest College, provided advice for editing the text. Jane Scott and Lynn Glass provided assistance with the manuscript. The Special Collections department of the Lehigh University libraries graciously provided copies of copperplate images of nineteenth century Constantinople. Ilhan Citak offered suggestions for the transcription of Turkish words. Malta Family History (http://website.lineone.net/~stephaniebidmead/index.htm) provided insights into the identification of American and English residents of the island. I am especially indebted to my family, Betty and Jimmy, without whose patience and understanding this work would never have been completed. Finally, this project owes its inception to my mother, Helen R. Richardson, whose memories of Anna Breath Strieby, and appreciation for the journey of Sarah Breath, were a distant mirror that evoked images of another time and place that she never ceased to approach with wonder and delight.

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A NOTE ON TRANSCRIPTION OF THE JOURNAL Sarah Breath’s journal exists in a single copy which has been transcribed from letters that no longer exist. The letters were never intended for publication and often appear as a continuous flow of observations. A close reading of the journal reveals some of the characteristics of the original correspondence from which it was formed as well as the later hand of a copyist who transcribed the letters into a single volume. Sarah’s letters are visible at several points. For example, in one entry (p. 43) she talks about receiving Daguerreotypes and asks the reader to convey her thanks, “…tell her (but I shall thank her for it) how highly it was prized by me…” At another point, (p. 72) at the end of the journal, she leaves the expectation that further communication will follow when she says, “The shades of evening again gather round me, and for the present I must close with love to all my dear friends and once more adieu.” The role of the copyist is also revealed in a number of ways. The most obvious indication of transcription is the difference in script between a surviving document in Sarah’s writing (a questionnaire from the American Board completed before her departure in 1849) and the writing in the journal.1 The role of a copyist is also supported by obvious inconsistencies in the text. For example (p. 43) Sarah describes in elegant, unshaken writing how the movement of the ship has made her script difficult to read. The journal also refers to the same individual in two contradictory ways (pp. 5152). Martha Dalzel Riggs is referred to once as a single woman with a friend - “Misses Riggs and Benjamin” and another time as part of a couple - “Mr. and Mrs. Riggs.” In other cases, errors in the identification of persons have been made which Sarah would have been unlikely to have done. For example, (p. 47) 1

See ABC 77.2 vol. 5 p. 155. The records of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions are housed at Houghton Library at Harvard University.

1

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Sarah refers to “Mr. Hart” in Malta. While a search for Hart among the missionaries, military chaplains and British residents of Malta during that period reveals nothing, a reference to Mr. “Hare” makes sense. Rev. William Hare was military chaplain in Malta and was someone who Sarah refers to later (p. 49). The transcription of the journal may also explain its numerous spelling and punctuation errors which were undoubtedly compounded by the origin of the text in correspondence, never intended for publication or wider dissemination. In order to make the author’s work more accessible to readers the following minimal editorial changes have been made: • In those places where the author did not employ appropriate sentence structure, minor changes in punctuation or capitalization have been made. In the majority of cases this has meant ending a clause or phrase with a period and beginning the next sentence with a capital letter. • In those few cases where a word could not be read, brackets indicate the omission. • Where a word has been omitted it is placed in the text bounded by parentheses. In the majority of cases missing words are adverbs. • An ellipsis is used to indicate the removal of a clause or phrase which interrupted the flow of the sentence so completely that its meaning was obscured. • In order to be consistent with the literature of the period, nineteenth century names of cities (such as Constantinople or Smyrna) have been retained both in the journal and in the introduction. However, the older transliteration of Oroomiah has been replaced with a more modern usage (Urmia) in keeping with the convention of current scholarship. Every attempt has been made to do minimal alterations to the text in order to preserve the original style of the author’s work. In some places this has necessitated leaving grammatical errors intact. For example, in an entry on June 25 (p. 43) two sentences have been run together: We had a fresher wind, consequently a rougher sea than on any previous day we kept rising and falling 8 or 10 feet from side to side alternately the waves dashing and foaming around us far as the eye can reach, I enjoyed the sight and the motion, though sometimes hardly able to retain my seat on the quarter deck.

A NOTE ON TRANSCRIPTION OF THE JOURNAL

3

A slight alteration in the text (changing the comma following reach to a period) is necessary so that the reader can follow the discussion. However, in other examples where changes in punctuation would increase the grammatical accuracy of the text but are not necessary for comprehension, they have been avoided. For example, in an entry on July 25 (p. 47), Sarah’s meaning is clear even though the sentence is grammatically incorrect: Spent last evening at Dr. Kalley’s of Scotland whose name you will remember as connected with the of Portugese. Changes to this sentence include the insertion of brackets to indicate an illegible word before of Portugese, and correction of the misspelling of Portuguese. The designation sic (normally used to indicate a misspelling) has been avoided due to the substantial number of misspellings in the journal which, if identified, would interrupt the flow of the text. Where additional information is known, annotations amplify the identity of persons, places, and terms used in the journal. The published work of Breath’s contemporaries (both in the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and in other mission societies) have assisted in this process and are indicated in the annotations. It is also important that future generations of scholars not only be able to use this transcription of the journal but that they also be able to see the original text. Accordingly, while the volume remains with the family, a facsimile of the journal has been placed in Houghton Library at Harvard University.

Plate 1 Portrait of Edward and Sarah Breath probably taken before their departure to Urmia in 1849. Breath family collection.

INTRODUCTION

When 32 year-old Sarah Breath left Boston on June 18, 1849 on the bark Ionia for Persia she never dreamed how much this experience would change her life. Only five days earlier she had married Edward Breath, a printer in a mission station in Persia, who had returned to the United States on furlough. For Sarah, born in New York and familiar with the advantages that life on the eastern seaboard of the United States afforded, this was the beginning of a great adventure that would carry her through the transition of married life and then, tragically, to the loss of her husband and three children from cholera within the next twelve years. Although relatively little biographical information is known about Sarah (born Sarah Ann Young in New York City on December 1, 1817), her inner identity is revealed in her journal.2 Writing in a highly descriptive

2 Sarah Ann Young was the youngest daughter of Moses Young and Ann Waldron Young. Sarah had four siblings, Stephen, Waldron, Julia and Elizabeth. Little is known about her childhood except that her mother died while Sarah was quite young. Educated in New York City, she joined the Dutch Reformed Church on Market Street in 1836 at age 19. Following her marriage to Edward Breath on June 13, 1849 and the move to Urmia, three of the couple’s children (Edward, Julia, and Elizabeth) died of cholera. The total number of Sarah Breath’s children cannot be verified. A surviving daughter, Anna, returned with her mother to the United States after Edward Breath died in a cholera epidemic in 1861. However, some confusion exists about the fate of their son, Edward. One source (Bayard B. Strieby, Beatrice Strieby, and Irene M. Strieby, Strieby Genaeology and History 1726-1967, Des Moines, Iowa, privately published, 1967, p. 46) suggests that both Anna and Edward moved to the United States with their mother and that both eventually married. However, in Edward’s case this is unlikely since in a tract (Little Julia of Oroomiah, Persia, American Tract Society, n.d., p. 18), Sarah mentions the death of her infant son, Edward. Moreover, records of the missionary cemetery at Mt. Seir, near Urmia, list the graves of

5

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THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH

and often poetic style she sought to capture the journey through careful attention to detail and evocative imagery. The journal, which has not been previously published remaining with descendents since her death in 1886, may have originated as separate entries or letters which were later transcribed into a single volume. Edward Breath is more easily identified because of the unique role that he played both in the development of Syriac typography and in the history of American abolitionism.3 Breath was a printer with ambitions that took him into the newspaper world in Alton, Illinois in a series of short-lived attempts to publish small, independent newspapers. In 1832 Breath and a partner, O.M. Adams, started a paper, The Weekly Spectator.4 A year later, in another partnership with Lawson A. Parks, he published the Alton Telegraph which later became the Alton Observer published by nationally recognized abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy. The Observer had garnered a reputation in the Midwest for its resilient anti-slavery sentiments and had become a target for militant resistance to the emancipation movement. Lovejoy, a graduate of Colby College and Princeton Seminary, was incensed at the injustices of slavery and published numerous antislavery editorials. In 1837 resistance to his work boiled over as a mob reacted openly, breaking into his home and destroying his printing press. In subsequent months two of his other presses were also destroyed. Finally, on November Edward Breath and three Breath children, Edward, Julia, and Elizabeth. See http://www.feverandthirst.com/graves.php. Following her return to the United States in 1862, Sarah lived in New Jersey. In 1888 her address was listed at 28 Lincoln Avenue (Woodside) in Newark. However, eventually she moved to Colorado where she died in Colorado Springs on December 6, 1894, probably at the home of her daughter, Anna. Anna Breath Strieby was the spouse of Dr. William H. Strieby (head of the departments of Metallurgy and Chemistry at Colorado College). 3 Edward Breath was born in New York City on January 22, 1808 and was the son of James Saunders Breath and Elizabeth Leggett Breath. Edward’s grandfather was Major Abraham Leggett who had a distinguished career in the American revolution. His father, James Saunders Breath, was the captain of a merchant schooner and was active in the China trade. His father’s half-brother, William Leggett, was an owner and editor of the New York Evening Post and an influential political journalist of the period. He was a leading voice in the radical interpretation of Jacksonian democracy. 4 An early history of the events in Alton can be found in, John Warner Barber and Henry Howe, Our Whole Country or the Past and Present of the United States Historical and Descriptive (Cincinnati, Henry Howe, 1861) 1, 1089.

INTRODUCTION

7

7, 1837 Lovejoy was confronted in a warehouse where the Observer was published. The men in the warehouse refused to surrender the press and when Lovejoy attempted to leave he was shot five times, sending a signal to northern abolitionists that further sustained conflict was to follow. One of the men in the warehouse was printer Edward Breath.5 The murder followed by the burning of the warehouse and the destruction of his press was undoubtedly traumatic, causing Breath to abruptly reconsider the direction of his future work. Within two years he applied to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions who sought a printer for the mission station in Urmia, Persia. After a brief period in New York City, Breath embarked for Urmia in 1840 where he remained for the next six years.6 However, life in a mission station posed other problems. Living conditions were spartan and opportunities for relationships with other Americans limited to those few persons in the mission, most of whom had brought their families. Now 38, and single, Breath found few prospects of marriage. Missionary Justin Perkins had worked on Breath’s behalf to resolve the problem through his contacts in the United States but the effort had not been successful.7 Even more determined to alter his single lifestyle Breath proposed another visit to America in 1846. Correspondence between a member of the Urmia mission, A.H. Wright, and Secretary of the American Board, Rufus Anderson in October, 1846, indicates that another agenda had emerged.8 After serving in the Urmia mission for six years as a printer, Breath’s ambitions had surfaced again, now pointing him in the direction of service as a missionary. Wright described the situation to Anderson noting the opposition that had emerged to Breath’s ambitions among the missionaries in Urmia since the change would result in the loss of a capable printer, 5 Edward Breath’s presence in the warehouse at the time of the murder is well documented. See Henry Tanner, History of the Rise and Progress of the Alton Riots Culminating in the Death of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, November 7, 1837 (Buffalo: James D. Warren, 1878). 6 I am indebted to Dr. J.F. Coakley at Harvard University for his recent work on the contribution of Edward Breath to Syriac typography and for early biographical information. See J.F. Coakley, “Edward Breath and the Typography of Syriac,” Harvard Library Bulletin 614 (1995) 41-64. 7 Ibid. 8 A.H. Wright to Rufus Anderson, October 2, 1846, Dartmouth College Collection.

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THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH …he has been…expecting that (it) would be his duty to leave the Missionary field after the printing of the Old Testament shall have been completed … But the other members of the mission have not taken this view of the subject. On the contrary, they (think)…it (is) of the utmost importance to the interests of our work, that a missionary printer should be attached to our mission for many years to come, and that if Mr. Breath were to leave the field, it would be necessary for the committee to send another man to take his place.9

Wright continued, hoping, “…that Mr. Breath would not think it his duty to visit America merely for the purpose of marrying, but…expects to render the mission board…important services by making extensive improvements to (the) type.”10 The agenda was settled. Breath was to return to the United States to seek improvements in Syriac typography, and also to pursue his personal concerns. There is no evidence that members of the mission board intervened further in his pressing personal agenda. In New York, Breath’s marital ambitions were ultimately successful. He met Sarah Young and proposed, arranging the marriage which would take place shortly before his return trip to Urmia. Edward and Sarah were married on June 13, 1849 prior to their departure on June 18. The minister who performed the ceremony was Dr. Isaac Ferris, who later became Chancellor of New York University and who had frequent contacts with the American Board.11 The Journal Sarah Breath’s journal is properly classified in the genre of missionary literature. However, to cast her observations exclusively in this arena would be to miss much of the importance of the work. For the 32 year-old woman and recent bride of a seasoned missionary, the trip to Urmia is best understood within the genre of travel literature. 9

Ibid. Ibid. Breath printed a wide variety of biblical texts in Syriac including the accounts in Genesis and the Gospel of John of the Patriarch Joseph (Plate 5). 11 See Edward Tanjore Corwin, A Manual of the Reformed Church in America (New York: Board of Publication of the Reformed Church in America, 1902), pp. 459-461. Ferris had also been the minister of the Market Street Church which Sarah refers to in her journal. For a description of his role at the Church, see “Church of the Sea and Land: The Old Market Street Edifice to be Sold,” New York Times, April 17, 1893. 10

INTRODUCTION

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Within this genre, the journal describes what Mary Louise Pratt identifies as the “contact zone,” that region where European and American travelers met indigenous people.12 For the Breaths, the contact zone during the journey included a wide swath through the Ottoman and Persian empires including the coastal cities of Smyrna, Constantinople (Istanbul) and Trebisond (Trabzon). Contact zones were places where patterns of language and personal deportment crossed from East to West, and where a mutually intelligible form of communication was created. For some travelers, particularly missionaries, the contact zone was also the place of sustained colonial imagery and where images of authority and condescension abounded. This was the case, for example, for William Mitchell Ramsay, an archaeologist, who traveled through Turkey in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Ramsay made little attempt to hide his bias, claiming, “I began to travel with a strong belief in the imperial mission of Britain, and I end with a stronger faith in the English-speaking race. But I have learned also to appreciate the high qualities of other great nations.”13 However tolerant he thought he was, Ramsay made no bones about his impressions of Islam as a lesser form of religion than Christianity, and Turkish village culture as inferior to English life. For Ramsay, the contact zone was little more than a place to exercise curiosity about the other and never a place to allow any change in values or world view. Similar assertions were also made by archaeologists who saw indigenous people as of lesser value than members of the ancient societies they sought to dig up. For example, Coptic Christianity in Egypt was often understood as a lesser and more corrupt form of the faith. Archaeologists in Egypt tried to have little contact with Arab peoples and exploited them to do the hard, menial work that the excavations required. Rarely were Egyptian archaeologists even acknowledged. For example, Rifaa al-Tahtawi, who wrote the first history of ancient Egypt and was head of the Translation Bureau, the School of Languages and the antiquities service, was almost unknown outside of Egypt.14 12 See Mary Louise Pratt, Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation (New York: Routledge, 1992). 13 William Mitchell Ramsay, Impressions of Turkey During Twelve Years of Wandering (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1897) p. vii. 14 Donald Malcolm Reid, Whose Pharoahs?: Archaeology, Museums, and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), p. 51.

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But not all travel writing carried such obvious imperial bias. The contact zone was also the realm of “anti-conquest” rhetoric. This approach to a distant society employed “…the strategies of representation whereby European bourgeois subjects seek to secure their innocence in the same moment as they assert European hegemony.”15 Anti-conquest language maintained an aura of naïveté that allowed European or American observers to convey images of wonder and enthusiasm, all the while separating themselves from the more strident voices of empire and colonization. Many travel writers who did not employ the heavy-handed language of empire and colonization adopted this softer, anti-conquest form of imagery. Using this genre, they described the freedom that they experienced in Asia where, as outsiders, they could escape rigorous Victorian conventions. Often, this newly acquired freedom led to patterns of dress in which European and American visitors attempted to blend into indigenous cultures. But such deceptive attempts were not only obvious but often ludicrous. For example, Isabel Burton, wife of Sir Richard Burton, found that dressing as a man afforded greater individual freedom than female adventurers were used to having.16 Some male travel writers used their freedom to considerable personal advantage. Austen Henry Layard, who unearthed the city of Nineveh and the Nimrud palace in northern Iraq, adopted a tribal attire and, in the company of French Consul P.C. Botta, a professed opium addict, sought the treasures of the biblical city of Nineveh.17 Others, such as Sir John Gardner Wilkinson in Egypt, who on the surface appeared far more scholarly and conventional, did not hesitate to dress in indigenous clothing or to adopt a lifestyle that would have been immoral and even illegal at home. While denouncing slavery, Wilkinson made the decision to purchase a young girl in a Cairo slave market for his own pleasure, justifying the act by noting in his journal that this was not as horrid as the British slave practice.18 Still others used the possibility of dressing in indigenous clothing as a way of escaping possible harm. American Board missionary, Dr. Asahel Grant traveled through sections of Turkey under Kurdish control in 1839 15

Pratt, Imperial Eyes, p. 7. Barbara Hodgson, No Place for a Lady: Tales of Adventurous Women Travelers (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2002), p. 120. 17 See Mogens Trolle Larsen, The Conquest of Assyria: Excavations in an Antique Land: 1840-1860 (London: Routledge, 1996). 18 Jason Thompson, Sir Gardner Wilkinson and his Circle (Austin: University of Texas, 1992), pp. 53-54. 16

INTRODUCTION

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and managed to escape attack by a disguise that would not reveal that he was from outside the region.19 While missionaries did not very often take advantage of this freedom in a way that adventurers did, they found that the Middle East afforded them the freedom to choose the demeanor and appearance that would provide the most benefit. Most Victorian female travelers were unable, by reason of their gender, to participate in this degree of personal freedom. However, many women did perceive Asia as less restrictive than American or European society and used their journals to more fully express their new-found freedom. This was the case for Lucie Duff Gordon who in forced exile from Victorian English society came to Egypt to seek relief from tuberculosis. Once in Egypt she re-invented herself. Symbolic of the transition, she lived for several years in a house built directly on top of the ancient temple of Luxor.20 Few female travel writers, however, reached Persia which, by virtue of its inaccessibility and inherent dangers, offered little to attract Victorian adventurers. Tourism was virtually unknown and the Persian countryside was plagued with the ravages of cholera and recurrent attacks from bandits. The few women who did get there and who wrote about their experiences were usually spouses of military officials and diplomats in the British Empire. For example, Mary Sheil, wife of a British officer who toured Persia in 1835 and again in 1849, produced one of the earliest descriptions of life in the country, Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia.21 Employing a rhetoric of conquest, Sheil wrote from the vantage point of empire and aristocracy as she and her husband were welcomed by high officials in the Shah’s government. Subsequent trips by other English and American women in the nineteenth century often continued the same imperial flavor of observation. In 1894, Ella Constance Sykes, wife of a British officer, wrote of her experi-

19

Clifton Jackson Phillips, Protestant America and the Pagan World: The First Half Century of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1810-1860 (Cambridge, Mass.: East Asian Research Center at Harvard University, 1969), p. 151. 20 Duff Gordon’s letters are available. See Sarah Austin, ed. Letters from Egypt (London: Macmillan, 1865). Duff Gordon’s experience in Luxor is also described in Katherine Frank, Lucie Duff Gordon: A Passage to Egypt (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1994). 21 Mary Sheil, Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia (London: John Murray, 1856).

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ences in a volume entitled, Through Persia on a Side-Saddle.22 Using the same jargon of enlightened empire that Sheil had employed, Sykes freely made value judgments and raised cultural stereotypes. For example, in Tehran, where she encountered a variety of Persian women, she spoke of their cultural imprisonment, “I was always afraid of allowing my female friends to compare their secluded lives with my free one, as it only made them discontented with their lot, and as I could do nothing to help them I felt it was cruel to stir up vain longings for existences less like those of prisoners.”23 Finding Her Voice Breath avoided this heavy-handed jargon of colonization and instead relied more on a descriptive voice, often without imposing her own bias. As with all anti-conquest literature, this evocative rhetoric also permitted her to avoid overt participation in colonial images of authority and empire of which, however unwittingly, she was a part. In some places, however, it also revealed her own inner conflicts between the “innocence” of an observer and the imperial eyes of American Christianity. For example, in Constantinople after noting the beauty of the mosques in the city and the fanfare that accompanied the morning prayers of the Sultan, she commented, When at home we read and hear favorable reports from different (mission) stations, we think the millennium day is fast approaching, but visiting distant lands we see how, ‘Folly and Superstition every hope have blighted’ and it is only by remembering the work is God’s, and relying on His Promises, we forbid despair; the brethren here have little to cheer them, their day of good things is not yet come.24

This passage is atypical since the journal rarely exhibits either judgment or bias about Islam. Breath’s descriptions of Muslims were respectful of the tradition and did not cast the faith as an expression of “the other,” which was a common perception in missionary literature of the period. For example, Breath’s contemporary in Urmia, Justin Perkins, saw the Church

22

Ella Constance Sykes, Through Persia on a Side-Saddle (London: A.D. Innes & Company, 1898). 23 Ibid., p. 186. 24 See p. 54.

INTRODUCTION

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of the East as an oppressed population that had been persecuted by Muslims.25 He wrote, Oppressed and overrun, by the superior power of their rapidly increasing Koordish masters, the poor refugees fly to Urmia, as a generous asylum. And the time may not be distant, when the humble christian population of this province, augmented in their numbers and elevated in their character, - their Mohammedan masters at the same time being weakened and diminished by their growing corruption and depressed by political revolution – shall quietly inherit this goodly land. The meek shall inherit the earth.26

In addition to his negative feelings about Islam, Perkins freely employed the language of authority, colonization and cultural stereotypes to describe the very people who were the object of his missionary efforts. As the Persian Christians were oppressed, so Perkins also understood them to be childlike and subservient. Describing the Church of the East in Urmia he concluded, “The Nestorians are still, to a painful extent, under the influence of human, and many childish, traditions.”27 Unlike Perkins’ often acerbic descriptions which freely condemned Muslim culture, Breath’s journal struggled both with the impulse to understand and the temptation to condemn. The journal balances an anticonquest voice with conquest imagery coupled with Victorian propriety. References to her husband, for example, frequently appear as “Mr. Breath.” However, as if to balance such restrictive conventions that did not permit a display of affection, she allowed her prose to reflect a sense of wonder and excitement as her journey progressed.

25 The American Board commonly referred to the Christian community in Persia as “Nestorian.” However, this term is misleading since the tradition understood Nestorius as an authoritative teacher rather than a founder. Today, the church uses the designation “Assyrian Church of the East.” In the mid-nineteenth century it was officially identified as “The Church of the East.” The designation “Nestorian” (which was used by many nineteenth century missionaries), should be avoided. 26 Justin Perkins, A Residence of Eight Years in Persia among the Nestorian Christians with Notices of the Muhammedans (Andover, Mass.: Allen, Morrill & Wardwell, 1843). References to this text are taken from the Gorgias Press reprint edition (2006). See p. 11. 27 Ibid., p. 21.

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The Mission to the Church of the East 28 When Sarah Breath left Boston in 1849, antebellum urban America was filled with the sights and sounds of an industrializing society in which urban areas were quickly expanding. Coincident with this evolving urbanization the American evangelical tradition adopted a proselytizing stance. According to missionary tradition, this emphasis in American religion began in 1806 near Williamstown, Massachusetts where a group of students met to discuss outreach to developing nations. This gathering, dubbed the Haystack meeting, led to the formation of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (A.B.C.F.M.) in 1810 which was the first sustained effort of American Protestants to develop global missions. By the time of Sarah Breath’s journey, thirty-nine years later, the Board had become an established global presence. In Persia, A.B.C.F.M. missionaries sought to revitalize an ancient form of Christianity. The mission that would become the center of Sarah’s life for the next twelve years had been started by the Board in 1831 following an initial expedition by Rev. Eli Smith and Rev. H.G.O. Dwight to Urmia.29 Subsequently, Rufus Anderson, Secretary of the American Board, organized a more detailed plan centered around the revitalization of Persian Christian schools. By 1835, Rev. Justin Perkins and a physician, Dr. Asahel Grant, initiated the mission station. Grant was followed by David Tappan Stodard who worked in Urmia from 1843 to 1857 and who died there.30 Other missionaries followed. The Church of the East appealed to the American Board for a number of reasons. First, it represented an oppressed population that in the view of American evangelicals had been overcome by Islam and by the expansion of the Ottoman and Persian empires. Second, while many missionaries saw the Muslim world as antithetical to their own, they also were vehemently anti-Catholic. In the fifth century, the Patriarch Nestorius, whose name was venerated in the Church of the East, around whom the Nestorian tradition 28

An excellent history of the work of the American Board and the Persian mission can be found in, Heleen Murre-van den Berg, New Faith in Ancient Lands: Western Missions in the Middle East in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Leiden, E. J. Brill, 2006). For a history of English missions in the Middle East see J. F. Coakley, The Church of the East and the Church of England: A History of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Assyrian Mission (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). 29 Justin Perkins discusses the early visit of Smith and Dwight in A Residence of Eight Years in Persia, p. 30 ff. 30 Ibid.

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had originated, was exiled from his post in Constantinople due to his unwillingness to call the Virgin Mary, “Mother of God.” To the American Board, which was influenced by growing anti-Catholic sentiments in the United States, this gave the movement even greater value. Third, the A.B.C.F.M. saw the project as a means to infuse the Protestant emphasis on scripture and the printed word in the Middle East.31 The emphasis on publishing in Urmia was also part of the Board’s strategy in a variety of its mission stations as it sought to translate the scriptures into Turkish, Armenian, Syriac, Arabic, and Greek.32 In keeping with these priorities the focus of the Urmia mission was profoundly educational. Village schools were developed as well as seminaries for both men and women. Through these institutions the American Board hoped to train ministers. The ministers would in turn augment revivals, the instruments through which the missionary tradition hoped to renew the ancient tradition. At the same time the mission station engaged in the production of texts, bringing printer Edward Breath to Persia in 1840. While the American Board saw the revitalization of the Church of the East as a way of not only purifying Persian Christianity and of presenting a strong Protestant Christian presence in the face of Islam, it had little foresight about the difficulties that its missionaries would experience. Communal tensions were a significant part of the political and cultural landscape of nineteenth century Persia where, in the northwest, tensions between the Kurdish and Persian Christian populations had escalated. Kurds, a frontier population with roots in the Zagros Mountains and the Eastern Taurus, were Sunni Muslims who had been converted following the Ottoman conquest.33 However, strong tribal roots prevented the Ottoman Empire from exerting control over this population.34 The Church of the East was led by its tenacious and unpredictable patriarch, Mar Shimon, who governed his people from a remote village. A controversial figure, he had created enmity both within his own community, 31

Justin Perkins, “Historical Sketch of the Mission to the Nestorians” in Historical Sketch of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions with General Statistics of other Foreign Missionary Operations (Boston: Press of T.R. Marvin and Son, 1859) p. 3. 32 Phillips, Protestant America and the Pagan World, p. 153. 33 For a description of the role of Kurds in the region in the nineteenth century see Wadie Jwaideh, The Kurdish National Movement (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2006), p. 11. 34 Ibid., p. 17.

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where he was frequently challenged, and among the Kurds. In particular, he had alienated Nurullah Bey, the notorious Emir of Hakkari, whose independent, tribal leadership was widely feared and was a source of concern not only for Persian Christians, but also for the Ottoman Turks who attempted to subdue him. However, by 1849, when Sarah Breath arrived in Urmia, Nurullah Bey had finally been driven from his village of Julamerk by the Turks who subsequently captured him.35 While Nurullah Bey had been removed as an active threat, other tribal leaders were still a concern. This was the case with the ruler of Botan, a region dangerously close to Urmia, where its ruler, Bedir Khan Beg, exerted virtually unlimited authority.36 Bedir Khan Beg continued the older pattern of independence, relying on tribal organizations and alliances to gain power in both Urmia and Mosul. Bedir Khan Beg had exacerbated the tension with the Assyrian Christian population and had initiated a vicious attack in 1843 that later became identified as the “Nestorian massacre.” In the midst of this difficult period, only three years after the massacre, Edward Breath and the Urmia missionaries had found themselves in a tenuous position when Bedir Khan Beg requested that they send a representative to meet with him. In failing health, Khan was well aware that the Urmia mission station employed the services of a doctor. Khan sent for Dr. Austin Hazen Wright that spring.37 Breath was also asked to come on the trip which lasted for two months. The journey suggests a number of things about travel in Turkey and Persia in the mid-nineteenth century. Trips of any distance were incredibly time-consuming and difficult over rugged terrain. Roads were often little more than mule paths and often took weeks to navigate, complicated by the ever present danger from wandering bandits or Kurds. Such journeys were also impossible without the assistance of tribal leaders. Five years earlier, in 1841, Dr. Asahel Grant recorded the difficulties of caravan travel in his journal, 35

Rufus Anderson, Secretary of the American Board while the Breaths were in Urmia, describes the role of Mar Shimon. See Rufus Anderson, History of the Missions of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions to the Oriental Churches, (Boston: Congregational Publishing Society, 1872), p. 843. 36 See Martin van Bruinessan, “Kurdish Tribes and the State of Iran: the Case of Simko’s Revolt,” in Richard Tapper, ed., The Conflict of Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan (London: Croom Helm, 1983), pp. 364-400. 37 The correspondence is silent both about the nature of the illness or the vaccines that the American missionaries apparently were able to provide.

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I write you, seated upon the ground, among the mountains of Kurdistan. My umbrella, resting on some of the baggage of the caravan, affords a partial shade from the noonday sun…It is all within reach, for neither tree nor house is visible in any direction. The horses are grazing around me, each with an enormous pack-saddle on his back, that is never removed, except when they are curried. Slung over these, in two equal parcels, they carry a load of from three to four hundred pounds. …The caravan horses often wear bells. … The khans, where they stop for the night - when they can find them, - are mere stables, with one end usually a little higher than the rest, and railed off, to separate the men from the horses. 38

Danger, on such journeys, was a daily occurrence. Grant continued, Last evening we forded the Aras (Araxes), and encamped upon its banks; the water was midway up the sides of the horses, but we raised the loads by means of bags of chopped straw piled under them, on the pack-saddles, and so got over safe. During the night some of our horses strayed or were stolen by the Kurds, and the muleteers remained to seek them. But the rest of us set off soon after sunrise, though our danger was increased by the separation; for, with most of us, it was a choice between danger and starvation.39

While Breath and Wright understood the risks that caravan travel presented, they were amazed at the control that Bedir Khan Beg maintained within the region, easily reaching his residence in Dargule. When a parade of chieftains came to seek an audience with the tribal leader, bringing him gifts including “…presents of money, horses, mules and other valuable property,”40 it was clear how far his influence was felt. Wright wrote, “The many spirited chiefs under him, though restive and extremely impatient of restraint, dare not lift a finger in opposition to him…”41 Before Wright and Breath left Dargule, Bedir Khan Beg advised them about a safe route, where his influence prevailed. Wright noted in his report to the Board, 38

Grant’s journal was transcribed and edited by Thomas Laurie. See Thomas Laurie, Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians, (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1853), pp. 173-174. 39 Ibid. 40 “Letter from Mr. Perkins, April 29, 1846: Badir Khan Bey – Progress of the Revival,” The Missionary Herald: Containing the Proceedings of the American Board for Commissioners of Foreign Missions, 42 (1846), pp. 297-298. 41 Ibid.

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THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH We traveled in the wildest parts of Kurdistan with such security, that we could hardly realize our being in a region of which we had so often heard and read, as being the frequent scene of robbery and murder. We often slept out in the open field; our horses were let loose to graze around us during the night; our luggage was left quite exposed; and no guard was set. In most parts of Turkey and Persia, travelers would not think it safe to take such a course.42

In 1849, the effects of the massacre were still fresh in the minds of the Persian Christian population. The region was violent and often unpredictable. Bedir Khan Beg had shown no remorse over the massacre three years earlier. While the two Americans were gratified by the security that his influence afforded them, they were also well aware that there was little political stability in the region and that the situation could easily change. Yet another source of tension within the missionary community was the presence of English missionaries, representing the Church of England, who arrived in northwestern Persia and in Turkey just after the establishment of the Urmia mission. The British government had sponsored a Euphrates Expedition in 1837, followed in 1842 by an Anglo-Catholic expedition sent to develop a relationship with the patriarch, Mar Shimon.43 Competition between the two groups produced sustained tension within the wider region. In Persia, each accused the other of complicity in the massacre through the alliances that they had forged. This rivalry created risks that both sides understood, hoping that the conflict would not spill over and upset the delicate balance between Christians and Kurds.44 Some English missionaries saw their American counterparts as presumptuous and offensive. Writing in 1850, the Rev. George Percy Badger concluded that the right of the “American Dissenting Board,” as he preferred to call the A.B.C.F.M., “…to labour among the eastern Christians, is as ludicrous as it is presumptuous, and savours much more of exclusiveness, which they are so fond of attributing to us…”45 The older rivalry be-

42

Ibid. Phillips, Protestant America and the Pagan World, pp. 158-159. 44 The relationship between English and American missionaries in Persia is discussed by Wadie Jwaideh in, Kurdish National Movement; Its Origins and Development (Syracuse University Press, 2006), pp. 69-70. 45 Rev. George Percy Badger, The Nestorians and their Rituals: With the Narrative of a Mission to Mesopotamia and Coordistan in 1842-1844, and of a Late Visit to Those Countries in 1850 (London: Joseph Masters, 1852), pp. 6-7. 43

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tween the Puritan tradition and the Church of England had clearly found its way to the mission field! The ill feelings between American and English missionaries were so vehement and polarized that they persisted well into the century. Writing forty years after Sarah Breath’s journey, Englishman William Ramsay wrote of the American Protestants in Turkey concluding, “I began with a strong prejudice against the American mission-work…”46 However, Ramsay softened his position suggesting, The work of the American missionaries has been to produce an educated middle class in the Turkish lands; and they have done it with a success that implies both good method in their work and good raw material to work upon. I have come into contact with men educated at Robert College in widely separate parts of the country, men of diverse races and different forms of religion, Greek, Armenian (Georgian), and Protestant; and have everywhere been struck with the marvelous way in which a certain uniform type, direct, simple, honest, and lofty in tone, had been impressed on them.47

While Ramsay was writing about American missionaries in Turkey rather than Persia, there is no doubt that his rather overstated observations about the tendency of clergy from the United States to attempt to replicate a middle class also could have been applied to their presence in Persia. In Urmia, the presence of a printing press, the production of curricula and the establishment of a seminary were all intended both to revitalize the ancient native form of Christianity and at the same time to produce an educated cadre of believers that would stand up to what many American missionaries believed was a corrupt and debased form of religion in Islam. However, Ramsay’s softening tones also indicate that while American and English missionaries were in direct competition with each other, they also valued the mutual support that they found in other instances. For Americans in particular, the difficulties encountered in the Persian mission field were complicated by the lack of diplomatic officials from the United States. Missionaries depended on Russian and English officials in Tabriz. The British representatives even offered the American workers diplomatic protection.48

46

Ramsay, Impressions of Turkey. Ibid., p. 227. 48 Phillips, Protestant America and the Pagan World, pp. 168-169. 47

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The sum total of all of these sources of conflict resulted in a hostile and dangerous world in which Sarah Breath now found herself in October, 1849. While Urmia was a safe haven for Christians, the mountainous regions outside the city remained threatening places where missionaries could not easily venture. Despite political changes in the country in the later Qajar dynasty, there was little change in remote areas in the region that continued to be dominated by factional tribal politics and ancient loyalties. The distinction between bandits motivated by greed and communal rivalries blurred. To the Western traveler, the distinction was meaningless in the context of a general threat to both life and property. As late as 1908, the same problems were evident. Dr. John Wishard recalled how the “bandits and brigands” in Kurdistan posed significant danger to travelers.49 Breath’s new world was also dominated by her husband’s professional relationships with the archaeological community. Archaeologists under the aegis of Austin Henry Layard in Mosul had unearthed stunning antiquities including large steles from the Nimrud palace of Ashurnasirpal (883-859 B.C.E.). Breath and other members of the Urmia mission helped facilitate an effort by Dartmouth College to acquire some of these large slabs of Assyrian art that had once adorned the walls of the palace. Breath served as the financial secretary of a committee led by Rev. Austin Hazen Wright, who arranged for the transportation of these enormous pieces of art back to the United States.50 For Sarah Breath, the complex nature of her husband’s work as printer, as liaison with Wright to the Church of the East and to Kurds in the region, and as financial officer for the transportation of ancient Assyrian 49

John G. Wishard, Twenty Years in Persia: A Narrative of Life under the Last Three Shahs (New York, Fleming H. Revell Co., 1908). 50 The history of the transportation of the Nimrud slabs to Dartmouth was compiled by then President Oliver P. Hubbard in An Account of How Dartmouth College Obtained its Collection of Nineveh Slabs (Dartmouth College, unpublished document). Hubbard extended credit to Dartmouth alumnus Austin Hazen Wright for the work but never mentioned Edward Breath. However, correspondence between Wright and Hubbard between 1840 and 1861 (in the Dartmouth College Collection) described Breath as the treasurer of the “Nineveh Enterprise” (See Wright to Hubbard, March 20, 1856). Moreover, in earlier correspondence (November 13, 1855), Wright indicates that Breath and an associate had completed a “missionary tour” that extended as far as Mosul. In Mosul, Breath acquired artifacts (Plate 3) from the Nimrud palace which Sarah retained when she left Urmia in 1861 after her husband’s death.

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artifacts to the United States, resulted in a complex scenario of involvement which frequently took him away for long periods. Remaining at home with four children, her world was dominated by a spartan lifestyle with reoccurring fears of disease or attack. The Journey to Urmia As travel literature, Sarah Breath’s journal transports the reader into a lost world of lengthy trips by sail, steam ship and mule pack train over mountainous terrain. Breath not only entered a world that was completely foreign to the cultural milieu that she knew, but also visited places few Europeans or Americans had seen. Edward and Sarah Breath left Boston on board the bark Ionia which would take them to the edges of the Ottoman Empire in Malta. Barks were large ships with three masts and were often used for passenger transportation. Like most sailing ships of the period, before the introduction of large ocean liners constructed with the rapidly evolving momentum of tourism, the room on board trans-Atlantic ships for passengers was often scant. While barks in the mid-nineteenth century were frequently used for the transportation of emigrants in large numbers, most had few private cabins. For example, the bark Irvine (Galway to New York, September 1851) included 220 passengers. However, only 16 of them were listed as “cabin passengers.” The rest experienced the far more confined conditions of transAtlantic travel in which large numbers of emigrants were accommodated below decks in steerage.51 In a descriptive prose typical of ocean travel common in travel literature of the period, Sarah suggests that she and Edward were among the few cabin passengers on board the Ionia. However, mid-nineteenth century cabins on shipboard should not be confused with the passenger accommodations later in the century which were far more luxurious. In the midnineteenth century, even on large ships such as the Britannia, conditions remained primitive, The Britannia carried ninety cabin passengers on her first trip, departing on 04 July 1840 and making the voyage to Boston, including a detour to Halifax and delay there of twelve hours, in fourteen days and eight hours. Although the passengers had the run of the entire ship, their ac51

Passenger lists aboard the Irvine have been transcribed by Joe Beine and are available at http://germanroots.home.att.net/passengerlists/irvine1851.html.

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THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH commodations were little, if any, better than those provided in the clippers. The saloon and state-rooms were all in the extreme after-part of the vessel, and there were no such things as comfortable smokingrooms on deck, libraries, sitting-rooms, electric lights and annunciators, automatic windows to port-holes. There were no baths to be obtained except through the kind offices of the boatswain or his mate, who vigorously applied the hose on such passengers as came dressed for the occasion when the decks were being washed in the early morning. Stateroom was much more of a misnomer than it later became.52

In 1849, passengers on shipboard could expect accommodations to be organized in sections accommodating first and second-class cabins as well as steerage. Large numbers of emigrants routinely left Europe for the United States in steerage where beds were arranged in bunks with only a curtain for privacy.53 While we do not know if Sarah and Edward Breath booked passage in first or second-class cabins, it would be unlikely that they, or the American Board, would have been able to afford the most expensive first-class cabin accommodations. However, if they had purchased second-class cabin passage, their accommodations would have had similarities to those described by Robert Louis Stevenson who, on board the Broomielaw, noted the difference between steerage, which lacked any furniture, and his “second cabin,” which at least included a table.54 Unlike steerage passengers who had to supply their own provisions, “second cabin” travelers were fed as part of their passage and provided bedding. But, beyond these physical necessities, there was also a difference in treatment. Stevenson concluded, “In the steerage there are males and females; in the second cabin ladies and gentlemen. For some time after I came aboard I thought I was only a male; but in the course of a voyage of discovery between decks, I came on a brass plate, and learned that I was still a gentleman.”55 He also concluded that travel by steerage should be avoided at all costs, 52

See “Passenger Ships – 19th Century,” http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/passenger19.htm. 53 See “The First Four Ships,” http:/library.christchurch.org.nz/Heritage/EarlyChristchurch/First FourShips.asp. 54 See Robert Louis Stevenson, Essays of Travel (London: Chatto and Windus, 1905). 55 Ibid., p. 6.

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Six guineas is the steerage fare; eight that by the second cabin; and when you remember that the steerage passenger must supply bedding and dishes, and, in five cases out of ten, either brings some dainties with him, or privately pays the steward for extra rations, the difference in price becomes almost nominal. Air comparatively fit to breathe, food comparatively varied, and the satisfaction of being still privately a gentleman, may thus be had almost for the asking. Two of my fellowpassengers in the second cabin had already made the passage by the cheaper fare, and declared it was an experiment not to be repeated.56

Hinting that, like Stevenson, they were treated well, Sarah noted that “We live well here, have everything (milk and fresh fruit excepted) we could desire on land: we have moreover an abundance of oranges, lemons, etc. put up for us by our good friends of the Mission house at Boston for which we have cause to be thankful.”57 The Ionia sailed across the Atlantic for twenty-four days finally reaching the port of Valetta, Malta, an ancient Christian city which had retained its independence from the Ottoman Empire. In a similar passage, sixteen years earlier, Urmia missionary Justin Perkins had observed that, La Valetta is a strongly fortified city. This, rendered well nigh impregnable by art, and Gibraltar rock at the straits, which is fully so by nature, give to the English the perfect command of the Mediterranean. The town is also kept strongly garrisoned. There were … five regiments in it when we were there…58

The British troops that Perkins encountered represented England’s attempt to build a strong military presence in Malta following its acquisition of the island in 1814. Malta had been of strategic interest to the West since its establishment as a refuge for crusaders in the sixteenth century. American Board missionaries saw Malta as a place of transition where new recruits would get their first “taste” of Asia. Rev. William Goodell wrote, “This is an excellent place for American missionaries to commence the study of the languages, and to learn something of the customs and hab-

56

Ibid., pp. 6-7. See p. 40. The American Board acquired a three-story mission house in Pemberton Square in 1838. See William E. Strong, The Story of the American Board: An Account of the First Hundred Years of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1910), p. 153. 58 Perkins, A Residence of Eight Years in Persia, p. 51. 57

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its of the Eastern world.”59 However, Goodell was also frustrated by the restrictions that American missionaries encountered when the English government of Malta refused to allow them to proselytize. Goodell wrote, The English government does not permit us to distribute any of our tracts here; does not permit the circulation of the Maltese Gospel of St. John; and (I would say it softly) is far more afraid of the influence, not of us simply, but of all missionaries, than of all the Roman Catholics in the world.60

Within its cosmopolitan atmosphere Malta included a wide variety of persons. The city included a substantial English population (many of whom were in the military), workers at the growing Bighi Royal Naval Hospital, students and teachers at Malta Protestant College and Malta University, as well as numerous missionaries and soldiers in transit. In Valetta, Sarah encountered one such “itinerant,” Dr. Robert Reid Kalley. On one hand, as a missionary, Kalley was part of the growing international network of Protestants that the Breaths would increasingly encounter on their journey. But on the other, he was a refugee. Kalley was a physician and a member of the Free Church of Scotland who had traveled as a missionary to the island of Madeira which is part of an archipelago 1,000 kilometers from Portugal and adjacent to Morocco. Highly charismatic, he had succeeded in attracting several hundred converts to his form of evangelical piety. As part of this work he had established a small hospital and clinic as well as numerous mission schools. But, however unwittingly, Kalley had also ignited a religious war with catastrophic results. His attempt to eradicate both illness and illiteracy on the island had produced a ground swell of converts who left their Roman Catholic heritage. By 1841, Portuguese authorities in Lisbon began to see Kalley as a threat and commanded the Bishop of Madeira to put an end to his work. This, combined with indigenous Catholic opposition to the mass conversions, produced an intense, violent reaction. Seeing the danger, local authorities briefly imprisoned Kalley in 1843. Following his release and return to Scotland to seek support from his church, he again attempted to justify his cause in Madeira. Following the dissemination of a new pamphlet, riots broke out, and a group of British residents were attacked. Kalley 59

E.D.G. Prime, Forty Years in the Turkish Empire or Memoirs of Rev. William Goodell D.D., Late Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. at Constantinople (New York: Robert Carter and Brother, 1876), p. 76. 60 Ibid.

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soon received death threats as rioting consumed the island. Kalley’s followers were beaten and their homes were destroyed. Shaken and defeated, disguised as an invalid, Kalley was spirited to a waiting ship, the Quinta dos Pinheiros, and from there to the British ship Forth. By 1846, over two thousand of his followers were forced to flee Madeira to save their lives.61 By 1849 when the Breaths met this “fine looking man with dark eyes and jet black ringlets” (p. 47) he was living in Malta. Meanwhile, the Protestant refugees from Madeira who had lost everything they had, were resettled in such faraway places as Trinidad and, later that same year in Jacksonville, Illinois.62 After several days respite in Valetta, the Ionia set sail again for Smyrna, arriving on August 17. Smyrna (modern Izmir) was an ancient city on the edge of the Ottoman Empire. It was also a place where European and American travelers could feel relatively comfortable. Foreign emigrés were under the authority of resident consuls and did not have to conform to strict Ottoman regulations.63 The Frankish quarter in Smyrna was known as “Petit Paris” and provided the traveler with the mystique of an urban area much akin to a European city. Here, under Ottoman rule, foreign communities were permitted to retain their religious and cultural traditions. Smyrna was known as the “Gateway to Asia Minor” and established a presence that gave visitors the combined presence of both the occident and the orient.64 However, for those Western travelers who did venture into the Ottoman area of the city, the differences were immediate and profound, The mosques of Izmir were not as prominently situated as the great mosques of the capital, consequently they did not function as signs of orientation for visitors. Without an interpreter a traveler was quickly lost in a Babel of confusion. The accumulative effect of auditory, tactile and visual distractions created a psychological condition in which Englishmen felt claustrophobic, hemmed in, soiled by contact with crowds and 61

See Rev. Herman Norton, Record of Facts Concerning the Persecutions at Madeira in 1843 and 1846: The Flight of a Thousand Converts to the West India Islands; and also the Sufferings of those who Arrived in the United States (New York: American and Foreign Christian Union, 1849). 62 The movement of Kalley’s followers from Trinidad to Jacksonville, Illinois is documented in, Don Doyle, The Social Order of a Frontier Community: Jacksonville, Illinois, 1825-1870 (Urbana, Illinois: the University of Illinois, 1983). 63 Reinhold Schiffer. Oriental Panorama: British Travelers in the 19th Century Turkey (Amsterdam and Atlanta Ga: Rodopi, 1999), pp. 111-134. 64 Ibid.

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THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH beasts, incapable of communication and of keeping themselves to themselves. The streets were scarcely three yards wide, and this space had to be shared between pedestrians and animals.65

American Board missionaries who arrived in Smyrna frequently avoided such expressions of cultural difference and instead spent their time in the city visiting other missionaries. Many of these visitors to the city led fairly insular lives since the city had become a center of the A.B.C.F.M. activity in the Middle East and contained many residences of missionary personnel. Their comfort was also increased by a cadre of American merchants, who had established a trading base in Smyrna since the early part of the nineteenth century. Missionaries found life in the city relatively easy and were accustomed to finding goods imported from the United States. American ships routinely entered the port, carrying “…cotton goods, tobacco, gunpowder, and breadstuffs …”66 For those Americans outside missionary circles, Smyrna was well-known for its large importation of American rum and for the lucrative opium trade that it had produced with China. On September 5, after enjoying the company of many of their peers in Smyrna, the Breaths boarded an Austrian steamer for Constantinople (Plate 7). By 1849 steamer travel had become common in the Mediterranean and had made tourism viable. Schedules were tailored to passengers rather than cargo and passage was easy to obtain to large ports such as Constantinople. Breath’s travel narrative describes a city caught between two worlds. The first world, that of the Ottoman Empire, was readily visible throughout the city in its mosques, its narrow winding streets, and the city’s decidedly Eastern flair. The second world was visible in the harbors where ships from Europe and the United States were frequent visitors. The presence of Europeans and Americans had brought significant changes as elements of Western culture now found their way into the traditional stronghold of Ottoman government and society. This change, coupled with the accession of seventeen-year-old Sultan, Abudl Mejid I in 1839, who supported Western innovation and trade, affected the self-image of Constantinople; the city now saw itself merging into the modern world. 65 Ibid., p. 126. The author sites Charles Swan, Journal of a Voyage up the Mediterranean; Principally among the Islands of the Archipelago, and in Asia Minor, Vol. 1 (London Rivington, 1826), p. 128. 66 David H. Finnie, Pioneers East: The Early American Experience in the Middle East (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1967), p. 31.

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As in Smyrna, an American missionary presence was also well established in Constantinople where A.B.C.F.M. personnel had also established a relationship with the Armenian community. However, the relationship had become complicated by the resistance of the Orthodox Armenian patriarch who, a decade earlier, had become concerned about Western proselytizing. The patriarch had forbidden the reading of A.B.C.F.M. publications in his churches.67 An imperial firman also warned against further foreign Christian influence. However, with the death of the Sultan Mahmud and the accession of his successor, Abdul Mejid, the imperial reaction changed and, by 1847, a decree had formally recognized the Protestant presence as part of the life of the city. The Breaths were provided accommodations in a small Greek village, Bebek, (see Plates 8 and 9) about eight miles outside the city, where the American Board had established a mission station.68 While attempts to convert Muslims were forbidden by the Sharia, missions among the Christian Greek population had provided a foothold for American missionaries well within the framework of Ottoman law.69 Yet, some American Board personnel still hoped to make inroads against Islam. For example, Justin Perkins wrote openly about his hope for the day when the Protestant presence in the Middle East would revitalize more ancient forms of Christianity which would supplant Islam.70 Bebek was also the center of an attempt by American missionaries to establish the Protestant evangelical tradition among the Armenian population in Turkey. Missionaries walked a fine line between Sharia law in the Ottoman Empire, which recognized religious diversity as an important component of civilization, and the American Board’s efforts to evangelize the Armenian population. The fractional politics that resulted included periodic attempts by the Armenian patriarchate to expel the new converts and the additional problems that this created with the Ottoman court.71 In the midst of these tensions Bebek had become a center of educational activity. American Board missionary Cyrus Hamlin had opened a school for Armenian boys (Plate 9), followed by a boarding school for girls. Bebek was also 67

Ibid., p. 108. Ibid., p. 109. 69 Ibid., p. 123. 70 See pp. 26-27. 71 See Cagri Erhan, “Ottoman official attitudes towards American missionaries,” presented to an international conference on “The United States and the Middle East: Cultural Encounters” at Yale University, December 7-8, 2000. 68

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a hum of Protestant missions in the Middle East and was a place where visitors like the Breaths would encounter other persons associated with the American Board (see notes 159-160). From Bebek the Breaths were escorted back into Constantinople to see the sights and sounds that tourists had found so captivating. Sarah wrote, “The city was enveloped in mist through which the mosques from their dazzling whiteness were visible.”72 She also witnessed the vestiges of the traditional Ottoman Empire, which was rapidly giving way to the demands of international trade and Western dominion. A passing parade of ministers accompanying the Sultan as he went to prayer drew her attention.73 She noticed the ancient cemeteries which were so much of a visible part of the city’s urban landscape (see Plate 14).74 She undoubtedly also heard of places where Western visitors could not go, especially at night when Constantinople retreated into private life. Such patterns of privacy had been an important part of Ottoman life and continued to survive despite the changing economy. Street scenes reflected long-standing traditions and cultural conventions. At night, there was little exterior lighting and few persons ventured out.75 Some sections of the city were dangerous and filled with robbers who would freely attack and murder any casual visitor from the West who appeared to have wealth. The Breaths’ hosts undoubtedly also kept her away from the legendary wild dogs of Constantinople that roamed the city freely both devouring the garbage of urban life and challenging anyone who got in their way.76 The journal describes part of the bazaar – a sprawling cavalcade of streets where goods of every imaginable sort could be found (see Plates 1113). Mid-nineteenth-century Constantinople included a labyrinth of specialized bazaars or techarchi that together were the economic hub of the city. Writing ten years earlier, another female travel writer identified only as “Miss Pardoe” described a similar scene to that which the Breaths experienced in 1849, (the) Teharchi is composed of a cluster of streets, of such extent and number as to resemble a small covered town, the roof being supported 72 A reference to John Martin, Paradise Lost of Milton with Illustrations (London: Charles Tilt, 1838). See note 172. 73 Ibid. 74 Ibid. 75 Schiffer. Oriental Panorama, pp. 155-157. 76 Ibid.

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by arches of solid masonry. A narrow gallery, slightly fenced by a wooden rail, occasionally connects these arches… Every avenue of the bazar is appropriated to a particular branch of commerce; thus in the street known as the Bezenstein, the two ranges of counters are occupied by jewellers, and are placed on a raised wooden platform, where the merchants spread their carpets, and make their calculations on strips of strong yellowish paper, resembling parchment, that they rest against their knees… The avenue of the money changers is gloomy and uninviting, save to those who can feel a pleasure in listening to the ring of precious metals, which goes on hour after hour, as the solomn looking bankers pass heaps of coin, or bars of unwrought gold, from scale to scale, to test their weight and quality.77

The narrow, winding streets of the bazaar housed inns and coffee houses as well as the services and producers that supplied them including a cadre of importers and exporters. For an American, used to much newer urban areas where tradition and culture had less impact on the marketplace, the bazaar must have appeared to be a labyrinth filled with sights and sounds that had no counterpart in the United States. However, the bazaar also included a slave market that helped support the economic life of the city. While there is little evidence that the Breaths saw Constantinople’s slave markets firsthand, they undoubtedly heard about them. Slavery was part of the economic life of the city and slave markets were places where Western visitors usually did not go. Great Britain had eliminated slavery in 1806, while antebellum America was feeling the pangs associated with the growing, tenacious debate over slavery that the Breaths knew only too well. For Edward, the memory of the murder of abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy was undoubtedly still quite fresh. Following their stay in Constantinople, the Breaths journeyed by steamship to Trebisond where they prepared for a difficult, mountainous journey. Overland travel in the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century was by pack caravan. Each animal carried several hundred pounds as the large wooden chests were strapped to their sides. The roads were little more than mule paths and could only be negotiated by both animals and guides familiar with the difficult terrain. 77 Julia Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus: Views of Constantinople and its Environs from Original Drawings by W.H. Bartlett (London: George Virtue, 1838) pp. 30-31.

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Like Smyrna and Constantinople, Trebisond also had a number of missionaries in residence and offered some respite to A.B.C.F.M. personnel. However, as had been the case in Constantinople and Smyrna, tensions had developed between Armenian church leaders and the American Board concerning proselytizing, which was a vivid reminder of the enmity that missionary communities experienced. Earlier that spring, the Patriarch of the orthodox Armenian church had been quite vocal, attempting to persuade Armenian converts to sign a confession, which the A.B.C.F.M. missionaries interpreted as a recantation of faith. This led to a number of confrontations in which some converts “…were anathematized; some were thrown out of employ; some were deserted by their customers; some were thrust from their houses; in one instance a matrimonial engagement was broken off by order of the vartabed; live coals were thrown upon one in the street…”78 The incidents had a profound effect on the mission and resulted in a sudden loss of attendance in the mission’s chapel. The matter was ultimately taken to the Pasha, who, reluctant to become involved with an internal dispute in the Christian community, offered to provide passports to Constantinople for the individuals who had experienced this persecution.79 After a brief visit in Trebisond the ascent began as the Breath party navigated its way across the mountains separating Turkey from Persia, crossing the headwaters for the Euphrates. The journey from Trebisond to Urmia was well over 350 miles with much of the trip over rugged terrain, passing the Anatolian city of Erseroom (modern Erzurum). By prior agreement, the Breaths were met there by two local men from Urmia, Guergis and Eshoo, who lashed their belongings to pack mules for the trek to Trebisond. Although the identity of Guergis and Eshoo are not described in the journal, in all likelihood they were the priest Eshoo who lived in Gawar and his son Gewergis.80 Given the danger of caravan travel,

78

See “Letter from Mr. Powers, Persecution at Trebisond,” Missionary Herald, 1846, 298-301. 79 Ibid. 80 While Sarah’s transliteration of his Persian name differs from the spelling used by Joseph Cochran, the relationships and the common association with Gawar make the identification likely. See Joseph Cochran, ed. Nestorian Biography: Being Sketches of Pious Nestorians who have Died at Urmia, Persia (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, 1857), p. 127.

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Edward Breath would have taken care to be sure that his guides included persons in whom he had absolute trust. Sarah wrote, Each day our path became wilder and more rugged, we lost sight of verdure; the scorching sun had withered the grass and barren rocks cast their shadows on our way: imagine us in single file, now on the edge of some fearful precipice, our narrow path looking like a line of thread in the perspective; climbing some rocky steep, now in some lovely glen, here crossing a stream, then pursuing our way over some undulating plain, without a tree to cast its friendly shade.81

The party slept in tents using the cool of the early morning to gain as much ground as possible before the heat of the day made the steep ascents more difficult. Finally reaching Erseroom they rested before completing the final trek to Urmia. The Breaths arrived in Urmia on October 15, almost four months after they left Boston. For Edward, the end of the journey must have been a relief and the arrival in Urmia a return to a way of life that he had experienced for almost ten years. It also must have carried some excitement since he had now successfully transported needed implements of his trade (including a set of punches) for printing in Syriac.82 But for Sarah, for whom everything was new, the arrival was a dramatic event that marked the beginning, rather than the end of her Persian odyssey. She concluded with a note of optimism tempered with self-doubt, …Mr. Breath’s old friends came in to see him, although stranger as I was, they seemed friends of mine too. The Nestorians so far as I can judge, are animated and cheerful… Thursday 18th - Masons are busy making some needful repairs in our residence, the situation is retired and pleasant, from the window we catch a view of the desert hills; sure I am it will be from something wanting in myself if I am unhappy here: the society too I will value I think but as yet I cannot speak of intimacies. I tremble somewhat lest I be found wanting in qualifications for my new station.83

Life in Urmia Urmia, the heart of the A.B.C.F.M. mission station, was a seductively beautiful region. Rev. Thomas Laurie described it, 81

See p. 65. See Coakley, “Edward Breath and the Typography of Syriac.” 83 See pp. 70-71. 82

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THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH The province of Oroomiah (Urmia) lies in the northwestern part of Persia. The lofty mountains of Kurdistan look down on it from the west. On the east the beautiful lake of the same name extends, about eighty miles in length and thirty in width. It is four thousand one hundred feet above the level of the sea, and so salty that fish cannot live in its waters, though numerous water-foul – among which the beautiful flamingo is most conspicuous – enliven its shores. A highly fertile plain gently slopes from the mountains to the lake, comprising an area of about five hundred square miles, and dotted with not less than three hundred villages. These vary in population from one hundred to one thousand inhabitants. The whole region, from Khoy on the north as far south as Sulduz, is a perfect garden.84

Urmia was a walled city and about four miles in circumference. Some 600 Persian Christians lived within the walls, with the bulk of the population of 20,000 Christians residing outside the city in villages on the plain. Urmia also included a small Jewish population of 2,000 persons.85 The city was ancient and also had important connotations. Persians considered it to be the birthplace of Zoroaster, whose eschatological teachings of good and evil deeply affected the monotheistic religions. Despite its heritage and the Church of the East culture that embellished its traditions, Laurie’s image of a “perfect garden” soon gave way to an underbelly of disease, violence, and death. The most pressing of these threats was Asiatic cholera which periodically decimated the region. The disease probably originated in India where the warm waters of the Ganges became a source for the bacteria. In northwest Persia, where ancient trade routes routinely brought people from distant lands into the region, the mechanisms for the spread of the cholera bacillus were well established.86 Years earlier, Justin Perkins had noted the presence near Urmia of standing water, resulting from irrigation practices, which he correctly con84 See Thomas Laurie, Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1853), p. 59. 85 Ibid., p. 60. Plate 15 shows a fruit market in Urmia in the early twentieth century. Even though the photograph was taken more than fifty years after Sarah and Edward Breath arrived there it reflects an environment that was similar to what they experienced. 86 Cholera is spread by the cholera bacillus which becomes lethal when the human immune system attempts to purge it from the body by releasing a powerful toxin. See Amir A. Afkhami, “Disease and Water Supply: The Case of Cholera in 19th Century Iran,” Yale University F & ES Bulletin, 103, environment.yale.edu/documents/downloads/0-9/103afkhami.pdf.

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cluded was an ever present source of the disease.87 This was compounded by the use of qanats or subterranean aqueducts which were frequently left exposed in areas where children played. The problem was exacerbated even further by burial practices among Muslim populations in which interment in Mecca was preferred. As a result, caravans of mules frequently transported the victims of the disease in unsealed wooden coffins over the trade routes, easily spreading the disease throughout the region. The problem of widespread disease was increased by the ineffectiveness of the Persian Qajar dynasty (1796-1925) to solve such urgent national problems. Even though the first Persian cholera epidemic in 1830 lasted for seven years, a National Sanitary Council was not formed until 1868.88 Moreover, the structure of Persian society also contributed to the ability of the bacillus to quickly infect the population. Bazaars were centers of urban life in most Persian cities and became places of frequent contact where sanitary conditions were minimal.89 In addition, cemeteries were frequently built adjacent to water ways which compounded the problem by the presence of uncovered sewers. This was the case in the city of Muhammareh where, …the only form of sewage was a channel cut down the middle of each street, which was generally choked up except after rain. In another city, Shushtar, the streets became receptacles for domestic sewers, which were left on-site until rainwater washed the foul matter away. … In Tehran … it was not unusual to see children playing in the gutters or people washing their animals or dirty linens in them; in some cases the linens would be the clothes of a victim who had succumbed to cholera and hence strewn with fecal matter.90

In addition to the threat of disease, European travelers in midnineteenth-century Persia also were subjected to frequent attacks by bandits. Even in 1849, a period of relative peace between Kurds and Christians, travel outside Urmia and the Christian villages on the plain was difficult because of this threat which persisted. In the mountains Kurdish tribal groups found foreigners an easy mark. Justin Perkins described an assault on his party, We started about 8 o’clock, priest Yohannan (Plate 6) joining our party, and rode four fursakhs, to Ada, the village of Mar Joseph. Our road led 87

Perkins, A Residence of Eight Years in Persia, p. 213. Afkhami, “Disease and Water Supply,” p. 210. 89 Ibid., p. 212. 90 Ibid., p. 214. 88

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THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH us, most of the way, down the enchanting value of the Nasloo river. We reached Ada about noon and were again cordially welcomed by the bishop. Soon after our arrival, we met with a serious adventure. Mrs. P. (Perkins) and myself and Dr. and Mrs. Grant were walking quietly through the village, when three of the Lootee, or professional ruffians, hedged up our path, which was narrow, by stationing a horse across it, and taking a stand themselves on either side. Priest Abraham, who was with us, stepped forward and mildly requested them to turn the horse a little and allow us to pass by; upon which one of them drew his dagger, a terrible weapon, which they always carry, and raised it to strike him. Seeing the defenseless priest in such peril, I instinctively sprang forward… (the ruffian) turned in a moment from the priest upon me, and stabbed me with indescribable ferocity….91

The assailant was identified and ultimately given 250 lashes and escaped as the governor attempted to inflict further punishment. Naively, Grant saw the incident as a helpful warning against similar attacks on Americans. However, he never was able to fully feel safe, From that period to the present, we have never been annoyed by the Lootee … these outrages are so numerous and fearful, that scarcely a week elapses, in which murders are not committed in our city or the neighborhood, though the murderers are often apprehended and executed.92

He concluded: “During the early periods of our residence at Urmia, I seldom returned at night, without more or less apprehension of an attack from the Lootee, before morning.”93 The fear of travel outside of the region was also described by Joseph Cochran, one of the clergy stationed in Urmia. Cochran recalled that even Christians were afraid to leave their villages. In one instance, a Christian named Gewergis was afraid to travel to the mission station in Urmia, a seventy-mile journey over mountainous terrain. Cochran said, He was afraid to leave home at that time; and he did not come until we had dispatched a second messenger for him. He then ventured to set out, though in so much fear of the Mudebbir, (the Kurdish chief of

91

Perkins, A Residence of Eight Years in Persia, p. 289. Ibid. 93 Ibid. 92

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Gawar,) that he started in the night, and came by a circuitous and distant route...94

Such fears were common and formed an environment that was permeated with the constant threat of attack, the dangers of leaving the security of a village or family, and the unrest that characterized the relationships between Kurds and Christians. Missionaries entered this precarious world bringing everything that they thought necessary to maintain the quality of life that they were used to in the West. Most missionary families also came to the mission fields with everything they had of value. Sarah Breath filled two green wooden chests with the couple’s worldly goods. In order to maintain their own cultural practices, they had to bring in even the smallest items. Since tableware including knives, forks and spoons, was unknown in Persia, and was not part of everyday life, dishes and utensils had to be conveyed from the United States. Other things could not be included. Eighty-two years later, Anna Breath Strieby, daughter of Edward and Sarah Breath, remembered the absence of dolls in the home, (I) do remember the green chest, that stood in our hall on the 2nd floor at Urmia. (When) I was a little girl Mama kept our woolen clothes there in (the) summer and spring and fall when clothing was changed she went to that chest which had great fascination for me for a doll china head, and (a) white Swiss dress sent to me from America was there and I was allowed to play with it only as my mother packed or unpacked necessary clothing. This sounds cruel to you no doubt but you see I might never have another if the lovely china got broken! None to be bought there! Think what a treat the brief time in holding such a beautiful thing was. The only doll I had ever seen, but such rag substitutes as natives had. That doll I kept till I was 10 years (old) and gave it to some of (the) missionary children when I left, with bitter tears.95

Some needs could be met on site. For example, Persian decor did not include tables and chairs in the European tradition and more often relied on carpets and long, low removable tables that could be used for meals. Missionaries often employed local carpenters to manufacture the tables and 94 Cochran, Nestorian Biography, p. 128. Gewergis was probably the same person who met the Breaths in Erseroom. 95 Anna Breath Strieby to Helen Remsen, April 23, 1931, Breath family collection. Strieby was 81 when she wrote the letter which was written in a shaky hand with frequent grammatical errors.

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chairs that they had become used to having. However, even with the basic amenities, life in such distant mission outposts as Urmia was far different from what middle-class Americans were accustomed. The attempt to make life in Persian homes comfortable to Western missionaries was also complicated by the spartan nature of housing. Nineteenth-century Persian homes were usually constructed of mud brick and included rooms of varying sizes and ceiling heights.96 Exteriors were covered with mud and straw, insulating the houses from the heat. Interiors were covered with the same kind of “plaster” which became more ornate in upper class homes. Interiors were sparse; rugs of varying degrees of quality and expense were used in living areas. Anna Breath Strieby remembered that the first floor of the Urmia house was restricted for necessities, leaving only the upper floor for living quarters, The 1st floor in (the) house was used to store our fuel which was wood and our screened safe, in place of refrigerator with legs of (the) safe in dishes or pans of water to prevent ants from crawling in after food. The wood was trimmings from grape vines. Oh: the earth closet too was on (the) 1st floor.97

American Board personnel in Persia were well aware that these primitive conditions and the real and present dangers that accompanied them often resulted in shortened lifespans. A litany of deaths became part of the Urmia mission. Few missionary journals captured the broader picture of this danger, often focusing on the demise of individuals or families. For example, a missionary tract, “Little Julia, of Oroomiah, Persia,” was produced that lamented the loss of Julia Breath, daughter of Edward and Sarah, from cholera.98 Another, much fuller text, The Persian Flower: a Memoir of Judith Grant Perkins of Urmia, Persia, was produced by an anonymous member of the Urmia missionary community, lamenting the loss of Judith Grant Perkins, daughter of Justin Perkins.99 Together, these dreary publications were used by the American Board to help further its cause by presenting stories of innocent death in a harsh and foreboding land.

96

Perkins, A Residence of Eight Years in Persia, p. 153. Anna Strieby to Helen Remsen, April 23, 1931. 98 American Tract Society. “Little Julia of Oroomiah, Persia.” See Plate 4. 99 The Persian Flower: A Memoir of Judith Grant Perkins of Oroomiah, Persia (Boston: John P. Jewett and Co., 1853). 97

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The larger story emerges in the grim list of graves in the mission station at Seir, revealing a tortured portrait of disease including typhoid fever and cholera and a heavy mortality rate for infants and children. Between the start of the Urmia mission and the end of the American Civil War, 27 members of missionary families succumbed in Urmia, including Edward Breath and three of his children.100 Returning Home Edward Breath died unexpectedly in 1861.101 He had left the city of Urmia to look into the case of an Armenian girl who had been abducted. Unable to get back to Urmia before the city gates were closed for the night, he had been forced to seek shelter in a village outside its walls. Normally, this would not have presented a problem, but during the ravages of the cholera epidemic the walled city of Urmia had become a safe haven while villages outside the city were rife with the disease. Breath died in a day. Sarah Breath and her daughter Anna began the trip home the following summer since the caravan routes were impassable during the winter months. Over sixty years later, writing to her granddaughter, Anna Breath Strieby recalled the journey, My father died of Asiatic cholera, most deadly. He died in 24 hours after being attacked! That was in November. We could not travel till (the) following summer, for travel had to be done when grass was green for horses, mules and camels. The next summer we left in company of Rev. Coan, (his) wife and 3 children. …what were called “Kajahivahs”102 were slung on either side of a saddle-horse (which) was led, and Eddie and I balanced each other with pillows and mattresses on which to recline. It was most comfortable. The younger children rode in panniers either side of a horse on which rode the driver guiding (the) horse.

100

See Fever and Thirst: A Missionary Doctor Amid the Christian Tribes of Kurdistan (Chicago: Academy Publishers, 2005), pp. 109-110. 101 Edward Breath’s sudden illness and death are described in Benjamin Labaree, “A Retrospect of the Mission to the Nestorians in the Light of Criticism,” in The Church at Home and Abroad 10 (1891):303. Breath’s illness and subsequent death in November 18, 1861 are also reported in the Fifty-Second Annual Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. (Boston: T.R. Marvin and Son, 1862) p. 110. 102 The term may be Keyyaliyye which was a basket used to carry goods and which, like a pannier, would have been suitable for children.

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THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH These panniers103 had a seat half way down, and were cushioned very comfortable, and children could sleep. …One day we passed a caravan of camels, loaded with loaf sugar in loaves. They passed us on the trail or path, only wide enough to pass. I counted, going slowly as we must, and they walked as you know in such a dignified, leisurely way turning their heads slowly, shaking their bells or other decorations. I did count 600 of them. They had…no rest, some were kneeling to be again loaded, (and) some were still lying down (while) some huddled together farther from (the) road. I could not count all (and) had to guess there were 100 more - 700 in all.104

Sarah’s return passage to the United States was quite different from the trip that she had made in 1849. Passenger travel had become routine and the widespread use of steam had regularized ocean voyages. Anna recalled, (From Trebisond) … we took (a) steamer to Constantinople (and) from Constantinople we took a steamer for Lake Marmora, Eglan Sea, Mediterranean, Gibraltar, Bay of Biscay and …so on to Liverpool. Then another steamer across (the) Atlantic to New York. I thought all (the) relatives of whom I had heard would be lined up on shore to meet us! Have found since it was not such an important event as it was to us. The voyage across (the) Atlantic was most enjoyable, as we had freedom of deck varied sights and sounds – once heard gentleman saying shout “There she blows” and of course looked in direction they were pointing, and saw a whale blowing! Once we had quite a bad scare. Came down from deck at dinner call and left our cheek wraps, shawls etc. in (a) trunk in (the) ladies and children’s cabin. (A) cabin –boy came in bringing an English plum pudding with brandy-sauce flaming… flames (reached) right up to (the) ceiling … ladies and children screamed, and (a)stewardess rushed out and got (a) steward who put out (the) fire at once and quelled excitement preventing panic, and keeping (the) noise from the main dining room. Of course we all had time to think seriously what might have happened with not a sail in sight and we in midocean!105

The Breaths returned to New York with a few remnants of their Persian life. A book which Edward Breath had typeset in Syriac and given to 103

A pannier was a basket or saddle bag on each side of a pack mule. Anna Strieby to Helen Remsen, April 23, 1931. 105 Ibid. 104

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his mother in 1840 still survives as do two pieces of Assyrian art from the Nimrud palace that Breath had acquired in a visit to Mosul (see Plate 3). However, the journey had lasting effects. Sarah’s daughter Anna, who had learned to speak Syriac in Urmia, would often feel like a stranger in the United States. In her own mind she was neither Persian nor American. In time she acculturated but still remembered the ridicule she experienced because of the additional time it took to translate classroom instructions from Syriac to English. Recently, the work of Edward Breath has been rediscovered and his seminal role in Syriac typography more fully understood. However, the voice of his wife, Sarah, has been silent. Fortunately, her journal survives and with its vibrant images of her journey helps us understand the world that she encountered.

THE JOURNAL OF SARAH ANN BREATH 1849 June At sea on board the Bark Ionia106

Friday 22nd Left Boston on the 18th, weather fair, accommodations good, to me though unaccustomed to seafaring, the cabin and stateroom seemed small, and confined though I am beginning to think them pleasant. There are many sources of enjoyment open to us, to sit with my husband as I frequently do on the quarter deck, inhale the seabreeze, feel the gentle rocking of the vessel and watch the graceful motion of the waves; if at sunset to see that glorious sun sink into the waters is a quiet subdued pleasure. We live well here, have everything (milk and fresh fruit excepted) we could desire on land: we have more over an abundance of oranges, lemons, etc. put up for us by our good friends of the Mission House at Boston107 for which we have cause to be thankful. With the exception of a little sea sickness, which has heretofore prevented my writing we have been well. I am trying to learn the language, study a little every day: since we left the weather has been good so I cannot speak yet of the terrors of a storm at sea. I will go back however to mention some pleasant occurrences at Boston: Friday and Saturday we engaged in making preparations for our departure. On Saturday evening we were invited to the house of Gov. Armstrong108 to receive private instructions as they are called; the members of 106

Bark (also barque) is an ambiguous term that could either refer to any small ship or, formally, to a three masted ship with square-rigged fore and main masts. See http://www.seatalk.info 107 See note 57. 108 A reference to former Governor of Massachusetts, Samuel Turell Armstrong who served two years as Governor of the Commonwealth from 1835-1836. Armstrong was an active Congregationalist and proponent of foreign missions.

41

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the Board, a few invited guests and some returned missionaries among whom were Mr. Dwight,109 Van Lennep110 etc. hymns were sung, prayers offered, advice given in a rather familiar way etc. We were then conducted in an adjoining room where was a table profusely spread with the delicacies of the season: after partaking of which the Company joined in singing “Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love.”111 and separated. The next day, Sabbath I did not enjoy, the fatigue lately undergone induced a feeling of languor, and then, too I was away from home, and I was a wanderer the thought of Market Street Church112 and the services there would steal into my mind. A farewell meeting was held in the evening, while the missionaries present bade us welcome to a participation of the joys and sorrows of the missionary life, the members of the Board who addressed us bade us God speed it was refreshing to our somewhat drooping spirits. Monday morning we were on board the vessel which was to convey us from our native land, a large number were present, at an appointed signal all assembled on deck when the hymn “Glorious things of thee are spoken Zion City of our God”113 was sung, a prayer offered, farewells spoken, and most of the visitors left; as we were towed by a steamer a few remained till she returned, when we felt that the last connecting link was broken, and we were separated indeed perhaps forever, from our native land and all in it that we held dear; the language of my heart then was, “Far away ye billows 109 Probably Rev. H.G.O. Dwight (1803-1862). Dwight was ordained in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on July 15, 1829 and was a missionary in Constantinople for many years. In the best of the Congregational tradition he was a graduate of Harvard and Andover Theological Seminary. Dwight’s obituary appeared in the New York Times on January 30, 1862. 110 Henry J. Van Lennep was a missionary in Turkey who entered the mission field in 1840. Van Lennep married Mary. E. Hawes who later wrote, Memoir of Mrs. Mary E. Van Lennep: Only Daughter of the Rev. Joel Hawes D.D. and Wife of the Rev. Henry J. Van Lennep, Missionary in Turkey (New York: Anson D.F. Randolph, 1860). Van Lennep served the Board in Smyrna and Constantinople. 111 Hymn with lyrics composed by John Fawcett (1740-1817). 112 A reference to the “Church of the Sea and Land” in New York City which was located at Market and Henry streets. The church was built in 1817 and sold in 1893. The minister of this Dutch Reformed church was Dr. Isaac Ferris, who also married Sarah and Edward Breath and who came to the Market Street pulpit in 1836. 113 A well-known Christian hymn written by John Newton, a sea captain whose conversion to Christianity and subsequent opposition to slavery were well known in the words to the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

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bear me Lovely native land farewell.”114 Yes tis none the less near…but I love the cause in which I have embarked so I can say “Glad I leave you far in heathen lands to dwell.”115 But I had nearly forgotten to speak of the pleasure in which I received 3 letters on Monday morning just before leaving the Mission House: one from Dr. Ferris116 accompanied by a daguerreotype of himself, one from Mrs. Merwin117 and last though not least a very interesting one from Emmeline breathing out the warmest feelings in the tenderest manner - tell her (but I shall thank her for it) how highly it was prized by me, the recollection of it makes me desire again to read it which I shall often do. What kind friends I have left, not forgotten.

June 25th I am really ashamed on looking over my writing to own it, ‘tis so badly done. I am sitting on a trunk in our state-room, my feet resting on a box but I go back and forth so you can judge what writing it must be. Yesterday was our first Sabbath at sea we had services on deck at ½ past 1 o’clock but how different from a Sabbath at home! We had a fresher wind, consequently a rougher sea than on any previous day we kept rising and falling 8 or 10 feet from side to side alternately the waves dashing and foaming around us far as the eye can reach. I enjoyed the sight and the motion, though sometimes hardly able to retain my seat on the quarter deck. At sea the heavenly bodies become objects of deeper interest than on land, a sunset at sea though as far as my experience goes is not a glorious sight: the denseness of the atmosphere gives it that murky appearance, it assumes at the close of a day in Indian summer so shorn of its luster that we can look at it while far above the horizon; but still it is pleasant to watch it as it descended lower and lower till lost in the waters: and then the moon

114 These lyrics are incorporated in a hymn written by Rev. Samuel Francis Smith (1808 – 1895), a Baptist minister who also wrote verses for “America.” The lyrics were often used for departing missionaries in which such long journeys often were seen as a final departure from the United States. 115 Another reference to the hymn written by Rev. Samuel Francis Smith, often used as a missionaries’ farewell. 116 Probably Dr. Isaac Ferris, a Reformed Church minister (who later became Chancellor of New York University) and who had frequent contacts with the American Board. Ferris married Edward and Sarah Breath prior to their departure. 117 Sarah probably refers to the wife of American Board agent, Mr. A. Merwin in Boston.

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engages our attention till the sound of 8 bells announce the time for evening service. For exercise we promenade the lower deck, sometimes with a very uneven gait. This morning while indulging in those light slumbers which perhaps are better omitted but we do not rise early here (only in time to prepare for 8 o’clock breakfast!! Well as I said I was napping a little, and dreamt I was at home, and thinking to myself, I had not been to Julia’s118 in a long time, determined to go today: with this I partially awoke, and for an instant did not realize my situation when the truth flashed upon me, I started at the thought that I was then 1000 miles from home and friends on the broad Atlantic.

July 3rd I resume my writing to speak of little but sea sickness: Sabbath was the first in which I have been able to sit up all day for a week: nausea with occasional vomiting, a disrelish for food, and feeling of exhaustion are the worst of it the best is, to lie quietly in your berth, your husband reading to you and think that the tossing which occasions your illness is speeding you on to the desired haven. Since Saturday the 30th June we have had a calm, scarcely wind enough to disturb the water not a rising wave but like a sea of glass: it spreads around, reflecting the light and shade of the heaven above on its smooth surface. For the last 2 nights the sunset has been equal to any I have ever witnessed, when it first dips into the water we imagine it has disappeared till the morrow, but as the vessel rises and falls it becomes visible, and lost again to be seen no more till the dawn of the morning. Moonlight at sea! How vain the attempt to describe it, to tell how beneath the light of that silver bark in seas of air, the burnished waves for they have that appearance roll and sparkle till in the far distance they seem like a smooth gilded surface for me to speak of it is to do the scene injustice: it appeared strange that instead of silvery it should be golden light. Such however is sometimes the case. We have services on deck Sabbath afternoons conducted by Mr. Coan,119 passengers and sailors forming our little assembly, a slight awning over head we attempt to worship the God Who rules the winds and waves with a deep feeling of dependence on His Fatherly care. 118

Probably a reference to Sarah’s sister Julia. A reference to Rev. George W. Coan who, accompanied by his wife Sarah, was just joining the mission in Urmia. 119

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July 13th Land! Land! what a welcome sight! we are now making towards the straits of Gibraltar with a fair wind, a lovely morning and all on deck enjoying the sight. a short time since 1 vessel in view though so distant as scarcely to be seen caused an excitement. Now we count 8 or 10 hastening to the Mediterranean. The northern coast of Africa lies to the south of us. Europe to the north, and can it be am I indeed looking on the eastern hemisphere?

July 16th You have heard of the beauty of Italian sunsets, perhaps you would like my testimony to its truthfulness; I have seen in America more gorgeous coloring, but nothing to equal in delicacy and richness these sunset hues of the Mediterranean: a glow is diffused around which if your eyes rest on some distant objects is most soft and beautiful I have seen the sails of a vessel tinged a rose color by it. My husband thinks I mistake in saying it excels an American sunset but it certainly does any I have ever seen even in Connecticut.

July 23rd Harbor of Valetta Malta120 - You see how far we have come and cannot imagine the excitement which prevailed on our arrival at a foreign port: we entered just before daylight. On arising and looking from my cabin window the wall of the city which was a dusky colored stone met my eyes. We must remain 1/4 of a mile from the shore.121 In front of the wall was a row of warehouses of the same color, and donkeys, mules, horses, goats and natives were continually passing to and fro, but what pleased me most was the number of little boats; gaily painted some with awnings and curtains, shaped like Venetian Gondoliers, so gracefully gliding through the water. They reminded me of fairy scenes, they soon thronged the vessel presenting for sale, melons, apricots, pears, grapes, green figs, plums, and fresh gathered oranges. How welcome the fruit which the Captain furnished you may imagine. You see what a short and pleasant voyage, this is the 35th day. We expect to remain at Malta 10 days as the Captain has part of his cargo to discharge, our next place of des120

Valetta was a heavily fortified city that since the Treaty of Paris in 1814 had maintained a strong British presence. 121 The requirement that the ship remain a quarter-mile off shore may have been because of a quarantine.

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tination is Smyrna,122 then Constantinople, etc. so that for a long time we will be wanderers without an abiding place.

July 25th We spent the evening of the 23rd at Mr. Lowndes agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society123 (we were invited to do so). The buildings of Valetta are of a yellowish stone, the streets paved with the same so that an uniformity prevails where ever the eye turns only relieved by the dark green foliage of a creeping plant which finds its way in some places from the walls of the buildings and hangs in tufts with its small white blossoms. The houses in Valetta are built very high, streets mostly very narrow so that on looking up you see but a little strip of sky: there is of course much ascent and as the best rooms of the families are in the upper stories, we are obliged in visiting to ascend them, but it is not fatiguing as there are many turns, and but few easy steps at a time: at each story we met with a domestic who still pointed upward till we had gained the uppermost story. Rooms have very lofty ceilings in some cases arched and painted like a panoramic view, plain colored walls, they have an air of cold grandeur, very different from that cheerful look in New York dwelling. Yesterday we visited the public gardens of the Florians.124 I wish I could better describe them: long walks with flower beds on each side, about 2 yards from each other were pillars of stone, nearly covered with climbing plants. One of these in particular attracted my attention, from the beauty of its blossoms, 122 An ancient port city in Turkey that had been a commercial center in the Greco-Roman world. 123 Founded in 1804, this Bible society predated the formation of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and sought to provide Bible translations in indigenous languages. Rev. J. Lowndes briefly served as agent for the Society in Malta before his transfer to Athens in 1845. There, he continued to supervise the work of the organization in both places. The Society maintained a stock of 12,000 copies of the Bible in 25 languages which undoubtedly created the need for Lowndes’ visit to Malta where the Breaths encountered him. See William Canton, A History of the British and Foreign Bible Society (London, John Murray, 1904), pp. 275277. 124 The Florian gardens in Malta were located in a suburb of Valetta. A botanical garden was constructed in 1805 by Sir A.J. Bell on a fortified site built in 1720 following a plan developed by Pope Urban VIII a century earlier. See LieutCol. R.L. Playfair, Handbook to the Mediterranean: Its Cities, Coasts, and Islands for the Use of General Travellers and Yachtsmen, Part 1(London: John Murray, 1881), p. 185.

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they were in clusters like the Forget-me-not, but the flowers are rather larger yellow and pink on one stem so beautifully and variously arranged that it seemed like artificial blending. The walls of the garden, for everything has walls, were nearly covered with climbing roses: I saw a snake cactus as large as a small tree palm and cypress trees, etc. Returning we met a milkman. You will think of a wagon and kettles no such thing, a man leading a goat and carrying a tin cup, his purchasers are sure it is fresh. Last evening went to Mr. Hart’s125 to a meeting (and) were ushered in a lower apartment to unbonnet, then in the parlor as large as both ours with a ceiling so high the eyes ached to look up at it, deep recesses by the windows with 2 steps to ascend if you wish to look out. Seating ourselves we were offered cake and wine. About 35 were present and they were of 8 different nations Swiss, Italian, Portuguese, Maltese, Scotch, French, English and American. The meeting was opened at 8 o’clock by prayer, there a portion of scripture was read, the discussion of which occupied an hour. This was done in a familiar way; most of the ladies were engaged in fancy sewing, closed also with prayer then friendly greetings. They are very cordial in their manners toward us. We have an abundance of fine fruit here. You cannot judge of oranges by their taste in New York but must eat them fresh from the tree to know their deliciousness. Took a sail this morning to view the exterior of some men of war in the harbor, were rowed by 2 little bright eyed Maltese boys who seemed unable at sight but they were very strong. Spent last evening at Dr. Kalley’s of Scotland126 whose name you will remember as connected with the [ ] of Portuguese. He is a fine looking man with dark eyes and jet black ringlets. We went at 5 o’clock and after tea attended service with them in a free church of Scotland, for the first time since leaving America. After service Mr. & Mrs. Lowndes returned with us to the Doctor where we spent 2 hours. A young lady from Madura who left her home on account of persecution resides in his family. She is very intelligent. At the 125

Probably an error created when Sarah’s letters were copied in the journal. She was likely referring to Rev. William Hare, military chaplain. 126 A reference to Dr. Robert Reid Kalley, described on pp. 24-25. Kalley’s sojourn in Malta was only three years after the wave of violence in Madeira and his expulsion from the island. See Michael Presbyter Testa, “The Apostle of Madeira: Dr. Robert Reid Kalley,” Journal of Presbyterian History 42 (September 1964) and a subsequent article by Testa, “Apostle of Madeira, Part I,” Journal of Presbyterian History 42 (December 1964).

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close of the evening we partook of a collation of fruits and returned to our own stopping place refreshed in spirit. This morning visited St. John’s Chapel127 and the Governor’s palace,128 with respect to the former conceive to yourselves the utmost you can imagine of splendor, think of most beautiful mosaic work, paintings, sculpture, an altar with silver railing, fill up niches with statuary etc. and you must fall short of that I cannot describe. Next the Governor’s Palace. We entered the ballroom and Mrs. Coan and I seated ourselves in the [ ] Queen’s Chair; which was on a platform: saw a bust of Queen Victoria, and a full length portrait of Louis 10th of France. His robe was purple embroidered with gold and lined with ermine. The walls of the dining room were hung with needle work tapestry of ancient date, it must have been the labour (of) many life times. The armory possessed in my eyes most interest, there were 80 complete suits of armor, 17,000 guns, besides many other instruments of warfare. I cannot speak of the pieces separately, but they appeared like men composed entirely of metal. The front of the person is entirely covered except an opening for the eyes. The room was very large and these armed helmeted men were placed at short distances between the rows of guns. One bore the marks of 3 bullets which had caused indentures in the heavy metal. The shields were placed on the left arm. There were so many joints in the legs and arms as to render motion easy. The heavy helmets which could not possibly be worn otherwise rest on the shoulders. One of them which resembled a cooking vessel the gentleman could scarcely lift.

127 Although Sarah refers to this structure as a chapel it is more correctly a cathedral. Built by the Ordres des Hospitaliers in the seventeenth century, the edifice reflects the history of Malta as a refuge for wounded crusaders. 128 Built by the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the building that became the Governor’s Palace in Valetta housed collections of armor, tapestries and paintings in the nineteenth century. Writing in 1826, Rev. Charles Swan described “…upwards of seventeen thousand stand(s) of arms” in the fortress as well as a variety of ancient weapons. See Journal of a Voyage up the Mediterranean: Principally among the Islands of the Archipelago and of Asia Minor (London: C. and J. Rivington, 1826), p. 29.

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July 28th Last evening visited Mr. and Mrs. Henning.129 He is surgeon of the Naval Hospital, a pleasant row boat sail up the harbor brought us to it which is situated on a point of land in view of the city, and close by the water’s edge. You will of course understand they are English and very kind to us. This morning arose at 4 to take an early ride and visit St. Paul’s Church130 and the Catacombs.131 The priest was performing mass in the former which was superbly decorated. The Catacombs, where it is said the early Christians took refuge from persecution, are gloomy subterranean passages never visited by the light of day. They lead it is supposed to the city, miles distant. We went but a short way through their windings carrying torch lights and attended by a Catholic priest; on our return found our clothes just from the laundress, nicely washed and ironed at 1.8 per dozen.

Aug 1st Mediterranean Sea. Left Malta on last evening fair wind and fine moonlight night, felt some regret at leaving a place where we had met such kind friends and enjoyed such pleasant Christian intercourse. On Sabbath morning last, attended morning service in the chapel of the palace, conducted by Mr. Hare Military Chaplain.132 In the afternoon the Free Church of Scotland.133 Mr. Denison preached Monday evening in

129 The British naval hospital in Malta (Bighi) was constructed early in the nineteenth century with a major facility built between 1830 and 1832. Dr. Hamilton Dickson Robert Henning was surgeon and “storekeeper” at the Bighi Royal Naval Hospital in Malta. Previously, he had been Assistant Surgeon on board the HMS Alban. See Malta Family History http://website.lineone.net/~stephaniebidmead/ index.htm. 130 Sarah’s reference to St. Paul’s Church undoubtedly refers to a sixteenthcentury church constructed when the Order of St. John of Jerusalem gained control of Malta following defeat of the Ottoman armies. The church was dedicated to the biblical account of the shipwreck of Paul on the island of Malta. See http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/pope2/malta/SPmla01.html. 131 Underground Roman cemeteries located on the island of Malta. 132 In 1852, Hare was living in Valetta at 3 Strada San Paolo. See Malta Family History. 133 The Free Church of Scotland was established in 1843, only six years before Edward and Sarah Breath’s journey. Formed from dissidents from the Church of Scotland, the Free Church developed a strong missionary tradition.

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compliance with the previous invitation.134 Visited Mr. and Mrs. Hare at their residence (at) the St. Julian’s College some 2 or 3 miles from Valetta, (he has the oversight of it).135 We crossed the harbor and after walking a long distance by the shore arrived about dusk. Walked through the garden which was large and contained beautiful flowers, passed under an arbor which [ ] was covered I thought with grapes/vines. It was nearly dark, but on receiving a cluster found they were currants. Such as they (are) dry, they have a fine flavor. The English judging from those we have met are very hospitable. We have not only been kindly entertained by those we had never met before, but the deepest interest manifested in our mission, as well as our personal welfare. After tea a few of the pupils who were staying at the college (for it was vacation) were seated in a semi-circle in an adjoining room, and my husband was requested to give some account of what had been done in Urmia. He did so, and all listened apparently with interest. A Russian lady,136 the wife of an officer in the army enquired of me, “Had I ever before been so far from home? Did I have many friends behind me?” She spoke and understood English so imperfectly, that I was obliged to answer by an interpreter. I was much pleased with her manners and appearance. She expressed warm communication of our mission. At the close of the evening we had service conducted by one of our party. It appears to be customary among the English to invite their guests to join in family worship. I like it much, it shows they have laid aside all reserve, and made you for the time at least, one of their family. We are seated by a round table, (they have no square ones), a hymn is sung then reading and prayer. 134

Rev. James Dennison was a Presbyterian minister in Malta. See Malta Family

History. 135 Sarah’s comments about St. Julian’s College were a reference to the Malta Protestant College located at St. Julian’s Bay two miles from Valetta. The College had been established in 1846 through English efforts and was an attempt to provide a Protestant education for persons throughout the East. The College was planned in grandiose theological terms that sought to use indigenous people as a means for spreading the gospel in much the same way as the schools planned by the American Board sought to evangelize local Christian populations. The College included a school for boys and another for adults. By the end of the nineteenth century, the effort had failed. The school property was sold to the Jesuits and renamed St. Ignatius College. See Melita Historica, New Series 10 (1990) 3 (257-282). 136 An interesting reference suggesting the presence of Russians in the Ottoman and Persian empires. Russians were a source of competition for English commercial interests.

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Just as our vessel was loosed from her moorings, with sails spread for her departure, Mr. and Mrs. Innes137 came in a small boat to bid us farewell, and regretted we must go so soon.

Aug. 20th Arrived at Smyrna on the 17th. Misses Riggs138 and Benjamin missionaries stationed here, came on board to see us, and Mr. and Mrs. Coan were invited to Mr. Riggs’, we to Mr. Benjamin’s.139 My husband told me a letter awaited me. As soon as we had packed up and prepared we went on shore, felt regret again at leaving the vessel which had so long been our home. Thought on the pleasant intercourse there enjoyed with our fellow passengers, the seasons of evening worship in the snug cabin. How I shall miss that gentle motion and the rushing of the waters which lulled me to sleep and saluted me when I awoke. I shall sit no more on the quarter-deck to watch the sunset hues fade into the sober gray of evening - I did not know before how much I loved the sea. On landing we were intercepted by a Turk wishing to examine the trunk we carried with us. The key was given him but if he opened it he disturbed nothing, as a porter soon followed bearing it. More kindly welcomed 137 Henry and Barbara Innes. The Innes family were well established in Malta. See Malta Family History. 138 Martha Jane Dalzel Riggs was born in Mendham, New Jersey and died in Aintab (Turkey) on November 15, 1887. She married the missionary Elias Riggs who served in Constantinople, Syria and Egypt and who was in Smyrna between 1838 and 1853. After leaving the Middle East Elias Riggs taught Hebrew at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. See John H. Wallace, Genaeology of the Riggs Family: With a Number of Cognate Branches Descended from the Original Edward through Female Lines and many Biographical Outlines, vol. 1, (1901, private publication), p. 57. 139 The designation “Misses Riggs and Benjamin” is probably a copyist error since later on the same page Sarah refers to “Mr. and Mrs. Riggs,” implying that the Riggs were married. After leaving the Middle East, Elias Riggs taught Hebrew at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. See John H. Wallace, Genaeology of the Riggs Family: With a Number of Cognate Branches Descended from the Original Edward through Female Lines and many Biographical Outlines, vol. 1, (1901, private publication), p. 57. The reference to Benjamin is to Nathan Benjamin (born on December 14, 1811 in Catskill, New York) who died in Constantinople on January 27, 1855. He married Mary Gladding Wheeler who later wrote The Missionary Sisters: A Memorial of Mrs. Seraphina Haynes Everett, and Mrs. Harriet Martha Hamlin Late Missionaries of the A.B.C.F.M. at Constantinople (Boston: American Tract Society, 1860).

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by Mr. and Mrs. B. Waldron’s140 letter (which) was soon handed to me. How strangely I felt when I read it - was it joy or was it grief? It bode the tear (to) start and yet forbade it (to) flow!! The new scenes around me vanished from my sight. I only saw the faces of loved and absent ones, “Past converse, past scenes, past enjoyments were there.” As soon as I could I stole away to my own room. Called on Mr. and Mrs. Riggs in the afternoon: after tea walked on the terrace, all the genteel houses have terraces they afford a pleasant evening promenade. From Mr. Benjamin’s we have a fine view of the city and harbor. Smyrna is built on the side and at the foot of a hill, on the summit of which the old city stood, the remains of its wall marking the spot: it would be very warm here, but for the seabreeze which we have almost constantly, I have not felt the heat as much as in New York. In front of our window rises a Turkish Minaret, beyond it a hill surmounted by a grove of cypress trees. They resemble the poplar foliage in form, but have a darker foliage. Still beyond stretches a chain of mountains, and turning to the right we see the harbour with the vessels of different nations lying at anchor here and there. On Sabbath the 19th we attended in the morning the Episcopal Church which is the only Protestant service held here. Mr. Coan preached at Bournabat141 7 miles from Smyrna. In the afternoon accompanied Mr. Benjamin’s family to Mr. Riggs where a bible class was held. A seminarian youth, 2 English ladies the members of the 2 families and ourselves composed the class. The 6th of Ephesians was read and explained, hymns sung and prayers offered. I enjoyed it very much. Mr. Benjamin’s family is well regulated, and it was so quiet a Sabbath, I fancied I was at home. On Monday morning Mrs. Packard, Miss Watson, an English young lady who expects to engage in teaching, and I went out shopping.142 We can get almost anything we want here, although there is not that variety for selection as in New York. 140 The correspondence from the Waldrons was probably related to Sarah’s mother’s side of the family. Her mother’s birth name was Anna Waldron. 141 Bournabat was a village, seven miles from Smyrna. In the mid-nineteenth century, Bournabat was a country residence of wealthy merchants from the city. Charles G. Addison described its attraction to Western visitors, “In the environs of the village are several very fine houses fitted up with European luxuries, and surrounded by beautiful gardens, the residence of the English or French merchants, consuls, etc.” See Charles G. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra: A Journey to the East, With a Sketch of the State and Prospects of Syria, under Ibrahim Pasha (London: Richard Bentley, 1836), p. 318. 142 See note 147.

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Miss Watson (is) acting as interpreter. I purchased some thin muslin for a mosquito net. If sister Elisa143 were to walk here she would think Walker Street144 very fine. They are paved with rough uneven stones, have no sidewalks, the gutter runs through the middle and if two walk together the outside one can scarcely clear it. When the donkeys come along laden on each side you must get close to the wall of the houses till they pass. Mr. and Mrs. Coan called in the afternoon to take leave of us as they will leave on Monday in the steamer for Constantinople. They prefer spending most of their time there, as there is more of interest in that city. We wait to accompany our freight on Friday. Mr. Johnson of Bournabat145 called yesterday to invite us to his residence. We did so by the steamer which plies between that place and Smyrna. It being a Turkish holiday a larger number than usual were on board. On landing we selected an American looking carriage with 2 horses, such as I had not expected to see and started. I was considerably amused in seeing the Turks, who had landed with us, mount their donkeys in great glee, striving to out ride each other. Their gay saddles, and still gayer colors worn by their masters. Their loose white trousers shaking as with both feet. They hit the creatures, using their stirrups instead of a whip, (and) presented a ludicrous appearance. They use their girdles as pockets for weapons and other articles. But the turban is the most prominent part of their dress. A round cap is first put tightly on, then a gay kerchief, or piece of calico, is rolled up about the thickness of a man’s arm and wound 3 or 4 times around the head. Green turbans are worn by the descendants of the Prophet. A round red cap about 6 inches in height with a flat crown and rich silk tassel hanging from the centre is much worn. The Grecian women146 walk here with uncovered heads. A small cap is put on the crown of the head, their long hair is braided and laid around the head covering the edge of the cap and resting a little above the forehead. It is becoming. Spent the night at Mr. Johnson’s, and returned next morning to 143

A reference to Sarah’s sister, Elizabeth. In other instances Sarah spelled her sister’s name with a “z”. The use of an “s” in Elisa may be a copyist error. 144 In all probability a reference to Walker Street in lower Manhattan, again suggesting Sarah Breath’s familiarity with this area of the city. 145 Rev. Thomas Pinckney Johnston was born in Towan County, North Carolina (October 28, 1808) and died in Fort Mills, South Carolina (May 30, 1883). Rev. Johnston was stationed both in Smryna and Trebisond. 146 As a classical Grecian city before the creation of modern Turkey, Smyrna maintained a significant Greek population until 1923 when the Treaty of Lausanne forced their expulsion.

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Smyrna, in a row boat. I think I have mentioned the name of Mrs. Packard. She is a widow lady who came on with us from Boston in company with her nephew George Kitteredge147 with the intention of visiting her sister, the wife of a missionary at Beirut. She is a kind motherly woman to whom I had become attached. The family came together to join in a parting prayer today as they left for Beirut this afternoon. I was sorry to see her go. So we go on making and breaking ties, as we ourselves must leave tomorrow. We can literally say, “We are strangers and sojourners here.”148

Aug. 24th Took a walk early this morning on the terrace (and) ascended to the most elevated part where we had a fine view of the city and harbor. The sun had just arisen and the mist still rested on the mountain. I looked with interest on the wall which alone remains of ancient Smyrna. Within that enclosure gathered once the little band to which the message of our Saviour was addressed: “To the angel of the church of Smyrna write.”149 With what pleasure should I gaze upon the many upward pointed minarets if like the spires of our own beloved land, they arose from temples dedicated to the sincere worship of the Triune God. When at home we read and hear favorable reports from different stations. We think the millennium day is fast approaching, but visiting distant lands we see how, “Folly and Superstition every hope have blighted.”150…it is only by remembering the work is God’s and 147 The identification of Mrs. Packard’s sister in Beirut includes several possibilities among the spouses of missionaries stationed there. American Board missionaries in Beirut included Eli Smith, William Frederick Williams, Henry A. DeForest, M.D., George Hurter (a printer), and Mrs. Maria Thompson (the wife of a missionary whose husband was absent). 148 A reference to Leviticus 25:23. 149 A reference to Revelations 2:8. 150 A reference to a Christian hymn that by 1866 was known as “Joyful Tidings” and which appeared in Alexander Campbell’s, The Christian Hymn Book: A Compilation of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Original and Selected by A. Campbell and Others (Cincinnati, H.S. Bosworth, 1866), No. 610. However, the text of the hymn was used earlier under other names. For example, the hymn was identified as an anthem for an evening service and appeared in Samuel Gilman, Charles Manson Taggart, John Healey Haywood, and George Washington Burnap, The Old and the New or Discourses and Proceedings at the Dedication of the Re-Modelled Unitarian Church in Charleston, S.C. on Sunday, April 2, 1854, Preceded by the Farewell Discourse Delivered in the Old Church, on Sunday, April 4, 1852 (Charleston, South Carolina: Samuel Courtenay,

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relying on His Promises, we forbid despair. The brethrens here have little to cheer them; their day of good things is not yet come. Several rows of cypress trees on the south side, look like a pointed wall of green being so regular in size and form as to shut out every object beyond from sight. The sun just seen above the mountains looked about upon the harbor. The sea breeze had not yet disturbed its waters, so calm and placid they seemed to be yet enjoying the repose of night. Not long shall I be permitted to even look on the vessels of my native land, which here in sweet brotherhood with those of other nations rest for a season from the toils of the sea. I saw on a neighboring terrace a man who had just risen, “Take up his bed and walk.”151 The children152 here have visited America, and seem to have caught the feelings of their parents with regard to it. They welcome with expressions of delight one of its vessels and Samuel the eldest son about 12 years of age hoists on the terrace his star spangled banner. They have 4 children well behaved and affectionate. Frances the eldest daughter…, about 10, has promised to correspond with me. We leave by this afternoon’s steamer. I have felt very much at home here. Mrs. Benjamin is an excellent woman, and I think I have gained some useful hints from her. My husband has gone to see our freight on board,153 everything in my room being packed, and intending to leave this for Mr. Benjamin to send, together with my letters. I am trying to come to the last work, which only recedes from me as I pursue it. I dip my pen in the ink, and holding it in my hand attempt to call to mind the occurrences of the last two months: but the rapidity with which they have passed, and the thought of the future confuse me. The ink evaporates, 1854), p. 44. Sarah’s use of the phrase, “folly and superstition every hope have blighted” from the last stanza of the hymn suggests an even earlier origin. 151 Sarah is referring to a phrase that appears in Mark 2:9 and John 5:8 in which Jesus says, “I say to you, rise, take up your bed and walk.” (Revised Standard Version of the Bible) 152 Sarah refers to the four children of Nathan and Mary Goodell. Their oldest child, Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin, became the first United States Minister to Persia in 1883 and served in that capacity until 1886. He was also an accomplished marine artist. During the Crimean War his illustrations of the front appeared in The London Illustrated News. 153 Breath returned to Persia carrying a set of Syriac punches that had been made for him in the United States and which were undoubtedly a critical component of his luggage. See Coakley, “Edward Breath and the Typography of Syriac,” p. 56.

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and I am still thinking whether something I wish to communicate is not still unwritten. To those of my friends who feel enough of interest in me to read this, I would say, “So delightful to me is the recollection of all of you that I shall ever cherish it.” May every real blessing be yours. I was about to offer an apology for the careless manner in which it has been written, but I know as heretofore my faults will be overlooked. Sarah Ann Breath

Black Sea September 5th 1849 Seated yesterday afternoon on the deck of an Austrian steamer,154 we took our last look of the hills which lie on either side of the Bosphorus. We left Smyrna on the 24th (of) August (and) reached Constantinople (on) the 26th. (We) were cordially welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Goodell.155 He is a veteran in the field, a father in Israel, and looks upon new-comers as his children. Many useful hints may be gathered from his conversation while words of encouragement drop from his lips. On turning from his door I thought of Bunyan’s Pilgrim156 leaving the house of the Interpreter, but on losing sight of the Bosphorus,157 and looking in its stead on the heavy dull Black Sea, I rather thought we had left the house beautiful. Much as I had heard of Constantinople, it exceeds my expectations. Being built on the side of hills facing the water, no object which can contribute to the grandeur of the scene is lost sight of. Minaret rises above minaret, tower above tower. The day following our arrival we left Paru,158 the part of the city where Mr. Goodell resides, for Bebek159 a village 6 or 8 154 By the mid-nineteenth century, British, French, Russian and Austrian steamers vied for business in the Middle East. See Charles Issawi, “Middle East Economic Development, 1815-1914: the General and the Specific” in Albert H. Hourani, Phillip Khoury, and Mary Wilson, The Modern Middle East (New York: I.B. Tauris, Revised Edition, 2004). 155 Sarah’s reference to Goodell as “a veteran in the field” and “a father in Israel” suggests that the reference is probably to Rev. William Goodell. Goodell, an older, prestigious missionary and scholar, was born in Templeton, Massachusettts (February 14, 1792) and died in Philadelphia (February 18, 1867). He served the American Board in Malta, Beirut, and Constantinople and contributed to a translation of the Bible into the Armen-Turkish language. He married Abigail Perkins Davis. William Goodell’s obituary was printed in the New York Times on February 23, 1867. 156 A reference to the central character in John Bunyan’s seventeenth-century Christian fantasy, The Pilgrim’s Progress from this World to that which is to Come. 157 The strait that connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. When Istanbul was the Christian city of Constantinople, the Bosphorus was understood to be the waterway that separated Europe and Asia. 158 Sarah’s references to Paru or Para probably refer to Pera which is modern day Beyoglu, a district of Istanbul. Plate 7 shows the harbor much as Sarah encountered it. 159 A village (Plate 8) west of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) that in the mid-nineteenth century had a significant Greek population. The American Board

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miles distant, where the male seminary is kept under the oversight of Mr. Hamlin.160 Seated on a mat, in one of the little skiffs, which glide about the sea, I needed not Miss Lovelle’s161 direction to observe the beauties of the Bosphorus. Lofty mountains in the distance, verdant hills, groves of cypress worked with the Christian population of Constantinople since Sharia law made proselytism among Muslims impossible. Bebek was a focal point of this activity and was used to house visiting missionaries. Travel literature of the period also reported that the village was a favorite retreat center for Ottoman Sultans. See Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus, p. 135. 160 Cyrus Hamlin became a missionary for the American Board after graduating from Bowdoin College and Bangor Theological Seminary. Subsequently, in Constantinople, Hamlin initiated a Protestant school (or “seminary”) in Bebek in 1840, which was an attempt to bolster the Armenian Christian community in Turkey. (See Plate 9 and pp. 26-29). In 1849, Sarah Breath indicated that she and her husband stayed at Hamlin’s home in Bebek which was part of the school. In 1854, on a visit to Bebek, Rev. John Overton Choules, who accompanied Cornelius Vanderbilt on a voyage through Russia, Europe and the Middle East, visited Constantinople where he described Hamlin’s house: The house is of wood, painted black, and is of large dimensions. It was purchased of a Greek; was built about fifty years ago, as an inscription of date records; and, when I asked why it was painted black, I was informed that it was intended by its original proprietor to denote his humble, submissive spirit in relation to the government and people. This is the location of the educational affairs of the mission, at the head of which our friend Mr. Hamlin presides.

See Rev. John Overton Choules, The Cruise of the Steam Yacht North Star: A Narrative of the Excursion of Mr. Vanderbilt’s Party to England, Russia, Denmark, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, Turkey, Madeira, etc., (Boston, Gould and Lincoln, 1854) p. 298. In 1863, Hamlin and an American entrepreneur, Christopher Rhilelander Robert, founded Robert College in Constantinople where he eventually served as President. Later, Hamlin became President of Middlebury College in Vermont. See Nehemiah Cleveland, History of Bowdoin College with Biographical Sketches of its Graduates from 1806 to 1870 Inclusive (Boston: James Ripley Osgood and Co., 1882), pp. 45961. For a description of Hamlin’s work in Constantinople see Edward Door Griffin Prime, Forty Years in the Turkish Empire. Or, Memoirs of Rev. William Goodell, D.D., Late Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. at Constantinople. By His Son-in-Law, E.D.G. Prime, D.D., (New York: R. Carter and Brothers, 1876). 161 Harriet M. Lovell is attributed to either Rockingham, Vermont or Charlestown, New Hampshire (born February 9, 1820). In 1845, Lovell took charge of a female boarding school in Bebek where eight Armenian girls became residents. Following the death of Hamlin’s first wife, Henrietta Jackson from tuberculosis, he married Lovell. Harriet Lovell died in Bebek on November 6, 1857.

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and sycamore trees, contrasting finely with the dazzling whiteness of the mosques. Splendid palaces and terraced gardens of which the Turks are faced with as lovely a sheet of water as the sun ever shone upon, formed such a combination of the beautiful in nature and art as I had never before seen. Bebek is a charming village on the side of a hill. Indeed I saw no level country around Constantinople though the ascent is toilsome you are rewarded by the increased pleasantness of the situation, and more extended views of the surrounding country. Our home here was at Mr. Hamlin’s although much of our time was spent in visiting the mission families. An examination of the pupils was held on Friday, but having accepted an invitation to accompany Miss Hall and her brother to see the Sultan162 as he went to mosque, we crossed the Bosphorus in a haiyhe,163 and stationed by the window of a coffee house awaited his approach. He came with very little parade, preceded by his ministers of state, and 6 grooms leading as many horses richly caparisoned, with stirrups of gold and saddle cloths of scarlet and blue, elegantly embroidered with silver, gold and jewelry. They were by far the most showy part of the procession his own dress was rich but plain, the collar of his coat was studded with diamonds, his countenance was pleasant, body guards followed on foot, a band of music ceased playing while he passed by the silence was expressive and had a happy effect. Walking in Constantinople to see the sights is unpleasant. The streets are narrow and dusty, very uneven and miserably paved, We stopped at the doors of mosques and some of our party venturing to cross the threshold were ordered out by the Turks. No covered feet are permitted to tread their courts. Their own shoes are taken off at the door. However we caught some glimpses of the interior; the elegant chandeliers and immense marble pillars supporting the domes etc. The eastern style of architecture is on a grand scale. The mausoleums,164 or tombs for interring the dead are [ ] beautiful buildings. Looking in a window, we saw that each tomb was enclosed by a railing of wood, and inlaid with mother of pearl, while at the head of the tomb, the head dress of the departed is placed on a wooden figure.

162

Sultan Abdulmecid who was born in 1823 and died in 1861. Probably a reference to a kayak or rowboat which in the nineteenth century was commonly used for transportation on the Bosphorus. This term was alternatively described as kaique, or caique, caikjee and was used, as Sarah observes, to transport the Sultan to the mosque. 164 See Plate 14. 163

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There are extensive burying-grounds in the vicinity adorned with cypress trees. The remains of Mrs. Van Lennep165 (and) one or two children of the missionaries lie in one we pass. The Turks carry their dead to the graves on biers without coffins. They are adorned with flowers and followed with hired mourners. Walked through a part of the bazaar;166 almost every thing that can be purchased in Broadway can be bought here. You would not think it was Broadway. Neither would you find as much difficulty in crossing to the opposite stores, 2 or 3 steps will answer. I thought all the ladies had the faceache seeing their heads bound up in their yoshmachs167 their eyes only being visible. The yoshmach is a bit of thin muslin longer than wide, one corner folded as a shawl and put over the lower part of the face touching the nose, the opposite corner folded in like manner and put over the forehead, the remainder falling over the breast. It is so thin that the head dress and jewels may be seen through it, and they converse also with ease. Saw in our walk an Egyptian obelisk168 brought here by Constantine, and erected by Theodosius169 a work of such antiquity could not but awaken a feeling of interest. How ancient its date we could not conjecture but we knew it had stood here 1,500 years. It was of granite with cut figures. On one side of the square stone pedestal, was an account of its erection, on the remaining sides were cut representations of the ceremonies used and figures as specimens of the ancient style. Near it were the 3 serpents twined together brought from the temple of Delphi. Their heads had been broken off by Mahossnet170 and they looked as if ready to yield to a blow. Ascended the tower of

165 Mary Van Lennep died in Constantinople on September 27, 1844 and was memorialized by the missionary community. See Memoir of Mrs. Mary E. Van Lennep, Only Daughter of the Rev. Joel Hawes, D.D. and Wife of the Rev. Henry J. Van Lennep, Missionary in Turkey by her Mother (Hartford: Wm. Jas. Hamersley, 1850). 166 See Plates 11-13. 167 Yasmak or yashmak — a veil concealing all of the face except the eye, worn by some Muslim women. 168 An obelisk or monument brought to Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodosius from the Karnak temple in Egypt. See Plate 10. 169 The Roman Emperor Theodosius 379-395 C.E. 170 A reference to Mohamed and to the prohibition in Islam of depicting the human figure. Sarah refers to the disfigurement of statues of human figures by Ottoman armies.

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Terashia171 and saw… a world of beauty varying with every look, far, far below. Let the lover of nature come here to gratify his curiosity. I cannot attempt a description. After resting awhile, we descended its 180 steps and visited a Turkish refectory to take a lunch. We made a very good one without napkins or aproned waiters. I have not yet learned to love their pillau172 or rice cooked with grease but their delicious grapes almost make up the want of anything else. And then well satisfied with sight-seeing returned home. Next morning being the Sabbath, Mr. Coan preached to a small congregation assembled in the hall of Mr. Hamlin’s from the text, “He was wounded for our transgressions” etc. In the evening the communion of the Lord’s Supper was celebrated by the mission families and a few others, After its close we took leave of our friends as we intended to start early next morning for Para. At 6 o’clock Monday morning we were sailing down the Bosphorus. The city was enveloped in mist through which the mosques from their dazzling whiteness were visible. They seemed suspended in air like the representation of heavens in Martin’s Milton173 or that castle in the air, in the picture of Cole’s the 2nd in the series of the voyage of life.174 I gazed on the strange and beautiful spectacle with wonder and delight. Reached Para at 7 o’clock. While in my room writing, as we expected to leave for Trebisond next day, Emma Goodell came in to say that a box sent them from America was about to be opened and invited me to see its contents. What joy to examine the articles! Here was a book for Momma another for Henry, a bonnet for Mary, an apron for Emma, a plaything horse for Eddy, besides many other articles Mr. & Mrs. Goodell’s two eldest daughters are in America.175 Left next day for Trebisond. Mr. Powers176 being the only mission family residing here, they were very glad to see us.

171 Probably a reference to the Serasker Tower which was also known as Beyazit Serasker Tower. Today, it is identified as the Beyazit Tower. 172 Probably a reference to pilaf. 173 A reference to John Martin, Paradise Lost of Milton with Illustrations (London: Charles Tilt, 1838). 174 A reference to the paintings of Thomas Cole (1801-1848), founder of the Hudson River School of Art. Sarah’s descriptions of “castles in the air” is also probably a reference to Cole’s series of paintings (“The Voyage of Life”) depicting the life of St. Thomas, in 1842. 175 Goodell’s daughters moved to the United States in 1844 to continue their education.

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Two Nestorians Guergis177 and Eshoo,178 had started soon after the receipt of Mr. Breath’s letter, to meet and accompany us to Urmia. They arrived yesterday but are obliged to remain 9 days in quarantine. They brought letters of welcome to us from all the mission families at Urmia, also from Mr. and Mrs. Bliss of Erseroom.179 After breakfast went in Mr. Powers study and united in singing, “Kindred in Christ for his dear sake etc.”180 and then read together our letters. They breathed the warmest expressions of friendship toward us. Eshoo brought a horse for my use onward. We are all busy as can be in preparing for our land journey, packing and repacking boxes, and purchasing provisions indeed whatever can contribute to our comfort. They have no carts or wagons. All our baggage was conveyed to Mr. Powers’ on the backs of horses or porters. They have saddles fastened under the shoulders and so constructed that the burdens rest on them with hands on knees. Body bent forward they carry on their projecting saddles a

176 Probably a reference to Philander Oliver Powers who was born in Phillipston, Massachusetts (August 19, 1805) and who died near Antioch (October 2, 1872). Rev. Powers served in Brussa, Tribisond, Smyrna and Antioch. 177 Probably Gewergis. Rev. Joseph Cochran in Nestorian Biography describes Gewergis as a son of Eshoo from the Gawar district of Koordistan (Kurdistan). Gewergis was converted by American missionaries and became one of their oftentouted success stories, demonstrating the effectiveness of the American Board’s work. See Rev. Joseph Cochran, “Gewergis, of Gawar,” in American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Nestorian Biography: Being Sketches of Pious Nestorians who have Died at Oroomiah, Persia (Boston: Congregational Publishing Society, 1857), pp. 127-150. 178 Probably the father of Gewergis as described by Rev. Joseph Cochran in Nestorian Biography. 179 Rev. Isaac Grout Bliss was born in Springfield, Massachusetts (July 5, 1822) and died in Asyoot, Egypt (February 10, 1889). His wife was Eunice Bliss Day who was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts (July 21, 1823) and who died at Kingston, New York in August, 1916. The Blisses served the American Board in Smyrna, Erseroom and Constantinople. Erseroom was the nineteenth-century spelling of Erzurum, a Turkish city that had been captured by the Ottomans in the sixteenth century, subsequently becoming a center of military activity as the Ottoman government sought to defend it from attacks by Russian armies. 180 Another hymn written by John Newton (1725-1807).

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good wheelbarrow load. The muleteers181 are now sewing up the boxes in coarse cloth. The loads must not exceed 160 pounds as the horses can carry but twice that weight up the mountain, and the boxes are swung on each side. The way of doing things here is so different from that of America that it seems like another world, to us the new, rather than the old. Have been this morning on the roof to view the city. Trebisond differs from Smyrna or Constantinople. The houses are neat looking, interiors mostly white tiles on the roofs, and shade trees surround them. Mr. Powers’ house is elevated and in view of the sea behind it a hill rises on which the Pasha182 has a summer residence. The number of windows in the Turkish houses give them a cheerful look. In this room which is of ordinary size contains 6.

Sep 13th Took a ride yesterday afternoon in company with Mr. Powers and Mr. and Mrs. Coan. Went about 1¾ miles each way. I felt rather timid at first. They said I did very well for the first attempt but I think they must have laughed to see me attempt to turn or guide him. Eshoo who accompanied me to assist if necessary and he and I tried our conversational powers. He had picked up a few English words, and I to display my knowledge used what few Syriac I knew with I fear a little ostentation. Passed Mrs. Stoddard’s183 grave! What a privilege thought I to live, labor, and even lie on missionary ground. Those who sleep in Jesus though far from home and kindred sweetly sleep. With each day I live, with each

181 Mule train drivers who navigated their pack animals through narrow, winding paths in the mountainous regions in Persia and Turkey. Justin Perkins wrote in A Residence of Eight Years in Persia (p. 466) that “…the muleteers in Persia are commonly among the most treacherous of that treacherous people,” both revealing his bias and his fear of travel in a region dominated by robbers and brigands. 182 In the Ottoman empire the designation of a Pasha often referred to the governor of a province. The term was also ambiguous and could be used to refer to a variety of high ranks. 183 Harriet Briggs Stoddard married David Tappan Stoddard in 1843 and subsequently travelled to Urmia with the American Board. The couple died in Urmia in the winter of 1857 and were buried in the cemetery at Mt. Seir. See Joseph Parish Thompson, Memoirs of Rev. David Tappan Stoddard: Missionary to the Nestorians (New York: Sheldon, Blakeman and Co., 1858).

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step I take, my love for the cause in which I have embarked increases, and if not permitted to labor, yet then let me die in the cause.

15th Took a second ride yesterday. On our way passed a Greek church 1300 years old. The walls were covered with paintings now so defaced as to be scarcely perceptible floor of mosaic work. We constantly see something to remind us we are in the old world; ancient towers and castles with ivygrown walls speak of ages past and contrast with the newness and freshness of America; extensive mausoleums speak of nations once moving in active life, now numbered with the dead, and slumbering in the desert.

Erseroom 25th September Left Trebisond184 on the 17th, Mr. Stephens, British Consul at Trebisond,185 told us we must think we were about to cross the Rocky mountains. Our first day’s ride for some distance wound along a slight elevation, rising hills on our left, on our right a green valley through which ran a murmuring stream, now quietly flowing now falling in miniature cascades. Ascending a mountain we turned to take a last look at Trebisond now lying far beneath us, its houses looked like dots in the landscape. We turned away. It had been for a short time our resting place, but like pilgrims tarrying for a night we went on still eastward bound. At noon we stopped to refresh ourselves under the shade of a tree, and drank of the stream that flowed at our feet At night we put up at a caravanseri.186 Our provision chest is fitted up with everything necessary. The lid serves us for a table. We ladies are privileged 184

Trebisond was a nineteenth-century spelling of Trabzon, a city on the Black Sea that was an important center of trade in the Ottoman Empire. The city had also been an ancient Greek colony. 185 Francis Stevens was appointed British Consul in Trebisond. Sarah refers to him as “Mr. Stephens.” His brother, Richard, who was British Consul in Tabriz, was particularly influenced with the English missionary community, having promulgated an edict which gave equal protection to all Christian subjects and giving them the right to proselytize. See Robert Young, Light in Lands of Darkness: A Record of Missionary Labour among Greenlanders, Eskimos, Patagonians, Syrians, Armenians, Nestorians, Persians, Egyptians, and Jews (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1883) p. 194. See also, Denis Wright, The English among the Persians: Imperial Lives in Nineteenth-Century Iran (London: I.B. Taurus, 2001), p. 79. 186 Caravanserai. A building that provided a place of rest for travelers in nineteenth-century Turkish caravans.

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with the use of a camp stool. We have with us flour, coffee tea, sugar and preserved fruit. While writing the above, my husband came in to say, “Why are you sitting so quietly while destruction is going on among your things”? You know…(no matter) what would be going on I always loved a quiet seat well down stairs. I went to see what was the matter (and) I found the box containing my dresses open, and Guergis and Eshoo busily employed in emptying it of its contents and hanging my dresses to dry. In crossing a stream the unfortunate box fell in and you may judge of the state of the contents. The box containing paper, cards and envelopes was wet through. A few Daugerreotypes and books were slightly injured. But I am happy to say the Bible which was Uncle Tunis’ parting gift escaped unharmed. I wish I knew the name of the river. If they must be bathed it would have been some satisfaction to have been Euphrates stream. But to resume the narrative, at some stopping places we can get milk and eggs and congratulate ourselves on faring so sumptuously. On the 2nd day we commenced the ascent of a lofty mountain. Looking up our way was hardly discernible through the morning mist, but up, up still up we went till we cleared the mist and saw the clouds beneath us. How grand the scene! Flocks of sheep were grazing on its verdant slope. Above us mountain rose over mountain the first gleam of sunshine resting on their summits below us. Light fleecy clouds covered the valley and concealed our pathway ever and across. We would point (out) to one another the rainbow formed by the rays of the morning. Each day our path became wilder and more rugged. We lost sight of verdure. The scorching sun had withered the grass and barren rocks cast their shadows on our way. Imagine us in single file, now on the edge of some fearful precipice, our narrow path looking like a line of thread in the perspective; climbing some rocky steep, now in some lovely glen, here crossing a stream, then pursuing our way over some undulating plain, without a tree to cast its friendly shade. I have observed that the more toilsome and unpleasant our journey through the day, the more delightful our resting place at night: I do not mean the caravanseri, but its situation. I will not describe it. You may imagine it a hotel if you like. When the weather and place permitted we spread our tent, bringing forcibly to mind those lines, When through a barren rugged way Through devious lonely wilds I stray: To fertile vales, and dewy meads My weary wandering steps He leads;

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We have often been lulled to sleep by the sound of murmuring waters. We arouse our men by 3, breakfast early, and set out in the cool of the morning. The next day being Saturday we determined if possible to reach Erseroom as we did not wish to spend the Sabbath within a few hours ride of it. To accomplish it we must ride 12 hours and cross 2 mountains. From the summit of the 2nd we could see Erseroom. The city is surrounded by mountains. The view is grand but it wanted verdure to give it the kind of beauty I admire. I gathered a few yellow flowers called everlasting which despite the scorching sun and barren soil grew on its summit. Crossed the head waters of the Euphrates, and stopped to rest awhile at the house of a Catholic priest at Alegia.188 He informed Mr. Breath (that) Mr. Bliss of Erseroom had been to meet us but returned. The woman who had charge of the house paid us much attention. She brought us beds to recline on, placing them on the wooden platform which is elevated 6 inches above the ground floor. They have neither chairs nor tables. She then took a wooden stand about 6 inches in height and the size of a hogshead cover, and sitting it in front of us, placed on it some native bread and butter, and yogurt which is made of sour milk and considered a luxury. The gentlemen ate of it, but I dislike it. Their bread is made in thin cakes and would be very good were it not for the ashes with which one side is incrusted. Their ovens189 are made by digging a hole about 2 feet deep and finishing it with stone, as if for a cistern. The fire is built in the cavity, and the dough plastered in thin sheets around the sides. It bakes in this way very quickly. They had neither knives (n)or forks. We ate by breaking a bit of bread and using it as a knife for the butter, or scoop for the yoghurt both of which were in tin vessels. Do not suppose we have become so barbarous as 187 Sarah undoubtedly refers to an Anglican hymn, “The Lord My Pasture Shall Prepare” written by Joseph Addison (1672-1719). The fourth verse of the hymn begins, “Though in a bare and rugged way, through devious lonely wilds, I stray…” 188 Sarah may mean Aliaga, a town north of Smyrna (Izmir). 189 The ovens that Sarah referred to were described by Justin Perkins, “The oven (tannoor), in the villages of Persia resembles the ovens in Armenia. It consists of a circular hole in the earth, about three feet deep and perhaps two in width at the top and three at the bottom, with a flue entering it at the bottom to convey air to the fire. This hole is internally coated with clay, which soon hardens into tile.” See Perkins, A Residence of Eight Years in Persia, p. 156. In India, the tandoor is a variation of this ancient form of Persian oven.

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to adopt such customs. Our provision chest is furnished with every thing requisite for setting table in America but we thought it best in this instance to follow the maxim, “when you are at Rome do as the Romans do.” (The woman)…sat by kindly urging us through an interpreter. When our report was finished she amused herself by examining different articles of Mrs. Coan’s and my dress, expressing much astonishment at everything she saw. I had taken off my gloves and she looked at my hands, said they were so small, showed me how much larger her’s were. Their hands look like those of a laborer in our country, but her wonder was still more increased by seeing an air cushion Mrs. Coan used in riding. She saw it was filled, but did not know with what. She felt of it. It gave beneath her touch, and she looked up perfectly amazed. Amid showers we set out, determining to rest that night in Erseroom, which we reached at ½ past 6 o’clock having been 11½ hours on our saddles. Mr. and Mrs. Coan put up at Mr. Bliss’ house, we at Mr. Peabody’s,190 and enjoyed delightful rest. At the breakfast table next morning Mr. Peabody told us Mr. Coan had been taken ill during the night. A physician was called in, and he had been sent for. We felt grateful to think it did not occur on our way thither as in that case he must have suffered. We went there and found him sitting up. Held service there. Mr. Peabody preached from these words, “Rejoice in the Lord always”191 etc., peculiarly appropriate as we had great cause to be grateful and joyful. Eshoo had remained behind to look after our loads. I felt anxious to see him to inquire after my horse who was left behind, having the distemper. He said he was dead. Oh had I known when I parted from him I was not to see him again, I would have taken a last look, for I had become attached to him. Tis ever thus since childhood’s home, I’ve seen my fondest hopes decay.192

190

Josiah Peabody was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts (January 7, 1807) and served the American Board in Erzroom and Constantinople. Peabody died in Stamford, Connecticut (June 20, 1873). He was educated at Dartmouth College and Andover Seminary which were both bastions of Congregational tradition and influence. 191 A reference to Philipians 4:4. 192 Sarah quotes Charles Lamb (1775-1834) who was an English poet and social critic.

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Sep 29th We have spent 1 week here. Mr. Brant the English Consul193 and his lady called on us. We returned the compliment. While there the Pasha came in. He is a grave and dignified looking personage. Misses Brant and Peabody alone were able to converse with him. We were each handed a glass of water and a spoon containing a little flavored sugar. Next came coffee in cups like egg cups, placed in receivers like bouquet holders. Ascended a mountain this morning to take a view of Erseroom. On the top was a cave in which it is said a saint once lived. We are expecting to resume our travels on Monday.

Urmia October 15th You see we have arrived at home! At home! We left Erseroom on Monday Oct 1st and pursued our way up hill, down vale, disturbing the deep solitude of the mountain pass, and found ourselves at the close of the week at Diadun,194 a village half way between Erseroom and Persia. Here in a retired spot we pitched our tent, and prepared to enjoy the rest of the Sabbath. It was a lovely day and although not permitted to praise with the great congregation, I trust I felt somewhat of His presence who dwelleth not alone in temples made with hands, but is found wherever the contrite heart looks up to Him, filling all space with His love. We were not annoyed as we expected to be by the villagers, but in the afternoon 3 dervishes195 came to our tent requesting to enter and converse on religious subjects. But we found they only wanted to obtain something from us for on giving them a trifle they left us. Near our tent was a stream of water, on one side of it was the skeleton of a horse who had evidently died in the attempt to quench his thirst his fore feet nearly touching the water. As he fell so he remained, his bones whitening on the beach. So will my poor horse long lay a spectacle to future travelers. On Monday morning set out with fresh vigor and in the afternoon crossed the boundary line on foot and pitched our tent in Persia. There are several Kurdish villages on the frontier, and we saw their black tents among the mountains. I was pleased to see shade trees in Persia surrounding the 193 James Brant was consul in Erseroom from 1836-40 and later in Damascus. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society from 1857-61. 194 Sarah may mean the small town of Diyadin which would fit her description. 195 Members of Sufi orders in Turkey known for their ecstatic dances in which a Sufi master achieves union with Allah, an annihilation of the ego (fana). The most well-known order of dervishes is the Mevlevi.

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villages. The dry barren plains of Turkey reminded me of the deserts of Arabia so dreary was their aspect. Instead of stopping now to rest under the shadow of a rock or haystack, we took our lunch in some shady spot where one would have to linger. On approaching a Turkish village you see nothing but hay-stacks to point it out, and the inhabitants are as miserable looking as their dwellings; they come out and gaze with wonder to see such strange looking beings. The women examine our dress and are surprised that we cannot answer their questions. In passing the fields of grain we were frequently presented with a bunch as an offering of the just ripe fruits. Sometimes a shepherd would bring a lamb or goat and laying it down at our feet would say “May all your enemies be under your feet as this is.”196 Of course they expect bucksheeth (a present.) I think I mentioned before how agreeable to the eye was the green and as we entered on the plain of Khoy,197 I almost thought it was American scenery. But I soon saw enough to dispel the illusion. I will mention one thing, a woman riding a cow with feet not delicately white, protruding on either side from beneath her garment. As we proceeded we were encouraged to think we should reach Urmia on Saturday. On Friday we hoped to reach Gaviler,198 32 miles from Urmia and the residence of Mar Yohannan.199 Our road was considered rather dangerous on account of the wandering Kurds who infest the mountains. We hastened on and about sundown had crossed the plain but there was the mountain before us. We commenced the ascent. The shades of night were gathering round us, our party were silent I think none felt easy owing to the lateness of the hour, and the supposed dangers of the road. In the dim light we discerned a village on the mountain, and determined to stop, for although anxious to reach Gaviler, still we thought it better to wait for the light of the morning. We did not pitch our tent but took shelter in a native house and were on our way ½ past five next morning. Our first in-

196

A reference to 1 Corinthians 15:25. A plain near the city of Khoy in the west Azarbaijan province of Iran. 198 A reference to the village where Bishop Mar Yohannan resided. See Justin Perkins, A Residence of Eight Years in Persia, p. 172. Sarah misspells the name of the village. The correct name is Gavilan (also Javilan or Jawilan). 199 The Bishop of Urmia who was a strong supporter of the work of the American Board. See Plate 6. 197

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tention was to stop at Gaviler but meeting a brother of the Bishop200 who informed us, he was in the city we took a shorter route. We stopped at 2 PM to rest at a bridge 12 miles from Urmia. Imagine my feelings as I approached my new home on the same day of the month on which I had left my old one 4 months previous. How strange the thought. I will it be to remain in one place and travel no more. Instead of considering where I shall go tomorrow, how I shall best fulfill the duties of each returning day? I thought too of my friends and asked myself shall I find any like those I have left. Will there be any congenial spirits with whom I may enjoy the delights of friendship? I thought too of my own responsibilities and my inability to meet my obligations but consoled myself with that promise, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”201 but I did not mean to say so much about my thoughts. At each turn of the road, we looked anxiously expecting to see some of our friends who had been apprised of our arrival. “There,” exclaimed Mr. Breath, “is Mar Yohannan’s brother” as a Nestorian rode toward us. He welcomed us in broken English and urged us to go into his brother’s vineyard. We did not wish to as it was nearly dark, and we were 3 or 4 miles from the city but were unable to resist his entreaties. It was quite a long ride to that part of it where we found the Bishop. He too gave us a cordial welcome in broken English. There were enough in sight to fill 2 or 3 hogsheads.202 He brought us some to eat while we sat in his tent. There were several varieties - the sultanas,203 and some very large and fine. I almost expected to find pits they were so large. On leaving the vineyard, and gaining the road a number of the missionaries came in sight. The meeting was a happy one. Mr. and Mrs. Coan were invited to Mr. Stocking’s,204 we to Dr. Wright’s. Although we had rid200 Justin Perkins reports that Yohannan appeared to be about thirty and that his father was the village priest. See Perkins, A Residence of Eight Years in Persia, p. 173. 201 A reference to 2 Corinthians 12:9. 202 A nineteenth-century English unit of measurement that was approximately a quarter of a tun (256 gallons). Hogshead measure was primarily for liquids but was also applied to sugar and tobacco. The number of gallons in a hogshead depended on the nature of the substance that was being measured and often differed with types of alcohol. See http://www.sizes.com/units/hogshead.htm. 203 Fruit indigenous to the Caspian Sea popularly identified as large, white raisins. 204 In, Joseph Parish Thompson, Memoirs of Rev. David Tappan Stoddard, p. 860, the author refers to “Mr. and Mrs. Stocking from Urmia” who left the mission field

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den 40 miles I did not feel much fatigued, yet the prospect of rest on the Sabbath was sweet. Dr. Wright205 preached on a special Providence. On Monday Breath’s old friends came in to see him, although stranger as I was, they seemed friends of mine too. The Nestorians so far as I can judge, are animated and cheerful. Spent Tuesday with Mr. & Mrs. Perkins at Mount Seir.206

Thursday 18th Masons are busy making some needful repairs in our residence. The situation is retired and pleasant. From the window we catch a view of the distant hills. Sure I am it will be from something wanting in myself if I am unhappy here. The society too I will value I think but as yet I cannot speak of intimacies. I tremble somewhat lest I be found wanting in qualifications for my new station.

1849 27th October Here I am sitting if not under my own vine and fig tree, at least under my own roof in my Persian home and writing on the table which shall contain what a bountiful Providence will provide for my wants this winter. How much I have to tell of the loving-kindness of my heavenly Father, which has followed me since I left my native land. O bless the Lord with me etc. In

in 1853 after 16 years in Persia. Thompson and Stoddard note that, “He is not yet fifty years old, but feels like an old man.” Revealing the toll that life in nineteenthcentury Persia had on American missionaries. 205 Undoubtedly a reference to Rev. Austin Hazen Wright. 206 A village west of Urmia where a cemetery was created for American missionaries and their families. Mt. Seir was also a missionary station. Rev. David Tappan Stoddard described it, The village of Seir is in the province of Urmia, in northern Persia, in latitude 37 28’ 18” north, and in approximate longitude 45 east from Greenwich. We are about forty miles from the boundary of Turkey, and one hundred and fifty from that of Russia. The village is on the grassy slope of the mountain, which rises 2,834 feet above the neighboring city of Urmia, and 7,334 above the ocean. The side of the mountain on which we live faces the northeast, and is consequently somewhat bleak in winter. The snow also lies upon it in the spring long after it has disappeared from the southwestern side. See Thompson, Memoirs of Rev. David Tappan Stoddard, p. 129.

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making my arrangements, how often have I wished for my sisters’ advice, and thought oh if I could but see them enter the room. I have been very busy arranging, unpacking, finding places etc. In taking out each gift, how pleasant to think, “This was a token of love from ____& from ___.”207 These precious likenesses too, as I unhook them to wonder whose it is, till my eye rests on some dear familiar faces to say this is my sister, this my brother, this my pastor etc. With my husbands’ friends and mine I count 16 some with 2 figures. The shades of evening again gather round me, and for the present I must close with love to all my dear friends and once more adieu. Sarah A. Breath.

207

The original text also includes lines in place of the names.

Plate 2 Sarah Breath’s journal. Breath family collection

Plate 3 Miniature corbel and cuneiform tablet recovered from the ruins of the Nimrud palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE) by Edward Breath in 1855. Breath family collection.

Plate 4

Tract produced by the American Tract Society following the death of Julia Breath, daughter of Edward and Sarah Breath. Breath family collection.

Plate 5

The story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50 and in the Gospel of John) printed by Edward Breath in modern Syriac and given to his mother in 1845. This page shows John 8:38-44. Breath family collection.

Plate 6

Photograph probably of Mar Yohannan. Breath family collection.

Plate 7

The Port of Constantinople, from Julia Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus: Views of Constantinople and its Environs from Original Drawings by W.H. Bartlett (London: George Virtue, 1838) (“Scene from above the palace of Beshik-tash”).

Plate 8 Boats near the village of Bebek, from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (“Bebec, on the Bosphorus”).

Plate 9 Bebek Seminary in Constantinople. Daugerreotype courtesy of Franklin Trask Library, Andover Newton Theological School.

Plate 10

Egyptian obelisk in Constantinople, from Pardoe, Beauties of the Bosphorus (“The Atmedian, or Hippodrome”).

Plate 11

Avenue in the Great Bazar in Constantinople, from Pardoe, Beauties of the Bosphorus (“Great avenue in the tchartchi”).

Plate 12

Kaimac (sweets) shop in the Great Bazar in Constantinople, from Pardoe, Beauties of the Bosphorus (“Kaimac shop in the tchartchi”).

Plate 13

Armory shop in the Great Bazar in Constatinople, from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (“The armoury bazaar”).

Plate 14 Tomb in Constantinople, from Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus (“Tomb in the cemetery of Scutari”).

Plate 15 Fruit market in Urmia in the early twentieth century. “Ourmiah, Persia – fruit market,” Library of Congress Digitized Historical Collections: Bain Collection (#3284-13)