2019年10月01日
同志社創設者、新島襄の渡米を援助したAlpheus Hardy(ワイルドローバー号の船長)の子孫のEdward A Boileauさんからメールをもらいました。
同志社創設者、新島襄の渡米を援助したAlpheus Hardy(ワイルドローバー号の船長)の子孫のEdward A Boileauさんからメールをもらいました。
エドワードさんは先月のボート世界マスターズで小森のチームメンバー(団塊号)に｢同志社OB に名刺を渡してくれ。私の祖先は同志社創設者、新島襄と一緒に住んでいた｣と声をかけてくれボート仲間からもらった名刺に小森が連絡をしエドワードさんとのメールのやりとりが始まったのです。
来年エドワードさんと同志社ボート部OB で一緒にボートのキャンプをやりたいと思います。
以下エドワードさんからのメールです。
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今日は！ Hello!
日本語でありがとうございました。 I love the Japanese language. 残念ながら最近。。。使わなかったのでどんどん忘れています。
今日I shall write in English as it is quicker for me, but I would love to use Japanese, when possible!
I shall reply to your questions:
I'd like to know more information of Joe Nijima & your ancestor.
1)What's your ancestor's name ?
Alpheus Hardy (my grandmother was a Hardy, the granddaughter of Alpheus Hardy's son, Alpheus Hardy ... My middle name is Alpheus. Alpheus Hardy, who adopted Nijima was my great great great grandfather).
Alpheus Hardy's son, also Alpheus Hardy, grew up with Nijima (and Nijima taught him to sail and to juggle... two things he then taught his granddaughter (my grandmother)... and she taught me to both sail and juggle!! :-)... So I have Nijima to thank or these two skills....
2)Where (When ) your ancestor lived with Joe Nijima ?
Joe Nijima lived with them in Boston, I think from 1865 or thereabouts...for about a decade & he went to school with the Hardy children, and spent vacations together... in Bar Harbour, Maine, and near Boston. Alpheus Hardy's wife treated Nijima as one of her children! The house where Alpheus Hardy (who was taught to sail and juggle by Nijima) used to summer... I still have for ... sailing, tennis and sculling!! I shall be there in the middle of October.
3)Why did your ancestor meet Joe Nijima ?
Nijima came to Boston on one of Alpheus Hardy's boats. The Wild Rover. The personal flag for Alpheus Hardy, which flew on the Wild Rover is the symbol I have on my oars!
I wrote about that on my blog last year:
The captain of the boat told Alpheus Hardy that Nijima wanted to learn about the West, and wanted to be educated... and the Hardy family, when they met him... were impressed and wanted to help him!! A desk at my parent's house (in England, we shipped it from Boston about thirty years ago...), where I am now, is the desk that Nijima wrote a letter to Alpheus Hardy on arrival to Boston... to explain why he wanted to leave from Japan and come to the west! I am typing this email, and shall send it, from the same desk! My grandmother often spoke about the family link with Nijima and what a wonderful man he had turned out to be... and how her grandfather had flourished with him "in the family"... that is one of the reasons I was interested in Japan (and ended up studying some nihongo!).
The World Masters was great fun!!
I was a teacher for 16 years, but now I run a sculling course with yoga in France... and will eventually run similar things in the Alpheus Hardy house south of Boston, in the USA, which I now own, but I have to do a lot of work on that house!
I would love to group to come from Doshisha... and I could help coach (I taught two people who got to the Rio Olympics... and my school rowing program (which I ran for many years) were the first state school rowing program in British history to win "First Eights" at the British National Schools Regatta. This was my final crew. I taught them to row well by teaching them to scull in singles, and to do some yoga!).
If we had some Doshisha masters come with some of the current Doshisha scullers/rowers... that would be fantastic, if we could organise something like that...
If it went well, I would love to then offer an annual training camp week for Doshisha ... if there is interest... and I do now want to make money out of this... happy to do it! I will write again nihongo de... it might make sense to eventually do this at the house in the USA, as this is closer to Nijima and the links... and we could perhaps have a course on the life of Nijima in the USA ... and some English language work, and sculling with yoga!! Active learning! Would you be able to discuss this with their rowing team and see if there is any interest? Meanwhile ... we could do a group in France next year, as everything is set up there ...
But wonderful to hear from you!! Sending this from the Hardy Nijima desk!
