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Cet
éventail se trouve accompagné de deux papiers anciens (aussi anciens
que lui ??) L'un, séparé
de l'éventail, semble assez explicite : | This
fan comes with two pieces of paper (as old as it is ?)
The
first, separated from the fan, seems easy to understand :
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Il s'agit
du Revérend Elisha Williams, recteur du Collège
de Yale de 1726 à 1739.
Même loin des Etats
Unis, on connait bien la fameuse université de Yale
Nous empruntons au site
officiel de l'Université de Yale (www.yale.edu)
ce bref historique :
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The
Reverend Elisha Williams was rector of Yale from 1726 to 1739.
Yale
University is well known all over the world.
We
borrow to the official Yale University website (www.yale.edu)
this short history
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Yale University was founded in 1701
as the Collegiate School in the home of Abraham Pierson, its first
rector, in Killingworth, Connecticut. In 1716 the school moved to
New Haven and, with the generous gift by Elihu Yale of nine bales
of goods, 417 books, and a portrait and arms of King George I, was
renamed Yale College in 1718. Yale embarked
on a steady expansion, establishing the Medical Institution (1810),
Divinity School (1822), Law School (1843), Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences (1847), the School of Fine Arts (1869), and School
of Music (1894). In 1887 Yale College became Yale University. It
continued to add to its academic offerings with the School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies (1900), School of Nursing (1923), School
of Drama (1955), School of Architecture (1972), and School of Management
(1974).
Une recherche
un peu moins rapide nous apprend qui est Elisha Williams :
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It
is a little longer to find informations about Elisha Williams
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Elisha
Williams, clergyman, born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, 24 August,
1694, son of Rev. William Williams of Deerfield. was graduated
at Harvard in 1711, and studied law. After the Collegiate
school of Connecticut (now Yale) was removed from Saybrook
to New Haven, seine of the students refusing to obey the rules
of government, Mr Williams was chosen to instruct such as
wished to withdraw, and taught them at Wethersfield (Connecticut)
for two years. He was ordained to the ministry at Newington,
Oct 22, 1722, and served the church at Wethersfield till 1726,
when he became president of Yale, holding office till 1739
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. He subsequently
represented Wethersfield in the legislature, and was chosen a justice
of the superior court. In 1745 he went to Cape Breton as chaplain
of the Connecticut troops, and the next year, when an expedition
was planned to Canada and a regiment of 1,000 men was raised in
Connecticut, he was appointed its colonel. The troops were not called
out, and in 1749 he went to England to solicit the royal government
to pay the wages of the enlisted men that had held themselves in
readiness to march for more than a year and a half. His mission
was unsuccessful, but on his return he was employed in several public
offices. Dr. Philip Doddridge, who was his intimate friend, said
of him: "He possessed an ardent sense
of religion, solid learning, and consummate prudence. I look upon
him as one of the most valuable men on earth."
On February 23,
1713 or 14, he had married Eunice Chester b. Nov 22, 1685. They
had 6 children. Eunice died May 3, 1750. Elisha went to England
(or was he still there after his 1749 travel ?) and married there
(we
guess in the beginning of 1752, in Bodmin District) Elizabeth
SCOTT, daughter of Thomas SCOTT . Afterwards he returned and died
July 25, 1755
(Résumé)
Elisha Williams, né en 1694, devint clergyman, recteur
de Yale puis politicien et même colonel. Il avait épousé
Eunice Chester qui mourut en 1750, et épousa en 1752,
en Angleterre, Elizabeth Scott. Il mourut le 25 Juillet 1755.
Sa veuve épousa le juge William Smith, lui même
veuf de Mary Het Smith décédée en 1754.
Elisha Williams a laissé des ouvrages et sermons de
quelque renom (notamment "The essential rights and
liberties of the protestants, 1744) et fut le collègue
dans ses activités électives du jeune Benjamin
Franklin, que les français connaîtront bien à
la fin du siècle.
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His
widow Elizabeth married judge William Smith, himself widow
of Mary Het, deceased in 1754.
Elisha
Williams is still known for his homelies and books, especially
"The essential rights and liberties of the protestants",
1744.
He
was for a while a colleague of Benjamin Franklin, who was
member of Pennsylvania delegation.
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Le second papier est plus mystérieux.
De la même écriture que l'autre, il se trouve
noué par un fil comme on le voit ci-dessus à
un brin, juste au dessous de la feuille. Nous n'avons jamais
vu cela par ailleurs !!!
Que lisons nous sur ce papier (après
l'avoir dégagé d'entre les brins , non sans
faire un peu souffrir la feuille !) ?
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The
second bit of paper is more mysterious. Obviously
of the same hand than the other, it is firmly tied to a
stick, at the junction with the leaf, in a way we have never
seen elsewhere.
And
after having extracted it from its place between two sticks
- which has hurted a little the leaf !- what do we read
?
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Les
initiales, pour nous français du 21 ème siècle,
peuvent être incertaines : J ou G ? ---S
ou Y ? - Par contre, le 1751 ne fait pas de doute, et l'on
pense donc aussitôt à une date.
D'où notre
première question : que
signifient les initiales ???
Quel dommage que
la seconde Mrs Williams ne se soit pas appelée Jezabel
ou Jennifer !!! Jezabel Scott Williams, voilà qui sonnait
bien !
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The initials, for us French people of the
21th century, may be uncertain: J or G ? - S or Y ? - On
the other hand, the 1751 leads immediately to think to a
date.
This
is our first question : what
is the meaning of these initials ???
We would
have wished that the second Mrs Williams would have been
named Jennifer, or Jezabel !!! Jezabel Scott Williams !
Does'nt that sound well ?
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