Letter from Edward Soward

Brother Douglass:—I must apologize for being somewhat behind hand with my annual subscription. I have some reasons for my delay, but they are not altogether satisfactory to myself; it is hardly probable that they will be moreso to you, and so we will say nought about them. I send you the name of one new subscriber. I send you also something which, although not so tangible and serviceable as subscription money, will I doubt not meet with a slight welcome. I mean my best wishes for your welfare, for your health and strength, bodily and mental. Success sooner or later will crown the great, the truly glorious, the good cause in which you are engaged. It matters not whether this even occurs sooner or later; the enviable satisfaction is and always must be yours, that you have used your best endeavors to hasten its coming. It matters much, however, in other respects that it should come speedily. May God grant that husbandman who has sown his seed in tears and with toil, may be fulfilled with joy in witnessing the fruit of labors.

Yours fraternally,

Edward SowardSoward, Edmund

This is likely Edmund Soward (1803–55), a member of the utopian community at Hopedale. He was born in Cambridge, England, and arrived in Hopedale sometime around 1844. Soward took great interest in the education and welfare of the children there, though he seems not to have had children of his own. He was valued in the community for his mechanical and horticultural industry and instruction. By 1855, Soward had become ill with consumption and died on his way to see a friend in Kentucky. He left all he had to the Hopedale Community to be used to promote culture and comfort for children and youth. Adin Ballou, History of Milford, Massachusetts, Part II, (Boston, 1882), 1021; Edward K. Spann, Hopedale: From Commune to Company Town, 1840–1920 (Columbus, Ohio, 1992), 56–57, 90.

Hopedale, March 30, 1852.