Emil Hoffmann to Carroll Herman Little, July 24, 1917

Description
Creators
Emil Hoffmann, Correspondent
Carrol Herman Little
, Recipient
Media Type
Text
Item Type
Correspondence
Description
Handwritten letter from Emil Hoffmann to Carroll Herman Little on July 24, 1917. Hoffmann assures Little that the proposed Military Service Act will not result in the closure of the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada and Waterloo College School. Includes envelope.
Notes
Carroll Herman Little (1872-1958) was a Lutheran pastor, and a professor and administrator at the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada (later Waterloo Lutheran Seminary; now Martin Luther University College) in Waterloo, Ontario.

Little was born in Hickory, North Carolina in 1872. He was the eldest of ten children born to Rev. Marcus Lafayette Little (1848-1891) and Candace Mary Almetta Herman (1848-1947). Marcus L. Little, a Lutheran pastor and educator, was killed in a train accident in Newton, North Carolina on February 16, 1891.

C. H. Little received his early education and work experience in North Carolina, graduating from Gaston College in 1889. From 1888-1891 Little worked as editor of a newspaper founded by his father in Dallas, North Carolina. He also taught in North Carolina schools. After his father’s death, Little entered Roanoke College in Virginia, graduating with a BA (Classics) in 1893. From 1897-1898 he was enrolled in post-graduate studies in the Classics Department at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

In 1901 Little graduated from Mount Airy Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following in his father’s footsteps, C. H. Little was ordained by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania on June 3, 1901. After ordination he accepted a call to the Nova Scotia Synod, serving as pastor in the New Germany parish from 1901-1909, and the Mahone Bay parish from 1909-1911. From 1911-1914 he was housefather of Bethany Orphans’ Home in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. During this time he also served the Nova Scotia Synod as secretary (1904-1909), president (1911-1914) and editor of the Nova Scotia Lutheran (1907-1911). In 1914 Little was recognized with an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Lenoir Rhyne College in Hickory, North Carolina. Little left Nova Scotia in 1914 when he accepted a call to the St. Lawrence Parish in Morrisburg, Ontario.

In 1917 C. H. Little accepted a teaching position at the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada (now Waterloo Lutheran Seminary) in Waterloo, Ontario. He remained at the Seminary for the rest of his career, retiring in 1947. In addition to his responsibilities as professor, Little also held various administrative roles including acting President, 1918-1920, 1929-1931, and 1942-44; Bursar, 1918-1933; and Dean, 1920-1927. Little continued to pursue his own education through correspondence studies with the Chicago Lutheran Seminary, receiving the degrees of BD and STM in 1924, and an STD in 1928.

Publications authored by C. H. Little include New Testament handbook (1941); Lutheran confessional theology : a presentation of the doctrines of the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of concord (1943); and Explanation of the book of Revelation (1950). He was a long time contributor to the Canada Lutheran, and held editorial positions for the publication.

Little married Edith Blanche “Bonnie” DeLong (1888-1974) on September 9, 1908 in Nova Scotia. They had ten children: Carolus DeLong, Herman Luther, Marion, Arthur Bernard, Robert Paul, Margaret Eileen, Ruth, Catharine, Florence Josephine, and John Frederick.

Carroll Herman Little died in Waterloo, Ontario on March 31, 1958.

-- Letter transcribed by Kelsey Grant in 2014.

Date of Original
July 24, 1917
Dimensions
Width: 20 cm
Height: 25 cm
Subject(s)
Draft
Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada
Waterloo College School (Waterloo, Ont.)
Local identifier
RG-102.13_2.8
Collection
Carroll Herman Little fonds
Language of Item
English
Geographic Coverage
  • Toronto
    Ontario, Canada
    Latitude: 43.70011 Longitude: -79.4163
Copyright Statement
Public domain: Copyright has expired according to Canadian law. No restrictions on use.
Recommended Citation
Correspondence from Emil Hoffmann to Carroll Herman Little, 24 July 1917, RG-102.13, File 2.8, Carroll Herman Little fonds, Wilfrid Laurier University Archives & Special Collections, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Reproduction Notes
RG-102.13 Disc11
Contact
Wilfrid Laurier University Library
Email:libarch@wlu.ca
Website:
https://library.wlu.ca/archives

Agency street/mail address:

75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON Canada N2L 3C5

Full Text

Toronto, Ont.

July 24, 1917

Rev. C. H. Little D.D.

Morrisburg, Ont.

Dear Brother:-

Thank you for your letter of the 21. inst. Your decision has greatly pleased me. I hope and pray, that the Lord may bless it, both to you and the Seminary.

As to the effect the Military Service bill may have on our student body, I am rather optimistic. In the first place, the bill is not passed yet. Of course it may be passed any day. But even in this case, the muddled parliamentary situation includes a fair chance of the Bill never being carried into effect, or at least not immediately; and taking for granted that the Bill passes and is made workable right away, it is after all only a selective conscription and the probabilities for our 10-12 students – the college students are almost without exception under the legal age – to secure exemptions for one reason or other, are at least 10 times larger than the probability that they be drafted. If the worst should come I do not anticipate the effect of the Bill on our Institution to be sufficiently serious to justify its closing or even a reduction of the faculty. It may be a case of the wish being the father of the thought and may seem very idle to indulge in mere suppositions and anticipations,

(Page 2)

but I sincerely trust that the Lord will avert a calamity from our Seminary at a time when its service seems so utterly indispensable for the Church.

I therefore wish you would not allow this consideration to interfere with your decision. You have reached your decision, because you were convinced that the Lord calls you to Waterloo; not lightly or wantonly, but after careful and prayerful consideration. Do your best and let God take care of the rest.

As to the residence-question, let Bro. Behrens know all your personal wishes and be again assured that what is in the power of the Board will be done to make you as comfortable as possible.

With best wishes I am

Yours Cordially

[signed] E. Hoffmann

(Envelope)

The Rev. C.H. Little, D.D,

Morrisburg, Ont

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