The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Chandler, Elizabeth
Margaret, 1807-1834
Title: Memorabilia
Dates: 1793-1889
Call No.: Col. 168
Acc. No.: 88x217
Quantity: 2 boxes
Location: 16 A 1-2
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Elizabeth M. Chandler resided in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. She attended a Quaker
school.
Nothing in the papers sheds light on the identity of
Elizabeth M. Chandler. However, it seems
she was Elizabeth Margaret Chandler (1807-1834), the poet and
abolitionist. This woman was born in
Centreville, Delaware, the daughter of Margaret Evans (1778-1808) and Thomas
Chandler (1773-1817), and sister to William Guest (1804-1873) and Thomas
(1806-1881) Chandler. Shortly after her
birth, the family moved to Philadelphia.
There, Elizabeth attended school and embraced the Quaker support of abolition. After the deaths of their parents, the
Chandler children lived with their grandmother Elizabeth Guest Evans
(1744-1827).
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler began to write poetry at
an early age, and her first works were published when she was but sixteen years
old. Her poem “The Slave-Ship,”
published when she was 18 years old, was quite popular. She continued to write poems and articles for
abolitionist publications, especially for the women’s section of Benjamin
Lundy’s The Genius of Universal Emancipation. In 1830, Elizabeth, her brother Thomas, and their
aunt Ruth Evans moved to Michigan.
There, she helped to establish the Logan Female Anti-Slavery
Society. She also urged better treatment
of Native Americans and was a pacifist. Sadly,
Miss Chandler died in 1834.
Brother William G. Chandler had a daughter named for
his sister. However, this daughter was
born in 1835, too young to have been the recipient of the rewards of merit in
this collection.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Consists of 27 poems about friendship, nature, love,
and mourning (it is not known if any of these were authored by Chandler); three
bills made out to Chandler for instructions in drawing and lessons in
elocution; eight reward of merit cards given to Chandler for industry in reading;
fourteen calling cards, of which ten are blank; five pencil sketches of rural
scenes; two silhouettes of a woman's head; an engraving of Elisha Tyson; two
unidentified letters; two labels; and a locket-sized tintype photograph. Also included are such small objects as
jewelry, sewing equipment, buttons, ribbons, a pair of garters, an arrow point
and other rocks, keys, a fake watch, etc.
Some of the objects are in small paste-board boxes that have decorative
labels. Not all the items in the
collection belonged to Elizabeth Chandler.
ORGANIZATION
Accession number order, items arranged by type,
although the poems are in two sections.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English, with one item in
German.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Gift
of Mary Walton.
RELATED MATERIAL
Another
poem by Elizabeth M. Chandler is found in Doc. 23 at this repository.
ACCESS POINTS
Topics:
Art, Amateur.
Awards.
Buttons - Specimens.
Jewelry.
Landscape - Pictorial works.
Poetry - Collections.
Poetry - Manuscripts.
Ribbons.
Students -
Pennsylvania.
Textile fabrics
- Specimens.
Bills
(financial).
Calling cards.
Memorabilia.
Poems.
Rewards of
merit.
Sketches.
Tintypes.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 16 A
1-2
Box 1: papers
Folder 1: (acc. 88x217.1-.3)
.1 German writing exercise, probably late
19th or early 20th century.
[note:
paper is brittle and has split along fold line]
.2 letter,
from William, no place, Feb. 11, 1855, to Mother: mentions school, Priscilla, and
Jacob; chops and sometimes splits wood; went on a sleigh ride; getting 5’s in conduct. [William’s identity is not known.]
.3 fictitious
letters addressed to Lady Sophia from Lady Frances, and a copy of Sally’s
letter to Lady Frances. Sally’s letter
is about her impending death.
The name R.
Evans is also written on the paper, and she (or he) may have been the author of
these letters, or these letters may have been sent to Evans.
Folder 2: rewards of merit award to Elizabeth M.
Chandler (acc. 88x217.4-.11)
.4-.6 for Industry in Reading, April 2, Dec. 7,
Dec. 17, 1816
.7 for Industry, Jan. 9, 1816
.8 for Industry & Propriety, Nov. 18,
1815
.9 for Industry, Feb. 29, 1816
.10 for Industry in Reading, from M.L. &
S.H. C.
.11 approbation for Industry in Reading,
History, Jan. 7, 1817
Folder 3: bills (acc. 88x217.12-.14)
.12 receipted
bill: D. Moulson was paid for instructing Elizabeth Chandler in drawing, for a
hair pencil, a cake of carmine, and imperial paper, July 26, 1826
.13-.14 receipted bills:
Lemuel G. White, Philadelphia, was paid for giving lessons in elocution, January
1 and March 31, 1829
Folder 4: pencil
sketches (acc. 88x217.15-.19)
.15 man
driving two women with parasols in a two-wheeled chariot, boy and a couple walk
nearby
.16 rough
sketch of rocky landscape with trees
.17 house,
possibly a farmhouse, with fenced yard, large willow tree, garden
.18 two
groups, each of a man with two women, on a bridge built of rock and timbers
.19 group
of 4 people, 3 next to a campfire near their wagon
Folder 5:
calling cards (acc. 88x217.20-.33)
.20 Mrs.
Ida P. Morrow (printed)
.21 Thomas
Fisher (hand-written)
.22 Miss
Anna Coe (printed)
[A Miss Anna Coe
belonged to Arch Street Meeting, as did the family of Elizabeth Margaret
Chandler.]
.23 Anna
Coe (printed)
.24-.33 blank cards
Folder 6: poems
(acc. 88x217.34-.44)
.34 first
line: “Oh say my Robert why should we contend,” signed E.D.
.35 “Ledyard’s
Praise of Women,” signed Cleora[?];
First line: “Thro many a
land and clime a stranger”
.36 “The
16 of February”;
First line: “As every
cheerful spring produces”
.37 “Elegy
to Pity”;
First line: “Hail,
lovely power! Whose bosom heaves the sigh”
.38 “Verses,
supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk, during his solitary abode in the
Island of Juan Fernandez,” signed Cowper;
First line” “I am
monarch of all I survey”
.39 “An
Elegy written in the burial-ground at Burlington,” by S. Smith;
First line: “Earths
highest station ends, - in here he lies”;
Addressed to Sarah
Williams
.40 “An
Ode on Cambrea, a Mountain in Cornwall,” by P. Pindan[?], dated Dec. 8, 1793;
First line: “Near yonder
solitary tower”
.41 first
line: “O Thou Eternal One! whose presence bright”
.42 “Sleep”;
First line: “Come gentle
god of soft repose”
.43 first line: “What is beauty? Is it form,”
.44a first line: “Sweet is friendship’s sacred
flame”
.44b list of poets and books of poetry
Folder 7: poems
(acc. 88x217.45-.55)
.45 “Sympathy”:
First line: “Ah! Why was
the tear formed to flow,”
.46 “An
Acrostic,” on the name Mary Miller
First line: “May’st thou
each pleasure shun that leads to harm”
.47 first
line: “Humid seal of soft affection”
.48 “Sonnet
to Hope,” to or by Miss Williams;
First line: “Oh ever
skill’d to wear the form we love!”
.49 “Alcanzar
& Saida: A Moorish Tale,” signed Arethusa;
First line: “Softly blow
the evening breezes”
.50 first
line: “Beloved youth thou slipt away how soon”
.51 first
line: “Lo! At the couch where infant beauty sleeps”
.52 first
line: “No Edmund, no with thee I’ll not contend”
.53 “Abra[?];
or the Georgian Sultana”;
Scene: a forest, time:
the evening;
First line: “In Georgia’s
land, where Tefflid towers are seen”
.54 “Sonnet
to the Moon”;
First line: “Queen of
the silver bow! By thy pale beam”
.55 first
line: “Sweet is friendship’s sacred flame”
Folder 8: list
of Greek and Roman gods (acc. 88x217.56)
.56 list
of Greek and Roman gods, principally using the Roman names (Jupiter, Juno,
Mars); also the 3 Fates, the 3 Graces, and the 9 Muses
Folder 9:
“Biblical” denunciation (acc. 88x217.57
.57 a
passage, written so that it sounds like it is from the King James version of
the Bible, but obviously not from the Bible as it references Westonia and New
York (and also Philadelphia, in this context a reference to the city in
Pennsylvania, although there was an city of that name in Asia Minor); the
document is about church leaders denouncing certain clothing and the
congregation, particularly young men, resisting giving up whatever articles of
clothing the church leaders were denouncing
Folder 10:
engraving (acc. 88x217.58)
.58 engraving
of Elisha Tyson, the philanthropist, engraved by J. Cone from portrait by H.
Street
Elisha Tyson (1750-1824)
ran a mill in Harford County, Maryland.
He was a Quaker, an abolitionist, and a philanthropist.
Folder 11:
silhouettes (acc. 88x217.59-.60)
.59-.60 two hollow cuts of the same woman; .60 has pencil
sketches of flowers around the head and was cut from paper watermarked Whatman
1—7
Folder 12: blank
paper (acc. 88x217.61-.62)
.61-.62 two sheets of plain paper; .62 is watermarked JB
Folder 13:
label, trade card (acc. 88x217.63-.64)
.63 trade
card of R. G. Laning, Painter, 273 North Second Street, Philadelphia, within a
decorative boarder
.64 label:
woman holding a parasol, with gazebo in the background; gold border
Folder 14: poems
(acc. 88x217.65-.66)
.65 first
line: “When all is hush’d in silence and repose”
.66 “Rural
Felicity”
First line: “Sweet are
the labours of the industrious swain”
Box 2:
artifacts
Tray 1:
A
set of silk and velveteen garters, with metal buckles;
Five samples of 4 different
ribbons: pale yellow moiré, blue striped moiré, pale blue, ecru with woven
stripes and flowers
Tray 2:
Small pasteboard box, decorated with
print of a lady, in profile; bottom of box labeled “Clematis, M to EMC,” and
something else (in another hand); inside box: bright yellow flower;
Small pasteboard box, decorated with
print of a lady; inside box: remnants of some plant;
Small pasteboard box, with label:
Brevet d’invon., agraseo[?] perfectioneees
a la mechanique, no. 6; inside box: small thread button, the hook part
of a hook and eye, four small rings, a short string of green beads, and a short
string of blue beads
Small round, empty, pasteboard box,
decorated with a sun-like design, green sides;
Small round pasteboard box,
decorated with a ribbon-type design, blue sides; inside box: three rings, two
hooks, a small spike, a set of wood and metal cuff links; a set of metal links
decorated with lion’s head, two sets of octagonal metal cuff links decorated
floral design, one small glass bead, a round metal object, and two ball and
three bell-shaped decorative items
Small round pasteboard box,
decorated with design of draped fabric, green sides; inside: small piece of
paper and dried plant material;
Two metal rings; one once held a
stone and is stamped “sterling” inside the band; the other has floral
decorations stamped on it and the date July 4 - ‘89 engraved inside
the band;
Shirt stud (metal) engraved with a
flower;
Bone button on metal shank; fabric
button; metal button made by G[?] D Mf’g;
Tintype of a man;
Bone or ivory decoration broken off
something;
Seal (for use with sealing wax),
metal with a stone engraved MY [blank place] I.N.V;
A piece of slag metal;
A round silk item which was probably
a pin cushion;
Piece of some kind of substance,
with profile of a man at one end; piece of some kind of substance with Chinese
letters and decoration on it
Tray 3:
Three cards of small thread buttons
and a glass bead (resembling a diamond) on a string;
Two wooden button molds; two strings
of small buttons, all possibly of bone;
Small metal stencil of the name I.
P. Hallinan;
Three small keys (one very small);
A fake watch on a chain, with a seal
engraved with the bust of a man in 18th century dress; the watch has
a ceramic face, which is damaged; the watch hands are painted on;
A curved needle and a long pin with
a ceramic or glass head;
A dried something, perhaps a gourd, on which
there are splotches of black paint;
Large hook and eye (for fastening
something like a jacket) and a small pin, irregular in shape, with four
“diamonds”;
Three sets of bones(?);
Round spool and flat spool of
thread;
Two small buckles and the eye part
of a hook-and-eye set;
A metal awl;
A fabric heart, made of striped pink
ribbon, with blue trim;
An oval-shaped mother-of-pearl
piece, perhaps a game counter;
An arrowhead and two other pieces of
rock