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: Gummere, Amelia M.
(Amelia Mott), 1859-1937
Title: Scrapbooks
Dates: 1896-1940, bulk 1902-1918
Call No.:
Acc. No.: 67x154.1-.2; 75x167
Quantity: 3 volumes in 2 boxes
Location: 30 E 2
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Amelia M. Gummere (Mrs. Francis B. Gummere) lived in
Haverford, Pennsylvania, during the first quarter of the 20th
century. She was a member of the Pennsylvania
Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
She also had an office at Independence Hall, perhaps for the Colonial
Dames. She authored several articles on early
American church silver and assisted Rufus M. Jones with his book The Quakers in the American Colonies.
Amelia Smith Mott Gummere was born in New Jersey on
July 17, 1859. Her husband Francis
Barton Gummere (1855-1919) was a professor at Haverford College. He did a translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic
Beowulf. The couple had at least three
sons.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Collection consists of two scrapbooks (received
together) and a notebook (received separately).
The two scrapbooks contain information on early Pennsylvania
ecclesiastical silver and its makers gathered by Amelia Gummere. In 1902, the Society of Colonial Dames of
Pennsylvania mounted an exhibit at the Academy of the Fine Arts in
Amelia Gummere corresponded with heads of local
churches concerning silver objects still owned by the churches. She often
photographed the objects and tracked down genealogical information about their
makers. The collection contains numerous
newspaper articles and some magazine articles related to church history, other
silver exhibits, and general research on silver objects.
The notebook lists pieces of pewter, silver, and
other objects assembled as a loan to the Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition by
the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames.
Entries include the type of object and current owner along with the
maker and provenance when known. A note
on the first page reveals that this exhibit was withdrawn due to a lack of
suitable guarantees of safety at the Exposition. The book was preserved for the purpose of
locating ownership of articles for future reference. Mrs. Gummere was the chairman of the
committee and apparently kept the volume.
ORGANIZATION
For conservation reasons, the
two scrapbooks have been dismantled and rehoused. They are organized systematically. However, folders retain items found in their
respective volumes and research originally bound together has been retained in
separate folders. Correspondence has
been arranged chronologically.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
RELATED MATERIALS
Jones, E. Alfred. The Old
Silver of American Churches.
PROVENANCE
Accession 67x154.1-.2: Gift of Geblein Silversmiths, Boston,
Massachusetts.
Accession 73x167: Gift of Francis James Dallett,
University Archives, University of Pennsylvania.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Jones, E. Alfred (Edward
Alfred), 1872-1943.
Quarry, Robert.
Robeson, A. (Andrew)
Rudman, Andrew, 1668-1708.
Syng, Philip, 1703-1789.
Topics:
National Society
of the Colonial Dames of
611 20
Jamestown Ter-centennial Exposition
(1907)
Exhibitions.
Liturgical
objects.
Silverwork - History -
Silverware.
Silverwork, Colonial.
Scrapbooks.
Letters.
Photographs.
Notes.
Silversmiths.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 30 E
2
Box 1:
Folder 1: scrapbook pages, with newspaper
clippings, chiefly about silver, chiefly about the Colonial Dames exhibit at
the Academy of Fine Arts
Folder 2: correspondence from book 1
Folder 3: correspondence from book 2
Folder 4: correspondence from book 2 concerning
the 1902 silver exhibit at the Academy of the Fine Arts
Folder 5: bills and receipts [one for a book,
the other for photograph of silver]
Folder 6: newspaper clippings [photocopies]:
many of the articles are about silver; includes one article by Mrs. Gummere
Folder 7: magazine clippings, chiefly about
silver
Folders 8-9: unmounted photographs from book 1, of
silver objects owned by various churches; most are labeled on back with church
name
Folder 10: historic photos from book 1, of church
silver and a picture of Bishop White
Folder 11: mounted photo of silver objects from
Folder 12: mounted photo of silver communion
objects from the Donegal Reformed Church in
Folder 13: original scrapbook covers, one of which
is covered with calico
Folder 14: notebook (acc. 75x167): “Record of
Historical Pieces Shown at Jamestown Exposition, April 26th to
November 30th, 1907,” including brief description of item (pewter,
silver, documents, etc.) and name of owner.
Mrs. Gummere
wrote a note on the first page explaining that the exhibit was “withdrawn owing
to lack of suitable guarantees of safety” at the exposition. The notebook was prepared by Maxwell
[illegible].
Folder 15: genealogical information about Gummere
family from internet [no accession number; name also misspelled as Gunmere]
Box 2:
Folder 1: General research notes from book 1
(acc. 67x154.1):
includes information on
Bishop William White, William Bovey, engravings and a silhouette of Bishop
White, correspondence from E.A. Jones, etc.
Folder 2: General research notes from book 2
(acc. 67x154.2):
Catalog of dining room silver
from Bailey Banks & Biddle of Philadelphia (copyright 1913); notes on
pewter; an order form for E. Alfred Jones’ The
Old Silver of American Churches; notes on individual silver pieces; several
lists of items in the 1902 exhibition at the Academy of the Fine Arts and a
list of items for the 1907 Jamestown Exposition [see also acc. 73x167]; a list
of wills and genealogies wanted; desiderata; notes on makers’ marks; typed
research notes from secondary sources
Folder 3: General research notes from book 2:
Program from the Feast
of Roses at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Manheim, Pennsylvania (1908);
typed research notes from secondary sources; and an advertisement and order
form for a book by Francis Hill Bigelow on early silver
Folder 4: list of Baptist and Presbyterian
churches in
Folder 5: research notes on Colonel Robert
Quarry [died 1712]
Folder 6: research notes on Philip Syng
[silversmith, 1703-1789]
Folder 7: research notes and correspondence on
St. John’s
Folder 8: research notes on
Folder 9: research notes on churches in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania:
includes A Memorial of the One Hundred and
Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of Trinity Lutheran Church (1905) and One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the
Laying of the Corner Stone of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy
Trinity (1911)
Folder 10: research notes on churches in
Folder 11: research notes on Andrew Robeson (died
Feb. 1719/20)
Folder 12: research notes on Andreas Rudman (died
1708)
[Swedish
minister, first name also recorded as Andrew, and that is the name established
by the Library of Congress]