Collection Title: Sympathy Letters to Rebecca Townsend Brown
Collection Number: 113
Dates of Collection: 1887
Box Numbers: 1
Repository: Chester County Historical Society
Letters from friends and family to Rebecca (Townsend) Brown of Chester County (PA) in regards to the death of her four year old son, George H. Brown who died on March 10, 1887 of “diptheritic membrane croup.” George H. Brown’s father was Col. William Harvey Brown who served with merit in the Civil War and later served on the western frontier where he contracted the illness that took his life in 1883. Col. Brown married Rebecca Townsend, daughter of Washington Townsend (1813-1894), in 1868. George was the second of two sons.
Sources:
“Death of Col. William Henry Brown,” Daily Local News, March 12, 1883. Clippings file, CCHS.
Death notice, George H. Brown, Daily Local News, March 11, 1887. Clippings file, CCHS.
Death notice, Mrs. Rebecca T. Brown, Daily Local News, March 19, 1890. Clippings file, CCHS .
Sympathy letters from friends and relatives in Chester County and also from outside the region including New York City and Philadelphia. Letters from Col. and Mrs. Brown’s military friends include notes from Fort Monroe, Fort Leavenworth, Fort Hays, Fort Riley, etc. A few letters come from California. Most authors write of the deceased evoking either memories they had of him or evoke religious imagery. A few relate their own personal loss with the plight of Mrs. Brown. Others relay the possibility of future social visits.
Folders contents are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the author, if a surname is not provided they are arranged by first name or title.
For additional related material, please ask for the Diary of Rebecca (Townsend) Brown in the archives. Additionally, Chester County Historical Society has assorted letters of Rebecca (Townsend) Brown. Please see the manuscripts card catalog for more information on Rebecca (Townsend) Brown.
Folder 1
19 letters, March-April 1887
Authors:
“Ann”
“Anne”
“Mira”
“Patti”
“Penkie”[?]
“Pinkney”
“M.E.W”
“Aunt Rebecca”
“Aunt S.”
“Cousin Martha”
“Uncle Edward [Hoopes]”
Achelis, Mira
Anderson, Ella C.D.
Arnold, Gertrude
Bates, Margaret
Baird, Mary
Booth, Mary
Black, Elizabeth
Bradford, Emily
Folder 2
22 letters, March-April 1887
Author:
Bradford, Mary H.
Brooke, Esther
Brooke, Mary C.
Butler, L.M.
Caldwell, Ellen M.
Cohen, Emilie Gibbons
Dalcous, [illegible]
Darlington, Hettie B.
Defoe, Anne R.
Downing, Jane P.
Ellicott, Addn.
Ely, Foster
Fairlamb [?], Mary N.
Falck [?], Mary B.
Garritt, Mary Hickman
Gibbons, Bessie
Gibson [?], Clara M.
Hartshorne, Alice H.
Hemphill, Mary Sharp
Hodges, Harry C.
Hoyt, Fannie B.
Folder 3
25 letters, March-April 1887
James, Louise S.
Kunkel, E.C.
L[illegible], P.S.
Logan, Jenny H.
Miller, Minnie
Mills, J[illegible]
Morris, Sybill
Peters, Richard, Jr.
Pinkerton, J.D.
Potter, Elizabeth F.
Rothrock, Mary May (2 pages)
S[illegible], [illegible]
Sharpless, S.J.
Smith, A.K.
Smith, Josie
Smyth, M.P.
Townsend, Mary T.
Townsend, Sallie E.M.
Watson, Anne
Watson, Nellie D.
Wolfe, Mary R.
Wood, Janet
225 N. High Street, West Chester, PA 19380 | 610-692-4800
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