The Letters of Mary Penry: A Single Moravian Woman in Early America

316 Pages·2019·18.917 MB·English

by  Scott Paul Gordon

scott paul gordon
The Letters±

of
Mary Penry
a single moravian woman
in early america
the letters of mary penry
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editor
Craig D. Atwood
Director of the Center for Moravian Studies, Moravian Seminary
Volumes in the Pietist, Moravian, and Anabaptist Studies Series take
multidisciplinary approaches to the history and theology of these
groups and their religious and cultural infl uence around the globe. Th e
series seeks to enrich the dynamic international study of post-
Reformation Protestantism through original works of scholarship.
advisory board
Bill Leonard, Wake Forest University
Katherine Faull, Bucknell University
A. G. Roeber, Penn State University
Jonathan Strom, Emory University
Hermann Wellenreuther, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Rachel Wheeler, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
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edited by scott paul gordon
THE LETTERS OF
MARY PENRY
A Single Moravian Woman in Early America
Th e Pennsylvania State University Press
University Park, Pennsylvania
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Letters held in the Penralley Collection used by permission of Llyfrgell
Genedlaethol Cymru / Th e National Library of Wales and the Rhayader
Museum and Gallery (CARAD). Letters held at the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania; Jacobsburg Historical Society; Library Company of
Philadelphia; Linden Hall Archives; Moravian Archives, Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania; Moravian Archives, Winston- Salem, North Carolina;
and Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University,
used by permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Penry, Mary, 1735–1804, author. | Gordon, Scott Paul, 1965– editor.
Title: Th e letters of Mary Penry : a single Moravian woman in early America
/ edited by Scott Paul Gordon.
Other titles: Pietist, Moravian, and Anabaptist studies.
Description: University Park, Pennsylvania : Th e Pennsylvania State
University Press, [2018] | Series: Pietist, Moravian, and Anabaptist
studies | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “A collection of letters by Mary Penry (1735–1804), who
immigrated to America from Wales and lived in Moravian communities
for more than forty years. Off ers a sustained view of the spiritual and
social life of a single woman in early America”—Provided by publisher.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2018007931 | ISBN 9780271081083 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Penry, Mary, 1735–1804—Correspondence. |
Moravian women—Pennsylvania—Correspondence. | Single women—
Pennsylvania—Correspondence. | Moravians—Pennsylvania—Social life
and customs—18th century. | Moravians—Pennsylvania—Social life
and customs—19th century. | Single women—Pennsylvania—Social life
and customs—18th century. | Single women—Pennsylvania—Social life
and customs—19th century.
Classifi cation: LCC BX8593.P46 A4 2018 | DDC 284/.6092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018007931
Copyright © 2018 Th e Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by Th e Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802–1003
Th e Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association
of University Presses.
It is the policy of Th e Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid- free
paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Material, ansi z39.48–1992.
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contents
List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Genealogical Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii
Editorial Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xix
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
1. To the Congregation, 1755 (33)
2. To Polly Gordon, May 5, 1759 (35)
3. To Relatives in Wales, July 13, 1760 (36)
4. To Unknown, [1760] (39)
5. To Polly Gordon, March 1, 1762 (41)
6. To Friedrich von Marschall, July 19, 1763 (42)
7. To Friedrich von Marschall, August 9, 1765 (45)
8. To Polly Gordon, August 25, 1765 (47)
9. To Nathanael Seidel, October 13, 1766 (48)
10. To Nathanael Seidel, October 30, 1766 (51)
11. To Nathanael Seidel, December 1, 1767 (52)
12. To Joseph Powell and Martha Powell, March 20, 1768 (54)
13. To Joseph Powell and Martha Powell, April 25, 1768 (55)
14. To Joseph Powell and Martha Powell, June 3, 1768 (56)
15. To Joseph Powell and Martha Powell, March 5, 1770 (57)
16. To Mary Shippen, October 17, 1774 (59)
17. To Polly Roberts, September 23, 1780 (60)
18. To Elizabeth Drinker, October 23, 1783 (61)
19. To Johann Andreas Huebner, April 16, 1784 (63)
20. To Catherine Wistar, August 12, 1786 (64)
21. To Catherine Wistar, September 18, 1786 (66)
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vi contents
22. To Catherine Wistar, November 3, 1786 (68)
23. To Catherine Haines, November 3, 1786 (70)
24. To Elizabeth Drinker, March 29, 1788 (72)
25. To Elizabeth Drinker, August 9, 1788 (74)
26. To Elizabeth Drinker, November 26, 1790 (76)
27. To Benjamin Rush, April 21, 1791 (77)
28. To Francis Alison, July 1, 1792 (80)
29. To Meredith Penry and Katherine Penry, May 2, 1793 (81)
30. To Meredith Penry and Katherine Penry, May 20, 1793 (83)
31. To Meredith Penry and Katherine Penry, June 4, 1793 (86)
32. To John Gambold, October 4, 1793 (88)
33. To Meredith Penry, Katherine Penry, and Eliza Powell,
February 3, 1794 (90)
34. To Elizabeth Drinker, March 10, 1794 (94)
35. To Meredith Penry and Katherine Penry,
September 21, 1794 (95)
36. To Meredith Penry and Katherine Penry, March 5, 1795 (97)
37. To Meredith Penry, Katherine Penry, and Eliza Powell,
July 2, 1795 (100)
38. To Meredith Penry, Katherine Penry, and Eliza Powell,
October 20, 1795 (112)
39. To Elizabeth Drinker, December 5, 1795 (114)
40. To Elizabeth Drinker, February 2, 1796 (116)
41. To Meredith Penry, April 27, 1796 (117)
42. To Katherine Penry, April 28–30, 1796 (128)
43. To Eliza Powell, May 1, 1796 (141)
44. To Elizabeth Drinker, August 5, 1796 (149)
45. To Meredith Penry, Katherine Penry, and Eliza Powell,
October 2, 1796 (153)
46. To Meredith Penry, March 9, 1797 (156)
47. To Katherine Penry, March 10, 1797 (160)
48. To Eliza Powell, March 10, 1797 (166)
49. To Elizabeth Drinker, April 2, 1797 (172)
50. To Elizabeth Drinker, May 6, 1797 (177)
51. To Meredith Penry, Katherine Penry, and Eliza Powell,
November 11, 1797 (178)
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contents vii
52. To Elizabeth Drinker, March 22, 1798 (180)
53. To Meredith Penry, November 17, 1798 (184)
54. To Katherine Penry, November 17, 1798 (191)
55. To Eliza Powell, November 17, 1798 (194)
56. To Elizabeth Drinker, December 19, 1799 (198)
57. To Meredith Penry, May 23, 1800 (203)
58. To Benjamin Rush, June 26, 1800 (208)
59. To James Birkby, October 1800 (209)
60. To Elizabeth Drinker, April 3, 1801 (210)
61. To Benjamin Rush, April 25, 1801 (216)
62. To Elizabeth Drinker, June 14–22, 1801 (217)
63. To Elizabeth Drinker, August 30–31, 1801 (220)
64. To Katherine Penry and Eliza Powell, October 23, 1801 (223)
65. To Benjamin Rush, January 23, 1802 (228)
66. To Elizabeth Drinker, February 6–8, 1802 (229)
67. To Benjamin Rush, March 11, 1802 (234)
68. To Katherine Penry, July 10, 1802 (237)
69. To Eliza Powell, July 10, 1802 (242)
70. To Georg Heinrich Loskiel, September 28, 1802 (246)
71. To Katherine Penry, September 29, 1803 (247)
72. To Eliza Powell, September 29–October 15, 1803 (251)
73. To [Margaret Stocker], January 21, 1804 (255)
74. To Margaret Stocker, May 8, 1804 (255)
Appendix A: Mary Penry’s Memoir. . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Appendix B: Mary Attwood’s Memoir. . . . . . . . . . . 267
Appendix C: Th e Stocker and
Drinker Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271
Appendix D: Business Correspondence. . . . . . . . . . . .275
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
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illustrations
1 Bethlehem, 1757, by Nicholas Garrison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2 Abersenny, Defynnog, Wales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
3 Lititz, with single sisters sisters’ house, 1809, by Samuel Reincke . . . . . . . . 14
4 Lititz single sisters’ fi nancial account, May 1771 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
5 Lititz single sisters’ membership catalog, 1780. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
6 Letter from Mary Penry to Joseph Powell and Martha Powell,
June 3, 1768. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
7 Lititz single sisters’ diary, April and May 1804 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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