Hannah Bacon Evans letters

Hannah Bacon Evans (1839-1939) of Philadelphia is the chief letter writer in this collection. She wrote almost exclusively to her niece, Edith Wistar Stokes, who married William Silver, but occasionally to another niece, Esther, who seemed to live primarily with Bacon Evans. Silver lived in Hulings, West Virginia, and then in Maryland. The letters date from 1888 until 1925.

The letters mention family events, attending Quaker meeting, many Quakers whom Bacon Evans sees, daily events and amusements, clothing styles, domestic life, servants, treatment for ailments, the weather, children's upbringing, and local travel. She mentions her uncle, Thomas Cope, and family connections with the Emlen, Cope, Stokes, Rhoads, and Mason families. The letters form a picture of the life of an unmarried Quaker woman in Philadelphia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With the passage of time, the letters note changes in families, such as Edith Silver's children growing up, Bacon Evans's handwriting changing, health issues becoming more prominent, and the weather becoming a bigger issue.

Highlights include:

• 1897. Tells Edith not to wash and iron, as that is what "the colored are used to working along at such things today and don't seem to mind it."
• 1898 3/6. Heard Joseph Hoffman play piano and it was remarked he was better than Paderewsky
• 1900 6/21. Visits Haverford College and reports on hearing J. Rendel Harris speak on Lady Guyon
• 1903 7/22. Reference to the death of Rufus Jones's son
• 1907 6/9. Burning of Conowingo bridge
• 1908 3/28. Missionaries going to Brumanna, Syria
• 1909 2/16. Book club reading
• 1909 3/17. Agenda of a Tea Meeting
• 1911 11/9. Tea Meeting where William Warder Cadbury will speak
• 1920 12/19. Reference to Katharine Elkinton and Honey Run and the help