Posted for: Susan Ottignon, Special Collections

National Defender, v. IV, no. 10, Tuesday, October 18, 1859

Annotated and transcribed text from the digitized copy in the Historical Society of Montgomery County Collection.

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Sen. Broderick Killed In a Duel. (1)

By the last advices from California, we learn that David Broderick,(2) United States Senator from California, was killed in a duel with Chief Justice Terry,(3) of that State. The duel took place on the 13th ult., (4) and Broderick fell at the first fire, having been shot through the lung. He lingered until the morning of the 16th, when he died from the injuries received. Terry escaped unhurt, but was immediately arrested to await an examination. The affair has created a great excitement in San Francisco, the community having been profoundly agitated by the melancholy event. The affair grew out of some remarks made by Broderick, against Terry, in the recent political content in that State. It is said that Judge Terry resigned his seat on the Supreme Bench before he sent the chalange. (5)

An account of the duel will be found on another page. (6)
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1 The National Defender 4(10), Oct. 18, 1859, p. [3].
2 A Democratic Senator from the state of California, elected to the Senate from March, 1857 to his death September, 1859. “Broderick, David, Colbreth, (1820-1859).” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present.” Office of Art and Archives. Office of the Historian. Washington, D.C. 3 Feb. 2017. <http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000857>
3 Terry, David S. (David Smith), 1823-1889. “. . . he achieved fame in California, Terry considered himself a Texan and a southerner . . . Broderick represented the northern or antislavery faction of the California Democratic party, and Terry was a leader in the southern faction.” Hobbs, Kenneth W. “Terry, David Smith.” Handbook of Texas Online. Web. 3 Feb. 2017. <https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fte29>
4 “of or occurring in the month preceding the present” Ultimo adj. Merriam-Webster Online. © 2017 Merriam-Webster, Inc. 3 Feb. 2017. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ultimo>
5 challenge
6 The account appears on same page, column 3. “Senator Broderick Killed In a Duel.” The National Defender 4(10), Oct. 18, 1859, p. [3].

Posted for: Sue Ottigon.

The Digital Library has digitized Robert M. O’Reilly’s collection which includes letters written home to his mother, Ellen Maitland O’Reilly, in Philadelphia, during his career in the U. S. Army which lasted over 40 years, from 1867-1909.

In the collection is a series of letters by O’Reilly to his mother soon after he received an appointment as a Medical Cadet in January, 1864. O’Reilly’s first duty station, from April to July, 1864, was the Field Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the spring of that year, he wrote home of camp life and his hospital duties. His arrival at the hospital coincided with the onset of General William T. Sherman’s campaign across Georgia, which is commonly referred to as “Sherman’s March to the Sea.” [1]

O’Reilly wrote 9 letters that related events from the Atlanta campaign. In his letter home, dated September 22, 1864, O’Reilly mentioned that Confederate General John Hood was “fortifying” position in West Point, Georgia, and remarked about his anticipation of when the “drafted men get down here, and Sherman will astonish the natives.”

It is interesting to note that O’Reilly wrote his mother on printed letterhead from the Head-Quarters Department of the Cumberland, Medical Director’s Office. There is a total of 3 letters O’Reilly sent from the Headquarters.

Check out an earlier blog post on the Robert M. O’Reilly collection.

Want to download the transcription? Go to this page and click on the “Download” button found at the bottom left of the screen. Select the format desired: word document or pdf format.

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[1] A timeline of battles fought from May, 1864-September, 1864 see “Atlanta Campaign: Summary”. Wikipedia. Accessed 10 October 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Campaign#Summary>

Contemporary newspapers rarely contain poetry, but this was not always so. Both well known as well as original verse were often published in local as well as national newspapers. Indeed these may have been some of the more well loved and – read aloud – parts of any issue.

An example of a reprint of better known poem at the time occurs in the recently digitized “National Defender” – published Tuesday, February 17, 1857 provides an example. Written by “Thomas Ingoldsby” – pen-name for Richard Barham, this poems, Raising the Devil was republished from the December 27th, 1841 issue of Bentley’s Miscellany:

Raising the Devil: A Legend of Albertus Magnus

“And hast thou never enough?” he said,
That gray Old Man, above whose head
Unnumbered years have rolled —
“And host thou nerve to view,” he cried,
“The incarnate Fiend that Heaven defied?
Art thou indeed so bold?

“Say, can’st thou, with unshrinking gaze,
Sustain, rash youth, the withering blaze
Of that unearthly eye,
That blasts where’er it lights — the breath
Thank, like the simon, scatters death
On all that yet can die!

“Darest thou confront that fearful form,
That rides the whirlwind and the storm
In wild unholy revel?
The terrors of that blasted brow,
Archangel’s once, though ruined now —
Ay — dar’st thou face THE DEVIL?”

“I dare!” the desperate youth replied,
And placed him by the Old Man’s side,
In fierce and frantic glee,
Unblanched his check and firm his limb;
— “No paltry juggling fiend, but HIM!
THE DEVIL! I fain would see!
In all his Gorgon terrors clad,
His worst, his fellest shape!” the Lad
Rejoined in reckless tone
“Have then thy wish!” Albertus said,
And sighed, and shook his hoary head,
With many a bitter groan.

He drew the mystic circle’s bound,
With skull and cross bones fences around!
He traced full many a sig’l there;
He muttered many a backward prayer,
That sounded like a curse —
“He comes!” he cried, with wild grimace,
The fellest of Apollyon’s race!”
Then in his startled pupil’s face
He dashed — an EMPTY PURSE?

— Thomas Ingoldsby, Esq.

Posted for Marjorie L. Haines, Digital Library Intern, Spring 2015

Transcribing historical letters has been one of the most fascinating and enjoyable tasks required in my work with special collections. It generally requires reading personal correspondences from the past and diving into the history of the authors. Imagine a librarian, 100 years from now, reading your descriptive emails home to your parents, your embarrassing facebook messages to your friends, or even those angry texts sent to an ex-lover. What sort of telling anecdotes could be gleaned from your supposedly private conversations?

My first assigned letters to read at Villanova University were those sent from Eleanor M.S. Thackara (“Ellie”) to her father, William T. Sherman [http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:35563; http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:35568; http://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:35578]. In her correspondence, Ellie updates her Papa on such events as her recent visit to her mother and the welfare of her own baby. Most prominently seen in this trio of letters, however, are Eleanor and her husband’s plans to move to a new house. It is a costly venture….for which Ellie requests her father’s funding. The manipulation incorporated into these letters strongly reminisces of a child’s request for money from their parents in the modern age. Ellie begins her letters with expressions of adoration for the new residence, which she claims to be both aesthetic and practical in location; she convinces her father that this place is the best option, and what father would not want the best for his daughter? Next, she laments the costs involved with the move and references an offer of financial aid previously made by her father. She does not merely suggest he uphold his promise, but very considerately acknowledges that he may not have the funds or desire to assist in the manner which she proposes. Of course this thoughtfulness would inspire likewise kindness. After receiving confirmation of her father’s agreement to send funds, Ellie requests further finances, by describing her concern that she will have to sell some of her Government Bonds in order to furnish the new home. William must have felt compelled to take care of his darling daughter, based on her response. When it comes to heartfelt thanks, Eleanor excels in expressing herself.

“You will just fix us nicely by sending the surplus check each month. Many thanks. What would we do without our father & friends especially the former.” (Letter, To: “My dear Papa” (William T. Sherman) From: Ellie, October 3, 1881, Back.)

It seems some interactions transcend time.

Letter, To: “My dear Papa” (William T. Sherman) From: Ellie, October 3, 1881, Back

Posted for Susan Ottignon, Digital Library and Special Collections Team:

When tasked with transcribing a French poem and prayers, written by Elizabeth Sarah Kite, and having no working knowledge of the language, I relied heavily on several online translators [1], so readily available these days, to decipher unfamiliar French words. The Villanova Digital Library, (VDL), digitized Kite’s papers and are available as part of the Catholica Collection.

After a few tries of copying/pasting words from the work into the varied translators which gave some interesting results. I decided to ‘dump’ entire verses into a translator and discovered rather quickly each system had its own distinct differences and many similarities in their translation. This wasn’t an exercise, on my part, to analyze the software or to provide an authoritative translation of Kite’s writings. My contribution, by using the translators, is an attempt to offer us, the non-French readers, an opportunity to read and feel the deep expressions of the author’s faith and love for the Lord. I leave to future researchers the task in executing an authoritative edition of Elizabeth Sarah Kite’s writings.

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[1] Online Translators used: Google Translation, ImTranslator ©2014 Smart Link Corporation, Bing Translator © 2014 Microsoft and Reverso Translation.

Post for: Susan Ottignon, Special Collections and Digital Library Team

Ardmore Chronicle – Volume XVII, No. 29, Saturday, April 13, 1907.

Annotated and transcribed text from the digitized copy in the Historical Society of Montgomery County Collection.

LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK CONDENSED
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Notes of General Interest Gathered Here and There Around Town.
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BRIEF PERSONAL MENTION
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Miss Harriet P. Cooper, of Philadelphia, addressed the Missionary Circle of the First Baptist Church Tuesday afternoon.

Secretary C. D. Bruckner, of the local Y. M. C. A., has been spending the last week in Pittsburg.

A cross-country run, open for all Lower Merion High School [1] boys, except last year’s track team, will be held on April 19. The winner will be awarded a gold medal.

The supper and bazaar given in Masonic Hall Tuesday evening by the ladies the Lutheran church was well attended.

Mr. Conrad Sheive, who comes up for renomination as District Attorney of this county at the June primaries, made a brief canvass of Ardmore on Tuesday.

Bert Simpson, of Narberth, who is traveling in the South with the U. P. [2] baseball team, has made a good showing in the pitchers’ box at several of the games.

The local office of the Lower Merion Directory has been established at No. 1 Colonial Block.

A runaway horse and cart belonging to Mr. Charles Frederick, of Ardmore, narrowly missed colliding with the team of Mr. Harry Bicking last Saturday at Wynnewood station.

Four new arc lights, supplied with electricity from the dynamo in the cellar, will be used in the gymnasium of the public school tonight during the musicale given by the High School.

Sam Lung has moved his laundry from the Y.M. C. A. Building to the location formerly Clinton’s barber shop.

Mrs. H. C. Franzen, who has been visiting Mr. Paul J. Kugler and Dr. Anna Kugler, left for her home in Hartford, Conn., this morning.

The members of the Lutheran church are getting ready for the production of “Who’s Next?” a comedy which promises barrels of fun.

The D. T. Society met last Saturday for their fortnightly assembly at the home of Miss Marguerite Goodman, on Simpson road.

Mr. and Mrs. William Mann entertained on Monday at their home, on Aubrey avenue, in honor of Mr. Mann’s birthday.

A Rummage Sale for the benefit of the Ardmore Free Library will be held April 27 to May 4, inclusive, at the old trolley station, Cricket avenue. Donations are solicited. Articles may be sent to the old trolley station during sale, or send a postal to Mrs. D. Bartlett, and they will be called for.

Miss Helen Morley, who has been visiting Miss Mary McGodlrick for the past month, leaves tonight for her home at Youngstown.

St. Denis’ I. C. B. U. [3] will give a euchre and dance in T. A. B. Hall on April 30.

Mr. Henry Kauffman, of Hackensack, N.J., has been the guest of his mother, Mrs. H. Kauffman, of Simpson road, during the week. On Tuesday evening he left for an extended trip to the Pacific Coast.

Miss Jane Cleaver has returned from a visit of several weeks at Huntingdon, Pa.

The seniors of the Lower Merion High School held their second reception last night in the gymnasium.

The Autocar [4] office team played a nine from the shops last Saturday in the first baseball game of the season. The office won, 11-5.

Mrs. F. Alison and family of, Lancaster avenue, removed yesterday to Chestnut Hill, where they will reside.

Mr. Clarence Piper, of Ardmore, after an absence of six months, has returned to work for his former employer, Mrs. John Cameron, of Bryn Mawr.

The prizes for the drawing to be held soon by St. Denis’ T. A. B. Society [5] are: First, $10; second, an umbrella; third, a suitcase; fourth, a pair of shoes made to order.

Dr. J. Howard Cloud has taken up permanent residence on Lancaster avenue, in the property recently purchased by him, and which was occupied by Mrs. Alison.

Miss Helen Condrick hasreturned [sic] from Pennsville, N. J., where she was visiting friends.

The baggage stand at the Ardmore station is being enlarged by a 20-foot extension.

The work of enlarging the store of the Elborn Hardware Company has been going on all week.

Rev. F. W. Staley spent part of the week in Harrisburg.

Don’t forget the lecture in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church next Thursday night, on “An Hour’s Ride With General Phil Sheridan.

The Christian Endeavor Society of the Baptist church of Ardmore held a business meeting and social at the residence of Mrs. J. E. Bourne on Tuesday evening.

Charley Cassell, of Ardmore, who was to have been tried out for the Ardmore baseball team, received an offer from Cornell University, and he left for Ithaca on Tuesday morning. He will try “pitching” his way through college.

The Hayloft of Blue Jacket Tribe, 395½, Imp. O. R. M. [6], full regalia, paid a visit to Manoa Tribe on Thursday evening. They had “a large time.”

A number of Ardmore people attended the T. A. B. dance at Rosemont on Thursday night.

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1. “Ruins of the Ardmore Public School (1900) — Photograph.” Collection: W. Robert Swartz. Lower Merion Historical Society Archives. Accessed 11 March 2014. <http://www.lowermerionhistory.org/photodb/web/html2/138-1.html>
2. University of Pennsylvania.
3. Irish Catholic Benevolent Association.
4. “Autocar in Lower Merion.” By David Schmidt, Special to Main Line Life. The Lower Merion History Society. Copyright © Lower Merion Historical Society. Accessed 11 March 2014. <http://lowermerionhistory.org/dev/sample-page/full-text-resources/david-j-schmidt-collection/278-2>
5. Temperance — Societies, etc.
6. ” . . . The fraternity traces its origins back to 1765 and is descended from the Sons of Liberty. . . ” The Improved Order of Red Men. Content © 1998-2014 The Improved Order of Red Men. All rights reserved. Accessed 11 March 2014. <http://redmen.org/redmen/info/>

Today in electronic communication, when an email is composed and sent, an automatic copy is routinely placed in a “Sent” mail folder. In the manuscript era, however the only way for an author of a letter or memo to keep a copy of the correspondence was to manually scribe a copy. This may have been a “fair copy” – a nearly exact copy of the sent letter, or a draft copy, which would included revisions and edits. Some authors kept these fair and draft copies as individual sheets, while in other cases, a bound book of blank pages was used.

The two letter books kept by Peter Cullen, during the 1832-1934 years, are good examples of the bound format of sent mail and document his ongoing commercial correspondence. These were draft copies as the numerous corrections and emendations can attest.

Over 90 leaves of letters are present in the 1832-1833 volume; the 20 leaves of the 1834 volume are newly available in a transcription by library staff member Frances DiLenge.

Posted for Susan Ottignon, Digital Library Team:

With each passing hour, as I scrutinize the scanned images found in the Barry-Hayes Papers–Series 58 Ships’ Papers, and begin to build a ‘metadata catalog’ by identifying and labeling each slip of paper, a picture emerges of early 19th merchant ship owners contracting, with a variety of merchants, to load cargo and to sail between the ports of Philadelphia and a foreign destination, in this case, Havana, Cuba. The Ship’s Papers series is a voluminous collection comprised of ‘bill of lading,’ accounts and receipts for specific schooner, sloop, ship or brig all related, in one way or another, to Patrick Hayes who was a ship owner and, on many occasions the Captain, aka ‘Master,’ of the ship. These business transactions provide us, in one sense, with a 19th century ‘paper trail’ into the rich history of commodities, either exported or imported, through the port of Philadelphia.

Receipts for cargo destined for Havana, Cuba, on the Brig Commodore Barry in 1811.

In October of 1811, the Brig Commodore Barry, anchored in Philadelphia, and destined for Havana, Cuba, clearly illustrate the types of consigned merchandise that filled the ship’s cargo hold, and transported in all kinds of containers like kegs, barrels, jugs and boxes, all transacted over a few short days, between the 9th and 13th of the month. We can see Patrick Hayes, the assigned Master for the voyage, affixed his signature in receipt for merchandise. I successfully confirmed, on this occasion, each merchant’s name and trade by reviewing several city directories, from 1801 and 1813, like The Philadelphia Directory and Register, 1813, for Samuel Beaver whose entry read, “Beaver Samuel, cabinetmaker 155 n. Front,” and comparing the receipt, which read in part, “Ten boxes of furniture, seven and a half boxes chairs. . .” The other merchants’ items and their trade, were confirmed through review of directories from various years, like a cart, from a wheelwright merchant, Benjamin Newport, as well as a box of saddles from Matthew Lyons, Blacksmith, confirmed in The Philadelphia Directory, 1801.

This is just one instance from all the many voyages by Hayes, on the Brig Commodore Barry as well as all the other ships’ papers found in this collection. Every ‘connected dot’ I make, when confirming a person and his trade with an historical account, brings to life, once again, the steps taken by a merchant, a ship owner and its master to recreate that one voyage from the many transactions, bound to Havana, and realize it all took place over 200 years ago. The Villanova Digital Library’s many collections offer like experiences from its myriad of individuals and events that transcend the digital image to create a window to view history in a new light.

Posted for: Lisa McColl, Spring 2012 Digital Library Intern.

Philadelphia, November 9, 1880

My dear Lizzie
I received thy postal and in answer say thee would be welcome to the instruments – if there were any to send …

(Letter, To: Elizabeth Sarah Kite From: John Alban Kite, November 9, 1880)

Thus begins a letter from John Alban Kite to his sister, Elizabeth Sarah Kite. Elizabeth Kite’s early letters in this new collection from the Digital Library, came mainly from her Quaker family. The letters’ heavy use of “thee” and “thou,” a common practice of Quakers of that time, gives them a formal tone to our modern ears. The family took care with their writing, sometimes chiding Elizabeth if her letter fell short of their writing expectations. Her grandfather lectured in an 1875 letter to Elizabeth, “I wish to encourage my grandchildren to accustom themselves to the use of the pen in epistolary correspondence for to become a good letter writer is quite an attainment.” (From , Letter to: Elizabeth Sarah Kite, From: John L. (John Letchworth) Kite, November 8, 1875.)

How then could one of John L. Kite’s grandchildren, five years later, use the word that appears at the very top of the first page of that same 1880 letter? It is that ultimate of colloquialisms that will sound the “uneducated” alarm, even in children’s ears, today:

Ain’t this beautiful weather? What would grandfather think? The day after I read this surprising use of slang by a member of the Kite family and seeming anachronism I saw a new book entitled The Story of Ain’t by David Skinner. While the book did not answer my particular questions as to when the word began and if it was considered slang by John Alban Kite and the rest of his family, it chided me to search further.

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage the word “ain’t” was commonly used during the time that John Alban Kite wrote this letter and was not quite as vilified for use in casual conversation as it is today. It’s difficult to say if his grandfather would have approved of its use in writing an “epistolary correspondence,” but it’s fun to see in this context today … ain’t it?

Posted for Summer 2012 Digital Library Intern Gail Betz:

Over the summer, I transcribed a portion of Elizabeth Hayes’s personal letters. Elizabeth was Patrick Barry Hayes’ wife, and she devoted a great deal of her time to corresponding with her seafaring husband and traveling sons. While only a few of the letters that Elizabeth herself wrote are included in the collection, she kept letters from her sons and her husband, which now provide a glimpse into their everyday lives. As a history lover, I greatly enjoyed reading these primary source documents, trying to figure out what the different words could be, and deciphering the context of the letter. I discovered that it was much easier to read the younger sons’ letters, because they had much neater cursive than their father did. It’s possible that Patrick Barry Hayes spent much of his time writing to Elizabeth while at sea, which could account for some of the jarring script that made much of his letters illegible. In contrast, his sons’ handwriting was easy to read, and they used more modern vocabulary than their father did.

Having the opportunity to read personal letters from the early 19th century was fascinating for me. It was like reading a diary, but with multiple perspectives and a great deal of guessing about missing information between dates and locations. I enjoyed learning that one son had reunited with his love, and had written to her father to ask for her hand in marriage. I was worried for the son who was away at school for the first time, was ill, and clearly homesick for his mother. While these letters were written almost 200 years ago, the thoughts and feelings they related were contemporary and relatable.

Thank you to Michael Foight and Laura Bang for sharing their knowledge and advice, and providing me with the opportunity to learn about and work with digital libraries. I enjoyed seeing the “other side” of the digital library process, and look forward to using this experience in future digital projects!

Editorial Note: These transcriptions are in the process of being attached to the digital images and will be available for the public in the near future.