Contents and Arrangement
Online

To Anna Cambreling (sic), circa 1840 August 19

1 folder

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

Dated August 19 (no year, but circa 1840), Pelham Priory; Postmarked August 22 at New Rochelle, New York; from Mary Chrystie. Labeled "(No 2)" in an unknown hand on top of first page. A very newsy and interesting letter in which Mary describes her life and surroundings at Pelham Priory; she is involved in "a little scoiety...to work for the poor in the neighborhood" (sewing for poor families) and it is while delivering some of the clothes they have prepared that Mary, in an attempt to skirt around a swampy area, falls off a fence into some bushes and brambles concealing "poison vines"--the cause of Mary's "poisoning" mentioned in a letter to her great aunt and to her mother (see Letters to Maria Montgomery 4 and Miscellaneous Letters 1 and 2). Mary describes numerous Revolutionary War sites in the area, including an immense rock in the forest used by Americans to grind corn, the "haunted oak" where "several men were hung...during the war," and small spring where two Americans were shot by the British while having a drink; she also describes an interesting Irishman ("quite an original character"), a workman at the Priory; and she describes a "post office" that she and her friends have established at which they deposit letters they write to each other under fictitious names (Mary is Lady Albertine Collona of Geneva, Switzerland, but she is considering changing her name to Biddy O'Brian of Cork, Ireland); Mary also transcribes a letter she has received from the "Duke of Wellington," written by Ada Bolton.

Arrangement

No discernible arrangement

Collection History

Appraisal

No materials were separated during 2014 processing.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Eric Johnson in 2002. Finding aid written by Ian Dooley and Miranda Marraccini in 2014.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Credit this material:

To Anna Cambreling (sic); Mary Chrystie Papers, COTSEN1, Cotsen Children's Library, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-1148
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (hsvc): Box 1

Find More

Related Materials

For additional biographical and geneological information about the Chrystie/ Few families and Mary Chrystie, as well as classroom teaching materials related to the collection, see notes by Eric Johnson at Seeley Mudd Manuscript Library.

Mary Chrystie Collection; 1856-2003; Princeton University Library Records, Princeton University Archives, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Bibliography

Eric Johnson, Ohio State University, "Making Mary: Maternal Shaping and the Construction of Childhood in the Mary Christie Archive".