Six letters, all datelined "Hispaniola," postmarked at Chesapeake City or Elkton, Maryland, addressed to Miss Maggie R. Thompson, Oxford, Pennsylvania, by "Prof. M. T. (Marion Theresa) Biddle." The correspondence is between two women and they talk of beaux, visiting relatives, education, weddings, and brief mentions of the Civil War.
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6 Items
English
The papers of M. T. Biddle consist of six letters written to her friend Maggie R. Thompson in 1858 and 1861. Subjects covered include her affection for Maggie, family and health matters, weather conditions, visits, and correspondence with mutual friends, beaux, and concerns about the Civil War.
Marion Theresa (M. T.) Biddle was born on March 11, 1840, in Chesapeake City, Cecil County, Maryland and died on March 22, 1869 at the age of twenty-nine. She lived with her parents, William Eugene Biddle (b.ca.1797), a farmer, and Armina Nichols Biddle (b.1825) at "Hispaniolia". Hispaniolia was located near Chesapeake City and Elkton, Maryland, as noted on the postmarks on four envelopes included in the collection. M.T. was the eldest of at least six children, one of whom was a younger sister Isabell. She was a teacher and signed all the letters "Prof. M. T. Biddle."
Maggie R. Thompson (b.1843), the recipient of the letters in this collection, lived in Nottingham and later Oxford, Pennsylvania. She refers to a younger sister, Ellie, and twin sisters in the letters. M.T. and Maggie attended school together, possibly the Oxford Female Seminary. Thompson was unmarried when the letters were written and M. T. Biddle addressed her as "Dr."
This collection is organized into one series: Correspondence, 1858, 1861.
The University of Maryland Libraries purchased this collection from Halvor Americana in October 2004.
Digital copies of the letters in this collection are available at http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/8714 in the University of Maryland's Digital Collections.
The letters were placed in an acid-free folder and stored in an acid-free box.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives