Letter from Margaret O'Shaugnessy to Catherine Bogart Putman Rankin, December 27, 1885

Date

1885

Description

"Margaret “Mollie” O’Shaugnessy wrote this letter to Catherine Rankin, her employer. Mollie wrote the letter to report to Catherine while she was away visiting family. Mollie O’Shaughnessy was a domestic worker who cooked and took care of the children at Cherry Hill from 1885 to 1887. She grew up with her parents and sister Jennie on Madison Ave. Her parents and almost all of her neighbors were immigrants born in Ireland. Many of the men worked as laborers, and many of the women worked as domestic workers in houses like Cherry Hill. Mollie mentioned Clara Patterson and Mrs. Reed in the letter. Mrs. Reed was another domestic worker at Cherry Hill. Clara Patterson was a ward and domestic worker at Cherry Hill from 1884 until 1894. She was brought to Cherry Hill when she was 6 years old, after her mother died from tuberculosis. Clara took care of the Rankin children, and did chores like sweeping the porch. When she was 12, Clara asked to learn how to make money so that she could live on her own, without being a lifelong worker in someone else’s house. She was sent to work for a friend of the family, Mrs. Ward, in 1894. Shortly after, Clara left to make her own life, and found a new home with a different family. This item was added as part of the Diversity and Collaborative Knowledge Program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Type

Written Document

Region

Capital District

Era

Industrialization

Topic

Communication

Repository

Historic Cherry Hill

Identifier

8_3_December_27_1885_MO_to_CBPR

Source

Historic Cherry Hill

Rights

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