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Diaries of Esther Potter

1 folder (0.1 linear feet)

(1848 – 1856)

Edward H. Nabb Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Salisbury, University, Salisbury, Maryland

Identifier SC2018.015
Creator(s) Potter, Esther
Acquisition

Acquired by Dr. Beatriz Hardy (Dean of Libraries and Instructional Resources) in 2018
Language(s) English
Use Records are open for research. Copyright, including literary rights, belongs to the author(s) or their legal heirs. Permission to publish or reproduce must be obtained from the Nabb Research Center which extends beyond "fair use."
Preferred Citation "Item, collection title and identifier, box # and folder # (if applicable), Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland."
Attribution Finding aid written by Ian Post. Edited by Nicole Brumback.
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Separated Materials See Nabb Center Staff
Abstract

These three diaries were written between 1848 and 1856 by Esther Euphemia Potter. Potter entered the Select School in Alfred, New York (now Alfred University) in 1845 and attended finishing school in Brooklyn, New York. By 1856 she had married a doctor, William Wells Crandall. Potter was devoutly religious and attended sermons of Henry Beecher Ward and Dr. Cox, in addition to describing the general street scenes in Brooklyn. The diaries are dated 1848, 1850 and 1856.

Biographical History

Esther Euphemia Potter Crandall was born on February 27, 1832 in Alfred, New York. She was the daughter of Elisha Potter (1806 – 1884) and Miranda Barnell Maxson Potter (1810 – 1847). Elisha was a farmer but supplemented his income by working as a carpenter and mechanic. Esther had one sister, Lucy Potter (1847 – 1858). Due to complications related to Lucy’s birth, Miranda died two days later in October 1847. Elisha remarried Eleanor Jarman Sheppard Potter (1826 – 1912) in 1853; Esther’s half-brother, Othello Sheppard Potter, was born four years later in 1857.

Esther married William Wells Crandall (1828- 1899) on July 5, 1852. Crandall had been educated Alfred and Brown Universities; he graduated from medical school at New York University in 1858. He was elected to the New York State legislature and served in 1872 and 1873.

Esther and William had one child who survived into adulthood, Susan Miranda Crandall Sherman (1866 – 1932).

Esther Euphemia Potter Crandall died on June 7, 1908 at the age of 76. She was buried in the Alfred Rural Cemetery in Alfred, New York.

Scope and Content Note

These three diaries were written between 1848 and 1856 by Esther Euphemia Potter. Potter entered the Select School in Alfred, New York (now Alfred University) in 1845 and attended finishing school in Brooklyn, New York. By 1856 she had married a doctor, William Wells Crandall. Potter was devoutly religious and attended sermons of Henry Beecher Ward and Dr. Cox, in addition to describing the general street scenes in Brooklyn. The diaries are dated 1848, 1850 and 1856. The diaries are accompanied by ephemera; a receipt from a haberdasher’s, some note cards, a newspaper clipping, and two letters.

Arrangement Statement See Nabb Center Staff

Subject Terms

  • Topical Terms
    • Diaries
    • Diaries (Women)
    • Education
    • Religious History
  • Location Terms
    • New York

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