Manuscript Location

Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Place of Origin

United States

Date of Composition

early 19th century

Description

The library's Purviance Family papers include two recipe books compiled by Elizabeth Isabella Purviance: a 144-page book containing both culinary recipes and remedies, and a 24-page book containing recipes only. Both were written in the early 19th century.

Elizabeth Isabella Purviance was born to Samuel Purviance, Jr. (1728-1788) and Catherine Stewart in 1770, the second of six siblings. Her father, a Baltimore merchant, was active in the lead-up to the American Revolution, joining with other merchants in the non-importation of British goods and aiding in the arrest of the British governor of Maryland. At the start of the Revolution, Samuel Purviance and his brother Robert operated one of the largest import houses in the colonies, but by 1787 he had fallen on hard times and was forced to declare bankruptcy. In 1788, while passing down the Ohio River near the present site of Cincinnati, he was captured by a band of Indians and was never seen again.

In 1811, Elizabeth Isabella Purviance married Henry Courtenay (1776-1854), a merchant. He was the widower of Elizabeth Isabella's sister, named (confusingly) Isabella Purviance, who died in 1804, at the age of 25, after bearing three children. Elizabeth Isabella died in 1823. John Henry Purviance, a brother to Elizabeth Isabella and Isabella, served as a diplomat in the first five American presidential administrations.