Manuscript Location

Swarthmore College, McCabe Library, Special Collections, Friends Historical Library

Place of Origin

United States ➔ New Jersey

Date of Composition

ca. 1770s

Description

The commonplace book of Ruth Hoskins (1756-1829) contains copied poems, a sermon given by Samuel Fothergill in 1769, acrostics, and recipes for puddings, fruit preserves, and other foods. She compiled the book in her childhood home, in Burlington County, New Jersey, prior to her marriage to Joseph Richardson (1752-1831) in 1780, under care of the Burlington Monthly [Quaker] Meeting. The couple had six surviving children. Joseph Richardson was the grandson and son of renowned Philadelphia gold and silversmiths. He apprenticed to his father around 1765 and then took over his father's Philadelphia business upon his father's death in 1784. He later partnered with his brother Nathaniel. George Washington appointed Joseph Assayer of the Philadelphia mint in 1795, a position that he held until his death. Richardson is particularly known for his Indian peace medals. George Washington commissioned him to produce a silver teapot and waste bowl, which still survive.

This volume is located in Series 7, Sub-series: Writings (Box 11) of the library's Richardson-Yarnall family papers.