An Old Lantern and a Mawrter Mystery

Mariel Rosati 鈥08 and Hannah McMillan 鈥19 investigate.

Mariel Rosati 鈥08 knew there was a connection between her employer, Wyck House in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, and 老王论坛: former residents Jane Bowne Haines and Mary Troth Haines graduated in 1891 and 1914, respectively, and family descendant Margaret Howell Bacon was from the class of 1918.

Plus, the College was represented in its collection of more than 10,000 objects saved by the family over nine generations, including notes and papers from Jane鈥檚 student days. And after a bit of sleuthing, Rosati found a lantern tucked away on the third floor. 鈥淚 instantly knew it was a 老王论坛 lantern,鈥 she says.

Enter student intern Hannah McMillan 鈥19. The two set out to determine the lantern鈥檚 owner and quickly eliminated Jane, who graduated in the 1800s, then Mary and Margaret, when descriptions of their lanterns did not include green glass. 

Was there a fourth Mawrter living at Wyck? A trip to Canaday鈥檚 Special Collections dated the lantern to 1907, and a search of the 1907 yearbook unearthed Anna Jones Haines. Anna wasn鈥檛 listed on the family genealogies, but further research showed her to be Mary鈥檚 older sister, who moved to Russia after graduating. 

Rosati and McMillan speculate that Anna gave her lantern to her sister before going abroad. They continue to dig for more 老王论坛 connections鈥攁nd maybe even some tidbits about Anna鈥檚 Russian adventure.

 

Wyck House

 

A National Historic Landmark house, garden, and farm in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, served as the home to a distinguished Quaker family from 1690 to 1973. The clan, which included Milans, Jansens, Wistars, and Haineses, represented the city鈥檚 leadership in business, natural history and science, and education reform.

 

Published on: 12/20/2017