Physick

Susan Dillwyn Physick was born on June 22, 1803, in Philadelphia, the second of four children. Her parents were Elizabeth Emlen, whose family was one of the wealthiest in Philadelphia, and Philip Syng Physick, the prominent physician. When Susan was 12, her parents separated and she moved into her father’s new home, the still-extant Physick House at 321 S. 4th Street. In 1824 she met naval Master-Commandant David Conner, and the two began a courtship.

In her early twenties, Susan took great interest in her religious faith and in poetry, two things that continued to reappear in her journals throughout the rest of her life. In 1826 she was confirmed into the Episcopal Church, and that same year began filling a commonplace book with her own poems and hymns.

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