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.

Susan and David Conner married on June 25, 1828 and set up home in Philadelphia. In October 1829, Conner, now a captain, left to serve for 12 months in the Gulf of Mexico. Her earliest journal entries (actually loose sheets of paper) come from this time of “sorrow” (folder 1). After he returned, she described what for them was a normal day: “Capt. C[onner] works in his workshop – planes and saws – writes reads & draws – and takes long walks – and talks to me – I sew and read and keep house, and play on the guitar and take my Italian lesson” (volume 3). In a normal year, she and her husband spent much of the summer at the Physick country estate of Octorara, in Maryland, and the rest of the time at their home in Philadelphia.

In January 1833, Susan and David traveled south for the winter, stopping in Charleston, South Carolina, but spending most of their time in the early resort town of St. Augustine, Florida. They enjoyed themselves and returned the following winter, 1833-1834.

In May 1834, David requested that the Department of the Navy allow his wife to travel with him on his next assignment, the John Adams . The Navy consented, and they sailed for the Mediterranean in August. Susan recorded the ship’s stops at many ports in southern Spain, France and Italy. The possibility of war with France at this time created some concern, but once the threat subsided, David left the service in September 1835, and he and Susan visited France and England before returning to Philadelphia in December.

Susan gave birth to her first child, Philip Syng Physick Conner, on May 14, 1837. Her journals reveal that for the rest of the year she worried about “Philly,” who had colic, and her father, who had been ill for some time and finally died on December 15, at the age of 70.

In 1839, the family again traveled to England. However, Philly fell ill on the voyage, and doctors recommended he be taken “to the sun shine” (volume 14), so the Conners moved on to France, spending a month there, then heading for home in August. By March 1840, they had returned to Philadelphia, where Susan gave birth to her second child, Edward (“Eddy”) on March 29.

In July 1841, David was appointed a Navy Commissioner and bought a house in Washington. Susan and her sons spent most of their time at Octorara until November 1843, when David received orders to command the Home Squadron in the Gulf of Mexico. He bought a new house in Philadelphia, at 4th and Walnut Streets, where Susan, Philly, and Eddy lived by August 1844.

By 1845, David Conner was promoted to commodore, and was called for duty when the United States declared war on Mexico the following year. Susan kept track of her husband’s action in the newspapers (see clippings included in volume 15). David returned home in 1847 after the victory at Vera Cruz. In the winter of 1847 to 1848, the family again went to St. Augustine, Florida, where Susan received word of her brother Philip Physick’s and her brother-in-law Jacob Randolph’ s deaths, both in February 1848. She included Philip’s obituary at the end of her 1848 journal (volume 15).

In 1850, the family again traveled to Europe, primarily touring England and Scotland. In December 1851, back in Philadelphia, Eddy fell deathly ill with scarlet fever, but survived. Susan wrote of a “great deal” (volume 19) of small pox and scarlet fever in the city that winter. The following winter, the family went back to St. Augustine, this time via Savannah. In the summer of 1854, the family vacationed in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. They planned to continue on to the Alleghenies, but David was too exhausted from the journey to Ephrata to go further.

David was apparently sick during much of his remaining life, especially in the winters of 1854 to 1855 and 1855 to 1856. In March 1856, already described by his wife as thin and feeble, David contracted pneumonia and died on March 20. Susan was devastated by his death, and clung to hope in a prediction that the “second Advent” of Christ would occur at Pentecost that year. When it did not, she became “very sick” and “disappointed” (volume 23). Though always described by her son as a frail person, by July she grew extremely so, weighing only 78 pounds. Her doctors advised that she sail for Europe to recuperate, which she did in September, accompanied by her sons. The journey did not have its intended effect, however, and Susan Conner died on November 30, 1856, in Torquay, Devon, England. She was buried at South Laurel Hill in Philadelphia.

Philip Syng Physick Conner, her son, took possession of her journals and other books, many of which he would annotate between 1875 and 1903. He married Mary D. Lewis in June 1860, and in July they embarked on a long wedding trip to Europe. In 1861, Mary gave birth to their first child, Camilla (“Milly”), and on October 21, 1864, Edward (“Neddy”) was born. Philip apparently inherited Octorara, where his family lived. They often spent their winters with Mary’s parents at 526 Walnut St. in Philadelphia. Philip did not appear to have a vocation, but spent most of his time with his children or with Mary at parties, shows, and other social events in the city. He took lessons in Latin and in vocal music, and enjoyed hunting. He also supported the popular movement for Irish independence.

Camilla Conner married Arthur Hale in 1889. Hale later took a great interest in Susan Physick Conner’ s journals, and attempted to publish excerpts from her 1834 to 1835 journals and autobiography in book form under the title, “A Lady on a Man of War” (folder 3). Hale died in 1939, without success in his efforts.

From the guide to the Conner family papers, Bulk, 1832-1856, Bulk, 1832-1856 1816-1903, (Independence Seaport Museum, J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library)