posted 06-17-2002 07:51 PM              

Hannah Robinson, Wilmington, working 1845-1878.

Hannah Robinson is the only known woman silversmith of Delaware from 1700 to 1850. Pieces marked H. Robinson in a rectangle with the name standing out were probably made by Hannah Robinson, while the H. Robinson incised into the metal was probably her dealer's stamp. Fiddleback spoons with the less desirable stamped mark are occasionally offered for sale.

The third child in the Robinson silversmithing family, Hannah Robinson was born February 2, 1803. After teaching school, she succeeded her brother, John F. Robinson in the silver and jewelry business in his Market Street shop. Her business was successful and well managed, and she left many business records.

She apparently had a keen appreciation of the power of advertising, for she was the only Delaware silversmith to distribute broadsides announcing her wares. An inventory of her stock, made on December 31, 1850, shows that by that date she was selling manufactured goods but still made and repaired other items. Other business records show her business dealings with Emmor Jefferis, her brother-in-law, and Thomas J. Megear, and her purchase of a house in 1856.

Hannah Robinson never married but aided in raising her younger brothers and sisters. She was also active in the Delaware Avenue Bethany Baptist Church. In 1876 she made aprons and a silk quilt for the church. She was a woman of good character and a favorite with her relatives, and when she died on July 1, 1878, she left jewelry and furniture to all her relations by name along with enough means to support her dependent maiden sister, Sally.

posted 06-18-2002 08:45 AM              

The touch, E. Jefferis in a rectangle, is considered rare. Known examples of Jefferis' work include fiddleback tea- and tablespoons on exibit at the Historical Society of Delaware. One reason for the scarcity of silver bearing Jefferis' mark is that the smith spent much of his later life at the trade of dentistry.

Jefferis first advertised himself as a silversmith in 1827, and in 1832 took over Joseph Draper's business and shop when the latter left the state. In Wilmington Jefferis had social and busines relations with other silversmiths such as John F. Robinson and Ziba Ferris. Jefferis also diversified his activities into other trades. In 1842 he called himself a surgeon dentist and stated he extracted teeth on the improved forceps plan with little pain. At another period in his life he invested heavily in mulberry trees for the silk boom, but the failure of the silk mania left him in poverty.

Emmor Jefferis, III, was born in 1804 in East Bradford, Chester County, Pennsylvania. On May 28, 1827, he married Ann Robinson from Wilmington, the sister of the silversmiths John F. and Hannah Robinson. Jefferis had eleven childrenm, nine of whom lived to maturity. He died on January 20, 1892, in Cherry Hill, Maryland. Reminiscences of his grandchildren incude memories of his wonderful head of hair, almost untouched by gray, his cane with a silver tip, his habit of calling peanuts 'goober,' and his typical exclamation of "Good Goy".