By Michael Schreiber
Slightly over 200 years ago, Philadelphia was devastated by recurring waves of yellow fever. The epidemic of 1793 wiped out a tenth of the population of the city and adjacent areas, and thousands more died from outbreaks of the disease throughout the next decade.
In the district of Southwark (now called Queen Village), the incidence of infection was quite high. In the epidemic of 1797, proportionally far more died in Southwark than in the city of Philadelphia itself (above South Street). People living in the cramped houses and narrow streets of our neighborhood, generally the families of sailors and laborers, did not have the means to flee the city as wealthier people could do.
A large stone embedded in the wall of Old Swedes’ Church memorializes Adelaide A. Celestis DeLormerie, who was only 16 when she died in the 1798 epidemic. The inscription notes that “she was mowed down in the flower of her age … regretted by all who knew her talents, beauty, and mildness.” Adelaide and her father had arrived in Philadelphia just a few years earlier as refugees, having fled France following the revolution. They were taken in by John McMullin, a master silversmith in Southwark, who paid for Adelaide’s monument. In heartfelt thanks for his benevolence, Adelaide’s father gave the silversmith a carpet and a painting of a hunting scene—perhaps the two most valuable possessions that he had been able to carry from France.
Conservation Assessment
To the Memory of
Adelaide A. Celestis Delormerie
Born in Paris the 26th 8ber 1781. Deceafed the 31st
Auguft 1798
Mowed down in the flower of her age God called
Her to himfelf no doubt, for a speedy reward
Of her early and accomplished virtues
She is much regretted by all who knew her talents,
beauty and mildness
Type of Marker: Wall mounted
Date of Marker (estimate): 1798
Material: Marble
Evaluation
Historic Integrity: Questionable
Structural Integrity: Good
Material Integrity: Good
Legible Inscription: Good
Marker Details
Inventory Number: 10
Plot Number: 97
Historic Number: 375
Ledger Book Number: 49
Cemetery Section: 2
Orientation: South
Prior to Restoration
Issues: Biogrowth, cracking, delamination, harmful/failed repair, sugaring
Comments: mounted on south wall w/ ferrous starps
Recommended Treatment: Cleaning w/ biocide, consolidation, fill cracks/blisters, patching, pinning and gluing, removing old pins, repointing, resetting