One of the ironies of old family letters that get passed down is that they are often written by non-family members and are full of news of people not related to us.  Such is the case with this letter written by my great, grand-aunt to Sophie? DuPont - original letter is at Hagley Museum. "Dear Mrs. DuPont, Many thanks for the beautiful chrysanthemums you sent me, they are one of my favorite flowers. I have been intending to write you for some time but have been so busy knowing that you have such a kind interest in us.  I wanted to tell you of Sophi's engagement, she is going to marry Mr. McDowell the Presbyterian minister near Centerville; it will be a great change for her, but I do hope she will be very happy, she is now, though it was very hard for her to decide.  it has taken her about two years to make up her mind.  It will be a short engagement as they expect to be married in the spring. I have not heard from the Coupland children for some time now.  If possible we want them down to spend Xmas with us, they seem to enjoy themselves so much here. I was sorry to hear of your eyes troubling you.  I do hope they are better now. Sophie is away at present meeting a school friend and Ethel and I are getting a little foretaste of how lonely we shall be. Hoping you are feeling better I am most sincerely, M. Edith Pusey Wilmington 11/8/87" Mary Edith's great-aunt, Mary Ella Simmons (d. 1879), was a neighbor and lifelong friend of Sophie duPont, thus the connection. Mary Edith never married.  She was the daughter of Edward and Mary Ella (Simmons) Pusey.  She and her younger sisters, Sophia and Ethel were orphaned when their parents died in 1886 and 1884 respectively.  A year after their father's death, the three girls were 24, 22, and 16 respectively and shared a house in Wilmington.  The Mr. McDowell engaged to Sophia/Sophie Pusey, was the Rev. Thomas Rankin McDowell, then the minister of the Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church.  Just over a year after his marriage in March, 1888, he assumed the pastorate of the Upper Octoraro Presbyterian Church near Parkesburg, Chester Co. John