In Izannah's Own Hand - A Letter to Her Sister

Dear Dixie,

As we have discussed, I am in the process of writing a piece for the New England Historic Genealogical Society’s Spring 2010 publication of New England Ancestors. The article focuses on our ancestor, Captain David Walker, and the discovery of one of his whaling ships, Candace, unearthed in San Francisco’s financial district in 2006. When I began to research David’s brothers and sisters, I came across another amazing find…Izannah’s beautiful dolls!

The first time I pulled up your website and saw pictures of her dolls, I had chills. It was like looking into my own son’s eyes. There is a uniquely handsome shape to the eyes with one eye that seems to look ever-so-slightly off to the side. I had traced the characteristic back through old pictures to the Walker side of our family when he was just a baby. For me, part of the allure of the dolls and their simple innocence is the way Izannah painted the eyes. I can only wonder if some of the Walker nieces and nephews were models for her dolls.

In support of your goal of providing a central repository of information about Izannah and her dolls I am providing a scan of a letter written by Izannah that has been passed down in our family. Included are two examples of her signature. The letter was written in 1850 to her half sister Bridget addressing arrangements between the two regarding a family plot at Palmer Street Cemetery in Somerset, Massachusetts. The intention of sharing the letter is not to focus on the details of her parent’s burial, but to point out that although she was an orphan, she was close to her many half brothers and sisters, visiting and communicating with them even 25 years after her parent’s death. She was not alone, Izannah was one of the nine surviving children of Gilbert Walker.

Thank you for building such a wonderful website honoring Izannah’s dolls, and for loving her work. Thank you to all of your readers who have generously contributed and shared information and images in an effort to build a comprehensive catalog of her work. I look forward to checking in to admire new pictures of dolls as they become available.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Raymond

Cohasset, Massachusetts

Jennifer's email contact

Click on images to enlarge

Dixie here: I am thrilled that Jennifer chose to share these wonderful documents here. Jennifer and I have talked by phone quite a few times, she is passionate about researching and understands the intent of this site. Through what Jennifer has offered, one gets a sense of the way Izannah's mind worked in the sketches and handwriting in the letter. I added the copyrights onto the images that Jennifer sent - the intent is for them to be available here, but not to be republished without Jennifer's permission. Thank you, Jennifer!

Where Izannah Is Buried

Monica Bessette left the following comment in regards to the previous entry (I have edited out one phrase). And the find was courtesy of Diane. Thanks, Diane! And thanks Monica for sharing the information you know.

Hi Dixie,

Izannah is buried in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, RI, a beautifully landscaped cemetery which is not far from her final home in Central Falls, RI.

During the late 1800's there was a movement away from family and church burial grounds to the more elaborate, park-like cemeteries befitting our well-to-do citizens.

She is buried along side her best friend, Emeline Whipple. I'm not sure if Izanah made these arrangements or Emeline, and have always wondered about the implications of two women being buried side by side. Izannah died first, so she may not have had a say in it, but I can't imagine that either!

The cemetery in Somerset is the family plot, and she may have had every intention to be buried there, but she left Somerset during the 1850's and probably changed her mind about that being her final resting place.

Good find!

Monica Bessette
The Search for Izannah Walker