HENRY CHAPMAN'S SECRETARY ELLA B. WRIGHT

John Lupia writes:

Ella B. Wright (1877-1952) was born at Philadelphia on June 11, 1877 the daughter of John B. Wright, a Clerk of the City of Philadelphia and his wife Mary E. Early. According to the 1900 U.S. Census she lived with her parents, maternal aunt Ella E. Early, and two sisters : Mary and Alice, and worked as a typist (type writer).

She began working for Henry Chapman soon after he had dissolved his partnership with his brother Samuel Hudson Chapman on August 17th 1906. She would eventually work for Henry and his wife Helen for over forty years.

On January 28, 1941 Ella B. Wright was choked, gagged and tied up by three armed robbers who stole mainly Roman and Greek coins and rare stamps valued at $20,000 from the Henry Chapman Old Coin Shop. Chester Times, Tuesday, January 28, 1941 Front Page; Gazette and Bulletin, Wednesday, January 29, 1941, front Page. A few years afterwards Thomas Lindsay Elder wrote to Ella about the robbery of $10,000 at Wayte Raymond's office telling her he thought it was the same gang that robbed her (see Figs. 1 & 2).

The reverse of the ... postal card with the message : "Raymond's Office entered by "duplicate keys" & $10,000 stole a few days ago. Likely same gang robbed you. You should have Ins. I carry plenty also hold up Ins. They don't cost much. T. L. Elder Pleasantville, N.Y."

She ran the firm of Henry Chapman Numismatist from the time of his death on January 4, 1935 until 1948. She died on July 13, 1952 of pneumonia and arteriosclerosis. She is buried in Northwood Cemetery, Philadelphia. In the June issue (1954) of The Numismatist S. W. Freeman wrote a few lines of reminiscences about Ella giving him his start in coin collecting in the 1920’s.

To read the complete article, see:
WRIGHT, ELLA B (https://sites.google.com/site/numismaticmallcom/encyclopedic-dictionary-of-numismatic-biographies/wright-ella-b)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web