EYSTER, Mrs. Nellie Blessing, author, was born in Frederick Md. She is of good ancestry with a commingling of Huguenot and Anglo-Saxon blood. On the maternal side she is a granddaughter of Captain George W. Ent, a commander at Fort McHenry in the war of 1812 and an intimate friend of Francis Scott Key. On the same side she is a kinswoman of famous old Barbara Frietchie. Abraham Blessing, Mrs. Eyster's father, who died in his early prime, when she was but ten years old, was a man of noble character, the youngest brother of George Blessing of Maryland, whose loyalty and patriotism, as displayed during the late Civil War, has won for him in history the title, "The Hero of the Highlands." The mother was a woman of unusual refinement and poetic taste, leaving as an inheritance to her five children the memory of a life of Christian rectitude and usefulness. The eldest of these five, Nellie, baptized Penelope, early gave promise of literary ability. When sixteen years old, she was wooed and won by her private tutor, David A. S. Eyster, a young lawyer of Harrisburg, Pa. From the beginning of their acquaintance to Mr. Eyster's death, in 1886, he was her teacher, best friend, and critic. Her family consists of one daughter, May, born a year after her marriage, and one son, Charles, several years later, who died at the age of ten, in 1872. Mrs. Eyster's first public work was in aid of the purchase of Mt. Vernon and she put forth earnest activity in the Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. Her first literary venture of any note was a series of children's books called the "Sunny Hour Library" (Philadelphia, four volumes, 1865-69). The success of these books gave fresh impetus to Mrs. Eyster's pen. She has written for many leading periodicals, "California Illustrated Magazine," the New York "Tribune," "Lutheran Observer," Harrisburg "Telegraph", "Our Young Folks," "St. Nicholas," "Wide Awake," "Harper's Magazine," the "Riverside Magazine," and others. She worked for a year with Gail Hamilton on "Wood's Household Magazine," editing the juvenile department. Mr. Eyster held a useful and remunerative post as financial clerk of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education. In 1872 and 1873 the death of her son and her mother caused her health to give way, and in 1876 the family removed to California, where, in San Jose, a delightful new home was made, and Mrs. Eyster rallied from her depression to take hold of religious and benevolent work once more. In Pennsylvania the family had been members of the English Lutheran Church, but in San Jose they became connected with the Presbyterian denomination, and Mrs. Eyster was linked with all its Christian and benevolent enterprises. Mrs. Eyster was made president of the San Jose Ladies' Benevolent Society, president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and secretary of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church. Pecuniary reverses made her more than ever her husband's helper, and she taught literature and music in schools and homes with success. During those years her pen was never idle, and another book for children was written, "A Colonial Boy" (Boston, 1890). Ten years went by, and the sudden death of Mr. Eyster broke up the new home. Mrs. Eyster then went to San Francisco to live with her daughter, now Mrs. Scott Elder. Mrs. Eyster is state superintendent of juvenile work in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, president of the California Women's Indian Association, and president of the Woman's Press Association of the Pacific Coast. None of these positions are sinecures, and all receive her supervision.[A Woman of the Century, Leading American Women in All Walks of Life, by Charles Wells Moulton, publ. 1893, pgs. 281-282 (with photo)]
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Nellie Blessing-Eyster, author, lecturer; b. Frederick, Md., Dec. 7, 1836 (her baptismal name was Penelope A. M. Blessing, but she adopted the shorter "Nellie"); d. Abraham and Mary M. E. Blessing; ed. by private tutors and at Barleywood Sem., Va.; m. 1853, Prof. David. A. S. Eyster, Harrisburg, Pa. (died, 1889 [sic]). Has lived in Calif. since 1876; active in woman suffrage movement and other nat. reforms for the advancement of women; State lecturer in public schools on scientific temperance; editor The Pacific Ensign, organ of State W. C. T. U.; first pres. Pacific Coast Woman's Press Assn. Author: Sunny Hours, or the Child Life of Tom and Mary, 1864 01; Chincapin Charlie, 1866 01; On the Wing, 1868, 01; Tom Harding and His Friends, 1870 01; A Colonial Boy, 1895 L9; A Chinese Quaker, 1902 R3. Contb'r to mags. Address: 2715 Buchanan St., San Francisco. [Who's Who in America, A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States, 1903-1905, publ. 1908, pg. 467]
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Word was received here to-day of the death on Tuesday of Mrs. Nellie Blessing Eyster, widow of David A. E. Eyster, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Scott Elder, at Berkeley, California. Mrs. Eyster was a charter member of the Messiah Lutheran and at the time of her death was in her 93d year. She was the author of several books and wrote a number of verses. [Harrisburg Telegraph (Pennsylvania), Sat. Evening, 25 Feb 1922, pg. 12]
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Eyster, Nellie Blessing, b. 1824, d. 1922 (with Eyster, David A.)
[Oak Hill Cemetery headstone inscription card, San Jose, California]
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Contributed by howardl, [email protected], Sep 2019:
I devoted some time to the issue of the correct birth date for Penelope (Nellie) Eyster. I do believe the date on Find-a-Grave and also appearing in some other sources of 7 Dec 1836 is incorrect and the true date is either 6 or 7 Dec 1830. Many people having entries for her on Ancestry.com commonly show either of those dates. The year 1836 is certainly incorrect. In the letter I have she mentions that she was 10 when her father died (1841) and 16 when she was married (1847). In addition the ages recorded in all the census records (except for the 1900 census which says Dec 1831) are consistent with 1830. The obituary 1922 said she was “in her 93rd year,” which also would have her born in 1830 (92 in 1922). I would suggest you might use the date 7 Dec 1830.