Emery Sisters

Susan Lavinia Emery

Susan Lavinia Emery was born on September 26, 1846, in Dorchester, Massachusetts. She was educated first at Mather Grammar School and then Dorchester High School before attending a boarding school for young ladies. Inclined towards literature from an early age, she published Uncle Rod’s Pet, a children’s novel, in 1869 at twenty-three years old. Two years later, in 1871, she was hired by Dr. Alvi Twing to replace Maria Bullfinch as the Associate Editor of the "Young Christian Soldier," a monthly magazine for children in The Episcopal Church that offered young readers articles and missionary letters alongside poetry and fiction. Notably, she led the magazine in increasing its publication schedule from monthly to weekly.

Emery resigned from "Young Christian Soldier" in 1874. A year later, she was received into the Catholic Church. Emery continued her writing and publishing career until her death on March 1, 1914. In addition to serving on the editorial staff of the "Sacred Heart Review," she was a contributor to publications such as "American Catholic Quarterly," "Catholic World," and "Harper’s Magazine." She also published a collection of her columns from the "Sacred Heart Review" in a book entitled The Inner Life of the Soul.

Margaret Theresa Emery

Margaret Theresa Emery, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on August 3, 1847, served as the Associate Editor of the "Young Christian Soldier" from 1876.  She was the last Emery to edit the magazine, holding the position until 1911 when its publication ceased.  Additionally, she served the Woman’s Auxiliary for forty-three years leading both the Junior Department and the “box work,” or the intake of donated goods and subsequent dispatch of complete missionary boxes.  Margaret Theresa Emery died in July of 1925.

Helen Winthrop Emery

Helen Winthrop Emery was born on September 30, 1862, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and died on January 18, 1924, in Scarsdale, New York.  Unlike her sisters, Helen did not take an active role in the Woman’s Auxiliary.  Instead, she was remembered for her hospitality and “untiring care of her sisters” [Margaret and Julia, with whom she lived], which “made it possible for them to give of their best to the Christ and work of His Church.”  

An accomplished artist, Helen designed not only the Emery home, but also the altar hangings at the Church of St. James the Less in Scarsdale, New York.  Additionally she was a skilled portrait artist in both charcoal and oil.  Her oil painting of Julia Chester Emery, donated by the Emery brothers in the early 1920s to be hung in Emery Room at the Church Mission House and later at the Episcopal Church Center, now resides in the collection of the Archives of the Episcopal Church. Helen Winthrop Emery died on January 18, 1924.