Daniel Offley, two letters and his obituary

Daniel Offley was one of the heroes of the epidemic who died in October after visiting the sick throughout September. In the modern retelling of the epidemic, his work is framed as part of the Mayor's Committee's effort to relieve the suffering and send the sick to the Bush Hill hospital. These letters suggest that religious principles motivated Offley. The obituary written by fellow Quakers immediately after his death suggests that Offley's preached resignation to God's will to those victims he visited. He probably did not dispense medicines or medical advice nor necessarily offer hope. He was alive to the need for money to provide for survivors and solicited funds from the wealthy banker with whom he corresponded.