 Chapter 24. MARRY SLOKUM The first expedition into North Carolina projected by Lord Cornwallis was baffled by the fall of Colonel Ferguson at King's Mountain. The disaster at the Cowpens forbade perseverance in the second attempt and was followed by the memorable retreat of Green. The Battle of Guilford took place in March 1781 and, towards the end of April, while Lord Rodin encountered Green at Hopperk's Hill, Cornwallis set out on his march from Wilmington, bent on his avowed purpose of achieving the conquest of Virginia. On his march towards Halifax he encamped for several days on the river News in what is now called Wayne County, North Carolina. His headquarters were at Springbank, while Colonel Tollerton, with his renowned legion encamped on the plantation of Lieutenant Slokum. This consisted of level and extensive fields, which at that season presented a most inviting view of fresh verdure from the mansion house. Lord Cornwallis himself gave it the name of Pleasant Green, which it ever afterwards retained. The owner of this fine estate held a subaltern's commission in the state line under Colonel Washington and was in command of a troop of light horse raised in his own neighborhood whose general duty it was to act as rangers, scouring the country for many miles around, watching the movements of the enemy and punishing the loyalists when detected in their vocation of pillage and murder. These excursions had been frequent for two or three years and were often of several weeks duration. At the present time, Slokum had returned to the vicinity and had been sent with twelve or fifteen recruits to act as scouts in the neighborhood of the British general. In the morning of the day on which Tarleton took possession of his plantation he was near a spring-bank and reconnoitered the encampment of Cornwallis which he supposed to be his whole force. He then, with his party, pursued his way slowly along the south bank of the news in the direction of his own house little dreaming that his beautiful and peaceful home where some time before he had left his wife and child was then in the possession of that terrible Tarleton. During these frequent excursions of the rangers and the necessary absence of her husband the superintendents of the plantation had always devolved upon Mrs. Slokum. She depended for protection upon her slaves whose fidelity she had proved and upon her own fearless and intrepid spirit. The scene of the occupation of her house and Tarleton's residence with her remained through life indelibly impressed on her memory and were described by her to one who enjoyed the honor of her intimate friendship. I am permitted to give his account copied almost verbatim from notes taken at the time the occurrences were related by Mrs. Slokum. It was about ten o'clock on a beautiful spring morning that a splendidly dressed officer accompanied by two aides and followed at a short distance by a guard of some twenty troopers dashed up to the piazza in front of the ancient looking mansion. Mrs. Slokum was sitting there with her child and a near relative a young lady who afterwards became the wife of Major Williams. A few house servants were also on the piazza. The officer raised his cap and bowing to his horse's neck addressed the lady with the question, have I the pleasure of seeing the mistress of this house and plantation? It belongs to my husband. Is he at home? He is not. Is he a rebel? No, sir. He is in the army of his country and fighting against our invaders, therefore not a rebel. It is not a little singular that although the people of that day gloried in their rebellion they always took offense at being called rebels. I fear, madam, said the officer, we differ in opinion. A friend to his country will be the friend of the king, our master. Saves only at knowledge a master in this country, replied the lady. A deep flush crossed the floored cheeks of Tarleton for he was the speaker and, turning to one of his aides, he ordered him to pitch the tents and form the encampment in the orchard and field on their right. To the other aid his orders were to detach a quarter-guard and station-pickets on each road. Then bowing very low he added, madam, the service of his majesty requires the temporary occupation of your property, and if it would not be too great an inconvenience I will take up my quarters in your house. The tone admitted no controversy. Mrs. Slocum answered, my family consists of only myself, my sister and child, and a few negroes. We are your prisoners. From the piazza where he seated himself, Tarleton commanded a view of the ground on which his troops were arranging their camp. The mansion fronted the east and an avenue one hundred and fifty feet wide and about half a mile in length stretched to the eastern side of the plantation where was a highway with open grounds beyond it partly dry meadow and partly sand barren. This avenue was lined on the south by a high fence and a thick hedge row of forest trees. These are now removed and replaced by the pride of India and other ornamental trees. On the north side extended the common rail fence seven or eight feet high, such as is usually seen on the plantations in the low country. The encampment of the British troops, being on that part of the plantation lying south of the avenue, it was completely screened by the fences and hedgerow from the view of anyone approaching from down the country. While the men were busyed, different officers came up at intervals making their reports and receiving orders. Among others, a Tory captain who Mrs. Slocum immediately recognized, for before joining the Royal Army, he had lived fifteen or twenty miles below, received orders in her hearing to take his troop and scour the country for two or three miles round. In an hour everything was quiet and the plantation presented the romantic spectacle of a regular encampment of some ten or eleven hundred of the choicest cavalry of the British monarch. Mrs. Slocum now addressed herself to the duty of preparing for her uninvited guests. The dinner set before the King's officers was in her own words to her friend, as good a dinner as you have now before you and of much the same materials. A description of what then constituted a good dinner in that region may not be inappropriate. The first dish was, of course, the boiled ham flanked with a plate of greens. Opposite was the turkey supported by the laughing baked sweet potatoes, a plate of boiled beef, another of sausages, and a third with a pair of baked fowls formed a line across the center of the table, half a dozen dishes of different pickles, stewed fruit, and other condiments failed up the interstices of the board. The dessert, too, was abundant and various. Such a dinner it may well be supposed met the particular approbation of the royal officers, especially as the fashion of that day introduced stimulating drinks to the table and the peach brandy prepared under Lt. Slocum's own supervision was of the most excellent sort. It received the unqualified praise of the party and its merits were freely discussed. A Scotch officer praising it by the name of Whiskey protested that he had never drunk as good out of Scotland. An officer speaking with a slight brogue insisted it was not Whiskey and that no Scotch drink ever equalled it. To my mind, said he, it tastes as yonder orchard smells. Allow me, madam, said Colonel Tarleton, to inquire where the spirits we are drinking is procured. From the orchard where your tents stand, answered Mrs. Slocum. Colonel, said the Irish captain, when we conquer this country is it not to be divided out among us? The officers of this army, replied the Colonel, will undoubtedly receive large possessions of the conquered American provinces. Mrs. Slocum, here interposed, allow me to observe and prophesy, said she, the only land in these United States which will ever remain in possession of a British officer will measure but six feet by two. Excuse me, madam, remarked Tarleton, for your sake I regret to say this beautiful plantation will be the dookal seat of some of us. Don't trouble yourself about me, retorted the spirited lady. My husband is not a man who would allow a dook or even a king to have a quiet seat upon his ground. At this point the conversation was interrupted by rapid volleys of firearms appearing to proceed from the wood a short distance to the eastward. One of the aides pronounced it some straggling scout running from the picket guard, but the experience of Colonel Tarleton could not be easily deceived. There are rifles and muskets, said he, as well as pistols, and too many to pass unnoticed. Order boots and saddles and you, captain, take your troop in the direction of the firing. The officer rushed out to execute his orders while the Colonel walked into the piazza, whether he was immediately followed by the anxious ladies. Mrs. Slocum's agitation and alarm may be imagined, for she guessed but too well the cause of the interruption. On the first arrival of the officers she had been importuned even with harsh threats to tell where her husband, when absent on duty, was likely to be found. But after her repeated and peremptory refusals had escaped further molestation on the subject, she feared now that he had returned unexpectedly and might fall into the enemy's hands before he was aware of their presence. Her sole hope was in a precaution she had adopted soon after the coming of her unwelcome guests. Having heard Tarleton give the order to the Tory captain as before mentioned to patrol the country, she immediately sent for an old Negro and gave him directions to take a bag of corn to the mail about four miles distant on the road she knew her husband must travel if he returned that day. Big George was instructed to warn his master of the danger of approaching his home. With the indolence and curiosity natural to his race, however, the old fellow remained loitering about the premises and was at this time lurking under the hedgerow admiring the red coats, dashing plumes, and shining helmets of the British troopers. The colonel and the ladies continued on the lookout from the piazza. May I be allowed, madam? At length, said Tarleton, without offence to inquire if any part of Washington's army is in this neighborhood. I presume it is known to you, replied Mrs. Slocum, that the Marquis and Green are in this state. And you would not, of course, she added after a slight pause. Be surprised at a call from Lee or your old friend Colonel Washington, who, although a perfect gentleman, it is said shook your hand, pointing to the scar left by Washington's sabre very rudely when you last met. Ask to risk. As I cannot distrust the authority on which I have received this anecdote, it proves that on more than one occasion the British colonel was made to feel the shaft of female wit in allusion to the unfortunate battle of the cowpens. It is said that in a close encounter between Washington and Tarleton during that action, the latter was wounded by a sabre cut on the hand. Colonel Washington, as is well known, figured in some of the skirmishes in North Carolina. Return to text. This spirited answer inspired Tarleton with apprehensions that the skirmish in the woods was only the prelude to a concerted attack on his scamp. His only reply was a loud order to form the troops on the right, and, springing on his charger, he dashed down the avenue a few hundred feet to a breach in the hedgerow, leaped the fence, and in a moment was at the head of his regiment which was already in line. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Slocum with John Howell, a private in his band, Henry Williams, and the brother of Mrs. Slocum, Charles Hooks, a boy of about thirteen years of age, was leading a hot pursuit of the Tory captain who had been sent to reconnoiter the country and some of his routed troop. These were first discerned in the open grounds east and northeast of the plantation, closely pursued by a body of American mounted militia, while a running fight was kept up with different weapons in which four or five broadswords gleamed conspicuous. The foremost of the pursuing party appeared too busy with the Tories to see anything else, and they entered the avenue at the same moment with the party pursued. With what horror and consternation did Mrs. Slocum recognize her husband, her brother, and two of her neighbors in chase of the Tory captain and four of his band already halfway down the avenue and unconscious that they were rushing into the enemy's midst. About the middle of the avenue one of the Tories fell, and the course of the brave and imprudent young officer was suddenly arrested by Big George, who sprang directly in front of their horses crying, Hold on, Massa! The devil here! Look yon! A glance to the left showed the young men their danger. They were within pistol shot of a thousand men drawn up in order of battle. Wheeling their horses, they discovered a troop already leaping the fence into the avenue in their rear. Quick as thought, they again wheeled their horses and dashed down the avenue directly towards the house where stood the quarter guard to receive them. On reaching the garden fence, a rude structure formed of a kind of lath and called a waddled fence. They leaped that in the next, amid a shower of balls from the guard, cleared the canal at one tremendous leap, and scouring across the open field to the northwest were in the shelter of the wood before their pursuers could clear the fences of the enclosure. The whole ground of this adventure may be seen as the traveler passes over the Wilmington Railroad a mile and a half south of Dudley Depot. A platoon had commenced the pursuit, but the trumpets sounded the recall before the flying Americans had crossed the canal. The presence of mind and lofty language of the heroic wife had convinced the British colonel that the daring men who so fearlessly dashed into his camp were supported by a formidable force at hand. Had the truth been known and the fugitives pursued, nothing could have prevented the destruction not only of the four who fled, but of the rest of the company on the east side of the plantation. Tarlaton had rode back to the front of the house where he remained eagerly looking after the fugitives till they disappeared in the wood. He called for the Tory captain who presently came forward, questioned him about the attack in the woods, asked the names of the American officers, and dismissed him to have his wounds dressed and see after his men. The last part of the order was needless, for nearly one half of his troop had fallen. The ground is known to this day as the Dead Men's Field. As Tarlaton walked into the house he observed to Mrs. Slocum, your husband made us a short visit, madam. I should have been happy to make his acquaintance and that of his friend Mr. Williams. I have little doubt, replied the wife, that you will meet the gentlemen and they will thank you for the polite manner in which you tweet their friends. The Colonel observed apologetically that necessity compelled them to occupy her property, that they took only such things as were necessary to their support for which they were instructed to offer proper remuneration, and that everything should be done to render their stay as little disagreeable as possible. The lady expressed her thankfulness for his kindness and withdrew to her room, while the officers returned to their peach brandy and coffee and closed the day with a merry night. Slocum and his companions passed rapidly round the plantation and returned to the ground where the encounter had taken place, collecting on the way the stragglers of his troop. Near their bivouac he saw the Tory Captain's brother, who had been captured by the Americans, hanging by a bridal rain from the top of a sapling bent down for the purpose and struggling in the agonies of death. Hastening to the spot he severed the rain with a stroke of his sword and with much difficulty restored him to life. Many in the lower part of North Carolina can remember an old man whose protruded eyes and suffused countenance presented the appearance of one half strangled. He it was who thus owed his life and liberty to the humanity of his generous foe. Mr. Slocum, by the aid of Major Williams, raised about 200 men in the neighborhood and with this force continued to harass the rear of the Royal Army, frequently cutting off foraging parties till they crossed the Roanoke when they joined the army of Lafayette at Warranton. He remained with the army till the surrender at Yorktown. It need hardly be mentioned that Big George received his reward for this and other services. His life with his master was one of ease and indulgence. On the division of Colonel Slocum's estate some year since, a considerable amount was paid to enable the faithful slave to spend the remnant of his days with his wife who belonged to another person. Another anecdote, communicated by the same friend of Mrs. Slocum, is strikingly illustrative of her resolution and strength of will. The occurrence took place at a time when the whole country was roused by the march of the British and loyalists from the Cape Fear country to join the Royal Standard at Wilmington. The veteran Donald MacDonald issued his proclamation at Cross Creek in February 1776 and, having assembled his Highlanders, marched across rivers and through forests in haste to join Governor Martin and Sir Henry Clinton who were already at Cape Fear. But while he had eluded the pursuit of more, the patriots of Newburn and Wilmington districts were not idle. It was a time of noble enterprise and gloriously did leaders and people come forward to meet the emergency. The gallant Richard Caswell called his neighbors hastily together and they came at his call as readily as the clans at the Scotch Mountains mustered at the signal of the burning cross. The whole county rose in mass. Scarce a man able to walk was left in the news region. The united regiments of Colonel's Lillington and Caswell encountered MacDonald at Moores Creek where on the 27th was fought one of the bloodiest battles of the revolution. Asterisk. Moores Creek running from north to south empties into the south river about 20 miles above Wilmington. She sketch of Flora MacDonald. Return to text. Colonel Slocum's recollections of this bravely contested field were too vivid to be dimmed by the lapse of years. He was accustomed to dwell but lightly on the gallant part borne by himself in that memorable action, but he gave abundant praise to his associates and well did they deserve the tribute. And, he would say, my wife was there. She was indeed, but the story is best told in her own words. The men all left on Sunday morning. More than eighty went from this house with my husband. I looked at them well and I could see that every man had mischief in him. I know a coward as soon as I set my eyes upon him. The Tories more than once tried to frighten me, but they always showed coward at the bare insinuation that our troops were about. Well, they got off in high spirits. Every man stepping high and light. And I slept soundly and quietly that night and worked hard all the next day. But I kept thinking where they had got to, how far, where and how many of the regulars and Tories they would meet, and I could not keep myself from the study. I went to bed at the usual time, but still continued to study. As I lay, whether waking or sleeping I know not, I had a dream. Yet it was not all a dream. She used the words unconsciously of the poet who was not then a being. I saw distinctly a body wrapped in my husband's guard-cloak, bloody, dead, and others dead and wounded on the ground about him. I saw them plainly and distinctly. I uttered a cry and sprang to my feet on the floor, and so strong was the impression on my mind that I rushed in the direction the vision appeared and came up against the side of the house. The fire in the room gave little light and I gazed in every direction to catch another glimpse of the scene. I raised the light, everything was still and quiet. My child was sleeping, but my woman was awakened by my crying out or jumping on the floor. If ever I felt fear it was at that moment. Seated on the bed I reflected a few moments and settled out. I must go to him. I told the woman I could not sleep and would ride down the road. She appeared in great alarm, but I merely told her to lock the door after me and look after the child. I went to the stable, saddled my mare, as fleet and easy a nag as ever traveled, and in one minute we were tearing down the road at full speed. The cool night seemed after a mile or two's gallop to bring reflection with it, and I asked myself where I was going and for what purpose. Again and again I was tempted to turn back, but I was soon ten miles from home and my mind became stronger every mile I rode. I should find my husband dead or dying was as firmly my presentiment and conviction as any fact of my life. When day broke I was some thirty miles from home. I knew the general route our little army expected to take and had followed them without hesitation. About sunrise I came upon a group of women and children standing and sitting by the roadside, each one of them showing the same anxiety of mind I felt. Stopping a few minutes I inquired if the battle had been fought. They knew nothing, but were assembled on the road to catch intelligence. They thought Caswell had taken the right of the Wilmington road and gone towards the northwest, Cape Fear. Again was I skimming over the ground through a country thinly settled and very poor and swampy, but neither my own spirits nor my beautiful nags failed in the least. We followed the well-marked trail of the troops. The sun must have been well up, say eight or nine o'clock when I heard a sound like thunder, which I knew must be canon. It was the first time I ever heard a canon. I stopped still, when presently the canon thundered again. The battle was then fighting. What a fool! My husband could not be dead last night in the battle only fighting now. Still, as I am so near, I will go on and see how they come out. So away we went again faster than ever, and I soon found by the noise of guns that I was near the fight. Again I stopped. I could hear muskets, I could hear rifles, and I could hear shouting. I spoke to my mayor and dashed on in the direction of the firing and the shouts now louder than ever. The blind path I had been following brought me into the Wilmington road leading to Moors Creek Bridge, a few hundred yards below the bridge. A few yards from the road under a cluster of trees were lying perhaps twenty men. They were the wounded. I knew the spot, the very trees, and the position of the men I knew as if I had seen it a thousand times. I had seen it all night. I saw all at once. But in an instant my whole soul was centered in one spot. For there, wrapped in his bloody guard cloak was my husband's body. How I passed the few yards from my saddle to the place I never knew. I remember uncovering his head and seeing a face clothed with gore from a dreadful wound across the temple. I put my hand on the bloody face, it was warm, and an unknown voice begged for water. A small camp-cattle was lying near and a stream of water was close by. I brought it, poured some in his mouth, washed his face, and behold, it was Frank Cogdell. He soon revived and could speak. I was washing the wound in his head. Said he, it's not that, it is that hole in my leg that is killing me. A puddle of blood was standing on the ground about his feet. I took his knife, cut away his trousers and stalking and found the blood came from a shot hole through and through the fleshy part of his leg. I looked about and could see nothing that looked as if it would do for dressing wounds with some heart leaves. I gathered a handful and bound them tight to the holes, and the bleeding stopped. I then went to the others, and, doctor, I dressed the wounds of many a brave fellow who did good fighting long after that day. I had not inquired for my husband, but while I was busy Caswell came up. He appeared very much surprised to see me and was with his hat in hand about to pay some compliment, but I interrupted him by asking, where is my husband? Where he ought to be, madam, in pursuit of the enemy. But pray, said he, how came you here? Oh, I thought, replied I, he would need nurses as well as soldiers. See, I have already dressed many of these good fellows, and here is one. Going to Frank and lifting him up with my arm under his head so that he could drink more water, would have died before any of you men could have helped him. I believe you, said Frank. Just then I looked up and my husband, as bloody as a butcher and as muddy as a ditcher, stood before me. Asked to risk. It was his company that forwarded the creek and penetrating the swamp made the furious charge on the British left and rear, which decided the fate of the day. Returned to text. Why, Mary, he exclaimed, what are you doing there? Hugging Frank Cogdale, the greatest reprobate in the ride, Frank is a brave fellow, a good soldier, and a true friend to Congress. True, true, every word of it, said Caswell. You are right, madam, with the lowest possible bow. I would not tell my husband what brought me there. I was so happy, and so were all. It was a glorious victory. I came just at the height of the enjoyment. I knew my husband was surprised, but I could see he was not displeased with me. It was night again all subsided. Many prisoners were brought in, and among them some very obnoxious, but the worst of the Tories were not taken prisoners. They were, for the most part, left in the woods and swathes wherever they were overtaken. I begged for some of the poor prisoners, and Caswell readily told me none should be heard but such as had been guilty of murder and house burning. In the middle of the night I again mounted my mare and started for home. Caswell and my husband left morning and they would send a party with me. But no, I wanted to see my child, and I told them they could send no party who could keep up with me. Would a happy ride I had back, and with what joy did I embrace my child as he ran to meet me. What fiction could be stranger than such truth, and would not a plain unvarnished narrative of the sayings and now almost forgotten even by their descendants surpass in thrilling interest any romance ever written. In these days of railroads and steam it can scarcely be credited that a woman actually rode alone in the night through a wild unsettled country a distance going and returning of 125 miles in that in less than 40 hours and without any interval of rest. Yet even this fair equestrian whose feats would astonish the modern world admitted that one of her acquaintances was a better horse woman than herself. This was Miss Esther Wake, the beautiful sister-in-law of Governor Tryon after whom Wake County was named. She is said to have rode 80 miles the distance between Raleigh and the Governor's headquarters in the neighborhood of Colonel Slocum's residence to pay a visit returning the next day. Governor Tryon was here several days in the southern country fatigued with a moderate drive in a close carriage and looking out on woods and fields from the windows. The physiologist may explain the vision that produced an impression so powerful as to determine this resolute wife upon her nocturnal expedition to Morris Creek. The idea of danger to her husband which banished sleep was sufficient to call up the resistance. This is not the place to record the revolutionary services of Colonel Slocum. The aid of one of his descendants enables me to add some notice of the personal history of his wife to the foregoing anecdotes. Her maiden name was Hooks. She was born in the county of Bertie, North Carolina in 1760. When she was about ten years of age, her father after a tour of exploration in search of her husband removed his family to the county of Dublin. He was an open-hearted hospitable man and was one of a number bearing the same character who settled a region of country called Goshen, still famous in North Carolina for the frank simplicity of the manners of its inhabitants and for their profuse and generous hospitality. Here were nurtured some of the noblest spirits of the world. The constant presence of the loyalists or tories in the neighborhood and their frequent depredations called for vigilance as well as bravery. Many a tale of treachery and cruelty enough to freeze the blood with horror is this day told at the fireside. Sometimes the barn or dwelling of the doomed wig wrapped in the aggressors. Accustomed to hear of such things and in your to scenes of danger it cannot be wondered that the gay and sprightly Mary hooks should acquire a degree of masculine energy and independence with many of the accomplishments of the bolder sex. She was at this time in the early bloom of youth with slender and symmetrical form and all that knew not what it was to fear. Her playful wit and repartee rendered peckot by her powers of sarcasm were rarely equaled. Soon after the removal of the family to Goshen her mother died and in 1777 her father married the widow of John Charles Slocum who resided in the locality above described on the news. At the end of the day he married the whole of his father's real estate. Of the two plantations to which he was entitled however he gave one to his brother. Though but a youth of 17 the management of the property devolved on him while the other children of the united family lived together at Goshen. In due time for a man who was not allowed to remain long in untroubled security. To prevent or punish the frequent depredations of the Tories the boy husband joined a troop of light horse performed the duty of scouts scouring the country wherever they had notice of any necessity for their presence. In these prolonged absences Mrs. Slocum thought that a man ever did except mauling rails and to take away even that exception she went out one day and spilt a few. She was a graceful and fearless rider and Di Vernon herself never displayed more skillful horsemanship in scampering over the hills of Scotland than did the subject of this memoir in her excursions through the time and oft has our heroine been in at the death and won the honour. Nor could the stag say confidently this day he would not die if Mary Slocum chance to be mounted on old Rome with her light unairing Joe Manton slung at her side. But those were not days for sport and pleasure alone. In the knowledge how to spin so and weave our body did. In those days matrons of condition disdained not labour with their hands nor were affluent circumstances an excuse for idleness or extravagance. The results of her persevering industry and that of her domestics appeared at her death in curtains quilts and cloths of various sorts and patterns sufficient in quantity to furnish a conversation charmed the social circle actually carted spun wobe cut and made all the clothes worn by an officer of the army in active service during the southern campaign including his guard cloak and that the material of her own dress was manufactured by her own hands. Asterisk the following picture of a housewife of the older time is taken from the manuscript papers have been arranged by William Dwayne Jr. of Philadelphia. Return to text. As I have in this memorandum taken scarcely any notice of my wife's employments it might appear as if her engagements were very trifling the which is not the case but the reverse and to do her that justice which her services deserved by entering them minutely would take up most of my time for this genuine reason how family which for four months has been very large for besides the addition to our family in the house is a constant resort of comers and goers which seldom go away with dry lips and hungry bellies this calls for her constant attendance not only to provide but also to attend at getting prepared in the kitchen making our bread and pies meat etc. and also on the table her cleanliness which several bushels have been procured add to which her making of cider without tools for the constant drink of the family her seeing all our washing done and her fine clothes and my shirts the which are all smoothed by her add to this her making of twenty large cheeses and that from one cow and daily using with milk and cream besides her and she reached for her hand to her needy friends and neighbors I think she has not been above four times since her residence has been here to visit her neighbors Mrs. Slocum's was a happy girl hood and youth she always recurred to its history with delight and retained the fashion of dress then prevalent with a fond pertenacity amusing to others she scorned ever to wear any other than material it had to be cut in the good old way for almost sixty years she never did and never would allow herself to vary one iota from the fashion of seventy six it was with her a matter of pride no less than taste it was a relic of the revolution and it would have savoured of ingratitude if not of impiety to cast it away the true dignity of an American was shown in Mrs. Slocum's uniformly calm and self-possessed her lofty spirit gave to her slender and fragile form a majesty that secured the respect of all the officers and protected her from the slightest approach towards insolent familiarity she presided at her table with dignity and courtesy extending open hospitality to all her unbidden guests her liberality was acknowledged by strict orders in general successfully enforced but even military authority could not save the farmyard poultry or stock from a hungry soldiery not a feather was left and many a fine bullock was knocked in the head but in other things the protection availed her on the news of the army's approach she had taken the precaution to bury in the edge of a marsh near at hand her plate and other valuables the soldiers suspected they were compelled to restore it to the rightful owner Mrs. Slocum's little son at this time two or three years old became a pet with several of the officers the little fellow was permitted to share with them the pleasure and pride of prancing about on their splendid chargers perhaps to some of them his childish glee recall their own domestic circles and awakened in their stern hearts the holy feelings of home of his innocent mirth this child was the honorable jesse slocum member of congress who died full of honors in early manhood his remains rest in the congressional burial ground at washington the brother of mrs. slocum already mentioned was at the same time a member from the wilmington district he died two or three years since in alabama when the british army broke up their encampment at the plantation this order had gone out to ensure protection to a lady whose noble bearing had inspired them all with the most profound respect this order was obeyed the guard brought up the rear of that army in their march northward mrs. slocum saw them depart with tears of joy and on her knees gave thanks with a full heart to the divine being who had protected her the patriarchs of all that country and looked up to by the inhabitants with unbounded love and respect many a traveller has been entertained at this hospitable mansion a chapter might here be written on the subject of that ancient hospitality now so nearly obsolete in regions of that country visited by the march of improvement it was preserved in all its primitive exuberance in the house of colonel slocum there was always provision in his larder and a place at his board who was certain of a cordial welcome and wine which a connoisseur would have pronounced of the choicest vintage of Europe if it be asked how this unbounded hospitality was supported the answer is everything used was of home manufacture nothing being purchased except those few essentials which are not the produce of our country mrs. slocum possessed a strong and original mind a commanding intellect and clear judgment her friends she was remarkable for vivid powers of conversation while those less familiarly acquainted thought her reserved and some fancied her severe and sarcastic in this respect she was misjudged for her severity was aimed only at folly or misconduct her characteristic fortitude in the endurance of bodily pain so great that it seemed absolute stoicism should be noticed in her 72nd year she was afflicted with a cancer very removed with the knife at the time appointed for the operation she protested against being held by the assistants telling the surgeon it was his business to cut out the cancer she would take care of her arm he insisted however on her submitting to be held at the first incision one of the assistants complained of fakeness mrs. slocum bad him go away and driving them off braced her arm on the table and never moved a muscle nor uttered a groan during the operation her last years she was visited with a complication of disorders enough to have broken the stoutest spirit but bore all with Christian patients and at the age of 76 sank quietly to rest she died on the 6th of March 1836 her venerable husband survived her about five years both now slumber together near the home where they lived in love so long pleasant green has passed into the hands of other owners the noble old oaks have been lined the avenue have been girdled and seem to lift their bare arms in lamentation for their ancient possessors but the memory of those who dwelt there is linked with glorious recollections which time can never reface from American hearts mention has been made of Esther Wake the sister of lady Tryon these two lovely and accomplished women exercised great influence of North Carolina return to text the gallantry of a warm-hearted people perhaps inclined them to estimate the character of their governor by the grace beauty and accomplishment that adorned his domestic circle the governor's dinners were princely and the fascination of the ladies irresistible in his attempt to obtain an appropriation from the assembly for building a splendid palace female genius and influence rose superior though the colony was poor their management obtained a second grant the admiration they commanded helped to sustain governor Tryon's waning authority when the royal government was annihilated and the motion to change the name of Tryon county was under consideration the resolution to alter that of Wake was rejected by acclamation thus the county in which the city of Raleigh is located chapter 24 chapter 25 of the women of the American Revolution volume 1 by Elizabeth F. Ellett this LibriVox recording is in the public domain chapter 25 Sarah Bosch asterisk Mr. William Dwayne to who spend the reader is indebted for this sketch is the grandson of Mrs. Bosch return to text Sarah the only daughter of Benjamin Franklin was born in 1744 of her early years no particulars can now be obtained but from her father's appreciation of the importance of education and the intelligence and information that she displayed through life we may presume that her studies were as extensive as were then pursued by females in any of the American colonies in 1764 she was called to part with her father sent to Europe for the first time in a representative capacity at that time divided into two parties the supporters and the opponents of the proprietaries the sons of Penn as is known had left the religion of their father and joined the church of England and the bulk of that persuasion were of the proprietary party the mass of the Quakers were in opposition and with them Franklin had acted after having been for 14 years a member of the assembly he lost his election to that body in the autumn his sons being in the majority in the house immediately elected him the agent of the province in England the proprietary party made great opposition to his appointment and an incident occurred in connection with it that shows us how curiously the affairs of church and state were intermingled in those days a petition or remonstrance to the assembly against his being chosen agent was laid for signature presented this outrage upon decency and the feelings of her family and to have spoken of leaving the church in consequence which gave occasion to the following dissuasive in the letter which her father wrote to her from Reedy Island November 8, 1764 on his way to Europe go constantly to church whoever preaches the act of devotion in the common prayer book is your principal business there and if properly attended to will do more towards amending composed by men of much greater piety and wisdom than our common composers of sermons can pretend to be and therefore I wish you would never miss the prayer days yet I do not mean you should despise sermons even of the preaches you dislike for the discourse is often much better than the man as sweet and clear waters come through very dirty earth I am the more particular on this head as you seemed to express what have you do as to risk the manuscript letters from which extracts are made in this memoir are in the possession of mrs. Bosch's descendants in Philadelphia return to text the opinion entertained by many that a disposition to mobbing is of modern growth in this country is erroneous in colonial times outrages of this character were at least as frequent as now Dr. Franklin had not been gone a year before his house was threatened Mrs. Franklin sent her daughter to Governor Franklin's in Burlington and proceeded to make preparation for the defense of her castle her letter detailing the particulars may be found in the last edition of Watson's Annals of Philadelphia the first letter from Sarah Franklin to her father that has been preserved was written after her return from this visit to Burlington in it she says the subject now is stamp act the touch talk of the stamp tack the negroes of the tamp in short everybody has something to say the commissions which follow for gloves lavender and tooth powder give us a humble idea of the state of the supplies and the colonies at that day the letter thus concludes there is not a young lady of my acquaintance but what desires to be remembered to you on the 23rd of the following March 1765 the stamp act is again mentioned we have heard by a roundabout way that the stamp act is repealed the people seem determined to believe it though it came from Ireland to Maryland the bells rung we had bonfires and one house was illuminated indeed I never heard so much noise in my life the very children seem distracted but the the letter from Mr. Sgt. was to Daniel Wistar I send you the Dutch paper where I think there is something about it on Friday night there was a meeting of seven or eight hundred men in Hare's Brewhouse where Mr. Ross mounted on a bag of grain spoke to them a considerable time he read Sgt. Sgt. and some others which had some of the people say he outdid withfield and Sgt. says he is in a direct line from Solomon he spoke several things in favour of his absent friend whom he called the good the worthy Dr. Franklin and his worthy friend after he was gone Hugh Roberts stood up and proposed him in Willings Place and desired those who were for him to stand up and they all rose to a man on the 29th of October 1767 Sarah Franklin was married a merchant of Philadelphia and a native of Settle in Yorkshire, England after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bosh appeared to have resided with Mrs. Franklin in the house built by her in the year 1765 upon ground over which Franklin Place now runs haste risk this house in which Franklin died stood rather nearer to Chestnut Street than to Market Street the original entrance to it was over the ground upon which number 112 Market Street is now built on Franklin's return from Europe he opened a new entrance to it between numbers 106 and 108 under the archway still remaining the house number 106 and that lately number 108 being built by him his house was torn down about the year 1813 when Franklin Court was built upon the ground occupied by it the court in front and the garden in the rear return to text Mrs. Franklin died on the 19th of December 1774 having been attacked by paralysis four days previously the mansion house continued to be occupied by Mr. Bosch and his family in the garden a willow tree was planted by Mrs. Bosch on the 4th of July 1776 the approach of the British army through New Jersey in December 1776 induced Mr. Bosch to remove his family to Goshen Township in Chester County from which place the following letter was addressed by Mrs. Bosch to her father who in the previous October had been sent to France by the American Congress Mrs. Bosch's eldest son accompanied him and was educated in France and Geneva under the supervision of his grandfather Goshen February 23, 1777 honored sir we have been impatiently waiting to hear of your arrival for some time it was 17 weeks yesterday since you left us a day I shall never forget how happy shall we be to hear your all-safe arrived and well you had not left us long before we were obliged to leave town I shall never forget nor forgive them for turning me out of house and home in the middle of winter and we are still about 24 miles from Philadelphia in Chester County the next plantation to where Mr. Ashbridge used to live we have two comfortable rooms and we are as happily situated as I can be separated from Mr. Bosch he comes to see us as often as his business will permit your library we sent out of town well packed in boxes before us and all the valuable things Mahogany accepted we brought with us there was such confusion that it was a hard matter to get out at any rate when we shall get back again I know not though things are altered much in our favor since we left town I think I shall never be afraid of staying in it again if the enemy were only 3 miles instead of 30 from it since our cowards as Lord Sandwich calls them are so ready to turn out against those heroes who were to conquer all before them but have found themselves mistaken their courage never brought them to Trenton till they heard our army were disbanded I send you the newspapers but as they do not always speak true and as there may be some particulars in Mr. Bosch's letters to me that are not in them I will copy those parts of his letters that contain the news I think you will have it more regular Aunt has wrote to you and sent it to town she is very well and desires her love to you and Temple we have wished he would have seen some characters here quite new to him it's lucky for us Mr. George Climbers Mr. Merediths and Mr. Budden's families are moved so near us they are sensible and agreeable people and are not often alone I have refused dining at Mr. Climbers today that I might have the pleasure of writing to you and my dear boy who I hope behaves so as to make you love him we used to think he gave little trouble at home but that was perhaps a mother's and great hopes that the first letter of Mr. Bosch will bring me news of your arrival I shall then have cause to rejoice I am my dear papa as much as ever your dutiful and affectionate daughter S. Bosch Mrs. Bosch returned home with her family shortly after but in the following autumn the approach of the British Army after their victory on the brandy wine again drove them from Philadelphia on the 17th of September 1777 Mr. Bosch left town taking refuge at first in the hospitable mansion of her friend Mrs. Duffield in Lower Dublin Township Philadelphia County they afterwards removed to Mannheim Township in Lancaster County where they remained until the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British forces the following extracts are from letters written to Dr. Franklin after their return on the 14th July 1778 Mr. Bosch writes once more I have the happiness from this dearly beloved city after having been kept out of it more than nine months I found your house and furniture upon my return to town in much better order than I had reason to expect from the hands of such a rapacious crew they stole and carried off with them some of your musical instruments vis a Welsh harp ball harp the set of tuned bells which were in a box viol de gambe all the spare Armonica glasses and one or two they took likewise the few books that were left behind the chief of which were temple school books and the history of the arts and sciences in French which is a great loss to the public some of your electric apparatus is missing also a captain André also took with him the picture of you which hung in the dining room the rest of the pictures are safe and met with no damage except the frame of Alfred which is broken to pieces asterisk the post-grip to this letter is curious sent to me from France two dozen of padlocks and keys fit for males and a dozen post-horns they are not to be had here returned a text André was quartered in Franklin's house during the sojourn of the British in Philadelphia in the following letter from Mrs. Bache his future acquaintance Arnold is mentioned it is dated October 22 1778 Mrs. Bache having remained at Mannheim with her children until the autumn opportunity I have had since my return home of writing to you we found the house and furniture in much better order than we could expect which was owing to the care the Miss Clifton's took of all we left behind my being removed for four days after my little girl was born made it impossible for me to remove half the things we did in our former flight after describing her little girl she adds I would give a good deal if you could see her you can't think of the sex General Arnold says he would give a good deal to have her for a school mistress to teach the young ladies how to kiss there is hardly such a thing as living in town everything is so high the money is old tenor to all intents and purposes if I was to mention the prices of the common necessaries of life it would astonish you I have been all amazement since my return such an odds have two years made dollars for a pair of gloves and I have been obliged to pay fifteen pounds for a common calamanko petticoat without quilting that I once would have got for fifteen shillings these high prices were owing to the depreciation of the continental money but it subsequently was much greater the time came when Mrs. Bosch's domestics were obliged to take two baskets with them to market on the 17th of January 1779 after speaking of the continued rise of prices she writes that there never was so much dressing and pleasure going on old friends meeting again the wigs and high spirits and strangers of distinction among us speaking of her having met with General and Mrs. Washington several times she adds he always inquires after you in the most affectionate or night I should say in company together and he told me it was the anniversary of his marriage it was just twenty years that night with this letter a piece of American silk was sent as a present to the Queen of France Marie Antoinette Dr. Franklin in his reply seems to have expressed some dissatisfaction at the gait of his countrymen I am indeed much obliged to you for your very kind present it never could have come at a more seasonable time and particularly so as they are all necessary but how could my dear papa give me so severe a reprimand for wishing a little finery he would not I am sure if he knew how much I have felt it last winter was a season of triumph to the wigs and they spent it gaily he would not have had me when I was invited to spend the day with General Washington and his lady and you would have been the last person I am sure to have wished to see me dress with singularity though I never loved dress so much as to wish to be particularly fine yet I never will go out when I cannot appear so as to do credit to my family and husband I can assure my dear papa that industry in this country is by no means a late aside three years ago Mr. Duffield has bribed a weaver that lives on his farm to weave me eighteen yards by making him three or four shuttles for nothing and keeping it a secret from the country people who will not suffer them to weave for those in town this is the third weavers it has been at and many fair promises I have had about it it is now done and whitening but forty yards of the best remains at Lidditz yet that I was to have at home at twelve month last month my uncle who has gone to Lancaster is to try to get it done there for me but not a thread will they weave but for hard money my mate is now spinning wool for winter stockings for the whole family which will be no difficulty in the manufacturing as I knit them myself I only mention these things that you may see that balls are not the only that I have stepped up during my being drove about from place to place much better than most people's I meet with have been lowered by nothing but the depreciation of the money which has been amazing lately so that home will be the place for me this winter as I cannot get a common winter cloak and hat but just decent under two hundred pounds as to gauze now it is fifty cheap for there are so many people that are not used to have it nor know the proper use of it that gets so much that they care not whether they give one dollar or a hundred for anything they want but to those whose every dollar is the same as a silver one which is our case it is particularly hard for Mr. Baj could not bear to do business in the manner it has been done in this place which has been almost all by monopolizing the destitute American soldiers with money and clothing during the year 1780 Mrs. Baj took a very active part after the death of Mrs. Reed the duty of completing the collections and contributions devolved on her and for other ladies as a sort of executive committee the shirts provided were cut out at her house a letter to Dr. Franklin a visit which she paid her about this time after this slight repast which only lasted an hour and a half we went to visit the ladies agreeable to the Philadelphia custom where the morning is the most proper hour for paying visits we began by Mrs. Baj she married all the anxiety we had to see her for she is the daughter of Mr. Franklin simple in her manners like her was recently finished by the ladies of Philadelphia this work consisted neither of embroidered tambour waistcoats nor of network etching nor of gold and silver brocade it was a quantity of shirts for the soldiers of Pennsylvania the ladies bought the linen from their own private purses and took a pleasure in cutting them out and sewing them themselves on each shirt was the name of the married or unmarried Mrs. Baj writes to Mrs. Meredith at Trenton I am happy to have it in my power to tell you that the sums given by the good women of Philadelphia for the benefit of the army have been much greater than could be expected and given with so much cheerfulness and so many blessings that it was rather pleasing than a painful task to call for it the leading year thus speaks of his daughter if there are in Europe any women who need a model of attachment to domestic duties and love for their country Mrs. Baj may be pointed out to them as such she passed a part of the last year in exertions to rouse the zeal of the Pennsylvania ladies and she made on this occasion such a happy use of the in her applications for this purpose she showed the most indefatigable zeal the most unwearied perseverance and a courage in asking which surpassed even the obstinate reluctance of the Quakers in refusing the letters of Mrs. Baj show much force of character and an ardent generous and impulse of nature she has a strong remembrance of kindness and attachment to her friends and in writing to her father the devoted daughter her beloved children are continually the theme on which her pen delights to dwell again and again the little family group is described to her father when abroad and it is pleasing to dwell on the picture of the great philosopher and statesman reading with parental interest domestic details like the following Willie begins to learn his book very well and has an extraordinary memory deep without tears when Betsy looks at your picture here she wishes her grandpa had teeth that he might be able to talk to her and has frequently tried to tempt you to walk out of the frame with a piece of apple pie the thing of all others she likes best Louie is remarkable for his sweet temper and good spirits to her son she says there is nothing would make me happier than you're making a good and useful man every instruction with regard to good learning I am sure you have from your grand papa I shall therefore only add my prayers that all he recommends may be strictly attended to in September 1785 after an absence of nearly seven years of the court of France Dr. Franklin returned to his home in Philadelphia he spent the last years of his life amidst the family of his daughter and the descendants of Mrs. Bosch visited England and would have extended their tour to France had it not been for the increasing troubles of the French Revolution they were absent about a year Mr. Bosch having relinquished commercial pursuits removed in 1794 to a farm upon the River Delaware 16 miles above Philadelphia which he named Settle after his birthplace here they Mrs. Bosch was attacked by cancer and removed to Philadelphia in the winter of 1807-8 for the benefit of medical attendance her disease proved incurable and on the 5th of October 1808 she died in the house in Franklin Court aged 64 years her remains with those of her husband who survived her a few years only are interred in the Christ Church burial ground beside those of her parents in the middle height and in the latter years of her life she became very stout her complexion was uncommonly fair with much color her hair brown and her eyes blue like those of her father strong good sense and a ready flow of wit were among the most striking features of her mind her benevolence was very great and her generosity and liberality to bear disappointments with patients was sometimes accustomed to request her to remain at home and spend the evening over the chess board when she was on the point of going out to some meeting of her young friends the cheerfulness which she displayed in every turn of fortune proves that this discipline was not without its good effect many of her witticisms have been remembered but most of them owing to the local nature of the events which gave rise to them and their mention of individuals her remark that she hated all the Carolinians from B to Isart would be excluded for the latter reason but may perhaps be excused here as it has already appeared in print what offence Mr. B had given is not known but Mr. Isart's hostility to her father was of the most malignant character she took a great interest through life in political affairs and was a zealous Republican having learnt that the English lady to whom some of her daughters were sent to school had placed the pupils connected with persons in public life her children among the number at the upper end of the table upon the ground that the young ladies of rank should sit together Mrs. Bosh sent her word that in this country there was no rank but rank mutton Mrs. Bosh had eight children of whom her eldest daughter died very young and her eldest son in 1798 of the yellow fever then prevailing in Philadelphia three sons and three daughters End of Chapter 25 End of the Woman of the American Revolution Volume 1 by Elizabeth F. Allitt Recorded by Céline Meijor