Category: Women in the American Revolution

Heroine of Groton and American Patriot Born Anna Warner on October 11, 1758, in Groton, Connecticut, she was orphaned at an early age, and went to live with her Grandmother Mills on a farm at Candlewood Hill, where she helped her uncle, Edward Mills, with the crops and animals. She was unusually tall and strong for a girl. When the American Revolution began, Anna longed to fight the despised Tories. During the Revolutionary War, New London harbor on the Thames River was home port for many privately owned armed ships that preyed upon British supply vessels and merchant ships. The privateers were licensed by the State of Connecticut according to the rules established by Congress. Each year they increased in…

American Frontier Woman Anne Hennis Trotter Bailey is known as Mad Anne for her acts of bravery and heroism that were considered to be somewhat eccentric for a woman of her time. She worked as a frontier scout and messenger during the Revolutionary War. Anne Hennis was born in Liverpool England in 1742. She was formally educated and learned to read and write. Both of her parents had died by the time she turned 18; Ann was poor and had a hard time earning enough money to survive. When she was 19, she sailed to America, and lived with relatives in Virginia near Staunton in the Shenandoah Valley. Anne married Richard Trotter, a seasoned frontiersman and experienced soldier, in 1765,…

Patriot in the American Revolution Image: Sketch of the Old Chelsea Mansion Charity Clarke was born June 28, 1747. Her father, Major Thomas Clarke, was a retired British veteran of the French and Indian War. He named his property in lower Manhattan Chelsea – at the time a country estate – for the soldiers’ hospital near London, and thus gave a name to the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The Clarke estate encompassed the area that is now 18th to 24th Streets between Eighth and Tenth Avenues in Manhattan. The Chelsea mansion was located at what is now Eighth Avenue and West 23rd Street, and Charity inherited the entire estate. In her early 20s, Charity Clarke was a young…

Women Who Sacrificed Comfort for Independence The Daughters of Liberty displayed their loyalty by supporting the nonimportation of British goods during the American Revolution. They refused to drink British tea and used their skills to weave yarn and wool into cloth, which made America less dependent on British textiles. The most zealous Daughters refused to receive gentleman callers who were not sympathetic to the patriot cause. Image: Abigail Adams Monument Boston Women’s Memorial It is not in the still calm of life that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. ~ Abigail Adams The Revolutionary War brought women into many new causes. Although women’s organizations…

Wife and Sister of American Patriots Image: The Boston Tea Party Sarah Bradlee was born on December 24, 1740, in Dorchester, Massachusetts – Boston’s largest and most populous neighborhood. On July 25, 1762, Sarah married John Fulton, and they moved to Medford, Massachusetts. The couple often visited Sarah’s brother, Nathaniel Bradlee, in Boston. Nathaniel’s support of American independence was well known. His carpenter shop and his kitchen – where friends and neighbors gathered to enjoy his codfish suppers – were meeting places for Boston’s most devoted patriots. Medford was also the site of some patriotic fervor in the years leading up to the American Revolution. A resolution opposing the Stamp Act was passed by the town of Medford in 1765….

American Women Who Supported the British Image: Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain in 1783, offering solace and a promise of compensation. Engraving by H. Moses. American colonists who remained loyal to Great Britain during and after the Revolutionary War were termed Loyalists; the Patriots called them Tories. Although Loyalists came from all social classes and occupations, a large number were businessmen and professionals, or officeholders under the crown. They also tended to be foreign born and members of the Church of England. It is estimated that about 20% of the colonial population were Tories. The Patriots enacted harsh laws against the Loyalists and confiscated many of their estates.

Revolutionary War Heroine When Rebecca Brewton was born June 15, 1737, her family had already lived in the low country of South Carolina for over half a century, and had established themselves as leaders in the Proprietary and Royal governments. Rebecca was the third daughter of Robert Brewton by his second wife, Mary Loughton Brewton. There was also a son, and three children by his first wife. Rebecca was reared in an atmosphere of security, wealth, and intelligence. Her father was an imposing figure in Charles Town, where he served as church warden for St. Phillip’s Parish and Christ Church Parish, and was captain of one of the two militia companies.