Portrait of 18C American Woman

1756 John Singleton Copley - Lucretia  Hubbard

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1756 John Singleton Copley 1738-1815 Ann Tyng Mrs Tho Smelt 1756 Boston MFA

Nancy Hart 1735-1830 "Poor Nancy-she was a honey of a patriot, but the devil of a wife!"

Historical Collections of Georgia
George White 1802-1887
Pudney & Russell, 1855 - Georgia

Georgia's most acclaimed female participant during the Revolutionary War (1775-83) was Nancy Hart (1735-1830).  Nothing about Nancy Morgan is known to be absolute fact.  She may have been born in Orange County, North Carolina, in 1735.  By 1854, The Rev. George White had gathered enough tales of her patriotism & strength to post the following stories in his history of Georgia. 

Original image from Historical Collections of Georgia

"The Story of Nancy Hart

"The following sketch of this extraordinary woman, which originally appeared in the Yorkville (S. C.) Pioneer, is believed to be the first account of her that ever found its way to the public:

"Nancy Hart & her husband settled before the Revolutionary War a few miles above the ford on Broad River, in Elbert County, Georgia. An apple orchard still remains to point out the spot.

"In altitude, Mrs. Hart was a Patagonian, & remarkably well-limbed & muscular. In a word, she was "lofty & sour." Marked by nature with prominent features, circumstances & accident added, perhaps, not a little to her peculiarities. She was horribly cross-eyed, as well as cross-grained; but, nevertheless, she was a sharp-shooter. Nothing was more common than to see her in full pursuit of the bounding stag. The huge antlers that hung round her cabin, or upheld her trusty gun, gave proof of her skill in gunnery; & the white comb, drained of its honey & hung up for ornament, testified her powers in bee-finding.

"Many can testify to her magical art in the mazes of cookery— being able to get up a pumpkin in as many forms as there are days in the week. She was extensively known & employed for her profound knowledge in the management of all ailments.

"But she was most remarkable for her military feats. She professed high-toned ideas of liberty. Not even the marriage knot could restrain her on that subject. Like the "wife of Bath," she received over her tongue-scourged husband.  "The reins of absolute command,  With all the government of house & land,  And empire o'er his tongue, & o'er his hand."  The clouds of war gathered, & burst with a dreadful explosion in this State. Nancy's spirit rose with the tempest. She declared & proved herself a friend to her country, ready "to do or die."

"All accused of Whiggism had to hide or swing. The lily-livered Mr. Hart was not the last to seek safety in the cane-brake with his neighbours. They kept up a prowling, skulking kind of life, occasionally sallying forth in a sort of predatory style. The Tories at length however, gave Mrs. Hart a call, & in true soldier manner ordered a repast. Nancy soon had the necessary materials for a good feast spread before them. The smoking venison, the hasty hoe-cake, & the fresh honeycomb, were sufficient to have provoked the appetite of a gorged epicure! They simultaneously stacked their arms & seated themselves, when, quick as thought, the dauntless Nancy seized one of the guns, cocked it, & with a blazing oath declared she would blow out the brains of the first mortal that offered to rise, or taste a mouthful! They all knew her character too well to imagine that she would say one thing & do another.

"Go," said she to one of her sons, "and tell the Whigs that I have taken six base Tories." They sat still, each expecting to be offered up, with doggedly mean countenances, bearing the marks of disappointed revenge, shame, & unappeased hunger.

"Whether the incongruity between Nancy's eyes caused each to imagine himself her immediate object, or whether her commanding attitude, stern & ferocious fixture of countenance, overawed them; or the powerful idea of their non-soldierlike conduct unnerved them; or the certainty of death, it is not easy to determine. They were soon relieved, & dealt with according to the rules of the times.

"This heroine lived to see her country free. She, however, found game & bees decreasing, & the country becoming old so fast, that she sold out her possessions, in spite of the remonstrances of her husband, & was " among the first of the pioneers who paved the way to the wilds of the West."

Nancy Hart's Georgia log house

"The following, from Mrs. Ellet's " Women of the Revolution," will be read with interest, although it does not coincide exactly with the Yorkville account :  "In this county is a stream, formerly known as "War-woman's Creek." Its name was derived from the character of an individual who lived near the entrance of the stream into the river. This person was Nancy Hart, a woman ignorant of letters & the civilities of life, but a zealous lover of liberty & the "liberty boys," as she called the Whigs. She had a husband, whom she denominated "a poor stick," because he did not take a decided & active part with the defenders of his country, although she could not conscientiously charge him with the least partiality towards the Tories. This vulgar & illiterate, but hospitable & valorous female patriot, could boast no share of beauty—a fact she herself would have readily acknowledged, had she ever enjoyed an opportunity of looking in a mirror. She was cross-eyed, with a broad, angular mouth, ungainly in figure, rude in speech, & awkward in manners, but having a woman's heart for her friends, though that of a Catrine Montour for the enemies of her country. She was well known to the Tories, who stood in fear of her revenge for any grievance or aggressive act, though they let pass no opportunity of worrying & annoying her, when they could do so with impunity.

"On the occasion of an excursion from the British camp at Augusta, a party of Tories penetrated into the interior, & having savagely murdered Colonel Dooly in bed, in his own house, they proceeded up the country for the purpose of perpetrating further atrocities. On their way, a detachment of five of the party diverged to the east, & crossed Broad River, to make discoveries about the neighbourhood, & pay a visit to their old acquaintance, Nancy Hart. On reaching her cabin, they entered it unceremoniously, receiving from her no welcome but a scowl; & informed her they had come to know the truth of a story current respecting her, that she had secreted a noted rebel from a company of King's men who were pursuing him, & who, but for her aid, would have caught & hung him. Nancy undauntedly avowed her agency in the fugitive's escape. She told them she had at first heard the tramp of a horse rapidly approaching, & had then seen a horseman coming towards her cabin. As he came nearer, she knew him to be a Whig, & flying from pursuit. She let down the bars a few steps from her cabin, & motioned him to enter, to pass through both doors, front & rear, of her sinfle-roomed house; to take the swamp, & secure himself as well as e could. She then put up the bars, entered her cabin, closed the doors, & went about her business. Presently some Tories rode up to the bars, & called out boisterously to her. She muffled her head & face, & opening the door, inquired why they disturbed a sick, lone woman. They said they had traced a man they wanted to catch, near her house, & asked if any one on horseback had passed that way. She answered no, but said she saw somebody on a sorrel horse turn out of the path into the woods some two or three hundred yards back. "That must be the fellow," said the Tories; & asking her direction as to the way he took, they turned about & went off. "Well fooled!" said Nancy, " in an opposite course to that of my Whig boy; when, if they had not been so lofty-minded, but had looked on the ground inside the bars, they would have seen his horse's tracks up to that door, as plain as you can see the tracks on this here floor, & out of t'other door down the path to the swamp."

"This bold story did not much please the Tory party, but they could not wreak their revenge upon the woman who thus unscrupulously avowed her daring aid to a rebel, & the cheat she had put upon his pursuers, otherwise than by ordering her to aid & comfort them by giving them something to eat. She replied, " I never feed King's men if I can help it; the villains have put it out of my power to feed even my own family & friends, by stealing & killing all my poultry & pigs, except that one old gobbler you see in the yard."

"Well, & that you shall cook for us," said one, who appeared the head of the party; & raising his musket, he shot down the turkey, which another of the men brought into the house, & handed to Mrs. Hart, to clean & cook without delay. She stormed & swore awhile—for Nancy occasionally swore—but seeming, at last, resolved to make a merit of necessity, began with alacrity the arrangements for cooking, assisted by her daughter, a little girl some ten or twelve years old, & sometimes by one of the soldiers, with whom she seemed in a tolerably good humour, exchanging rude jests with him. The Tories, pleased with her freedom, invited her to partake of the liquor they had brought with them, an invitation which was accepted with witty thanks.

"The spring, of which every settlement has one near at hand, was just at the edge of the swamp, & a short distance within it was a high, snag-topped stump, on which was placed a conch-shell. This rude trumpet was used by the family to give information, by means of a variation of notes, to Mr. Hart, or his neighbours, who might be at work in a field or clearing just beyond the swamp, that the "Britishers" or Tories were about; that the master was wanted at the cabin, or that he was to " keep close," or " make tracks" for another swamp. Pending the operations of cooking, Mrs. Hart had sent her daughter, Sukey, to the spring for water, with directions to blow the conch in such a way as would inform him that there were Tories in the cabin, & that he should "keep close," with his three neighbours who were with him, till he heard the conch again.

"The party had become merry over their jug, & sat down to feast upon the slaughtered gobbler. They had cautiously stacked their arms where they were in view, & within reach, & Mrs. Hart, assiduous in her attentions upon the table, & to her guests, occasionally passed between them & their muskets. Water was called for, & as there was none in the cabin—Mrs. Hart having so contrived that—Sukey was again sent to the spring, instructed by her mother to blow the conch so as to call up Mr. Hart & his neighbours immediately. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hart had slipped out one of the pieces of pine which constitutes a " chinking" between the logs of a cabin, & had dexterously put out of the house, through that space, two of the five guns. She was detected in the act of putting out the third. The party sprang to their feet. Quick as thought, Mrs. Hart brought the piece she held to her shoulder, & declared she would kill the first man who approached her. All were terror-struck, for Nancy's obliquity of sight caused each one to imagine her aim was at him. At length one of them made a motion to advance upon her. True to her threat, she fired. He fell dead upon the floor! Instantly seizing another musket, she brought it to the position in readiness to fire again. By this time Sukey had returned from the spring, & taking up the remaining gun, carried it out of the house, saying to her mother, "Daddy & them will soon be here." This information increased the alarm of the Tories, who understood the necessity of recovering their arms immediately. But each hesitated, in the confident belief that Mrs. Hart had one eye, at least, upon him for a mark. They proposed a general rush. No time was to be lost by the bold woman; she fired again, & brought down another Tory. Sukey had another musket in readiness, which her mother took, &, posting herself in the doorway, called upon the party to "surrender their damnd Tory carcasses to a Whig woman." They agreed to surrender, & proposed to " shake h&s upon the strength of it;" but the conqueror kept them in their places for a few moments, till her husband & his neighbours came up to the door. They were about to shoot down the Tories, but Mrs. Hart stopped them, saying they had surrendered to her, &, her spirit being up to boiling heat, she swore that " shooting was too good for them." This hint was enough. The dead man was dragged out of the house, the wounded Tory & the others were bound, taken out beyond the bars, & hung.

"The tree upon which they were hung was pointed out, in 1838, by one who lived in those bloody times, & who also showed the spot once occupied by Mrs. Hart's cabin, accompanying the designation with the emphatic remark, "Poor Nancy—she was a honey of a patriot, but the devil of a wife!"

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1755 Joseph Badger 1708-1765 Eleanor Wyer Foster Mrs Isaac Nat Gal Art

Portrait of 18C American Woman

Mrs. Gertraut Graff. Johann Valentin Haidt (1700-1780) Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Moravian women, whose chief duty was to their community & God, not to their family, husband, or self, worked jobs benefiting the larger community. They were freed from traditional familial duties.

The Moravians 1st came to British America during the colonial period. In 1735 they were part of General Oglethorpe’s philanthropic venture in Georgia. Their attempt to establish a community in Savannah did not succeed, but they did have a profound impact on the young John Wesley who had gone to Georgia during a personal spiritual crisis. Wesley was impressed that the Moravians remained calm during a storm that was panicking experienced sailors. He was amazed at people who did not fear death, & back in London he worshiped with Moravians writing that his “heart was strangely warmed.”

After the failure of the Georgia mission, the Moravians established a permanent presence in Pennsylvania in 1741, settling on the estate of evangalist George Whitefield. Moravian settlers purchased 500 acres to establish the settlement of Bethlehem in 1741. Soon they bought the 5,000 acres of the Barony of Nazareth from Whitefield’s manager, & the 2 communities of Bethlehem & Nazareth became closely linked in their agricultural & industrial economy.  Other settlement congregations were established in Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Maryland. They built the Pennsylvania communities of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Lititz, & Hope. They also established congregations in Philadelphia & on Staten Island in New York. All were considered frontier centers for the spread of the gospel, particularly in mission to the Native Americans. Bethlehem was the center of Moravian activity in colonial America.

Bishop Augustus Spangenberg led a party to survey a 100,000 acre tract of land in North Carolina, which came to be known as Wachau after an Austrian estate of Count Zinzendorf. The name, later anglicized to Wachovia, became the center of growth for the church in that region. Bethabara, Bethania & Salem (now Winston-Salem) were the 1st Moravian settlements in North Carolina. In 1857 the 2 American provinces, North & South, became largely independent & set about expansion. Bethlehem in Pennsylvania & Winston-Salem in North Carolina became the headquarters of the two provinces (North & South).

The facet of Moravian life that bound the community together like no other was their dedication to missionary work; the Moravians were the most active Protestant missionaries of the 18C, sending community members to the West Indies, South America, & as far as South Africa. By 1760, the Moravians had sent out 226 missionaries & baptized more than 3,000 converts, including American Natives. In North America the key undertaking for Moravian missionaries was to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. The Moravians viewed the natives as heathens in need of spiritual enlightenment & guidance.

One feature of Moravian community life was the Choir System. People
were separated into “choirs,” or groups, based on their age, gender, & marital status. It was believed that individuals of like age & gender were best prepared & able to encourage each other’s religious growth. Members of the same choir ate, worked, worshiped, slept in dormitories, & attended school together. This communal living arrangement was intended to strengthen the unity of the society as members had to rely on choir-mates for support rather than their siblings or parents. The names of the choirs reflected the sex, age & marital status of those in the choir, such as the “Older Boys’ Choir,” ages 12-19 or the “Single Sister’s Choir,” age 19 until marriage.

All work performed by the Moravians during the pre-Revolutionary War years operated under a system known as the “General Economy,” in which all goods or money produced was considered the property of the community, not the individual. Under this system there was no private wealth or housing, nor any privately owned businesses. Every member’s contribution was collectively pooled & in exchange, necessities such as food, shelter & clothing were provided.

Marie Minier, a Single Sister in the Bethlehem community, praised the General
Economy in 1750 stating that, “For 12 years now I have enjoyed the care [of the General Economy] & eaten from one bread & been clothed, all of which to this hour has been great and of importance to me. I . . . accept things the way the Brethren do things, for it is a wonder to me daily that He has maintained so large a community, & we cannot say that we have ever gone without.” For single women like Marie Minier, the General Economy system afforded them relative security & independence; single women who chose not to marry did not need to rely on a father or brother for financial support, nor worry about becoming a financial burden. In other parts of 18C British America women who did not marry usually would have been socially & economically excluded, dependent on their fathers or male family members.

Yet by the 1760s, the system of communal property began to wear on the younger generations of ambitious Moravians who saw that in other communities hard work was rewarded with personal financial gain. In 1762, the General Economy was abolished in favor of self-owned & operated small businesses & private family homes.

To learn about the lives of 18C Moravian women see:

Faull, Katharine. Moravian Women's Memoirs: Their Related Lives, 1750-1820. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1997.

Smaby, Beverly Prior. "Female Piety Among 18th-Century Moravians." Pennsylvania History 64 (1997): 151-167.

Wachovia Historical Society, Winston-Salem, North Carolina & Old Salem, Inc., Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1750 Johann Valentine Haidt (1700-1780). Women portrayed as separate but sharing power at the Moravian Synod at Herrnhut.& "Forming the Single Sisters' Choir in Bethlehem." The Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society 28 (1994): 1-14

Sommer, Elisabeth W. Serving Two Masters: Moravian Brethren in Germany & North Carolina, 1727-1801. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2000.

Vogt, Peter. "A Voice for Themselves: Women as Participants in Congregational Discourse in the 18th-Century Moravian Movement." In Women Preachers and Prophets through Two Millennia of Christianity, edited by Beverly Mayne Kienzle and Pamela J. Walker, 227-247. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

New York Lady c 1790

Hannah Maley (Mrs. Johannes Cornelis) Cuyler (b. 1769), Unidentified Artist, circa 1790

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1755 John Wollaston 1733-1767 Elizabeth Harrison Randolph Mrs Peyton Randolph VHS

Portrait of 18C American Wom

1755 Jeremiah Theus 1716-1774 Mrs. Thomas Lynch (Elizabeh Allston Lynch) Reynolda House

Portrait of 18C American Woman

Miss Anna Rosina Anders. Johann Valentin Haidt (1700-1780) Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Moravian women, whose chief duty was to their community & God, not to their family, husband, or self, worked jobs benefiting the larger community. They were freed from traditional familial duties.

The Moravians 1st came to British America during the colonial period. In 1735 they were part of General Oglethorpe’s philanthropic venture in Georgia. Their attempt to establish a community in Savannah did not succeed, but they did have a profound impact on the young John Wesley who had gone to Georgia during a personal spiritual crisis. Wesley was impressed that the Moravians remained calm during a storm that was panicking experienced sailors. He was amazed at people who did not fear death, & back in London he worshiped with Moravians writing that his “heart was strangely warmed.”

After the failure of the Georgia mission, the Moravians established a permanent presence in Pennsylvania in 1741, settling on the estate of evangalist George Whitefield. Moravian settlers purchased 500 acres to establish the settlement of Bethlehem in 1741. Soon they bought the 5,000 acres of the Barony of Nazareth from Whitefield’s manager, & the 2 communities of Bethlehem & Nazareth became closely linked in their agricultural & industrial economy.  Other settlement congregations were established in Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Maryland. They built the Pennsylvania communities of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Lititz, & Hope. They also established congregations in Philadelphia & on Staten Island in New York. All were considered frontier centers for the spread of the gospel, particularly in mission to the Native Americans. Bethlehem was the center of Moravian activity in colonial America.

Bishop Augustus Spangenberg led a party to survey a 100,000 acre tract of land in North Carolina, which came to be known as Wachau after an Austrian estate of Count Zinzendorf. The name, later anglicized to Wachovia, became the center of growth for the church in that region. Bethabara, Bethania & Salem (now Winston-Salem) were the 1st Moravian settlements in North Carolina. In 1857 the 2 American provinces, North & South, became largely independent & set about expansion. Bethlehem in Pennsylvania & Winston-Salem in North Carolina became the headquarters of the two provinces (North & South).

The facet of Moravian life that bound the community together like no other was their dedication to missionary work; the Moravians were the most active Protestant missionaries of the 18C, sending community members to the West Indies, South America, & as far as South Africa. By 1760, the Moravians had sent out 226 missionaries & baptized more than 3,000 converts, including American Natives. In North America the key undertaking for Moravian missionaries was to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. The Moravians viewed the natives as heathens in need of spiritual enlightenment & guidance.

One feature of Moravian community life was the Choir System. People
were separated into “choirs,” or groups, based on their age, gender, & marital status. It was believed that individuals of like age & gender were best prepared & able to encourage each other’s religious growth. Members of the same choir ate, worked, worshiped, slept in dormitories, & attended school together. This communal living arrangement was intended to strengthen the unity of the society as members had to rely on choir-mates for support rather than their siblings or parents. The names of the choirs reflected the sex, age & marital status of those in the choir, such as the “Older Boys’ Choir,” ages 12-19 or the “Single Sister’s Choir,” age 19 until marriage.

All work performed by the Moravians during the pre-Revolutionary War years operated under a system known as the “General Economy,” in which all goods or money produced was considered the property of the community, not the individual. Under this system there was no private wealth or housing, nor any privately owned businesses. Every member’s contribution was collectively pooled & in exchange, necessities such as food, shelter & clothing were provided.

Marie Minier, a Single Sister in the Bethlehem community, praised the General
Economy in 1750 stating that, “For 12 years now I have enjoyed the care [of the General Economy] & eaten from one bread & been clothed, all of which to this hour has been great and of importance to me. I . . . accept things the way the Brethren do things, for it is a wonder to me daily that He has maintained so large a community, & we cannot say that we have ever gone without.” For single women like Marie Minier, the General Economy system afforded them relative security & independence; single women who chose not to marry did not need to rely on a father or brother for financial support, nor worry about becoming a financial burden. In other parts of 18C British America women who did not marry usually would have been socially & economically excluded, dependent on their fathers or male family members.

Yet by the 1760s, the system of communal property began to wear on the younger generations of ambitious Moravians who saw that in other communities hard work was rewarded with personal financial gain. In 1762, the General Economy was abolished in favor of self-owned & operated small businesses & private family homes.

To learn about the lives of 18C Moravian women see:

Faull, Katharine. Moravian Women's Memoirs: Their Related Lives, 1750-1820. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1997.

Smaby, Beverly Prior. "Female Piety Among 18th-Century Moravians." Pennsylvania History 64 (1997): 151-167.

Wachovia Historical Society, Winston-Salem, North Carolina & Old Salem, Inc., Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1750 Johann Valentine Haidt (1700-1780). Women portrayed as separate but sharing power at the Moravian Synod at Herrnhut.& "Forming the Single Sisters' Choir in Bethlehem." The Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society 28 (1994): 1-14

Sommer, Elisabeth W. Serving Two Masters: Moravian Brethren in Germany & North Carolina, 1727-1801. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2000.

Vogt, Peter. "A Voice for Themselves: Women as Participants in Congregational Discourse in the 18th-Century Moravian Movement." In Women Preachers and Prophets through Two Millennia of Christianity, edited by Beverly Mayne Kienzle and Pamela J. Walker, 227-247. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1755 Benjamin West 1738-1820 Mary Bethel Boude Mrs Samuel Nat Gal Art

In Business - From Virginia Aristocracy to Boarding House Cooking Mary Randolph (1762-1828)

Mary Randolph (1762-1828)

Mary Randolph (1762-1828), early Southern cookbook author, was born in Virginia at either Tuckahoe, her father’s plantation in Goochland County, or Ampthill, that of her mother’s family in Chesterfield County. Both parents were members of the planter aristocracy. Mary’s father, Thomas Mann Randolph (1741-1793), served Virginia in the colonial house or burgess; in the Revolutionary conventions of 1775 & 1776., & later in the state legislature; her mother, Anne (Cary) Randolph, was a daughter of Archibald Cary (1721-1787), planter & statesman. Mary was the oldest of 13 children. Her brother Thomas Mann Randolph (1768-1828) became a Congressman & governor of Virginia & married Martha Jefferson (daughter of kinsman Thomas Jefferson.)

Growing up in this close-knit clan, Molly Randolph, as she was known, was married in December 1780 to a 1st cousin once removed, David Meade Randolph (1760-1830), of Predque Isle, Chesterfield County. Of their 8 children, 4 lived to maturity; Richard (born 1782), William Beverley (1789), David Meade, & Burwell Starke (1800). Her husband, after serving as a captain in the Revolutionary War, was appointed by President Washington United States marshal (a federal court official) for Virginia, making his home in Richmond. There, at the turn of the century, he built Moldavia, a handsome residence on South 5th Street. But his Federalist politics brought his removal from this post by President Jefferson.

To support their growing family the Randolphs sold Moldavia & moved to more modest quarters, where Mrs. Randolph conducted a fashionable boardinghouse. Soon dubbed “the Queen,” she attracted, says a Richmond chronicler, “as many subjects as her dominions could accommodate. . . .There were few more festive boards. . .Wit, humor & good-fellowship prevailed, but excess rarely” 

Mary Randolph had been noted for her knowledge of cooking even before her boardinghouse days. From her practical experience as keeper of a large establishment, & perhaps in the hope of further augmenting the family income, she compiled the book of recipes which was published (under her own name) in 1824 in Washington as The Virginia Housewife. As the preface indicated, it was written to meet the need she had encountered, on entering housekeeping, for a book “sufficiently clear & concise to impart knowledge to a Tyro.” The work was well received; a second edition followed in 1825, & it was often republished-in Baltimore in 1831 & 1838, in Philadelphia in 1850. The recipes were practical in details & specific as to weights & measures, much simpler than those in the 18C English cookbooks which had previously supplied the American market. The regional emphasis made the work especially popular in the South. “Every Virginia housewife,” a later writer (Letitia Burwell) recalled of the antebellum period, “knew how to compound all the various dishes in Mrs. Randolph’s cookery book.”

But Mrs. Randolph lived for less than 4 years after the 1st edition of her cookbook. Little is know of her then save that she was living in Washington, D.C., at the time of her death. Possibly the care of an invalid son hastened her end, for the stone on her grave terms her “a victim of maternal love & duty.” By her own wish she was buried at Arlington, the residence of her cousin George Washington Parke Custis, stepson of George Washington & father of Mary Custis (Mrs. Robert E.) Lee.

See: Notable American Women 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Eds. Edward James, Janet James, Paul Boyer. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971.

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1754 Joseph Blackburn fl 1752-1778 Mrs David Chesebrough Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art tells us that Mrs. Chesebrough, born Margaret Sylvester, was the wife of a wealthy and prominent merchant in Newport, Rhode Island. The couple later lived in Stonington, Connecticut. Blackburn seems to have been trained in England before coming to work on this side of the Atlantic. He apparently spent a couple of years as a portraitist in Bermuda before establishing himself in New England. This likeness, dated 1754, is one of his first American works. A decade later he was back in England, presumably supplanted in American colonial painting by the young and rapidly developing Copley, who was becoming a major figure. The Museum's portrait shows Blackburn's skill in rendering drapery and details of costume, and in making his sitters look fashionable and elegant.

1773 Portrait of an American Woman

Mrs. John Winthrop 1773 John Singleton Copley (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1738–1815 London)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art tells us that Hannah Fayerweather (1727–1790) was the daughter of Thomas and Hannah Waldo Fayerweather. She was baptized at the First Church in Boston in February 12, 1727. She was married twice, in 1745 to Parr Tolman and in 1756 to John Winthrop, a professor of mathematics and natural history at Harvard University and a noted astronomer. Although this portrait has traditionally been dated 1774, a receipt dated June 24, 1773, places its execution in the previous year. The portrait is one of a number in which Copley prominently featured a beautifully reflective tabletop.

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1754 Joseph Blackburn fl 1752-1778 Mary Sylvester Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art tells us that Mary Sylvester (1725–1794) was born at Southold, Long Island. She was the daughter of Brinley and Mary Sylvester and the sister of Margaret, later Mrs. David Chesebrough. Her portrait was most likely painted in 1754, the year in which Blackburn painted the portrait of her sister and of Abigail Chesebrough (Stonington Historical Society, Connecticut). In accordance with her unmarried status, Blackburn depicted Mary Sylvester as a shepherdess, the lamb at her side a symbol of purity and innocence. Although an exact source has not yet been identified, it has been assumed that Blackburn derived this allegorical representation from a British mezzotint. In 1756 Mary Sylvester was married in Newport to Thomas Dering, a Boston merchant. 

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1754 Joseph Blackburn fl 1752-1778 Abigail Chesebrough (Mrs. Alexander Grant) Art Inst Chicago

Abigail Chesebrough (1734–1807) was the daughter of David Chesebrough (1702–1782, eminent merchant & slave trader in Newport) and Abigail Rogers (1706–1737); and the stepdaughter of Mrs. Margaret (Sylvester) Chesebrough (1719–1782). The sitter's mother Mrs. Abigail Rogers Chesebrough died in Newport in 1737 at the age of 27, and lies buried in the Common ground. The daughter Abigail was married to Alexander Grant (1730–1783), eldest son of Sir Alexander Grant, of Scotland. It was while the Chesebroughs were residing here Sept. II, 1775, that "the Hon. Mrs. Abigail Grant, lady of Sir Alexander Grant, arrived at Newport from London via New York," to pay them a visit. Mr. Chesebrough's second wife was Margaret Sylvester, who, with her sister Mary, the wife of Thomas Dering, also sat for Joseph Blackburn, the artist, in Newport in 1754.