Famous Wives, Women in the American Revolution

Molly Stark

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Wife of General John Stark Image: Molly Stark Statue One of Wilmington, Vermont’s most prominent landmarks is the statue of Revolutionary War heroine Molly Stark. Her descendants donated the statue to mark the center of the Molly Stark Trail, which crosses southern Vermont and is thought to be the route taken by General Stark on his victory march home from the Battle of Bennington. To confuse the enemy, General Stark referred to the route they were taking as the Molly Stark Trail, and it is identified as such on the official Vermont Highway Map. Early Years Elizabeth (Molly) Page was born February 16, 1737, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Around 1755, she moved with her family to Dunbarton, New Hampshire. Her father,…

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Women in the American Revolution

Sarah Kast McGinnis

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Loyalist in the American Revolution Image: Sarah Kast McGinnis Historical Marker Bath, Ontario, Canada Sarah Kast was born near German Flats, New York, in 1713, the daughter of Palatine Germans who were brought to America by England’s Queen Anne in the early 1700s. Her father, Johann Georg Kast, was born in German Palatine; her mother, Anna Margaretha Feg, in Idar Oberstein Germany. The family arrived in New York City in 1710, and settled in the frontier of the Mohawk River Valley west of Albany, NY, and opened a trading post. Sarah grew up with the Mohawk, sometimes all the children would go to the swimming hole together and play. She knew their language.
Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Caroline Beauregard

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Wife of Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard In 1860, widower Pierre Beauregard married Caroline Deslonde, whose family owned plantations in Louisiana and a home on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans known as Stalian Hall. Caroline’s sister Mathilde married John Slidell, a US Senator from Louisiana. Both men served important roles in the Confederacy, Beauregard as the famous general and Slidell as an important Confederate diplomat. Image: General P.G.T. Beauregard Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was born on May 28, 1818, at his family’s plantation home, Contreras, in St. Bernard Parish near New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were Creole planter Jacques Toutant Beauregard and Helene Judith de Reggio Beauregard. Beginning at age eight, Gustave (as he was called in his youth)…

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Women in the American Revolution

Anna Keyes Knowlton

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Wife of Patriot Thomas Knowlton Image: Thomas Knowlton Anna Keyes was born April 5, 1759. Thomas Knowlton was born November 22, 1740 in West Boxford, Massachusetts. When Knowlton was eight years old, his father moved the family to Ashford, Connecticut, where they lived on a farm of 400 acres. In 1755 at the age of 15, Thomas enlisted in the English army and fought under Major Israel Putnam in the French and Indian War for four years, and achieved rank of Lieutenant by age 20. In 1762, he participated in the Battle of Havana in Cuba, and was lucky enough to survive. (Of Israel Putnam’s Company of 107 men, only 20 returned home, due mostly to tropical diseases). Returning to…

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Civil War Women, Generals Wives

Mary Richmond Bishop Burnside

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Wife of Union General Ambrose Burnside Mary Richmond Bishop was described as somewhat religious, a rather tall, and a stately young woman, who conveyed a courtly presence. She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Fanny Windsor Bishop of Bristol, Rhode Island. Her father was a Rhode Island Militia Major. Ambrose Everett Burnside was born in Liberty, Indiana on May 23, 1824, the son of a South Carolina slaveowner who had freed his slaves and moved his family to Indiana. At the age of 19, Burnside, through his father’s political connections was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1847, ranked 18 out of 38 in his class, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the…

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Women in the American Revolution

Betsy Dowdy

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American Patriot and Paul Revere of North Carolina Image: A wild Banker pony On the Outer Banks of North Carolina On the northernmost coast of North Carolina there is a string of sandy islands called the Outer Banks. Betsy Dowdy lived on Currituck Banks there, in the northeastern corner of North Carolina, ten miles south of the Virginia border, bounded by Currituck Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Betsy had a Banker Pony named Black Bess. Banker Ponies On the northernmost coast of North Carolina there is a string of sandy islands called the Outer Banks. In the remote regions of those islands, wild ponies roam free. Banker Ponies are actually horses, but they are referred to as ponies because they…

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Famous Wives

Elizabeth Wells Adams

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Second Wife of Patriot Samuel Adams Image: Samuel Adams John Singleton Copley, Artist Samuel Adams was an American statesman, politician, writer, and political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Adams was instrumental in garnering the support of the colonies for rebellion against Great Britain, eventually resulting in the American Revolution, and was also one of the key architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped American political culture. Samuel Adams is sometimes called the Father of the American Revolution, because of his early stand against the tyranny of Great Britain, and his speeches and writings that drew many American colonists into the fight for freedom. Samuel Adams was born September 27, 1722, in Boston…

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Margaret Kemble Gage
Famous Spies, Famous Wives

Margaret Kemble Gage

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Wife of British General Thomas Gage Margaret began to sit for Copley within three days of his arrival in New York City in 1771. She is depicted wearing an iridescent caftan over a lace trimmed chemise with a jeweled brooch and an embroidered belt. Pearls and a turban-like swath of drapery adorn her hair. Her sleeves are held up with ropes of pearls and her hair is wrapped in a length of green silk fashioned as a turban. Her languid and informal pose, shockingly different from the upright posture of Copley’s Boston sitters, underscores the sensuality of the image. Margaret Kemble was born into a well-known family in East Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1734. Her father, Peter Kemble, was a…

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Civil War Women, Famous Firsts, Famous Wives, First Ladies

Eliza Johnson

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First Lady of the United States Eliza Johnson was the wife of Andrew Johnson, who became the 17th President of the United States on the morning of April 15, 1865 – after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Due to ill health, Mrs. Johnson left the social duties of the First Lady to her daughter Martha Johnson Patterson, but was a close confidante to the President during his years in the White House. Eliza McCardle was born October 4, 1810, at Leesburg, Tennessee, the only child of John and Sarah Phillips McCardle. Eliza lost her father when she was still a small child, and was raised by her widowed mother in Greeneville, Tennessee. After her father’s death, Eliza McCardle helped her…

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Women in the American Revolution

Prudence Cummings Wright

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American Patriot and Minutewoman Image: Battle of Lexington First battle of the Revolutionary War Prudence Cummings was born November 26, 1740, at Dunstable, Massachusetts, the daughter of Samuel and Prudence Lawrence Cummings. She was raised in a household that freely discussed politics, and not all shared the same opinions. Prudence married David Wright of Pepperell, Massachusetts, on December 28, 1761 and settled in Pepperell. For the next fourteen years, Prudence helped her husband, cared for her children, and was a leader among the young matrons of the town. Patriots and Tories There were two parties in the colonies: Whigs and Tories. The Whigs (Patriots) were in sympathy with democratic ideals and insisted upon representation for the colonies. The Tories included…

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