EMERGENCY AID OF 1776 Compiled and published at request of THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE EMERGENCY AID OF PENNSYLVANIA BY ANNE von MOSCHZISKER Chairman of Polish Committee 1917 TOWN PRINTING COMPANY 1025 Callowhill Street # Of 0. JAN 23 1918 THE EMERGENCY AID OF 1776 Recently I had occasion to go over some books inherited from my father, and, among others, found two of peculiar interest, one entitled, "Life and Correspondence of Presi- dent Reed," the other, "Life of Esther Reed." Since my family claim a paternal ancestor named Reed, I was moved to glance into these volumes, and my curiosity was re- warded by discovering therein a mine of information con- cerning what, for the want of a better term, I shall call the Emergency Aid of 1776, or of the American Revolution. Esther Reed was born in England, where Joseph Reed met her, when reading law at the Inns of Court, London; she was the daughter of an English merchant with Ameri- can commercial connections, named De Berdt. After a romantic courtship, Mr. Reed and Miss De Berdt were mar- ried, and journeyed to Philadelphia, where they subsequently lived. In 1778, Mr. Reed became President of the Execu- tive Council of the State of Pennsylvania, later, Colonel in the American Army, occupying a position on the staff of General Washington and serving as his militarv secretary, then, Adjutant General of the Continental Army, and, finally, he was elected a member of the Congress of the United States. The two books to which I refer were written by Joseph Reed's grandson, William B. Reed, who, in the one upon his illustrious grandsire, at page 260, states: "The close of Mrs. Reed's life was marked by some little public interest. In the spring of 1780, at the period of the greatest distress r and suffering, the ladies of Philadelphia united for the pur- pose of collecting, by voluntary subscriptions, supplies in money and clothing for the army. . . . Mrs. Reed was placed at the head of this voluntary association. . . . On June 20th of that year, Mr. Reed, in a letter to Washing- ton, said: The ladies have caught the happy contagion, and in a few days Mrs. Reed will have the honour of writing to you on the subject. It is expected she will have a sum equal to 100,000 pounds, to be laid out according to your Excel- lency's direction in such a way as may be thought most hon- orable and gratifying to the brave old soldiers who have borne so great a share of the burden of this war. We have just heard that Mrs. Washington is on the road to this city, so we shall have the benefit of her advice and assistance here, and, if necessary, refer afterwards to your Excellency.' " It appears that the work of Mrs. Reed's committee was conducted in this city and adjacent districts. In Philadelphia proper, the women collected upwards of $300,000 (con- tinental currency), which, according to its depreciated value, was worth about $7,500 in gold. While, today, the latter sum seems insignificant, yet its value in 1780 may be appre- ciated when we consider that, at about this time, the mer- chants of Philadelphia and others started a bank with a capi- tal of $7,900. or, as said by the author of the book before me, only "about 400 specie dollars more than was contrib- uted for mere charity by the ladies of this city." In a letter to General Washington, on July 4, 1780, Mrs. Reed says that her committee had communicated with "the other states," in "hopes the ladies there will adopt similar plans"; and it appears that, at least, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland satisfactorily responded. The number of contributors was 1645, and, as stated by the author of the books before me, "All classes of society seem to have united, from Phillis, the colored woman, with her humble 7s 6d, to the Marchioness de Lafayette, who contributed 100 guineas in specie, and the Countess de Lu- zerne, who contributed 150 dollars in specie. The loo-guinea contribution came through General Lafayette, who wrote a most charming letter from army headquarters: in which he said the writer was full of ad- miration for the endeavors of "the fair ones of Philadel- phia," who had "taken the lead" in the war relief work, add- ing, "I know of one who, heartily wishing for a personal acquaintance with the ladies of America, would feel particu- larly happy tc be admitted among them on the present oc- casion," meaning, of course, the Marchioness; and he ends his communication thus: "Without presuming to break in upon the rules of your respected association, may I most humbly present myself as her ambassador . . . and solicit in her name that you accept her offering." A series of letters passed between Mrs. Reed, as Chair- man of the Committee, and General Washington, as head of the Army, which enter into most minute details concern- ing supplies to be furnished by the former. In one of these, Mrs. Reed asks whether the General would rather have 2000 shirts or $2, "hard cash," for each soldier. In reply Washington took the shirts, saying that "a taste of hard money might be productive of much discontent" in th" army, that "a few provident soldiers would probably avail themselves of the advantages which would result from the generous bounty of two hard dollars in specie, but it is equally probable that it will be the means of bringing punish- ment on a number of others whose propensity to drinking, overcoming all other considerations, too frequently leads them into irregularities and disorder which must be cor- rected." Then the General goes on to say that "a shirt would render the condition of the soldiery much more com- fortable." All of which shows the simple matters with which the Father of our country had to cope, and indicates the simplicity of those days, when each sold'er counted as an individual, and not merely as a component part of a great fighting machine, as today. Mrs. Reed apparently enjoyed the confidence of Wash- ington and was one of his strong supporters. In a letter to her husband, written in 1780, a short time before her death, she intimates some misunderstanding between Mr. Reed and the General; for she states, "I hope you will sus- pend. any decided judgment on the General's conduct until you see him, he may probably explain it to your satisfaction, and remember, my friend, no one is entirely proof against the arts of misrepresentation, or can always act right when those in whom they place confidence make it a point to de- ceive, or are themselves deceived." This noble woman seems to have overworked herself in the cause of her country, and, as a result, died on Septem- ber 18, 1780. The whole community united in a tribute to her memory, the Council and Assembly adjourning to attend her funeral in a body. After this, the lead in war relief work appears to have been taken over by Mrs. Sarah Bache, the daughter of Dr. Franklin, who was assisted by four other members of Mrs. Reed's committee, namely: Henrietta Hil- legas, wife of Michael Hillegas, first Treasurer of the United States, who, before her marriage, was Henrietta Bonde, daughter of Samuel Bcnde, a well-known merchant of Phila- delphia; Anne Francis, wife of Trench Francis, the younger, who, before her marriage, was Anne Willing, a descendant of Edward Shippen, the first Mayor of our City; Maiy Clarkson, wife of Matthew Clarkson, later the Mayor of Philadelphia, who, before her marriage, was the daughter of Thomas Bonde; and Susan Blair, who, so far as I can ascer- tain, was probably the wife of Rev. Samuel Blair, of Ger- mantown, then a Chaplain in the American Army. Mrs. Bache continued the correspondence with Wash- ington, informing him that she had packed the shirts re- ferred to in the above quoted letters, 2005 in number, and saying that she hoped the soldiers would wear them with as much pleasure as it had given the ladies to make them. In February, 1780, the General wrote a letter addressed to "Mrs. Francis, Mrs. Hillegas, Mrs. Clarkson, Mrs. Bach<~: and Mrs. Blair," in which, referring to the death of Mrs. Reed, he said, "The benevolent office which added lustre to the qualities that ornamented your deceased friend could not have descended to more zealous or more deserving suc- cessors. The contributions of the association you represent have exceeded what could have been expected, and the spirit that animated the members of it entitles them to an equal place with any who have preceded them on the walk of female patriotism. It embellishes the American character with a new trait, by proving that the love of country is blended with those softer domestic virtues which have al- ways been allowed to be peculiarly your own. The Army ought not to regret their sacrifices or sufferings, when they meet with so flattering a reward as the sympathy of your sex, nor can they fear that their interests will be neglected, while espoused by advocates as powerful as they are amiable." At the back of the life of Mr. Reed, the author prints various lists of subscribers, and states, "The original of the following subscription papers are in my possession; 1 am tempted here to insert them, in order to perpetuate the individual munificence of the times." The first of these accounts shows the city divided into districts, and gives the names of the women at the head of each district, as follows: - 1. Mrs. G. B. Eyre Coates and Mrs. J. B. Smith, for Northern Liberties. 2. Mrs. F Wade, from Vine to Race Streets. 3. Mrs. Hutchinson Hasenclever, Mrs. Hillegas, Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson, from Race to Arch Streets. 4. Mrs. Thompson Richards, Mrs. J. Blair, and Mrs. T. Smith, Arch to Market Streets. 5. Mrs. R. Bache, T. Francis, Mrs. J. Mitchell, Mrs. J. Caldwell and Mrs. B. McClenachan, Market to Chestnut Streets. 6. Mrs. S. Caldwell, B. Rush, Chestnut to Walnut Streets. 7. Mrs. J. Mease and Mrs. James Wilson, Walnut to Spruce Streets. 5 8. Mrs. T. McKean, J. Searle, J. Mease, Mrs. Dr. Shippen and Mrs. R. Morris, Spruce to Pine Streets. 9. Mrs. W. Turnbull and J. Benezet, Pine to South Sis. 10. Mrs. Marsh, Ord. Blewer, Knox and Penrose, South- ward 11. Mrs. H. Hill, Mrs. Hillegas,' M. Clarkson, T. Hasencle- ver and Mrs. R. Bache, Germantown and Bettle- hausen. Subsequent accounts contain > lists of individual con- tributors, and many interesting Philadelphia names are to be found therein, suggesting families that are still prominent and active in the affairs of the community; among others: Arnold Crozier Grubb Ashmead Can- Galloway Cox Gri scorn Benezet Cunningham Bright Craig 1 familton Bush Coleman Harrison Boyer Claypoole Hopkinson Barney Cbevalier Hutchinson Barry Dickenson Holland Bond Hall Bruce Davis I [are Bache Dick Draper Hodge Bartram Hoffman Berrv Dickinson Delaney Hood Biddle Humphreys Bringhurst Davis Hunt Barclay Darrah Bell Bridges Drinker Inglis Dehaas Irwin 1 lowers Dmveas Keen Brice Emlen Keith Bingham Evans Baker Lewis Beck- Fuller Lawrence Bird Fisher Lardner Bartholomew Fithbourn Leiper Bryan Fenton Logan Fox Lohra Clymer Foulke Lamar Cramp Fl ah a van Caruthers . McCail Crawford Gratz Montgomery Marten Peale Sergeant Mitchell Pendleton Sevbert Morris Patterson Saunders Morgan Perkins Snowden Murray Peltz Si nuns Middleton Phillips Sparhawk Meredith Parker Stewart McKean Pemberton Say Markoe Pennell Matlack Phile Turnbull Muhlenberg Plumsted Truxton McFadden Taylor McCalla Ralston Mickle Randolph Valentine Rush Vaughan Nelson Robins Nixon Russell Willing Naglee Rundel Wainvvvight Nice Randolph Warner Rutter Wood ( )gden Wilkinson Scott White Penrose Sewell Williams Peters Sellers Wharton Price Shippen Welsh Purviance Stokes Of the two books referred to in the beginning of this paper, 5 first read the life of Esther Reed, but did not find therein the names of the contributors; in a, search for these, I communicated with the librarians of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and of the Congressional Library at Wash- ington, but without success. I feared that 1 would not be able to find the lists; but, on a recent visit to Pittsburgh, I discovered the other book, and therein my quest was re- warded, I am indebted to Miss Leach for valuable counsel, and for verifying much of the information contained in this brief sketch of the Emergency Aid of 1776, which 1 trust will be interesting to my co-workers in the like move- ment in which we are now engaged. ANNE VON MOSCHZISKER. November, 1917. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 698 875 6 C A B ESS HolHnger pH 8.5 Mill Run F3-1719