[Illustration: 0060]
|One of the representatives of those times, in which America must
ever feel pride, is yet living at the Lakelands, Lake of Otsego, near
Cooperstown, New York. She not only retains an accurate and vivid
recollection of scenes in the stormy and fearful infancy of the nation
on whose vigorous manhood she is permitted to look, but has kept pace in
intellectual cultivation, with the advancement of modern days. The grasp
of mind that apprehends and appreciates the progress of her country's
prosperity and power, gives a deeper interest to her thrilling recital
of incidents belonging to its struggle for life. I am particularly
favored in having received from her various anecdotes of persons with
whom she was intimately acquainted at that period, her reminiscences of
whom would form a most valuable contribution to the domestic history of
the Revolution.
The subject of this brief sketch is a daughter of the late Colonel
Charles Stewart of New Jersey. She was born December 20th, 1758, at
Sidney, the residence of her maternal grandfather, Judge Johnston, in
the township of Kingwood, and county of Hunterdon, in that State. This
old mansion was at that time one of the most stately and aristocratic
of the colonial residences in this section of West Jersey. Constructed
while the border settlements of the province were still subject to
treacherous visits from the Indian, its square and massive walls and
heavy portals had reference as well to protection and defence as to
"the pride of life;" and for many years, in its earlier days, it
was not only the stronghold of the wealthy proprietor, his family and
dependants, but the refuge in alarm, for miles around, to the settlers
whose humbler abodes were more assailable by the rifle and firebrand of
the red man. "The big stone house," as it was designated in the common
parlance of the people, was thus long a place of note as a refuge from
danger; and not less, in later times, as one for a redress of wrongs,
and the punishment of crime; Judge Johnston having been, for more than
thirty years previous to the Revolution, the chief magistrate of that
section of the colony, holding a court regularly, on Monday of every
week, in one of the halls of his dwelling.
It stood in that region of-undulating hill country, between the high
mountains of North and the flat sands of South Jersey, of the beauty of
which those who fly across the State by railroad at the present day
can form no conception: where blue hills and tufted woodlands, winding
streams and verdant valleys, often present to the eye in their varied
forms and combinations, a perfection of picturesque and rural beauty,
which, while it seldom fails to attract the admiration of the passing
traveller, fastens upon the heart of the resident with an enduring
charm. Finely situated on an elevated terrace, at the confluence of
the Capulong and a branch of the Raritan, overhung by extensive and
park-like woods, with encircling waters and clusters of grove-covered
islets behind, and wide-spread valleys in front, it was regarded in
olden times as one of the choicest residences in the State. As the
birthplace and home in childhood of the subject of this record, it has
attractions of association and memory which cause her affections to
revert warmly to it after a pilgrimage, amid other scenes, of well nigh
a century.
The old house was accidentally burned down some fifty years ago, and
a new, though less imposing, dwelling erected on the same site, by a
branch of the Coxe family. This, in its turn, became the resort, for
many years, of a circle greatly distinguished for beauty, wit, and
cultivated talent; but now, for a long time, vicissitudes of fortune,
neglect, desertion, and decay, have accomplished in it their accustomed
work; and stripped of its embellishments of taste, despoiled of much
of its fine woods, and its majestic single trees, it presents little
indication of its former fortunes, and is fallen in its uses to the
purposes of a common farm.
Previous to the Revolution, Colonel Stewart resided chiefly at
Landsdown, a beautiful property in Kingwood, immediately adjoining the
estate of his father-in-law at Sidney. It was here that the later years
of the childhood of his daughter were spent; and here, at the early
age of thirteen, she was bereaved of her mother--a woman of strong and
polished intellect, of a refined and poetical taste, and said to have
been the best read female in the province. Till within a short time of
Mrs. Stewart's death, the education of her daughter had been exclusively
at home. She had been but a brief period at a boarding-school, when
summoned to the dying bed of her mother; and it is no slight proof
of the mental attainments and maturity of character which she already
possessed, that her father, in his bereavement, found her society too
necessary to his happiness, and the maternal care which she was called
to exercise over her sisters and brothers of a more tender age, too
essential to their welfare, to permit her again to resume her place
at school. It is chiefly, therefore, to the self-cultivation of an
inquiring and philosophic mind, and to association at home and in
society, with the intelligent and the wise, that are to be ascribed the
rich stores of general information and wide-spread practical knowledge,
for which, from early womanhood to the passing day, she has been so
highly distinguished, and so justly and extensively honored.
The hospitality of Colonel Stewart was unbounded. His friend Chief
Justice Smith of New Jersey has expressed this trait of character in
the epitaph upon his tomb--"The friend and the stranger were almost
compelled to come in." His house was the resort of the choice spirits
in intellect and public influence, of the times; and it was at his
table and fireside that his daughter, called at the early age we have
mentioned to the responsible position of female head of his family, from
1771 to 1776, imbibed even in childhood from him and his compeers the
principles of patriotism and the love of freedom which entitle her name
and character to a prominent place among the Women of the Revolution.
Colonel Stewart himself had been trained from infancy in the spirit
of 1688. His grandfather, Charles Stewart, of Gortlee, a cadet of the
Stewarts of Garlies, was an officer of dragoons in the army of William
III., and acquitted himself gallantly, at the side of his monarch, in
the battle of the Boyne. The demesne which he afterwards possessed, in
the north of Ireland, was the reward of his valor; but, in transmitting
to his son and his son's son the untrammelled spirit of a Scotch
Puritan, who had periled his life in the cause of civil and religious
liberty, he conferred upon them a better and more enduring heritage.
It was the proud and honorable independence of the same indomitable
principles, that led his descendant in early youth, ere he had fully
attained his majority, to self exile in the new world. Energy of
character and enlarged enterprise soon secured to him here both private
fortune and public influence; and the first breath of the spirit of
"'76" which passed over the land, kindled within his bosom a flame
of zeal for the freedom and honor of his adopted country, which no
discouragement could dampen, and which neither toil, nor danger, nor
disaster could extinguish.
His daughter well recollects having been told by him, on his return
from the first general meeting of the patriots of New Jersey for
a declaration of rights, an incident relating to himself, highly
characteristic of the times. Many of the most distinguished royalists
were his personal and intimate friends; and when it became evident
that a crisis in public feeling was about to occur, when disregarded
remonstrance would be converted into open resistance, great efforts
were made by some of those holding office under the crown, to win him to
their side. Tempting promises of ministerial favor and advancement were
made to induce him at least to withhold his influence from the cause of
the people, even if he would not take part in support of the king; and
this with increased importunity till the very opening of the meeting.
But when it was seen to have been in vain--when he immediately rose and
was one of the first, if not the very first, with the Stocktons, the
Pattersons, and the Frelinghuysens of the day, in the spirit, at least,
of the Declaration of 1776, boldly to pledge his "life, his fortune,
and his sacred honor" in defence of the rights of freemen against
the aggressions of the throne--the Attorney General, approaching and
extending his hand, said to him, in saddened tones, as if foretelling
a speedy doom--"Farewell, my friend Charles!--when the halter is about
your neck, send for me!--I'll do what I can to save you!"
It was thus that the familiar confidence of the patriot father
cherished and strengthened, in the bosom of his daughter, sympathies
and principles corresponding with his own; while in the accelerated
movements of the Revolution, he successively and rapidly became a member
of the first Provincial Congress of New Jersey, Colonel of the First
Regiment of minute-men of that State; Colonel of the Second Regiment of
the line; and eventually, one of the staff of Washington, as Commissary
General of Issues, by Commission of the Congress of 1776.
In January of this year, Miss Stewart, at the age of seventeen, gave
her hand in marriage to Robert Wilson, a young Irishman of the Barony of
Innishowen, who, after being educated and trained for mercantile life
in one of the first houses of his native land, had emigrated to America
a few years before, and amassed a considerable fortune. In her husband
she made choice of one not less congenial in political sentiments and
feeling than in intellectual culture and in winning manners. The first
intelligence of the battle of Lexington had fired his warm blood into
immediate personal action in the cause; and he was one of the volunteers
who, with his friend Colonel Reed, accompanied General Washington from
Philadelphia to the camp at Cambridge. A brief journal kept by him
at this time shows that for six months he was at head-quarters,
as muster-master-general, honored by the confidence of the
Commander-in-chief, and often a guest at his table. He shared largely
in the exposures of the camp, and distinguished himself for daring
intrepidity, in two or three instances, in the skirmishes and
cannonading which occurred at times between the forces. But his health
failing, he was obliged to forego the prospect of a military appointment
pledged to him; and resigning his position sought the milder climate of
the Jerseys.
Among the officers in the British army were several near relatives of
Mr. Wilson; and it is a fact illustrative of the times, that a young
cousin-german, who not long before the commencement of hostilities had
visited the family of their common friend and relative, Colonel Stewart,
at Kingwood, was now at Boston, in the gallant discharge of his duty
in the enemy's ranks. He was afterwards wounded at the battle of
Germantown, and visited by Colonel Stewart under a flag of truce.
It was on his return to Jersey that Mr. Wilson's marriage took
place. Shortly afterwards, he, with his bride, became a resident of
Hackettstown, near which he possessed a valuable property. During the
year 1777, he was again in public service, as Assistant Commissary
General of Purchases; but, finding the duties of the station too arduous
for his health, he resigned his appointment and entered into mercantile
pursuits in Philadelphia. In these he was very extensively and
successfully engaged--greatly honored and beloved--till his death, in
1779, at the early age of twenty-eight. His wife had accompanied him
to Philadelphia, and was established in much elegance there; but on her
widowhood thus in her twentieth year, she returned to her residence at
Hackettstown, where she remained till near the close of the war.
During the whole Revolution, the situation of Mrs. Wilson was as
favorable, if not more so, for observation and a knowledge of important
movements and events, than that of any other lady in her native State.
Her father, at the head of an important department, in the staff of
the Commander-in-chief, became generally, and almost from necessity,
familiarly acquainted with the principal officers of the army; and
head-quarters being most of the time within twenty or thirty miles of
her residence, she not only had constant intercourse in person and by
letter with him, but frequently and repeatedly entertained at her house
many of his military friends. Among these, with numerous others of
less distinction, were Washington, La Fayette, Hamilton, Wayne, Greene,
Gates, Maxwell, Lincoln, Henry Lee, Stevens, Walter Stewart, Ethan
Allen, Pulaski, Butler, Morgan, Sinclair, Woodward, Varnum, Paul Jones,
Cochrane, Craik, etc.-With General Washington she was on terms of
friendship. She first met him in Philadelphia, in 1775, when he was
preparing to join the army at Cambridge. He afterwards visited her at
different times at her residence in Hackettstown; on the last occasion a
year after her husband's death, and a short time after the execution of
Major André. His approach, with Mrs. Washington and his staff, under the
escort of a troop of horse, was privately announced to Mrs. Wilson in
time to have dinner in readiness for a party of thirty or forty persons.
To one whose patriotism was so decided, it must have been a pleasure
indeed, thus to welcome to her roof and table the leading spirits of the
land. The party did not leave till after luncheon on the second day; and
knowing that they could not reach their destination till late at night,
ample provision was made from her larder and wine cellar, to furnish all
needed refreshment by the way.
Before these distinguished guests took their departure, a large
concourse of people from the adjacent country and the towns in the
vicinity had crowded round the house to catch a glimpse of the idolized
Chief. A few members of the legislature and the prominent gentlemen of
the neighborhood were admitted and formally introduced. Among these was
Dr. Kennedy, the family physician, whose salutation, as Mrs. Wilson well
recollects, was: "I am happy indeed to meet the man whom under God, I
deem the saviour of our country." As it was impossible for the multitude
to obtain entrance, a little stratagem was devised by one of the
gentlemen, by which those without could be gratified without subjecting
the General to the annoyance of a mere exhibition of himself. Knowing
his admiration of a fine horse, he ordered an animal remarkable for
its beauty to be brought into the street, and then invited him out to
inspect it. Thus an opportunity was afforded to the whole assemblage to
gaze upon and salute him with their cheers.
Mrs. Wilson relates the following anecdote in connection with another of
the visits of Washington to her:
One Mrs. Crafts, a native of Germany, who had emigrated and settled in
New Jersey, through the industry of herself and husband had become the
owner of a fine farm near Hackettstown, and was in comfortable and easy
circumstances. She was an excellent neighbor; and though an ardent tory,
was universally respected for her many kind and good qualities. On
the morning of General Washington's departure, as on the visit before
described, Mrs. Wilson's house was surrounded by a throng of persons
eager to obtain a glance at him. In this state of things, Mrs. Crafts,
tory as she was, repaired to the spot and sent a message to Mrs. Wilson
in her parlor, requesting from her the privilege of seeing the General.
A reply was sent, saying that General Washington was at the time
surrounded by a crowd of officers; but if Mrs. Crafts would station
herself in the hall till he passed through, her desire would be
gratified. She accordingly took her post there, and patiently waited his
appearance. When, at length, she obtained a full view of his majestic
form and noble countenance, raising both hands, she burst into tears,
uttering in her native tongue an exclamation expressive of intense
astonishment and emotion! Mrs. Crafts never afterwards ranked herself on
the tory side. "The august and commanding presence of the father of his
country," as Mrs. Wilson remarks, "having alone inspired her with such
profound veneration for the man as to produce an abiding respect for the
cause of which he was leader."
Mrs. Washington was several times the guest of Mrs. Wilson, both at her
own house and that of her father. These visits were made when on her
way to and from the camp. That mentioned in the sketch of "Martha
Washington," was at the Union Farm, the residence of Colonel Stewart.
The hospitality which Mrs. Wilson had the privilege thus repeatedly to
extend to these illustrious guests, was not forgotten by them, but
most kindly acknowledged, and returned by very marked attentions to her
daughter and only child, on her entrance into society in Philadelphia
during the Presidency of Washington. In personal calls and invitations
to her private parties, Mrs. Washington distinguished her by courtesies
rarely shown to persons of her age. The merest accident has placed
before me, without the knowledge or agency of any one interested, the
letter of a lady to a friend, in which the appearance and dress of this
daughter at a drawingroom at-the President's is described. I insert it
as illustrative of the costume on such an occasion, now more than half
a century ago. She says, "Miss Wilson looked beautifully last night. She
was in full dress, yet in elegant simplicity. She wore book muslin over
white mantua, trimmed with broad lace round the neck; half sleeves of
the same, also trimmed with lace; with white satin sash and slippers;
her hair elegantly dressed in curls, without flowers, feathers, or
jewelry. Mrs. Moylan told me she was the handsomest person at the
drawing-room, and more admired than any one there."
Mrs. Wilson herself was favored with more than ordinary advantages
of feature and person. In youth she is said to have been remarkably
handsome. Even at the age of thirty-eight, the period of life at which
the likeness engraved for this volume was taken, a lady of Philadelphia
thus writes of her during a visit there: "I wish you could see dear Mrs.
Wilson. She is the genteelest, easiest, prettiest person I have seen
in the city. And I am far, I can assure you, from being alone in this
sentiment. I hear many others constantly express the same opinion. She
looked charmingly this evening in a Brunswick robe of striped muslin,
trimmed with spotted lawn; a beautiful handkerchief gracefully arranged
on her neck; her hair becomingly craped and thrown into curls under a
very elegant white bonnet, with green-leafed band, worn on one side. She
says she is almost worn out with a round of visiting among the Chews,
Conynghams, and Moylans, Mrs. General Stewart, etc., etc.; but she does
not look so. I do not wonder that all who know this good lady should so
love her. I am sure no one could know her intimately and not do so." It
was not alone for friends and acquaintances, and persons of distinction
and known rank, that Mrs. Wilson kept open house in the Revolution.
Such was the liberality of her patriotism, that her gates on the public
road.bore in conspicuous characters the inscription, "Hospitality within
to all American officers, and refreshment for their soldiers."
An invitation not likely to prove a mere form of words on the regular
route of communication between the northern and southern posts of the
army. Not satisfied with having given even this assurance of welcome,
instances have occurred in which the stranger of respectability, who had
taken quarters at the public-house of the village, has been transferred
at her solicitation to the comforts and elegance of her table and
fireside.
On one occasion it was reported to her that a gentleman had been taken
ill at the tavern. Knowing, if this were true, that he must suffer there
from the poorness of the accommodations, and want of proper attention,
a male friend was sent to make inquiry; and learning that this was the
case, she had him brought by her servants immediately to her dwelling,
and the best medical aid and nursing secured. He proved to be a surgeon
in the army, * of high respectability, several of whose friends, male
and female, hastened to visit him; and during a critical illness, and
long convalescence, shared with him the hospitality of the benevolent
hostess, and formed with her an enduring friendship.
* Dr. Crosby, of New York.
From the commencement of the struggle for freedom till its close, Mrs.
Wilson was occasionally a personal witness and participator in scenes
and incidents of more than ordinary interest. She was in Philadelphia
on the day of the Declaration of Independence, and made one of a
party--embracing the élite of the beauty, wealth, and fashion of the
city and neighborhood--entertained at a brilliant fête, given in
honor of the event, on board the frigate Washington, at anchor in the
Delaware, by Captain Reid, the Commander. The magnificent brocade which
she wore on the occasion, with its hooped petticoat, flowing train,
laces, gimp, and flowers, remained in its wardrobe unaltered long after
the commencement of the present century, and till the difficulty of
transporting it in its ample folds and stately dimensions led to its
separation into pieces, and thus prepared the way for it to become
a victim to the modern taste for turning the antique dresses of
grandmammas into eiderdown bedspreads, and drawing-room chair-covers.
Within the month after, she became a witness to a scene--the legitimate
result of that Declaration--the mustering of her neighbors and fellow
citizens in Jersey under the banner of her uncle, Colonel Philip
Johnston of Sidney, and the girding on of their arms for the bloody
conflict in which, on Long Island, they were so speedily engaged.
Colonel Johnston, when a mere youth, a student of college at Princeton,
had abandoned his books for the sword, in the French war of 1755, and
with such bravery and success as to return to his home with military
reputation and honors. He was now appointed by the Congress of New
Jersey to the command of its first volunteer regiment; and in a few
days a thousand strong arms and brave hearts were gathered round him, in
readiness to march against the invading foe. Mrs. Wilson was present
in his house at the final leave-taking of his youthful wife and infant
daughters. He was a fine-looking officer--tall and athletic, and of
great physical power. He was said to have had a premonition of his fate.
This impression, it was thought, added to his own, if not to the common
grief of his family. He was seen in his closet in earnest prayer just
before taking his departure. The final embrace of his family was
deeply affecting, and is well pictured in the frontispiece of Glover's
Leonidas, where the husband and the father, departing for Thermopylae,
overcome by the grief of his wife hanging upon his bosom, and that of
his children clinging in his embrace, looks to Heaven in strong appeal
for aid, while=
````" Down the hero's cheek--
```Down rolls the manly sorrow."=
Colonel Johnston fell a victim on the altar of his country a few days
afterwards, in the fatal conflict of the 27th August, 1776. General
Sullivan, in whose division he served, bore the strongest testimony to
his intrepidity and heroism. "By the well-directed fire of his troops,"
he wrote, "the enemy were several times repulsed, and lanes made through
them, till a ball in the breast put an end to the life of as gallant an
officer as ever commanded a battalion."
The robbery of her father's house by a company of bandit tories was,
however, the most alarming and exciting scene, illustrative of the times
of the Revolution, through which Mrs. Wilson passed. This occurred in
June, 1783. Deprived, by the marriage of his daughter in 1776, of the
maternal care which she had exercised over his younger children, Colonel
Stewart, on his appointment to the staff of the Commander-in-chief, had
placed them at school, and broken up his establishment in King-wood. But
when the triumph at Yorktown gave assurance of peace, in the hope of
a speedy return to the enjoyments of private life, he gathered his two
sons and two daughters to a home again, under the management, for a
second time, of their elder and now widowed sister: not at Landsdown,
his former dwelling, however, but at the "Union," in the adjoining
township of Lebanon. Like Sidney, this old residence was, in that day,
one of the great houses of upper jersey; and the surrounding farm,
comprising a thousand acres of land under fine cultivation, was noted
throughout the State. The dwelling consisted of three separate houses,
built at different periods--one of brick, one of wood, and the other of
stone--without regard to any harmony of style or architecture. They were
so situated as to form the connecting sides of a quadrangular courtyard,
into which the porches and a piazza opened. With a farm-house and
numerous out-buildings clustering round, the whole presented the
aspect of a hamlet, rather than of a single abode, in the midst of
the landscape spreading widely on the east, the west and the south.
Immediately in the rear, on the north, stretches the chain of rugged
hills, which separate the head waters of the Raritan from those of the
Muskenetcong, a tributary of the Delaware; and within a quarter of a
mile of the house was the mouth of the wild ravine of the "Spruce Run,"
the only pass through them for miles on either hand. This gorge, filled
with interlacing trees and closely-set thickets bordering the rapid
waters of the stream, afforded, in the days of Indian warfare, a choice
place of ambush; and on the occasion referred to, was selected by
the tory robbers, as the securest approach to the scene of their
depredations, and a safe place of concealment, for the day preceding
their descent upon "the Union." It was the Sabbath. Spies in advance,
whom the servants at the dairy recollected to have seen moving
stealthily about in the early dusk, reported to their accomplices, as
was afterwards learned, the retirement for the night of the workmen
to their quarters, and the departure of the overseer also to his home,
after having been to Mrs. Wilson, as accustomed, for instructions for
the following day. These could scarce have had time to fall asleep, when
the family, with some female friend, on a visit, enjoying the cool of
the evening in the porch of the principal building, were startled by the
sudden exclamation, in a suppressed but authoritative tone: "Surround
the house! Close in!" While from either side some twenty or thirty
men, disguised with paint and charcoal, and armed with various weapons,
rushed upon them. Silence was enjoined on pain of death, and inquiry
made for Colonel Stewart. They evidently supposed him to be at home, and
his capture if not assassination, was doubtless a chief object in their
plans. But he had been summoned away by express, and accompanied by
General Lincoln, had left for Philadelphia, with a large amount of
public funds at a late hour the day before. Being assured of this,
the ring-leaders approached Mr. Charles Stewart, the eldest son of the
Colonel, and a son-in-law, the late Judge Wilson of Landsdown, both
young men some twenty years of age and the only gentlemen of the party,
saying, "you are our prisoners;" and demanded their purses and watches.
Young Wilson, somewhat recovered from the first surprise, and his Irish
blood inflamed by the indignity, replied, "I would like, to know who
the d------l you are, first!" when he instantly received a severe stroke
across the head with a sword or sabre, laying open his forehead from
temple to temple. A pistol was immediately afterwards placed at the
breast of young Stewart, because he hesitated, after delivering his
purse, to yield up his watch, the dying gift of his mother. Mrs. Wilson
in alarm for her brother rushed forward, promising, if life and further
bloodshed were spared, the money and every thing valuable in the house
should be delivered up. Upon this she was ordered with her brother,
to show two of the gang to her father's apartments. Here, besides a
considerable amount in specie, they secured four thousand dollars in
current bills, while another package containing the same amount, being
placed among some wearing apparel, escaped their notice. In addition
to this money, a large amount of silver plate, a quantity of valuable
linen, every article of gentlemen's apparel in the house, three watches,
Colonel Stewart's sword and a pair of superb pistols, with heavy
mountings of solid silver beautifully and elaborately wrought, a present
of friendship from Baron Steuben, were among the booty secured.
The pistols thus lost, brought from Europe by the Baron, had been
carried by him through the war. The circumstances under which they were
presented to Colonel Stewart are honorable alike to the generous spirit
both of himself and friend, and deserve a record.
After the capture of Yorktown, the superior officers of the American
army, together with their allies, vied with each other in acts of
civility and attention to the captive Britons. Entertainments were given
to them by all the Major Generals except the Baron Steuben. He was above
prejudice or meanness, but poverty prevented him from displaying that
liberality which had been shown by others. Such was his situation,
when calling on Colonel Stewart, and informing him of his intention to
entertain Lord Cornwallis, he requested that he would furnish him the
money necessary for this purpose, as the price of his favorite charger.
"Tis a good beast," said the Baron, "and has proved a faithful servant
through all the dangers of the war: but, though painful to my heart, we
must part." Colonel Stewart immediately tendering his purse, recommended
the sale or pledge of his watch should the sum it contained prove
insufficient. "My dear friend," replied the Baron, "'tis already sold.
Poor North was sick and wanted necessaries. He is a brave fellow and
possesses the best of hearts. The trifle it brought is set apart for
his use. So, say no more--my horse must go." To the purchase, however,
Colonel Stewart would not listen; and having pressed upon the Baron the
means requisite for his purpose, received from him in acknowledgment of
his friendship the pistols above referred to. It was to expenditures of
this kind, it is probable, that the generous-hearted soldier and patriot
alluded, when as he first met his daughter after this decisive crisis
in the Revolution, he exclaimed--"Well, Martha, my dear, I come to you a
thousand dollars out of pocket by the surrender of Yorktown. But I care
not. Thank God! the struggle is over and my country is free!"
Three hours were spent by the leaders of the banditti in ransacking the
dwelling under the forced guidance of Mrs. Wilson and her brother. The
others, relieving each other in standing guard outside, and over the
rest of the family, refreshed themselves abundantly from the store-rooms
and cellars which the servants were compelled to throw open to them.
Mrs. Wilson at last ventured the request that they would leave, as
her brother-in-law, Mr. Wilson, ill from loss of blood, required
her attention. During the whole time she had been treated with great
deference and respect; so much so as to have been asked by the leaders
as they passed over the house, to point out what belonged to her
personally, that it might be left in her possession. On preparing to
depart, they took the whole family to an upper room, and extorting a
promise from Mrs. Wilson that no one should attempt to leave it within
two hours, fastened them in. The staircases were then closely barricaded
with tables, chairs and every kind of furniture, the windows and doors
firmly fastened, the lights all extinguished, the front door locked,
and the key thrown among the grass and shrubbery in the courtyard. The
jingling of the plate in the bags in which it was carried off, could be
heard for some time, and marked the rapidity of their flight when once
started with their booty. The gentlemen, not regarding Mrs. Wilson's
promise as of any binding force, insisted upon an immediate alarm of
the workmen and neighborhood. But the difficulty of making a way out was
such that they were long in accomplishing it. By daybreak, however, some
three hundred were in pursuit of the plunderers. Some of them were taken
on suspicion, but could not be fully identified on account of the paint
and disguises they had worn. The ring-leaders, Caleb and Isaac Sweezey,
and one Horton, all tories of the neighborhood, made their escape to New
York, and though known, were not heard of till after the evacuation of
the city by the British, when it was ascertained that they had purchased
a vessel with the proceeds of this robbery, and sailed for Nova Scotia.
Till the death of Colonel Stewart, in 1800, Mrs. Wilson continued at
the head of his family--the wise, benevolent, energetic and universally
admired manager of a house proverbial in her native State, and
extensively out of it, for generous and never changing hospitality.
Among the many guests entertained at the Union, General Maxwell was a
constant visitor. Mrs. Wilson expresses her regret that justice has not
yet been done, in a full biography, to this valued friend. "As a soldier
and patriot," is her testimony, "he had few superiors; and in integrity,
strength of mind, and kindness of heart--but few equals." She saw him
first in 1775, at a review of his regiment, the second raised in New
Jersey, Lord Stirling being the commander of the first. Her father was
intimately acquainted with him; he was ever a welcome guest, and after
the war, spent much of his time at their fireside. *
* It is unquestionably true that injustice has been done to this
officer--his merits and services never having been properly represented
before the public. In early life he was an officer in the Colonial
service; fought on the field of the Monongahela and in other battles;
and continuing in the army after the commencement of the Revolutionary
war, was one of the most prominent patriots in New Jersey. He was at
the storming of Quebec, and distinguished himself in the battles of
Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, etc., etc. In numerous letters and
journals of the day, testimony is borne to his high character and
services. Less than two years before the close of the war, he resigned
his commission in displeasure at the appointment over him of an inferior
officer. His death took place, probably in 1796, at the house of Colonel
Stewart. He had escorted the young ladies on a visit, from which the
whole party had returned early in the evening in fine spirits. The
Colonel and the General had sat down to their usual evening amusement
of backgammon, when Maxwell was suddenly taken ill. Supposing it to be
a headache, which he had never experienced before, he rose to retire to
his room. But the attack was fatal, and he expired about one o'clock
the same night. Expresses were sent for his brothers, one of whom was
an officer in the Revolution; but they did not arrive until some hours
after his death. His remains rest in the Presbyterian church-yard, at
Greenwich, Warren County, New Jersey.
For a period of near fifteen years after the death of Colonel Stewart,
much of the time of his daughter became necessarily devoted, as his sole
administratrix, to the settlement of a large and widely scattered landed
estate, including the disputed proprietorship of a portion of the valley
of Wyoming, which the business habits and energy of her father had
scarce disenthralled at his death from the effects of unavoidable
neglect and inattention during the discharge of his official duties in
the Revolution. The strength of mind, clearness of judgment, practical
knowledge, and firmness of purpose and character, witnessed in her by
much of the finest talent at the bar and on the bench, not only of New
Jersey, but of the adjoining States, in the legal investigations of
claims, and titles, and references, and arbitrations, were such as to
secure to her, in general estimation, a degree of respect for talent and
ability not often accorded to her sex.
Though thus for a long time placed in circumstances which tasked heavily
the energies both of body and of mind, she was ever prompt and true to
the discharge of the gentler and more feminine duties of life, to all
who had any possible claim upon her kindness and regard. Not long after
she had been called to the management of her father's estate, two orphan
sons of her brother were left in their childhood to her guardianship
and maternal care. Delicacy to Mrs. Wilson and to her correspondents
yet living, has forbidden an inquiry for any letters from her pen,
illustrating her character; but a series written by her to one of these
adopted sons * while a boy in school and college, shows so strikingly
the fidelity with which she discharged her trust, and at the same time
so clearly exhibits her own principles and views of character and life,
that I cannot forego the privilege granted me of making one or two
extracts.
* The Rev. C. S. Stewart--of the U. S. Navy--the distinguished
missionary, and author of "A Residence in the Sandwich Islands"--"Visit
to the South Seas," etc.
After pointing out some grammatical errors in a letter just received,
she thus writes:
"February 16th, 1811.
"It is not from any pleasure in finding fault that I point out these
errors; but from the sincere desire that you should be as perfect as
possible in every branch of education. Next to your being an honest and
virtuous man, I wish to see you the accomplished gentleman. You have
no better friend on earth than myself: regard, therefore, my advice.
Solomon says, 'A wise man will take counsel from a friend, but a fool
will despise it.' Prove yourself to be the former by putting in practice
all I say in reference to your mind, manners and morals. Let your
example to your brother, as the eldest, ever be such as to induce him
to look to you as a polar-star by which he may safely guide his own
conduct.
"Your desire to attend the birth-night ball, is neither improper nor
unnatural at your age. It is always a gratification to my heart to
promote, or be the means of promoting your innocent enjoyment, and
that which is esteemed pleasure in youth, when the indulgence is not
incompatible with your interest and honor, and not contrary to the rules
of the institution to which you belong. But I would by no means have you
forfeit a character for obedience and good order, with your tutors, for
the trifling gratification of a dance; and let it never be forgotten
by you that the reputation established by a boy at school and college,
whether it be of merit or demerit, will follow him through life. As to
your dress and manners, avoid as you would a pestilence those of a fop.
Be plain and simple in your apparel and modest and unassuming in your
address--respectful and courteous to all, but especially to the aged.
The wise and the well-bred will ever mete to you a just reward; for
nothing affords more pleasure to the good and truly great, while nothing
certainly is more prepossessing than a modest youth.
"You say that you have received much attention from the first
families in --------. Whatever company you do keep, should ever be the
first--that is, the wisest and the best; but for the present, the less
time you spend in society of any kind the better. Close attention to
your studies, in the acquisition of a solid and polished education, will
yield you a larger profit. Be particular in the intimacies formed with
your schoolmates. Boys of good family and good breeding are always to
be preferred as companions, if their principles and conduct are
praiseworthy. But where this is not the case, those morally good, though
destitute of such advantages, are to be chosen as more worthy of your
regard and friendship.
"I again commend you to the care of Heaven. May the Almighty guide
and shield you--preserving you from temptation and delivering you when
tempted."
In a letter written shortly afterwards, she says:
"B------ has read to me a paragraph from a letter just received, in
which it is stated that you are one of the most studious and best
scholars in --------. If you knew how gratifying to my heart this
intelligence is, it would, I am sure, inspire you with the love of
honest fame. Go on, my dear boy, as you have begun, and you will
attain all that is most desirable and most valuable in this world--the
character and position of a good and wise man, useful, beloved, and
honored in your generation. True, there is no near male friend in your
family to extend a fostering hand to you and lead you onward to fame and
fortune. Let not this circumstance, however, discourage you, but rather
let it stimulate you to fresh industry and exertion. A faithful use of
the means in your power will insure to you the desired result. But ever
remember that in this more even will depend on your moral conduct as
a man and gentleman than on your mental accomplishments. There is
much even in external manner--more than many wise people think; and
a gentlemanlike deportment, accompanied by honest candor, strict
integrity, and undeviating truth will secure more respect and esteem
for you in youth, as well as in after age, than any degree of talent,
however brilliant, possibly can without them."
When, some three years afterwards, the same relative had commenced his
collegiate course, she thus writes, under the date of May 31st, 1814:
"I am happy to learn that you have received so much kindness from so
many friends. Be mindful of their civilities and ever prove yourself
worthy of them. I confess I have been greatly gratified in hearing from
many quarters such flattering reports of your good conduct and success
in study. Press forward, my dear son, in the ways of wisdom--they are
ways of pleasantness, and their end is peace. Industry is the handmaid
of good fortune; and always keep it in mind, that persevering assiduity
will surely accomplish for you all that is desirable in this world.
Under this conviction, which is certainly a truth, let no trivial
obstacle you may occasionally meet discourage your efforts or impede
your progress. You have gained considerable distinction in your career
thus far;--never rest satisfied short of the first honors of the
institution you have now entered.
"Your advantages for the study of composition and oratory have not been,
I fear, as good heretofore as I could have wished. Let these important
branches now engage much of your attention; you cannot excel in either
of the leading professions without them. If you would become a wise man,
a variety of reading from the best authors, both ancient and modern,
must also be added to your attainments in college studies. Acquire, too,
a habit of observation on men and manners, without which you can never
secure the knowledge of the world essential to success in practical
life. Political knowledge, also, is absolutely indispensable to the
attainment in our country of a conspicuous and influential position, at
which I trust you will aim; pay attention, therefore, to the passing
events of the day and to the information to be derived from the best
conducted public prints. Man can do much for himself as respects his own
improvement, unless selflove so blinds him that he cannot see his own
imperfections and weaknesses. Some of the most finished characters, in
all ages, of which the world can boast, are those who found the greatest
difficulty in controlling their natural propensities, but whose
persevering efforts caused even bad habits to give place to the most
graceful accomplishments. Above all, my dear son, take care of your
morals. All I ever say to you proceeds from the sincerest affection and
the deepest anxiety for your success and happiness in life. Keep
yourself for the future, as you have for the past, as far as possible
from unprincipled young men, many of whom you will everywhere find
around you. Treat your tutors and professors with the respect to which
they are entitled, and conform promptly and strictly to the discipline
and usages of the college. If ever tempted to a different course, resist
the evil. The exercise of a little self-denial for the time will be
followed by the pleasure of having achieved the greatest of triumphs--a
triumph over one's self.
"I cheer myself daily with thoughts of your constant improvement in
everything calculated to be useful and honorable to yourself, and
gratifying to your friends. May God ever bless and keep you."
One additional extract from a letter to the same individual, written
while he was still in college, under the date of March 20th, 1815,
presents briefly, but clearly, the sentiments and feelings of Mrs.
Wilson, on the most important of all subjects--that of personal and
experimental piety.
"Your last letter," she writes, "gave me more pleasure than any one I
have ever received from you. I cannot be too thankful to that great and
good Being who, in infinite mercy, hath opened your eyes to see
yourself spiritually as you are--a guilty sinner, in need of a better
righteousness than your own, to appear acceptably in His sight.
Believers, even as others, are by nature dead in trespasses and sins;
but by faith in the Son of God--derived from him alone--they arise
to newness of life, and become heirs of eternal glory. The blessed
assurance is, 'Because I live, ye shall live also.' Live in life, and
live for ever.
"I doubt not that your views of the world, and the things pertaining
to it, as well as of yourself, are different from what they ever were
before. You see and feel that to the renewed soul, all things, in
comparison with 'Christ and Him crucified,' are of small consideration.
Since God has been pleased to impress your soul with a sense of His
divine perfections, of the depravity of your nature, and of the riches
of His grace, be watchful, my dear son, and continue instant in prayer.
Confident that the life of a sincere Christian will ever be your highest
honor, on this subject regard neither the smiles nor frowns of the
world--neither its fashions nor its favors. I have often thought of
you with much satisfaction, in the belief that you would prove yourself
worthy of my warmest and sincerest affection; but the possession of
the finest talents, such as would command the applause of a vain world,
attended with the most brilliant success, could never give me half the
happiness of an assurance that you were truly a pious man. I could write
much upon this interesting and sublime subject, but the necessity of
preparing several letters for the present mail, obliges me to close with
my blessing."
Mrs. Wilson herself became interested in the subject of personal and
practical piety in early youth, and made a profession of her faith, at
the time, in the Presbyterian church of Bethlehem, New Jersey,' of
which her grandfather, Judge Johnston, was the founder and chief patron
through life. Her example as a Christian has ever been in harmony
with the leading traits of her character--consistent, energetic,
decisive--abounding in charities, and full of good works. In religion,
as in intellectual advancement, she has kept pace in spirit and active
zeal with the enlarged benevolence and expanding enterprise of the
passing age; and though now in her ninetieth year, not only by her
subscriptions and her prayers, but often by her personal presence and
aid, still cheers the ladies of her neighborhood in their associations
for purposes of local and general benevolence and piety.
The marriage of her only daughter and child in 1802, to the late John
M. Bowers, Esq., of Bowers-town, county of Otsego, New York, led Mrs.
Wilson, in 1808, to change her home from Flemington, New Jersey, to
Cooperstown, New York, in which village for a long period afterwards,
she, at different times occupied her own dwelling; but now for many
years she has lived exclusively at the Lakelands, the beautiful
residence of her daughter, in the immediate vicinity of that place.
Here, respected and honored by all who know her, and reposing in the
affections of a devoted household, with the blessings of unnumbered
poor--the widow, the orphan, the destitute and friendless of every
name--descending like dews of Hermon on her head, she cheerfully awaits
the change when the "corruptible shall put on incorruption, and the
mortal put on IMMORTALITY."