USA > New York > A history of New York, for schools. Vol. I > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
86
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
1
tion which opportunity presented, and became- thief.
Phil. Now, Uncle, I do believe you are making this story, as you go along, all out of your own head.
Un. Why do you think so, Philip ?
Phil. Because, how could you know what Sarah Wilson thought ?
Un. You love to hear me tell stories. I will tell you such as are connected with the history of the people of the colonies. The principal incidents relative to this Sarah Wilson are facts ; but I must add to them some supposed facts, and motives, to account for part of her real story that would otherwise appear improbable. But I will distin- guish between that which I suppose, and that which is known.
John. Don't interrupt the story, sir ; let us guess at that part which is your invention.
Un. Well, boy, be it so. But you will find that the real is sometimes more improbable than the sup- posed or fictitious. /
Phil. I don't see how that can be.
Mary. Philip, I wish you wouldn't interrupt Uncle!
Un. This poor young woman, although accom. plished, as it is called, had been badly taught, and had bad examples before- her. The jewels were after a time missed, but no suspicion fell upon Miss Wilson. In such cases suspicion often falls upon the innocent, and they perhaps suffer. After a time one of the jewels was offered by a jeweller for sale ; it was known to have been the queen's. Inquiry was made after the person who sold it to the dealer, and although Miss Wilson had been very cunning, as she thought, the fact of selling the jewel was traced to her. The very circumstance of her being dis- guised when she sold the article was a proof of her guilt, and served to convict her. She was taken
81
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
up, tried, and condemned, according to the laws of England, to suffer death.
Mary. O, dear!
Un. Only think what she must have suffered; even before detection how miserable she must have been; living in constant fear because of her con- sciousness of guilt. But, although her parents had caused her to be poor, by giving all their property to her brother that he might do honour to the family name, as is customary in Europe, they now sought to save themselves from the disgrace of having a child publickly executed as a felon; and Miss Ver- non, whose attendant she had been, (and who had been attached to her,) likewise exerted herself to prevent the sad catastrophe. In short, she was re- prieved; that is, the execution was put off-and af- ter a time, she was sentenced to be transported to the colonies, and sold as a servant, or slave, for life.
John. As people like her have since been sent to Botany Bay.
Un. Yes. A practice still continued by the En- glish.
John. But did she restore the other jewels, and the queen's picture ?
Ur. The most surprising part of her story, and recorded as a fact, is, not that she restored them, but that she persisted in declaring herself innocent, and had such consummate art as to conceal and carry away with her the picture and the remain- der of the stolen property. This can only be ac- counted for from the favour shown her by her for- mer lady, Miss Vernon ; for if she had been searched with the rigour used in the cases of common crimi- nals, the jewels must have been found.
John. But, sir, was she sent out to America and actually sold ?
Un. Yes. With other convicts, she was trans-
.
-
-
82
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
ported to Maryland, and purchased by Mr. Dava!, of Bush creek. It is to be supposed that she was not treated as a common servant, perhaps her em- ployment was that of a nurse, or if she could make her master and mistress believe that she had been unjustly condemned, she might have been intrusted as a teacher to the children of the family. Be that as it may, she had now become an adept in deceit, and she formed a bold plan to obtain liberty, and make use of the property she had concealed. We must imagine that by the favour shown her, she had been suffered to bring with her the clothing in which she had officiated as Miss Vernon's attendant By what means she escaped from Mr. Duval's is not recorded; and we are left to suppose that having gained the confidence of the family, she might have been left in charge of the house, when the master and mistress made some distant visit. Certain it is that she escaped to Virginia, and there appeared in a fictitious character ; and that she was received and treated as the princess Susannah Carolina Mc. tilda, and sister to the queen of England.
John. That does appear almost impossible, sir.
Un. To make my story probable, I must intre. duce another character ; a most finished rogue, well known in his time, by the name of Tom Bell. This vagabond had been likewise sent from an English prison to add to the value of his majesty's planta- tions, for so the people of England used to call all this country.
Phil. How could a rogue add to the value of a country, sir ?
Un. Well asked, boy. But such was the way the English people talked. They sent slaves and infamous convicts among the people who had fled to this continent to avoid slavery and the conta- gion of European vices. This was called policy;
,
83
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
to increase the population, and by so doing, create a demand for English manufactures. For the colo. nists were prohibited from making many things for themselves, and were not allowed if possible to buy them from any other country but England. Re- member this when we come to talk of the causes of the American war.
Mary. But, Uncle, what had Tom Bell to do with Sarah Wilson ?
Un. Ah, the story ! You may imagine that it would be difficult for this woman, however artful, to pass herself off for a princess, and impose on the people of Virginia, as is recorded, if she had not tren assisted by some cunning confederate. Such a one was Tom Bell. This accomplished scoun- drel had been sold to a trader or shopkeeper, in Burlington, New Jersey, and gained the good will of his master so far that he was intrusted to carry goods about the country as a pedler. You may suppose he cheated the confiding owner, and by de- grees accumulated some money from the gains of his pack. He then decamped, pack and all, and by rarious artifices got off to Virginia. You must re- member that at that time the country was thinly in- hubited, the roads bad, newspapers scarcely known, " comparison to our days, and although Tom was advertised, he eluded detection. He fell in with Sarah Wilson, and recognised, in her, one who had !ren tried at the same assizes with himself; al. though they had been shipped for America by sepa- rate vessels, and to different colonies. As they Were known to each other, they were obliged to trust each other ; and Tom communicated to her a bold plan of imposture, after inducing her to confess. that she had possession of some money, as well as him- wlf, and (what suggested the scheme to him) a good wardrobe, rich jewels, and the queen's picture.
84
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
John. Ah! 'I begin to see how it might be done. Mary. Hush, John !
Un. The story they agreed upon was probably this That she should declare herself to be the princess Susannah Carolina Matilda, sister to the queen o: England, and he was to personate her betrothed lover, Mr. Edward Sothway, a private gentlemn: of fortune ; for the love of whom she had been i ... duced to fly to America, as her royal relations for- bade their union. That she had lately received letters which rendered further incognito unnecess .. ry; despatches by which they had certainty of bein? recalled, and the marriage permitted ; he being tits elevated to the rank of an earl, by his gracious ma jesty, at the intercession of his royal consort. A. proofs of her high rank she was to produce th .. jewels, and above all, the picture of her august sister
Phil. Can the king make earls?
Un. He can make any factitious titulary person- age, and can bestow the riches of the country, t. give any blockhead the dignity derived from splen- dour ; but he cannot make either a learned or a: honest man. The king is called, in England, the source of honour ; thus, to my simple notion, usurp- ing the attribute of Deity. It is only the Mo -: High, my children, who can bestow true honour which alone belongs to talents united with virtue.
John. But, sir, many dukes and lords have beer. good men-noble men !
Un. Certainly ; but, although they received their fortunes and titles from ancestry or from the king they must have received their real nobility from: their Creator.
Wm. Is it possible, Uncle, that this lying woman and impudent man could make people believe them !
Un. Yes. It is recorded, and it is undoubted, that this Sarah Wilson, now become familiar with
-4
85
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
deceit and crime, (for it is th> nature of guilt, my children, to strengthen by practice, one crime lead- ing to another,) it is certain that this woman was received and entertained in Virginia, and in both the Carolinas, as a princess; that she imitated the manners she had seen at court, and although she received presents and borrowed money from the gentlemen she imposed upon, she affected the state of royalty, and graciously extended her hand to be kissed by her visiters. In the colonies at that time, you must remember that the people received their rulers from England ; those who desired offices of trust and profit looked to England for them; they called England, home, as if America was only a place of exile ; they had the prejudices in favour of hereditary monarchy and nobility belonging to the country their fathers came from ; they were told by every act of the mother country that they were de- pendant and inferiour; and some, at this time, seem- ed to believe that they were debased by their situa- tion. It is hardly yet believed by some among us, that a plain honest democrat without title can be equal to a titulary European.
W'm. And did people really kiss the hand of this lying woman-this thief?
Un. Sarah Wilson and Tom Bell, having digest- ed their plan of operations, separated for a time, to put it in execution. It was necessary that he should appear as a gentleman, and at that time the apparel of a gentleman was very costly. He must have a wig, which must be dressed every day; he must have several suits of apparel, of cloth, silk, or Velvet, trimmed with gold or silver lace; silk stockings; gold or paste knee and shoe buckles ; a gold laced hat, and a sword with a richly orna- mented hilt. All this, Tom was obliged to pur- chase, and, moreover, several negroes to attend him 8
86
HISTORY OF NEW YORK. ·
and the pretended princess. She made her appear- ance at the head inn of one of the principal towns of Virginia, in the dress and character of a great English lady, who was to be joined in a few days by a gentleman of distinction ; he arrived, the hon- ourable Mr. Sothway; curiosity was excited, and the story of the princess and her betrothed lover was buzzed abroad. She was waited upon; con- fided her pretended history to those who were eager to hear it. She told her visiters that she had assu- rances from home, that all the indiscretion of her flight was forgiven ; a ship of war was to be sent for her; and on her return to St. James', her mar- riage would take place as soon as the honourable Mr. Edward Sothway had been elevated to the peer- age. Hints, however, were given that funds ran low ; but great remittances were expected. 'Those who kissed the royal hand of the princess, were promised governments, and other high offices, if civilians; if military men, promotion in the army; if in the navy, ships. Any sums her " royal high- ness" required were forthcoming; all was in train, and the capital laid out in clothes, equipage, and attendants was likely to be returned with usurious interest. She was received, says a printed account, as "a sprig of royalty" from house to house, and condescendingly permitted the masters to kiss her hand. They entertained her with honours, and she repaid the honours with compliments, and the
cash with promises. So stood affairs when, one day, the princess's betrothed, with the usual cere- mony, requested a private interview ; (for Tom was kept at most respectful distance;) and the request being granted, he exhibited a newspaper to her roy- al highness with the following advertisement :
" Bush Creek, Frederick County, Maryland, Oc-
87
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
tober 11th, 1771. Run away from the subscriber, a convict servant maid, named Sarah Wilson, but has changed her name to lady Susannah Carolina Matilda, which made the publick believe that she was his majesty's sister. She has a blemish over the right eye, dark rolled hair, stoops in the shoulders, makes a common practice of writing and marking her clothes with a crown and a B. Whoever se- cures the said servant woman, or takes her home, shall receive five pistoles, besides all costs and charges. WM. DUVAL. I entitle Michael Dalton to search the city of Philadelphia, and from thence to Charlestown, for the said woman. WM. DUVAL."
You, John, will remark that this is very badly written.
Mary. What is meant by rolled hair, Uncle ?
Un. In those days, ladies wore what were called rolls, or sometimes cushions, over which, to a con- siderable (and ofttimes to a preposterous) height, the hair was combed and fastened with wire pins. It has appeared to me that in this headdress, the artful woman might have concealed the jewels she brought away with her.
John. Well, sir, was she seized in consequence of this advertisement ?
Un. Tom Bell secured the only paper that had found its way into that part of Virginia. But the confederates thought it was time to move farther from Philadelphia, where the advertisement was published. They pretended a journey to the north, and took leave as for a few days of their dupes ; but soon separated ; and by concert met again in South Carolina, where they played over the same game with equal success. She, however, changing her title to the " Princess Augusta de Waldegrave." Dalton, however, pursued them; and Tom, hearing
88 -
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
i
of his arrival at Charlestown, robbed the princess, and left her to be claimed as a runaway convict ; and conveyed ignominiously back to Maryland.
Mary. And is this the end of Sarah Wilson's story, Uncle ?
Un. No. For in the year 1773, I find her in New York ; but that must serve for another story. When we meet again, we must go on with the history of publick men and publick events.
Phil. But do tell us, sir, what became of Tom Bell.
Un. Another time. We shall meet Tom again.
CHAPTER VII.
Un. Now, children, let us proceed. We left off at the death of Sir Danvers Osborne in that most fearful manner, by self-murder; and as Governor Clinton had made Chief-Justice Delancey lieutenant- governor, he of course was the ruler of the province after the death of Osborne. What followed ?
John. Uncle Philip then told us of the French war.
Un. I will here give you my knowledge of the origin of this war of 1754. It was a war to pro- tect English traders who had a fort on the Ohio, which the French seized, and otherwise infringed the right which. England claimed, to supply the Indians with British manufactures. The English likewise quarrelled with the French about the lim- its of Canada, (then, you know, a French province,) and the limits of Nova Scotia, belonging to Eng- land. In this war the Americans were involved and suffered. After Braddock's defeat in 1755, the French and Indians attacked the frontiers of the
89
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
colonies. The Americans had to raise soldiers to the amount of twenty-four thousand men or more.
John. Uncle Philip told us of a meeting of the governors of the provinces at Albany, and that a plan was proposed by Doctor Franklin for joining the colonies together ; and that the Americans re- jected the plan, because it would give too much power to the king of England; and that the Eng- lish did not like it, because the king thought it would give too much power to the Americans. Now, sir, I do not understand this.
Un. There is no possibility for you to understand the cause of difference between this country and Eng- land without speaking to you of taxes and taxation. Doctor Franklin says, that a plan was proposed at that meeting of governors at Albany, by which they, the governors of the colonies should assemble, in case of war, and levy troops, build forts, and provide mil- itary stores; and for the expense of all these prepa- rations draw upon England for the money, making themselves debtors for the amount, to be repaid, by money raised in the colonies from a general tax, to be laid on them by act of parliament. This, you see, was granting to England the right to tax the colonies for defending themselves against the ene- my raised up by quarrels not of her own, but origi- nating in Europe. Even then, Dr. Franklin tells us, that the general opinion in America was, that - England had no right to tax Americans, nor could constitutionally do it; because, the colonies were not represented there. Now remember this ; for it was the cause of the war we are coming to. And it was the cause that the plan offered at Alba- ny was objected to by Americans. They were rep- resented in their own assemblies, and those assem. blies granted the money wanted for defence or other purposes.
8·
-
90
1
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
John. Uncle Philip told us that the French es- tablished military posts from their province of Can- ada to Detroit, and seemed to intend a line of forts to their province of Louisiana.
Un. I believe that was the great plan of the French politicians; and then, you see by the map, that they would have had the greatest part of what is now the United States, besides the great country that England now owns. It was in resisting these encroachments that the English and provincials sus- tained so many losses ; until the battle of the plains " of Abraham, when Wolfe succeeded in defeating -Montcalm, and then Canada, and all the French posts remained in the possession of England; and in consequence of the success of the colonies in the war with England, to which we are slowly ap- proaching, Independent America extends to the South Sea, and to the Gulf of Mexico. Now go on. John. In the year 1755, the same year in which Braddock was defeated, Sir Charles Hardy came as governor of New York. I believe he did nothing.
Un. He was unfit for governor, but he suffered himself to be guided by Mr. Delancey, the chief- justice, who ruled before he came, and again after he hoisted his admiral's flag, and departed : for he was a mere sailor.
John. It seems to me, sir, that the English thought anybody might be a governor here.
Un. I don't wonder that such an opinion gen- erally prevailed, when so great a man as Lord Chatham said in parliament, that "there was not a company of English foot-soldiers sent to America but could furnish a man fit to govern a colony."
John. Did Lord Chatham say so ?
Un. I am not certain of the very words, but he did give such an opinion ten years after Admiral Hardy was governor of New York. In July,
91
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
1757, Sir Charles departed and left the government of New York to the American Lieutenant-gov- ernor Delancey, who, in fact, governed both prov- ince and governor before. On the death of this gentleman, in July, 1759, Doctor Cadwallader Col- den, who was president of the council, succeeded to the administration of the government by virtue of that office; and two years after, that is, the 17th July, 1761, the old gentleman managed, very much against the wishes of the people, to procure the commission of lieutenant-governor from England.
John. I remember, about this time, New York and New Hampshire quarrelled about that coun try which is now the state of Vermont, and the peo- ple who purchased their land of New Hampshire seized upon it by force.
Un. Yes; Governor Wentworth of New Hamp- shire, notwithstanding that he had agreed to refer the dispute to the king, and notwithstanding that the king had decided as was just, that the province of New York extended to Connecticut river, yet he sold or made grants of this land, and if the great quarrel between all the colonies and Great Britain had not come on, there would have been war be- tween these settlers on the disputed land, and the government of New York.
John. There was, sir, almost. For the sheriff and his officers had to fire on the men who took possession of a courthouse and prevented the judges from holding court; and the New Hampshire men were headed by Ethan Allen, a desperate kind of man, and Seth Warner; and the governor of New York offered a reward for the seizing of these men, and some others.
Un. Your memory is good. These troubles were forgotten, and the men from New Hampshire were left to govern themselves in this part of the
92
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
New York province, while all the continent became enraged at the attempt of Great Britain to tax the colonies by passing the celebrated stamp act. The resistance to this act was the true commencement of the American revolution. But before the passing of the stamp act, General Robert Monckton, who had been with Wolfe at the taking of Quebec, was sent out as governor, in 1762; but he interfered lit. tle with Governor Colden; for he took command of the troops collected and encamped on Staten Island, and soon embarked for Martinique, with them, and took it from the French. Captain Horatio Gates went with him as his aid-de-camp, and was sent with the news of success to England, which procured him the rank of major. Monckton came back and resumed for a short time the government of New York. But in June, 1763, he returned to England and left Mr. Colden in the chair. Before his departure a cessation of hostilities had been pro- claimed, and New York, for a time, was not troubled by French or Indians.
Mary. But, Uncle, you have not told us any thing about Indians.
Un. What does a little girl want to know of Indians? Mary. I love to hear of strange things-don't you?
Un. I believe we all do, my dear. We must have some morning set apart for the Indians, I think ; but in the mean time I will tell you an ad- venture that happened at Kinderhook; and it ap- pears strange to us, that places anywhere between this city and Albany, could be subject to the incur- sions of hostile savages, within the memory of peo- ple now living-but so it was. When men went into the field to plough, to sow, or to reap, they car- ried their guns with them ready loaded; they lived in perpetual dread of hearing the Indian war- whoop, or, of receiving the deadly ball from the
..
93
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
hidden enemy, even before the sound reached them from the explosion of the powder, or any warning from the fearful yell. Thus, in the day, they pur- sued their labour in fear, and at night, slept the broken slumber of those who know they may be awakened by the flames of their houses or the shrieks of their wives and children. One occur- rence at Kinderhook, is recorded as happening a short time before the cessation of hostilities. Four white men, two boys, and a negro, having their fire- arms near them, were hoeing corn, when six Indi- ans and a Frenchman got near enough, unperceiv- ed, to fire on them. You must remember that in those days the country was covered with woods, and the cornfield might be in what was called a clear- ing ; an open space cleared of all but stumps, and surrounded by a thicket.
Mary. And did they kill the boys, Uncle ?
Un. They, perhaps, fired at too great distance, for they only wounded one white man and one boy. The negro, the unwounded boy, and the two other men, threw down their hoes and ran off. But one man, of more courage, instead of flying for safety bethought him of the loaded guns brought for de- fence. He ran to the place where they had depos- ited their fire-arms. This man's name was Gardner. Wm. He was a fine fellow.
Un. The Indians and the Frenchman seeing but one man on his feet, advanced from their hiding place; and Gardner had fair aim at an Indian, and shot him down-he seized a second gun, and a second Indian fell-a third gun was already raised, when an Indian sprang on him, before he could discharge it, and, at the same time, the Frenchman struck Gardner with his musket and knocked him down. While he was insensible, from the blow he had re- ceived, the Indian drew his knife and scalped him ;
1
94
HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
but fearing more white men might arrive, the party fled without killing him.
Mary. And the wounded boy, and man -?
Un. The account says nothing of them ; but we may suppose that they crawled off, while the brave Gardner was fighting.
John. And he, sir -?
Un. When he recovered from the blow, bewil. dered, covered with blood-hardly knowing what he did, he dragged himself painfully to the house of his friends ; and did not know, it is said in the ac- count, that he had been scalped by his savage enemy. Mary. What is scalping ?
John. I have read that it was done very quickly.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.