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More Pioneers American Women

 

Sarah Shelby
Was the daughter of Mrs. Bledsoe who was so famous among the settlers of the first settlements of Tennessee. Sarah was quite young when her parents moved from Virginia to eastern Tennessee. Miss Bledsoe married in 1784, David Shelby. Mrs. Shelby's husband was said to be the first merchant in Nashville, in 1790. Mrs. Shelby suffered all the exposures and hardships incident to the life of the early settlers in Tennessee.

Ruhama Greene
Ruhama Greene was born in Jefferson County, Virginia, and married Charles Builderback and they were among the first settlers on the Ohio near Wheeling. In an attack made by the Indians, in 1789, on this settlement, Mrs. Builderback and her husband were taken prisoners. She remained a prisoner about nine months, being condemned to the hardest labor in working for the squaws and their brutal masters. She was finally released by the commandant at Fort Washington, and restored to her family. After her husband's death, she married a Mr. John Greene and removed to a settlement near Lancaster, where the resided at the time of her death in 1843.

Keturah Leitch Taylor
Keturah Leitch Taylor, formerly Keturah Moss, was born September 11, 1773 in Goochland County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Major Hugh Moss of the Revolutionary Army. Her father having died in 1784, she, with two sisters, was brought to Kentucky by her uncle, Rev. Augustine Eastin, their mother having married again. While enroute to Kentucky, the train of settlers of which they were a part, was attacked by Indians, and many were killed. This was witnessed by Keturah Moss, then only a child of fifteen years. Her early experiences and her courage make her one of the cherished memories of Kentucky, and her descendants are among the well-known names of that state.

Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge
Was born in February, 1768; and died at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1858; aged ninety years. Her husband, Hon. John Breckenridge, was one of the noted men of Kentucky, and was appointed Attorney-General of the United States at one time. She is spoken of as a woman of great courage and remarkable character, and was the "founding mother" of a worthy and distinguished family. One of her daughters, Mary, married General David Castleman, of Kentucky, and Letitia Preston married General P. B. Porter of Niagara Falls. One of her descendants was General Peter A. Porter, who fell in the assault on Coal Harbor. A grand-daughter, Margaret E. Breckenridge, the daughter of Dr. John Breckenridge, was known during the Civil War as the ''angel of the hospitals." It is reported she once said, "Shall men die by thousands for their country and no woman risk her life?"

Henrietta Hunt Morgan
Daughter of Colonel John W. Hunt, and sister of Honorable Francis Keys Hunt, of Kentucky, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1805 and died November 15, 1891. She married Governor Calvin C. Morgan, and was the mother of two of Kentucky's famous men. Colonel Calvin M. Morgan and General John Morgan. She had three other sons and two daughters, one of whom was the wife of General Basil W. Duke, and the other of General A. P. Hill.

Susan Lucy Barry Taylor
Was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1807, and died at the old family mansion at Newport, Kentucky, December 8, 1881. She was among the first women who, even at the tender age of fifteen, made an appeal in one of her essays at school for the higher education of women. Her children were more or less famous in their own state.

Mary Yellott Johnston
Formerly Mary Yellott Dashiell, was born September 13, 1806, and was a great-niece of the distinguished Governor Winder, of Maryland. She was connected with several of our most distinguished families, the Dashiells, Handys, Harrisons, Hancocks, Bayards, Randolphs, Warder and Percys.

Margaret Wickliffe Preston
Margaret Wickliffe Preston one of the first "granddames'' of the olden times, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1819, and was the daughter of Robert Wickliffe, who gave his daughter every advantage which wealth, social position, and education could bring to her. Her husband was appointed minister to Spain, in 1858 and there she made a most favorable impression, by her culture, refinement, and grace of manner. Her conversational powers were always remarkable, and she was usually the center of attraction wherever she appeared. Her daughter married General Draper, of Massachusetts, who served in Congress and then as our minister to Italy, and Mrs. Draper's home in Washington is one of the social centers of today.

Anna Innis
Mrs. Anna Innis was the widow of Hon. Henry Innis, and the mother of Mrs. John J. Crittenton. She died at Frankfort, Kentucky, May 12, 1951. Her early days, like those of most of the women of her time, were spent in the wilder-ness but in the society of such men as Clarke, Wayne, Shelby, Scott, Boone, Henderson. Logan, Harte, Nicolas, Murray, Allen, Breckenridge and die heroic spirits of the West

Sarah Richardson
Another of Kentucky's eminent daughters, who was the mother of General Leslie Combs was connected with some of the best families of the early days, and came of good Quaker stock from Maryland. The residence of Mrs. Combs was near Boonesborough. She endured hardships that the women of those times and localities were called upon to endure with much courage.

Elizabeth Tappen
Was the second daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Harper, and was born February 24, 1784, in Harpersfield, New York. She was fifteen years of age when her parents removed to Ohio, and later became one of the teachers in the school which was opened in the Western Reserve. In 1803, Abraham Tappen was appointed to take charge of this school, and alternately he and Miss Harper taught, which was the beginning of their friendship and resulted in their marriage in 1806. Tappen was employed later as a surveyor and took part in the equalizing of the claims of landholders. They became prominent citizens and Mr. Tappen after-wards became a judge. The little village of Unionville is believed to be built on the site of their first home.

Charlotte Clark
Her husband was a commissary officer with the troops who were with Colonel Leavenworth on the upper Mississippi. The daughter of Mrs. Clark was Mrs. Van. Cleve of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was born while the troops were stationed at Prairie Du Chien. They later resided at Fort Snelling. Mrs. Clark was described as a very handsome woman with unusual intelligence and great charm in conversation. Her son, Malcolm Clark, was a trader among the Indians near Fort Benton in Oregon, and married one of the women of the Black Foot Tribe. His two daughters were educated at Ann Arbor. One of Mrs. Clark's daughters, Charlotte Clark, was Mrs. Gear, the wife of Hezekiah Gear, one of the early pioneers of Illinois, and resided at Galena.

Sarah Bryan
Was conspicuous among the early settlers of Michigan as the wife of John Bryan.

Sylvia Chapin
The wife of Syrena Chapin was considered one of the oldest settlers and pioneers of Buffalo, where Dr. Chapin came with his family in 1805. Her husband was a man very much beloved by the citizens of Buffalo.

Mrs. Anderson
One of the early settlers of Plymouth, Wayne County, Michigan.

Eliza Bull
Eliza Bull, afterwards Mrs. Sinclair, was also an early pioneer of Michigan.

Mary Ann Rumsey
One of the early residents of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the county seat of Washtenaw County. This Indian name signified grand or beautiful, and the Grand River takes its name from this word. The name Ann Arbor was given to this little village by John Allen and Walter Rumsey who came to the settlement in February, 1824, from New York State. Mary Ann Rumsey, the wife of Walter Rumsey, was quite a remarkable character and many interesting stones are told of her own life in these early days. Mr. Rumsey died at Ann Arbor, and his wife afterwards married Mr. Van Fossen, and removed to Indiana. There was another woman who bore the name of Ann quite distinguished in this little settlement to which she came in 1824 with the parents of her husband, James Turner Allen, from Virginia. The local tradition is that to these two women, Ann Allen and Ann Ramsey, the town of Ann Arbor is indebted for the addition of Ann to its name. After the death of Mr. Allen his widow returned to Virginia. Mrs. Allen's maiden name was Barry. Her husband's name was Dr. McCue, a Virginian.

Betty O'Flanagan
Among the remarkable characters of the early days of Detroit there is mention made of one very unique person, Betty O'Flanagan, who is said to have been one of the followers of Wayne's army. When listening to her reminiscences she often told the young people that she would have been better off had "Mad Anthony" lived.

Harriet L. Noble
Quite a wave of excitement spread over western New York in 1824, over the opportunities offered in the new country known as Michigan. Among those seized with the mania was Nathaniel Noble and in January of that year he with his brother and family set out for their new home, joining in Ann Arbor their former friends, John Allen and Walter Rumsey. The deprivations and hardships of the journey are only a repetition of those which we have already given. The town of Dixborough was laid out by Mr. Dix of Massachusetts. Miss Frances Trask was a cousin of Mrs. Dix, and was one of the remarkable characters of this day. She was a noted belle and coquette of the community, possessing fine qualities of heart and real worth; her eccentricities and unfeminine defiance of general opinion often caused great talk and comment among her neighbors. She was a general favorite owing to her wit, force, and happy disposition, among the men and many amusing stories are told of her ready repartee. She was at one time engaged to Sherman Dix, a relative of her brother-in-law, but married a Mr. Thompson, being left quite early a widow. Her nephew by marriage was at one time the Secretary of State in Texas.

Mrs. Hector Scott
Mrs. Hector Scott is worthy of mention among the early settlers of Michigan. She was the daughter of Luther Martin, the attorney who so successfully defended Aaron Burr. One of the famous beauties of that time was a Mrs. Talbot, who was the daughter of Commodore Truxton.

Mrs. Moseley
Mrs. Moseley is also deserving of mention. She was the daughter of the Missionary Bingham, and was said to be the first white child born in the Sandwich Islands.

Women of America

Source: The Part Taken by Women in American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.

 

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