There are two articles in the Journal of the American Revolution that I would like to recommend. One is by Michael Sheehan who writes about Stony Point Battlefield and Lighthouse State Historic Site on the Hudson River where my friend Julia Warger is the site manager. Taken from the Journal is a mini bio of Mike:

Michael J. F. Sheehan holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Ramapo College of New Jersey. He is the Senior Historian at the Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site where he has been for nine years. Michael has spent most of his time studying the American Revolution with a focus on the role of the Hudson Highlands and Lower Hudson Valley, where he has lived his whole life. In his free time, he is currently working on a book about the history of King’s Ferry during the American Revolution and he has been playing live traditional Irish music in the Stony Point area for five years. Deeply involved in the Brigade of the American Revolution since 2008, Michael has reenacted and spoken at countless historic sites and societies in New York and New Jersey, and is currently serving as a board member for Lamb’s Artillery Company.

Here is a photo of Mike in his 18th century attire on the day my husband and I visited the site.

Another article in the Journal, by Richard J. Werther, will be of interest to those of you who have read my posts on GRACE GALLOWAY, the loyalist wife who stayed behind in Philadelphia, when her husband and daughter fled, to try to prevent their property from being confiscated. See my posts here, here, here, and here. Read Werther’s piece here.

Another selection from the diary of GRACE GROWDEN GALLOWAY was posted on 2 December 2013: “I now defye the Villans.” What follows is the inventory of the household goods confiscated from the Galloway house on Market Street. Although it does not seem complete it gives an idea of the kind of possessions the Galloways had.

Inventory of sundry Household goods found in the house of Joseph Galloway in Market Street. [The figure to the right is the value.]

Front room downstairs
2 Mahogany tables w. chairs – 15
2 Ditto, chairs ditto – 12
10 ditto chairs with hair bottoms – 10
1 Pr. Brass Hand Irons – 6
1 pr. Shovel and Tongs – 2

Back Room
1 Mahogany table – 5
1 [Mahogany] Side Board – 8
1 [Mahogany] Table – 3.10
8 Mahogany Chairs with hair bottoms – 32
1Pr. Hand Irons and tongs – 3
1 Small looking glass – 0.10
1 Wine Decanter – 0.5
6 Glass Bottles – 0.5
1 Small China Bowl – 0.13
1 Tea Cannister – 0.2.6
1 Windsor Chair – 1.10
1 Hearth [illegible] – 0.2.6

On the Entry
1 Mahogany Skreen (Deborah Morris)
1 Caster with Silver Top
9 Brass Candlesticks
1 Pair of Snuffers
3 Japanned Waiters – 1.2.6
6 Cups and Saucers China – 3.0.0
1 ditto Slop Bowl – 2.6
1 ditto Cream Pot – 3.0
1 ditto Yelato – 5.0
1 ditto Tea Pot – 7.6
8 Silver Tea Spoons – 2.10
1 Plate Basket and other ditto – 10.0

Amount Carried Over – 15.9.6

Joseph Galloway and Betsy settled in England where Galloway was awarded a pension of £500 per year. In 1779, Grace Galloway was given the opportunity to buy back her property and even to put it in her own name. After much thought she decided not to do so since she would be obliged to pay taxes (to the Rebel cause which she did not support) and also because she could be charged with treason. Grace died in 1782 without being reunited with her husband and daughter. She willed her property to Betsy even though she had no legal right to do so since it was technically owned by the state of Pennsylvania. After Joseph Galloway’s death in 1802, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Grace should not have been punished for her husband’s wrongdoings and restored the entire estate to Betsy and her heirs.

Sources: Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission and Wikipedia.

ELIZABETH DRINKER noted on 20 July 1778: “Grace Galloway turn’d out of her House this forenoon, and Spanish officers put in. . . . ”

After the British evacuated Philadelphia in 1778, GRACE GALLOWAY had stayed behind—her Loyalist husband Joseph had fled with their daughter Betsy—in the hope of preventing their house “Trevose,” or the Manor of Bensalem (pictured in the previous post,) from being confiscated. A vain hope as it turned out. Charles Willson Peale, the Commissioner of Forfeited Estates, was determined to seize the property of accused traitors, the sale of which would yield him a five percent commission. Here is Grace Growden Galloway’s account of what happened as noted in her diary.

Wednesday . . . [June 17, 1778] this evening parted with my dear Husband & child. . . .

This day Thursday the 18th the American Troops came into Town.

Friday the 19th was warn’d by peal [sic] that he must take possession of my house for the state. . . .

[July] Tusday the 21st . . . about 2 o’clock they came—one smith a hatter & Col Will & one Shriner & a Dutch Man I know not his Name—they took an inventory of everything even to broken China & empty bottles. . . . they told Me they must advertise the house I told them they must do as they pleased but till it was decided by a Court I wou’d not go out Unless by the force of a bayonet but when I knew who had a right to it I should know how to act. . . .
Accordingly I did so & a little after 10 oclock they Knocked Violently at the door three times; the Third time I sent Nurse & call’d out myself to tell them I was in possession of my own House & wou’d keep so & they shou’d gain No admittance. Hereupon which they went round in the yard & Try’d every door but cou’d None Open, then they went to the Kitchen door & with a scrubbing brush which they broke to pieces, they forced that open—we Women standing in the Entry in the Dark they made repeated strokes at the door & I think was 8 or 10 Minuets before they got it open. When they came in, I had the windows open’d; they look’d very Mad. Their was peel, smith, the Hatter & a Col Will a pewterer in second street. I spoke first & told them I was Used ill: & show’d them the Opinion of the Lawyers. Peel read it: but they all despised it & peel said he had studied the Law & knew they did right. I told them Nothing but force shou’d get me out of My house. Smith said they knew how to Manage that & that they wou’d throw my cloaths in the street. . . .

Wenesday the 22 . . . Sent for Mr. [John] Dickison last Night & he told Me he wou’d look over the law to see if I cou’d recover My own estate & this evening he came & told Me I cou’d Not recover dower & he fear’d my income in My estate was forfeited likewise & that no tryal wou’d be of service: but advised Me to draw up a peti’on to the Chief Justice Mccean [Thomas McKean] for the recovery of my estate & refused a fee in the Politest Manner, but begg’d I wou’d look on him as My sincere friend . . . so I find I am a beggar indeed. I expect every hour to be turn’d out of doors & where to go I know not no one will take me in & all the Men keeps from Me. . . .

[August] Saturday the 8th . . . Peal & Will came to let Me know that I must go out a Monday Morn: for they wou’d give the spaniard [Don Juan de Miralles] Possession. . . .

Thursday the 20th [Her lawyer William] Lewise sent me word that I must shut my doors & windows & if they wou’d come to let them Make a forcible Entry. Peel & Will went over the House to see Nothing was Embassell’d [embezzled] & Locking Up the things at last Smith went away. . . . after every Mortifying treatment I was tiard [tired] & wanted to be turn’d out. Peel went upstairs & brought down My Work bag & 2 bonnets & put them on the side table; at last we went in the Entry to sit. . . . two of the Men went out & after staying some time return’d & said they had been with the council & that they had done right & must proceed. I did not hear this myself but the rest of the Women did. Mrs [Molly] Craig asked for My Bed but they wou’d let Me Have Nothing & as I told them acted entirely from Malice: after we had been in the Entry some time Smith & Will went away & Peel said the Chariot was ready but he would not hasten me. I told him I was at home & in My own House & nothing but force shou’d drive me out of it. He said it was not the first time he had taken a Lady by the Hand, an insolent wretch . . . as the Chariot drew up Peel fetched My Bonnets & gave one to me the other to Mrs Craig: then with greatest air said come Mrs Galloway give me your hand. I answer’d indeed I will not nor will I go out of my house but by force. He then took hold of my arm & I rose & he took me to the door. I then Took hold on one side & Looked round & said pray take Notice I do not leave my house of My own accord or with my own inclination but by force & Nothing but force shou’d have Made Me give up possession. Peel said with a sneer very well Madam & when he led me down the step I said now Mr Peel let go My Arm I want not your Assistance. He said he cou’d help me to the Carriage. I told him I cou’d go without & you Mr Peel are the last Man on earth I wou’d wish to be Obliged to. Mrs Craig then step’d into the Carriage & we drove to her house where we din’d.

By the law of coverture when a woman married any property she brought to the union belonged to her husband unless a prenuptial agreement had been drawn up. Even though the house Grace Galloway lived in had been inherited from her family, according to the law her Loyalist husband was the owner, and it was therefore subject to confiscation.

In the Words of Women Louise North, Janet Wedge, and Landa Freeman (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2011) 124-125. Original source: Raymond C. Werner, “Diary of Grace Growden Galloway,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 55, no. 1 (January 1931) 36. 40-41, 51-72.

GRACE GROWDEN came from a Philadelphia family of wealth and social standing. She had a mind of her own; on a trip to England in 1747 to visit her sister she fell in love with a Mr. Milner who was a customs collector at Poole. Her father forbid the union ordered his daughter home. She complied. In 1753 Grace married Joseph Galloway who inherited his father’s land holdings and mercantile business. Galloway became a lawyer with a prosperous practice in Philadelphia whose marriage to Grace enhanced his social and financial standing. Upon her father’s death Grace inherited the family mansion in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, but as women were not allowed to own property at this time her husband became its owner. The Galloways had three children, one of whom, Betsy, survived past childhood. The marriage was stressful and Grace was not happy. In 1759 she wrote “[I] find myself neglected, loathed, despised.” In her poetry she complained about the tyranny of men and the suffocating constraints of marriage. In one:

…I am Dead
Dead to each pleasing thought each Joy of Life
Turn’d to that heavy lifeless lump a wife.

In another:

never get Tyed to a Man
for when once you are yoked
‘Tis all a Mere Joke
of seeing your freedom again.”

Life became complicated as the Revolution approached. Joseph Galloway opposed independence and as a member of the First Continental Congress proposed a conciliatory plan toward Britain. It was rejected. After the Declaration of Independence was approved Galloway, fearing for his safety, fled to a British camp and then to New York City where he joined the British forces. By now a staunch Loyalist, Galloway followed General William Howe when he occupied Philadelphia and became that city’s Superintendent of Police and of the Port. In 1778 Pennsylvania passed a law by which property of Loyalists was confiscated. A substantial amount of Galloway’s holdings included property inherited by Grace, and when the British evacuated the city she determined to stay on —alone, since her husband had left with her beloved daughter—to try to save it. More from the diary Grace Galloway kept during this period in the next post.

Sources include Texts on The Origins of Liberty Rhetoric, 1770s-1820s and History of American Women, which can be viewed HERE.

During the Revolution, property belonging to Loyalists was subject to seizure. Very often some part of that property had belonged to their wives. But under English law, any property a woman owned at the time of her marriage became her husband’s, unless there had been a premarital agreement. As a result, many Loyalist wives had no legal claim to their inheritance; they found themselves in dire circumstances, evicted from their homes and forced to seek refuge with relatives or friends.

Grace Growden was one such woman. The daughter of a wealthy Quaker businessman, she had married Joseph Galloway who was active in Pennsylvania politics. Though initially uncommitted, he ultimately sided with the British becoming the civil administrator in Philadelphia when the British occupied that city. He left with the British when they evacuated in 1778, taking his daughter Betsy with him.

These lines from a poem Grace wrote show that she was not exactly happy in her marriage. “Never get tyed to a man/for when once you are yoked/’Tis all a mere joke/of seeing your freedom again.” Grace stayed behind in the hope that she could retain her inherited property. She was not successful. The day after the British departed Charles Willson Peale (yes, the painter) appeared at her door with an eviction notice. The contents of the Galloway house on Market Street were sold at auction (see illustration). Peale received a five percent commission. Embittered and impoverished, her diary entry in April 1779 showed Grace nevertheless still defiant.

Tusday the 20th [While visiting a neighbor, I] got My spirits at command & Laughed at the whole wig party. I told them I was the happyest woman in twown for I had been striped & Turn’d out of Doors yet I was still the same & must be Joseph Galloways Wife & Lawrence Growdons daughter & that it was Not in their power to humble Me for I shou’d be Grace Growdon Galloway to the last & as I had now suffer’d all that they can inflict Upon Me I shou’d now act as on a rock to look on the wrack of others & see them tost by the Tempestuous billows while I was safe ashore; that if My little fortune wou’d be of service to them, they May keep it for I had exchanged it for content: that a Wooden waiter was as Useful tho not so sightly as a silver one; & that wou’d Never let these people pull Me down for, While I had the splindid shilling left, I wou’d be happy in spight of them; I cou’d Not do as Diogenes (Drink out of the first brook therefore threw his cup away as Useless) but I wou’d keep My Wooden cup if I cou’d get No other; & be happy to the last if I cou’d not get a silk gown I cou’d get a Linsay one & so it kept Me warm I owed Not. My borrowed bed I told them was down & I cou’d Lay Me down & sleep composely on it without feeling one thorn which was More than the Creatures cou’d Do who had rob’d Me: but all that vext Me was that I shou’d be so far humbled as to be ranked as a fellow creature with such brutes for I cou’d not think they cou’d be call’d Men, so I ran on & was happy. . . . am not sorry at anything I said for I now defye the Villans.

It was ruled that Grace’s inheritance could not revert to her until her husband died. He outlived her, but their daughter Betsy claimed the property in 1802 after her father’s death.

The diary entry appears on page 126 of In the Words of Women. The inventory can be found HERE.