To continue in the New Jersey mode I seem to be in at present, let me direct your attention to the Lovell sisters. Rachel Lovell Wells and Patience Lovell Wright had by 1771 become known for the wax figures they sculpted. The Virginia Gazette (October 3, 1771) described an exhibit of their works in Boston that “brought . . . such Perfection as has amazed Spectators of all Ranks in the respective Capitals where they have been exhibited. The Figures they have brought here show the Return of the prodigal Son, the celebrated Mr. Whitefield (George Whitfield, an English Anglican preacher and a founder of Methodism who helped spread the Great Awakening; he died in 1770) and the beloved Farmer of Philadelphia (the author of Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania). Gentlemen acquainted with those admired Personages confess their Obligations to the Skill and Industry of those Ladies, for reviving the former from the Grave, and presenting his numberless Friends in Boston with the living Image of John Dickinson, Esquire.”

With a letter of introduction to Benjamin Franklin from his sister Jane Mecom, Patience Lovell Wright went to London in 1772 where she sculpted wax figures of famous people including George III and his wife Charlotte (see post). Rachel stayed on this side of the Atlantic and plied her trade as best she could. She bought war bonds from the state of New Jersey but moved to Philadelphia after the British left because there was more demand for her skills there. Rachel returned to New Jersey after the war. Finding herself in financial difficulty, she petitioned the state legislature for monies she thought were due her. But the New Jersey Assembly decided that to claim interest the person had to be living in the state in 1783. Although Lovell technically did not qualify, she thought she was unfairly deprived of what rightly should be hers. In May 1786, after her first, second and third petitions were refused, she petitioned the Continental Congress in an attempt to recover her losses. While the outcome of her petition is not known, it is interesting to read of her circumstances and how she put her case. Historian Linda Kerber writes in her book Toward an Intellectual History of Women (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997) that the petition of Rachel Wells is “the most moving witness to the American Revolution left to us by a woman.” A caveat: Rachel’s spelling is worse than Jane Mecom’s, and her punctuation is non-existent. I have not altered the former but have inserted periods where appropriate to facilitate reading.

To the Honnorabell Congress I Rachel do make this Complaint, Who am a Widow far advanced in years & dearly have occasion of ye Intrust for that Cash I Lent the State.

I was a Sitisen in ye Jearsey when I Lent ye State a Considreable Sum of Moneys & had I justice don me it mite be Suficant to Suporte me in ye Contrey whear I am now, near bordenton . . . but being torn to peases & so robd by the Britans and others I went to Ph[iladelphi]a to try to git a Living as I coud doe nothing in bordentown in my way. So after ye English left there . . . I went to Ph[iladelphi]a & was their in the year 1783 when our assembley was pleasd to pas a Law that no one shoud have any Intrust that livd out of jearsey state. I have Sent in a petition to ye assembly. They say it lies in your brest as the Cash was Lent to you. They give me a form of an oath which runs thus that I was a Residentor when I put ye Cash into the office & was in ye year [17]83 and am Still. I can swear that I was then & am now but in [17]83 I was not. Now gentelemen is this Liberty. Had it bin advertised that he or She that moved out of the State Should Louse his or her Intrust you mite have sum plea against me. But I am innocent. Suspected no trick. I have Don as much to Carrey on the Warr as Maney that Sett Now at the healm of government & no notice taken of me before this. . . .

Cant there be order given to our assembly that the widow Rachel Wells in and of the jearsey state may have the Intrust of her cash that she Lent ye state in 1778 & not make good that Law made in Eighty Three. I hartely pity the others that ar in my Case that cant speak for themselves. . . . God has spred a plentifull Tabel for us & you gentelmen are the Carvers for us. Pray forgit not the poor weaklings at the foot of the tabel. Ye poor sogers [soldiers] has got Sum Crumbs that fall from their masters tabel. . . . Why not Rachel Wells have a Littel Intrust. If She did not fight She threw in all her mite which bought ye Sogers food & Clothing & Let them have Blankets & Since then She has bin obligd to Lay upon Straw and glad of that. . . . I do expect to hear Something to my Satisfaction verey soon.

That I may say before I leave this world that the state did me justice, though I never expect to See the principal is the prayer of your humbel sarvent Rachel Wells

Bordentown may 18, 1786

Wells’s petition can be found HERE; there are mistakes in the transcription however. My source is a photocopy of the original (from the Papers of the Continental Congress, (M-247), Roll 56, Item 42: VIII, 354-355) that appears in Linda Kerber’s book mentioned above, pages 100-101.

When the newly established states were drawing up constitutions after the Declaration of Independence, men meeting certain age, residence, and property requirements were allowed to vote. What is not widely known is that New Jersey gave that right to women (inadvertently one assumes) by specifying merely “inhabitants” instead of male inhabitants.

This was corrected in 1807.

Not to be outdone by women in Pennsylvania and Maryland who had collected money to help the poorly financed soldiers of the Continental Army, women in Trenton, New Jersey, announced in a newspaper in July 1780, the establishment of a state-wide organization to raise funds.

Trenton, July 4, 1780

The Ladies of Trenton, in New-Jersey, emulating the noble example of their Patriotic Sisters of Pennsylvania, and being desirous of manifesting their zeal in the glorious cause of American Liberty, having this day assembled for the purpose of promoting a subscription for the relief and encouragement of those brave Men in the Continental Army, who, stimulated by example, and regardless of danger, have so repeatedly suffered, fought and bled in the cause of virtue and their oppressed county: And taking into consideration the scattered situation of the well-disposed thro’ the state, who would wish to contribute to so laudable an undertaking, have, for the convenience of such, and the more effectually to carry their scheme into execution, unanimously appointed Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Dickenson, Mrs. Furman and Miss Cadwallader, a Committee, whose duty it shall be immediately to open subscriptions and to correspond with the Ladies hereafter named, of the different counties throughout the state, request their aid and influence in the several districts; and in order the more expeditiously to carry their scheme into execution, the Ladies now met have taken the liberty to solicit the interest of the following Ladies in promotion said subscriptions …; whose well known patriotism leaves no room to doubt of their best exertions in the promotion of an undertaking so humane and praiseworthy, and that they will be happy in forwarding the amount of their several collections, either with or without the names of the donors, which will be immediately transmitted by Mrs. (Moore) Furman, who is hereby appointed Treasurer, to be disposed of by the Commander in Chief, agreeable to the General Plan.

As the Ladies here would wish to expedite the good work as much as possible, they have appointed Miss Dagworthy of Trenton, their Secretary, who will receive and answer all letters that the Ladies of the different counties may think proper to favour her with on the occasion, and to furnish them with proper subscription papers as soon as possible.

The drive was successful; $15,488 was raised and sent to George Washington who purchased 380 pairs of stockings for New Jersey soldiers.

The announcement can be found on the New Jersey Women’s History website.

Jemima Condict was born in northwestern New Jersey, in 1754. She began keeping a diary or journal the year she turned eighteen and continued making entries until her untimely death after childbirth at the age of twenty-five. For the title and several lines of verse she devised a code that assigned numbers for the vowels and also for several consonants; thus the title appears as “J2M3M1 C59D3CT H2R B44K 19D P29,” which translates as Jemima Cundict Her Book and Pen. (There are several different spellings of her name.) In her diary Jemima recorded and commented on details of her life: chores, pleasures, deaths, diseases, and events during the Revolutionary War. Her piety accounts for the number of references to sermons she heard, the Bible and Psalms, and her own inner religious life. The following excerpt from her diary was written in 1775. Have a go at reading the manuscript original. You can read another post about Jemima Condict here.

The original of Jemima Condict’s diary is in the archives of the New Jersey Historical Society. You may want to see the transcription provided on their website.