Some Pennsylvania Women During the War of the Revolution

Abstract

Some Pennsylvania Women During the War of the Revolution , first published in 1898 by the Harrisburg Publishing Company, presents biographical sketches of almost seventy women who supported the American Revolution and the soldiers at Valley Forge, noting their lives, family history, character, and the particulars of their roles in the revolutionary effort, including providing food, clothing, shelter, and support for the patriots. As the author writes in his prefatory note, this book aims to bring to light “the patriotism, sufferings, and self-denials” of the women of the American Revolution in Pennsylvania, whom he calls “the Matrons of the Declaration.” The book examines the lives of women at the end of the eighteenth century and shows the value of their contributions to the war. “The saviors of our country at Valley Forge, in their raggedness and misery, would have starved,” Egle writes, “had it not been for that devoted band of true-hearted loving women whose homes were on or lying near the frontiers of our grand old Commonwealth.” This book provides a fitting tribute to these women and their roles in the state’s, and nation’s, history.