Treacherous Beauty
Page 26
17 Illick, 242; Newman, Freedom’s Prophet, 28–32; Jones Tabernacle African Methodist Episcopal Church, www.jtamec.org.
18 Rooks, Midwifery and Childbirth in America, 19; Knott, Sensibility and the American Revolution, 99; Hazard’s Register of Pennsylvania, 1:438; University of Pennsylvania biographies, “Dr. William Shippen,” www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/shippen_wm_jr.html.
19 Purvis, Colonial America to 1763, 174.
20 Lippincott, 180.
21 Moss and Crane, Historic Houses of Philadelphia, 30.
22 Lippincott, 280.
23 Klein, 11–27.
24 Illick, 3–5.
25 Balch, “Dr. William Shippen, the Elder,” 212–213; Klein, 14.
26 Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen, Wife of Benedict Arnold,” 24:258.
27 Randall, 384.
28 Klein, 45–47, 51–56, 60–67, 69–73. Shippen’s scandalous third wife was Mary Gray Nowland; her diehard husband was John Nowland.
29 Klein, 70. Rev. Aaron Burr was the father of politician Aaron Burr, whose memoirs provided one of the most prominent early assertions of Peggy’s guilt.
30 Walker, 24:266.
31 Jasper Yeates in 1764, in Walker, 24:266.
32 Klein, 77–82, 150; Lewis, 11–34.
33 Judge Edward Shippen to Joseph Shippen, Feb. 25, 1749, in Lewis, 13.
34 Middle Temple, history, www.middletemple.org.uk/the_inn/History_of_the_Inn.
35 Edward Shippen of Lancaster to Judge Edward Shippen, 1749, in Walker, 24:265–266.
36 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, June 8, 1750, in Lewis, 18.
37 Lewis, 20; Flexner, 188–189.
38 Flexner, 189; Walker, 24:413.
39 Peggy Shippen to Judge Edward Shippen, Jan. 5, 1803, Shippen Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Chapter 2
40 Bingham, American Preceptor, 42nd ed., 104. The Preceptor was first published in 1794.
41 Peggy Shippen to Judge Edward Shippen, June 26, 1792, in Walker, 25:460.
42 Peggy Shippen to Edward Arnold, January 1804, in Taylor, Some New Light, 28.
43 Poem from American Country Almanac for 1754, in Lyons, Sex Among the Rabble, 158.
44 Norton, Liberty’s Daughters, 55; Lyons, 163. Peggy’s family was not prudish about sex. According to Lyons, Peggy’s merchant uncle Tench Francis Jr. advertised bawdy books for sale, including French erotica such as Roger L’Estrange’s translation of Portuguese Love Letters.
45 Neddy Burd, 1780, in Flexner, 190.
46 Mrs. Gibson, recalling mother’s impressions, in Walker, 24:414.
47 Randall, 384.
48 Edward Shippen of Lancaster to Judge Edward Shippen, April 15, 1775, in Klein, 153.
49 Anderson, Crucible of War, xvii–xxiv, 714–734.
50 Jasanoff, Liberty’s Exiles, 24–25.
51 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, Sept. 10, 1765, in Walker, 24:419.
52 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, Oct. 17, 1765, in Walker, 24:419.
53 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, April 6, 1766, in Walker, 24:420.
54 White House, presidential biographies, “George Washington,” www.whitehouse .gov/about/presidents/georgewashington.
55 Dos Passos, Head and Heart of Thomas Jefferson, 365.
56 Peggy Shippen to Betsy Shippen Burd, May 20, 1800, in Walker, 24:414.
57 Pennsylvania Packet, March 18, 1777.
58 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, April 20, 1775, Shippen Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
59 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, June 30, 1775, in Walker, 24:414.
60 Klein, 163.
61 Shreve, Tench Tilghman, 37.
62 Jasanoff, 30.
63 Judge Edward Shippen to Jasper Yeates, Jan. 19, 1776, in Lewis, 25.
64 Joyce, Story of Philadelphia, 148.
65 Deeds from John Gregg & Wife to Edward Shippen Jr., Hunterdon County Deed Book 1, 457–60 (June 1, 1776, recorded Sept. 22, 1791), and from Edward Shippen Jr. & Wife to Robert Shewell, Hunterdon County Deed Book 1, 461–64 (Dec. 10, 1778, recorded Sept. 24, 1791), both on file with the Hunterdon County Clerk’s Office, Flemington, N.J. This rural home is often described as being in Amwell, which was a regional term used loosely for places in what is now central and southern Hunterdon County, N.J. Edward Shippen paid £3,200 for the 260 acres, house, and other buildings, located on the south branch of the Raritan River about two miles east of Flemington. That price roughly compares to more than $500,000 in the United States in 2010, according to http://measuringworth.com.
66 Judge Edward Shippen, 1776, in Flexner, 194.
67 Peggy Shippen to Judge Edward Shippen, Oct. 5, 1802, in Walker, 25:480.
68 Judge Edward Shippen to Jasper Yeates, June 5, 1776, in Klein, 165.
69 R. Harvey, 229. Burgoyne would later surrender to the “spoilt children” at Saratoga.
70 Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, 33. These letters calling for appeasement were originally published in 1767–68.
71 Randall, 387; Walker, 25:29.
72 Burrows, Forgotten Patriots, 251–253; Musto, “Captive in Jersey,” 10–12.
73 Young, Jenkins, and Seilhamer, Memorial History of the City of Philadelphia, 344.
74 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, Jan. 18, 1777, in Lewis, 27.
75 Ibid.
76 Ibid., 27–28.
77 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, March 11, 1777, in Randall, 388.
78 Flexner, 200.
79 Walker, 24:426.
80 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, March 11, 1777, in Lewis, 28.
Chapter 3
81 Jackson, With the British Army in Philadelphia, 11; Watson, 2:180. According to reports, all but one of the church bells were removed from Philadelphia and taken to Allentown, Pa.
82 Hatch, Major John André, 151; Rose, Washington’s Spies, 35.
83 Brooks, “Philadelphia Dancing Assembly”; Balch, The Philadelphia Assemblies, 14–82; Watson, 1:277.
84 Hatch, 88.
85 Klein, 297.
86 Sale, Old Time Belles and Cavaliers, 145–160; Stern, David Franks, 22; Watson, 3:470; Randall, 389.
87 Harland, Some Colonial Homesteads, 120.
88 Jackson, 214.
89 Flexner, 22.
90 Hatch, 9–13.
91 Hatch, 56–57.
92 Notes and Queries, 79.
93 US State Department, “The Great Seal of the United States,” www.state.gov/documents/organization/27807.pdf.
94 http://measuringworth.com/, accessed Aug. 17, 2011. The Measuring Worth website, developed by economists from prominent universities in the United States, Britain, and Spain, calls itself “a service for calculating relative worth over time.” Obviously, such calculations are inexact.
95 Hatch, 13.
96 Flexner, 21–22, 24–29; Hatch, 13–24.
97 John André to Anna Seward, Oct. 31, 1769, in Hatch, 22.
98 Edgeworth and Edgeworth, Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, 1:238–256; Flexner, 33.
99 Encyclopaedia Britannica, s.v. “Göttinger Hain,” www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/239887/Gottinger-Hain.
100 Hatch, 27–31.
101 Flexner, 35; Hatch, 32–34.
102 Hatch, 34; Flexner, 35.
103 John André to Louisa André, Dec. 1, 1774, in Hatch, 34–35.
104 John André to Mary André, March 5, 1775, in Hatch, 35.
105 Hatch, 37–51; Flexner, 73–82.
106 Sargent, 91.
107 Hatch, 50.
108 Hatch, 54–67; 82, Flexner,
137–148.
109 Flexner, 139.
110 Flexner, 148–160; Hatch, 66–67.
111 John André to mother, winter 1776–77, in Flexner, 150.
112 Hatch, 71–73.
113 Hatch, 77.
114 Bersten, Tea, 114; thePeerage.com, “Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey,” http://the peerage.com/p10591.htm.
115 Jackson, 14.
116 Randall, 383; Jackson, 40–41.
117 John André to Peggy Chew, probably May 1779, Clinton Papers, William C. Clements Library, University of Michigan (hereafter Clinton Papers).
Chapter 4
118 Jackson, 120–122.
119 Richard Peters to Neddy Burd, Nov. 1, 1780, in Walker, 24:426.
120 Becky Franks to Anne (Nancy) Harrison Paca, Feb. 26, 1778, in “A Letter of Miss Becky Franks, 1778,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 16 (1882): 216–217.
121 Hatch, 107
122 Davis, America’s Longest Run, 15.
123 Durang, “History,” as quoted in Moses, Representative Plays, 1:7.
124 Randall, 390; Hatch, 90–91.
125 Seilhamer, History of the American Theatre, 29–30.
126 Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5, Scene 4, in The Riverside Shakespeare, 880.
127 Nelson, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 26–29, 63, 148.
128 Randall, 391–392; Dictionary of National Biography, 24:251–252. Some histories spell Hamond’s last name with two m’s, but the University of Virginia library, which holds his papers, uses only one.
129 Allen, Tories, 171.
130 Ketchum, The Winter Soldiers, 182.
131 Becky Franks to Nancy Shippen, in Snyder and Snyder, Woodford Mansion, 71.
132 Lord Rawdon to uncle, August 1776, in Raphael, People’s History, 169.
133 Jackson, 103.
134 Jackson, 229–230.
135 Jackson, 231.
136 Flexner, 209–210; Jackson, 235–249; Hatch, 98–105; Randall, 393–395.
137 André, “Major André’s Story.” This is André’s second version of the Meschianza.
138 Jordan, Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, 511–512.
139 Stern, 149–155.
140 André, “Particulars of the Mischianza in America.” This is Andre’s original account of the Meschianza.
141 Jackson, 239.
142 Andre, “Particulars”; André, “Major André’s Story.”
143 Walker, 24:427–428.
144 Walker, 25:416.
145 Letter of Mrs. Julius J. Pringle quoted in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 23 (1899): 413.
146 Kingsford, The History of Canada, 6:145.
147 See Nigel Slater, Observer, April 10, 2010, www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/11/nigel-slater-classic-recipe-syllabub.
148 Fabian, Card Sharps and Bucket Shops, 21–23.
149 Flexner, 209–210; Jackson, 235–249; Hatch, 98–105; Randall, 393–395; André, “Particulars”; André, “Major André’s Story”; Bishop, “You are Invited to a Mischianza.” Our description of the event is a combination of André’s first and second accounts, but tends to use the second version where there are conflicts. For example, the first account says the two groups of knights each had four trumpeters; the second account provides three trumpeters per group.
150 Young, Jenkins, and Seilhamer, 2:52.
151 Jackson, 249.
152 T. Jones, History of New York During the Revolutionary War, 261.
153 Leckie, George Washington’s War, 433–437.
154 R. Harvey, 290.
155 Hatch, 107; Complete Peerage, 4:96.
156 Hatch, 107.
157 Harland, 116–125. Peggy Chew’s father sold Cliveden in 1779, but bought it back eighteen years later for nearly three times the price.
158 Randall, 615; Kranish, Flight from Monticello, 141.
Chapter 5
159 Intelligence report to Washington, in Jackson, 261.
160 Jackson, 260–262.
161 Jackson, 265–267; Steven Morgan Friedman, “University History,” www.archives .upenn.edu/histy/genlhistory/brief.html.
162 Laurens, Papers, 14:31–32.
163 Sargent, 135.
164 Respublica v. Carlisle, 1 US 35, Pa. Ct. of Oyer and Terminer 1778 (court declines to dismiss indictment of one defendant and reports his subsequent execution).
165 Scharf and Westcott, 3:898.
166 Anthony Wayne to Richard Peters, July 12, 1778, in Scharf and Westcott, 3:898–899.
167 T. Jones, 719.
168 Scharf and Westcott, 3:899.
169 Letter of Feb. 23, 1779, Wallace Papers (Bradford), Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in Brooks, 4.
170 Norton, 352; Haulman, “High Roll.”
171 Kochan, United States Army 1783–1811, 8; Scharf and Westcott, 2:1692.
172 Graydon, Memoirs, 469.
173 Notable American Women, 665; Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary, 682; Axtell One Name Study, www.axtell-surname.org.uk/fam12216.html#Src8314-1.
174 Young, Jenkins, and Seilhamer, 2:53; Hornor, This Old Monmouth of Ours, 136.
175 Watson, 3:167.
176 Frost, The American Generals, 216–229; Maryland state archives, “Margaret Oswald Chew Howard,” www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/002200/002232/html/2232bio.html.
177 André, “Major André’s Story,” 685–686. Howard’s words were: “He was a damned spy, sir! Nothing but a damned spy!”
178 Brandt, Man in the Mirror, 3–5; Randall, 15–17.
179 Randall, 22–31; Brandt, 5–8; L. Paine, Benedict Arnold: Hero and Traitor, 14; Wilson, Benedict Arnold: A Traitor in Our Midst, 5.
180 L. Paine, 20–21; Randall, 39–40.
181 Randall, 37–53, 65–68; Flexner, 12–13; Brandt, 9–15.
182 Randall, 66–67; Brandt, 15–16, Flexner, 16–17.
183 Brandt, 16; Randall, 66; Flexner, 18–19.
184 Randall, 74–76.
185 Wilson, 33–36; Brandt, 18–25. Arnold’s seizing of the gunpowder was labeled Powder House Day, and is remembered with annual reenactments in New Haven.
186 Randall, 132.
187 Wilson, 42, 47–77; Brandt, 42–58; Desjardin, Through a Howling Wilderness, 22, 189.
188 Wilson, 101–110; Brandt, 59–76; Flexner, 85–92; Desjardin, 171–177; Gabriel, Major General Richard Montgomery, 154–172.
189 Wilson, 117; Brandt, 77–83; Flexner, 95–100.
190 Brandt, 91, 95–96.
191 Horatio Gates to John Hancock, July 29, 1776, in W. M. Wallace, Traitorous Hero, 107.
192 Randall, 277–317; Flexner, 101–113. One of Arnold’s sunken boats from the battle was raised in 1935 and has been exhibited in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
193 Randall, 318–326.
194 Randall, 326–327, 331; Brandt, 116; Eaton, “Old Boston Families,” 11.
195 Benedict Arnold to Horatio Gates, March 25, 1777, in Brandt, 118.
196 Brandt, 116–121; Randall, 327–331.
197 Brandt, 119–121; Flexner, 125–128; Randall, 332–333.
198 Randall, 334–343, Brandt, 121–125.
199 Horatio Gates to John Hancock, Sept. 22, 1777, in Randall, 359.
200 Roberts, March to Quebec, 127.
201 Randall, 360–368; Brandt, 126–139; Flexner, 161–184.
202 Martin, Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero, 404.
203 Randall, 371–373; Brandt, 140–145; Flexner, 218; Martin, 404–405; Palmer, George Washington and Benedict Arnold, 253–254.
204 Benedict Arnold to Betsy DeBlois, April 8, 1778, in Brandt, 144.
205 Benedict Arnold to Betsy DeBlois, April 26, 177
8, in Brandt, 144.
206 Brandt, 143–144; Flexner 220–221; Randall, 374.
207 Flexner, 221.
Chapter 6
208 Benedict Arnold to Peggy Shippen, Sept. 25, 1778, in I. N. Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold, 229–230. The biographer Arnold was no relation to the subject Arnold.
209 Randall, 408–411; Palmer, 292.
210 W. M. Wallace, 9; L. Paine, 13. While Arnold’s and Andre’s heights are known, Peggy’s is not. It seems safe to assume that she was shorter than Arnold; otherwise, people would have noted the fact. Descriptions of her as a “delicate” person suggest that she was rather slight.
211 Mary Morris to mother, Nov. 10, 1778, in Walker, 25:32.
212 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, Dec. 21, 1778, in Lewis, 29.
213 Brandt, 163.
214 Judge Edward Shippen to Edward Shippen of Lancaster, July 3, 1778, in Lewis, 29.
215 Stern, 138.
216 Randall, 411–414; Brandt, 148–150; Wilson, 152–154.
217 Esther DeBerdt to Dennis DeBerdt, Nov. 14, 1770, in Roche, Joseph Reed, 29.
218 Roche, 3–131.
219 Adams, Works, 2:378.
220 Joseph Reed to Lord Dartmouth, Feb. 10, 1775, in Reed, Life and Correspondence, 1:95.
221 Freeman, George Washington, 4:204; Roche, 95, 240.
222 R. Harvey, 210; Chernow, Washington, 265–267. See also note 510.
223 Van Doren, Secret History of the American Revolution, 176–177; Brandt, 159–160.
224 Irvin, “The Streets of Philadelphia,” 17.
225 Timothy Matlack to Benedict Arnold, Oct. 5, 1778, in Brandt, 160.
226 Benedict Arnold to Timothy Matlack, Oct. 6, 1778, in Brandt, 160.
227 Benedict Arnold to Timothy Matlack, Oct. 12, 1778, in Van Doren, 179.
228 Joseph Trumbull to William Williams, Nov. 18, 1776, in Lefkowitz, The Long Retreat, 60.
229 Pennsylvania Packet, Nov. 7, 1778, in Randall, 429. Brandt notes that the Reeds “had a good view of the party to which they were not invited.”
230 Joseph Reed to Nathanael Greene, Nov. 5, 1778, in Stern, 140.
231 Benedict Arnold to Nathanael Greene, Nov. 10, 1778, in Brandt, 163.
232 George Washington to Benjamin Harrison, Dec. 30, 1778, in Scharf and Westcott, 2:899.
233 Randall, 414–416, 435–436; Brandt, 160; Van Doren, 175–176; Flexner, 303.