Mary Hays
Mirtha Hinrichs
Q.Can you tell me any thing about Molly Pitcher and if she had any responsibilities at Valley Forge or did she just follow her husband there for support. It is hard to find any information on Molly before the Battle of Monmouth.
Robin Mcbroom, Lancaster, Ohio
A."Molly Pitcher" was not a single historical figure, but a composite folk hero inspired by the actions of different people, most of them women who carried water to troops during the revolution. Women filling this role on the battlefield may have generally been referred to by this nickname. Two real women in particular have been associated with the legend of Molly Pitcher
Born in 1754, Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley was the daughter of a New Jersey dairy farmer. At the age of 13, she went to work as a domestic/servant and married a barber named William Hays. When the Revolutionary War began, William enlisted and became a gunner in the Pennsylvania Artillery. Mary eventually joined her husband as a campfollower during the Philadelphia Campaign (1777-1778) in New Jersey, eventually wintering with the Army at Valley Forge.
Legend says that Mary was carrying water for the troops at the Battle of Monmouth in June, 1778, but when her husband the artilleryman was wounded, she abandoned her water jugs and took up loading the artillary in his place. Joseph Plumb Martin, a soldier in the Continental Army, was present at the battle. His memoirs, discovered in the 1950s, have become an important primary source for historians interested in the experiences of ordinary soldiers during the revolution. Plumb relates an incident during the battle:
Washington is said to have observed her heroics on the battlefield and issued her a commendation, and Mary was allegedly called by the nickname "Sergeant Molly" for the rest of her life. Where history ends and folklore begins is a matter of continued debate, however. We have no record of this commendation from Washington. Martin's single account is the only real evidence available concerning Hays' contributions at Monmouth.
At the close of the war, William and Mary Hays returned to Pennsylvania. They settled in Carlisle where Mary went back to work as a domestic as well as a "charwoman" in the State House in Carlisle. William died in 1786, and in 1793, Mary married John McCauley, who had also served in the war. She was awarded a pension in 1822 by the Pennsylvania State Legislature and it wasn't until the anniversary of the War in 1876 that a marker noting her exemplary service was placed on her grave. She died on January 22, 1832.
Matilda Mary Hays was a writer, social activist, and openly lesbian woman living in England during the Victorian era. She is known for her novels, journalism, and literary translations depicting the plight of women trying to remain socially and financially independent outside of marriage. Matilda Mary Hays lived with and was taught by her aunt Mary Hays, acclaimed author and feminist, for nine years. She followed in her aunt's tradition, promoting women's rights and social progressive ideas.
Her father was raised in the Particular Baptist church in Gainsford Street, Southwark, but he appears to have conformed to the Anglican Church upon his marriage to Elizabeth Breese. In contrast to the devoted loyalty to religious Dissent (Unitarianism) of her two aunts, Mary Hays and Elizabeth Hays Lanfear, Matilda Mary appears to have been largely indifferent toward any religious preferences, either among the Established Church or Dissenting sects.
Her greatest controversy was her openly known relationships with several prominent women in England during the height of the Victorian age, though her efforts to translate the novels of George Sand met with some criticism in the late 1840s.
Her familial relationship with the novelists Mary Hays and Elizabeth Hays Lanfear, the presence of her three letters c. 1848 residing at the Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philadelphia, and references to her in the diary of Henry Crabb Robinson.
Three letters by Matilda Mary Hays, 1848, Gratz ALS Collection, Box 132, Folder 29, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; the paucity of manuscript sources will continue to hamper scholarly studies of her life and career.
The primary issue with sources to date is their omission of the familial connection between Matilda Mary Hays and the novelist Mary Hays, and the letters by Matilda Hays at the Pennsylvania Historical Society.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 am on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, with Fr. Nick Parker officiating. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5:00 pm until 8:00 on Tuesday and from 9:00 am until 9:45 on Wednesday, all at Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home. A Daughters of Isabella rosary will be at 5:30 pm followed by a vigil service at 6:00 pm, all on Tuesday at the funeral home. Memorials are suggested to Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church basement fund or to Divine Mercy Radio. Condolences and memories of Mary may be shared with the family at www.haysmemorial.com
c80f0f1006