Named and Unnamed in Print: Esther and Joseph Reed
Daughter of a prominent English merchant and trader with North America, Esther DeBerdt was part of a London social circle in the 1760s that included Philadelphians like Drs. John Morgan and William Shippen.[1] She married lawyer, Academy of Philadelphia student, and College of New Jersey (Princeton) graduate Joseph Reed in 1770 and emigrated to Philadelphia. A Presbyterian, Joseph gained influence and power during the Revolution, serving in various official roles before becoming President of the new State of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Executive Council in 1778. In this role, he also was president of the Trustees of the University of the State of Pennsylvania.
This issue of The Pennsylvania Gazette shows Joseph’s printed name signing a dramatic official decree declaring martial law in the context of news of British troop movements from New York, militia actions, social dissension, high inflation, and rumors of treason.[2] But the truly revolutionary document is the unsigned article, “The Sentiments of an American Woman.” Esther DeBerdt Reed, writing anonymously, urges the creation of a women’s association to raise funds and supplies for the Continental Army. Linking American women with “heroines of antiquity,” DeBerdt calls for them to wear “clothing more simple, hair-dresses less elegant” and donate their savings. Her public, political campaign posed a challenge to male expectations of female deportment but raised perhaps $7,500 and had broad impact across the colonies.[3]
Bell, John Morgan, 51: Americans always had a cordial welcome from Dennys De-Berdt, a merchant in the North American trade, later special agent for Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia at the time of the Stamp Act appeals. At the DeBerdts* town house in Artil-lery Court or at their house at Enfield, ten miles in the country, Morgan might find William Shippen or Thomas Ruston of Philadelphia, Arthur Lee of Virginia, and other medical students. Samuel Powel, a wealthy young Philadelphian making a leisurely journey through Britain and Europe, was often a visitor at DeBerdt's. There, among informed and sympathetic friends, the young men discussed American affairs, Parliament's policy toward their country, their own ambitions for it. They enjoyed an agreeable social life as well: to Esther DeBerdt Morgan wrote gratefully of "the pleasing Scenes of Enfield or Artil-lery Court" and the "hours of Satisfaction & delight which your hospitable roof afforded," and Joseph Reed of New Jersey, a student at the Middle Temple, eventually married her. ↑
Ousterhout, “Controlling the Opposition in Pennsylvania during the American Revolution,” PMHB 105, no. 1 (Jan., 1981), 16. ↑
Mary Beth Norton, Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750–1800 (1980; Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996), 178–188. ↑