The Princeton union., 1880-06-24


One woman was to have q place near her
person; a man was to be at the head Of q
regiment; some persons were to be hon
ored with preferments in the treasury,
while others were to be assigned to prom
1nent positions in the army and navy.
There was no end to her llberallty, and
her newly found friends we're equally
obliging, for they placed considerable
sums at her disposal. For q season she
lacked nothing nothing till her fame
reached the more northern olonies, where
Duvall. who had heard these remarkable
stories, recognized in the description OF
the Princess Matilda his runaway bond
woman, and forthwith sought to recover
her. The first step was to advertise her,
which he did in the following manner: !:
Bush Greek, Frederic County, Mary
land, October 11th,I 1771.
Ran away from the subscriber, con-
vict servant named Sarah Wilson, but has
changed her name to Lady Susanna Caro-
lima Matilda, which made the public be-
lieve that she was her Majesty's sister.
She has blemlsh in her right eye, black
roll'd hair, stoops in the shoulders, and
AAAesAS0 SOAAAOA PA0StACC VI W4AG1uS duu
marking her clothes with Crown and B.
Whoever secures the said servant woman.
or will take her home, shall receive 5 pis-
tolls, besides all cost Of charges.
VIM. DUvALL.
l entitled Michael Dalton to search
the city Of Philadelphia, and from there
to Charleston, for the said woman.
With the document like that in circu-
latlon, backed by the efforts of her mas
ter to run her down, Sarah Wilson could
no longer continue in any one
place. 'She went from pillar to post;''
here to-day and there tomorrow, still
finding some one credulous enough not
only to believe her story, but also to lend
her money and help her on. But the
field was becoming more and more cir
cumscri.ed. Realizing this, and with
the certainty that If she remained longer
where she was she would soon be arrest
ed, she made bold push for New York,
where she hoped she would be lost in a
crowd But New York proved to be
equally dangerous ground, and she took
passage for Newport in one of the pack
cts then plying on the sound. Here, too,
she found that her fame preceded her,
for her arrival was thus announced in the
newspaper of the day, under date of Nov.
80, 1878:
Last Tuesday arrived here from New
York the lady who has passed through
severalX lot the southern colonies under the
name and character Of Caroline Matilda,
Marchioness de Waldegrave, etc.
This uoo In, oct <1,o loc% -, ox,o ocS S,.ol,
Wilson, for before the year was out she
was again in the hanGs of Duvall, who
took her back to Maryland to serve out
not only the remainder Of her time, but
also an additional number Of years, which
was always part of the penalty for at
tempting to run away. Before her days
OF bondage were over the storm of the
Revolution broke over the country, and
in the whirlwind that followed we lose
all trace OF the woman and her history.
Remarkable as were her adventures,
they appear more SO when we are told
that she was wanting in personal attrac-
ton, that she had blemish in her right
eye and stopped in the shoulders; but the
curious part of it all was, that the con-
wet was able, after her conviction, NOT
only to retain in her possession the Jew
els she had stolen, but also to bring
away dresses that were in keeping with
her assumed position; and yet the story
that she did so could scarcely be ques-
toned. The jewels, when they passed
from her hands, were soon lost sight of ,
but what became of the miniature? That
is conundrum that the most indefatig-
able of bric-a-brac collectors would find.
it difficult to solve.