, 1880-06-06
A SLAVE PRINCESS.

| ING strange SkVEy "a - AAoAaA@eA AA~eA~A~
| Female Adventurer-How a Convict
| Slave 1mpersonated NIarohioness-
| The xVauderlngs Of Sarah Wl1son-d
! Missing NIlnlnturc.
| Correspo,.4it,,ce Nctu Fork Erenfn1 Post
NEWPORT, r. l., May l7.-It was common
! practice In some OF tho American colonies Il
| acll white persons into slavery for limited
| number of years; but tt was not common tt
| term this sort Of seryitude slavery, although II
was such to all intents and purposes. The per
son sold was called q servant, and the inden-
| ture that bound him or her during
| the period of servitude gave tho master
complete control over his servant, witt
| the right to punish him severely for IN onense
| or to hunt him down II he attempted to escape
| from bondage. Some Of the old laws OF Virgins
| under this head worc harsh In the extrome, and
| II they were rigdly enforced, as We may presume
was the case, hard indeed must have been the
lot Of any bond servant who incurred the dis
| pleasure OF his master.
| The source from which many sorvanta OF thie
kind were obtained was the courts Of England
| whore 1t was customary to transport to America
| prisoners who had been convicted Of ofonsee
not punishable By death, but who were too great
offenders to be kept at home in overcrowded
jais. They were accordingly shipped to the
| colonies and were sold for limited
number Of Years. usually Usually ta'fHx,I seven. ,r Ar n
/ 0-+%@ee@ AAec 10
| June 28. i754, was at one time very common:
".Just arrived from Londonderry, IN the brig
| Peggy, Capt. Stewart, a number OF tine, healthy
men and women servants, and some small boys,
| whose times nro to be disposed OF to the best
bidders by the Captain, on board, or by Camp
bell Kingston. On e me wharf, =, 7777 co..ed
sensation for time, and so extraordinary was
| her career that her maine has found q place IN
records OF tho times it is but a bare men-
| ton; but the dozen or twenty lines given
| to her in Dornn's Lives II the Queens
| of England, OF the House OF Hanover, shows
! that her adventures In America werc tha SUBJ
ject Of discussion. perhaps OF mirth, in the draw
| ing-rooms of Queen Charlotte In that brief
outline there aro few errors. The story, rs
| have been able to gather 1t from different
| SOURCES, Is as follows:
In August, ITO a woman who had no bust-
ness thore found her way, by means Of the
| private stairs, into the apartments Of Queen
Charlotte. Entering the room In which the
| Queen and the Duchess Of Ancoster were sit
| with the greatest composure. Tho Queen
! and tho Duchess were TOO much Harmed to
expe her. 61t at ~ the a pq @
| brought page, who with d!a1culty forced the
| Intruder to retire. But little moro was thought
after f lie affair tho Queens appointments were
again entered and this time cabinet was
! broken open and robbed Of valuable jewels ss
thief proved to be woman named
Sarah Wilson, the maid Of tho Hon: Miss
Vernon, sister OF Indy Grosvenor, anu VINO was
probably the sumo iW JinHn who had previously
entereA tho apartments. She was Apprehended
tried and condemned to death, but through the
influence of her mistress the sentence vas com
sold for period Ut seven yeafs,-n step that
created some Stir in London, for there were
persons who complained that in this way the
gaows had been chented-
In l771 Sarah Wilson, .ant out in convict
ship, landed IN MARYLAND. where she wns @ e1-
pl pali, Of II Bnsb creek, Frederick County, to whom
she was legally bound for the stipulated torn OF
years. Duyall took hor To his residence, where
she remained In his service, apparently con-
make good her escape. From Bush Creek
she felt TINT she had put too wide a strip Of
country between herself and her master to rem
der return to slavery probable. With no fear
Of arrest to haunt her, she assumed tho tito Of
tho Princess Susanna Caroline Matilda, and as
sertc. that she sister OF tho Queen The rich
miniature ct the Queen, give color to her state
ment, which was generally believed. Having
assnnins tho ar 'o Of oyay and
E RSaoFsd R ID, SssS SssS To1s Rs5
who found their way into her presence
she WINS gracinus and she was liberal In the
promise OF fayoTs iato from h9r % Own hand ad 70 from
place near her person; mnn was to be Mt the
head ot regiment; some persons were to be
%ha oshes g b 'hs ssead e
prominent positions in the army aud
navy; There & vas , no END nd. to her liborallty,
obligtng, for they placed considerable sums at her
d'sposal. For season she lacked nothing
nothing till her famc rcached the more northern
colonies, whore Duvall, Hho had hoard these re-
markatle stories recognized In tho description
of the Princess Matilda bis. runaway bond
rho first step wns to advertise her, which be did
In the following manner:
BusH GREER, Frederick Co., Md, Oct II, It'll.
vant anti named sARAH WILSON, but has Changed
her name to Lady Susanna Caroline Matilda,
which made the public believe that she was her
right eye, black roild hair, stoops in the
shoulders, and makes common practice Of
w5tns 99d nes be ] n
nn, or will take her home. shall receive i've pis-
toles, besides all cost of charges: r., No.
II cntitle Michael Dalton to senroh the City OF
Philadetphia, and 4 from there to Charleston, for
taWith n document like that in circulation,
backed by tho efforts Of her master to run her
down, Sarah Wilson could make no longer con-
pa4 fo IN I ss9 e4e
row, still finding some one crcdulous enough
not ony to believe her story, but also to lend
@ was % eeeomias @ maro ' and more more 'ei eircum. UNI
scrhed. Realizing this and with the certainty
that 4 she on 9gsr bo where ahe shs
for New York, where she, hoped that she
would be lost In the crowd. But New York
proved to be equally dangerous ground, and
she took passage for Newport In one Of the
packets then plying on the Sound. Here, too
She found that her tame preceded her, for her
arrival was thus announced In the newspaper on
the day, under date Of Nov. g, 1913:
Last Tuesday arrived here from New York
the Indy who has pussed through several Of the
Southern colonies under the name and character
of Caroline Matilda, Marchionessde Naldegrave,
etc."
This was almost the last move Of Sarah Will
sou, for before the year WIS nut she was again
n tho hands OF Duran, who took her back to
MARYLAND to serve out not only tho remainder Of
her time but nlso additional number Of
years, which Vas always part Of the penalty
for attempting to run away. Before her days Of
bondage were over tho storm Of tho Revolution
broke over the country, aud, In the whrlwiud
that followed. NC lose all trace Of tho woman
and her history.
Remarkable as were her adventures, they
appear more 50 when are told that sac was
wanting Ia personal attraction, that she had
a b1cmish in her right eye, and stopped in the
shoulders: but tho curious part Of 1t all is
that convict was nblc, after her conviction,
not only to retain In her possession the Jewels
and the miniature she had stolen, but also to
bring away dresecs that were In keeping with