The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-01-27
A REVOLUTIONARY DAUGHTER.
She Sang Patriotic Dirty to Two English


She Sang Patriotic Disty to Two English
Oficers.
Mrs. Mercy Wardwell, who recently
| died in North Orland. Me, was the
| daughter of William Hutchins, of the
town of Penobscot, Me-. the last sur
vivor, but one, of the revolutionary
| soldiers He died at Penobscot in May,
1866, aged nearly one hundred and two
| years. Mrs Wardwelltwas about nine
| ty-fve years old One sister, Mrs.
| Charlotte Veazie, of Belfast, Me-, is the
| only surviving child of the once nu-
merous William Hutchins family, and,
so far as the writer knows, the only
surviving child of Revolutionary SOL
| der
Mrs. Wardwell married Methodist
| clergyman, and became the mother of
a large family of sons and daughters.
| Four of the sons entered the Methodist
| ministry, one Of whom subsequently en-
listed as private in our late civil war
and was promoted to the chaplaincy of
the regiment. He died in the service
and was buried in the south.
She was noted in her childhood FOR
vivacity and a bubbling with music,
and unfinching courage in times when
| her elders were timid. When the En-
glish army and navy took possession of
the town of Castine, in 1914, Mrs
Wardwen was then a young girl at
| home. Her IA theirs house was situated
about six miles from Castine village, on
the road to Bluehill The English off,
GERS sometimes called at her fathers
house as they passed to and fro to their
duties.
On one occasion, two of them hav-
ing learned that little Mercy could
sing, importuned her for song. She
was very shy at first, but upon the
promise of silver dollar, which would
| be fortune to her. she lightly sprang
upon the dining table, and. to the con-
sternation of the family, began one of
those almost amending patriotic ballads
of the day, in which the English came
in for some severe reflections and
tongue castigations.
The memories of the revolution had
not died out among the older people,
and little Mercy stood where she could
see the spot where, thirty-five years be-
fore, her grandfather's home was
burned by the English, while he with
his wife and eight children fed under
its glaring light to save his life for his
sturdy defense with his rife
Little Mercy's mother and her elder
sister attempted to stop her singing,
for they saw the brow Of the younger
officer darken, and heard him mutter
what sounded like angry expressions,
but the elder officer laughed and said:
30, let her go on. like her courage"
She did go on till she had sung more
than fifty verses When the original
lacked appropriateness to the then
present circumstances she improviscd
with a skill and daring that brought
out angry expressions from the Young
er officer. but a laugh and "Hear,
hear!" from the elder.
When she finished the elder officer
tossed TO her silver dollar, at the
same time remsrking: You're a brave
little girl Ii you were a man we
should feel it our duty To- but the
last part of this remark was not
spoken.
He was a gentleman, and called upon
the family several times aftervard, and
greeted little Mercy with smile and
courteous bow. Two of Mrs WIS
brothers were then in the American
army, and she took especial pains 70
let the English know it-Lewiston
Journal
for ArfF