September 25, 2024: Folk Figures: Molly Pitcher

[On September26th, 1774, Johnny Appleseed was born. So for the 250thbirthday of the man, the myth, the legend, this week I’ll AmericanStudy ahandful of folk figures, leading up to Friday’s post on the status of theconcept in the 21st century!]

On the iconicwar hero who might or might not have existed, and why she matters in any case.

I can think offew more AmericanStudies ways to analyze popular memory and prominence thanthrough theeleven rest stops on the New Jersey turnpike—and by that measure, MollyPitcher and ClaraBarton are the two most famous women in New Jersey history and culture (ifthat last phrase isn’t an oxymoron—I kid, Jerseyites, I kid). Pitcher’s is alsothe only one of the eleven rest stop referents that wasn’t an actual name, andthat might not even link to an individual figure—some historians believe thatthe name does refer to one woman, Mary Ludwig Hays,who followed her husband and the Continental Army to the Battleof Monmouth and found herself not only serving water to the soldiers buteven takingover her wounded husband’s artillery job; but others have linked the nameto a number of other Revolutionary-era women who performed one or another ofthose roles (camp followers, water carriers, and so on), includingMargaret Corbin.

So Molly Pitcheris as much a folkloric as a historical figure, one not unlike Paul Bunyan, JohnHenry, or, perhaps more accurately, this week’s starting point JohnnyAppleseed. Because like Appleseed’s inspiration John Chapman (about whomsee that hyperlinked, wonderful Guest Post by William Kerrigan), women likeHays and Corbin most definitely existed; the details of their lives andexperiences are as partial and uncertain as most any 18th centuryhistories, even those of theRevolution’s most prominent leaders, but there’s plenty of information outthere, such as at the various stories linked in my first paragraph’s closingsentences, and the Molly Pitcher legend provides an excellent starting pointfor researching and learning about these historical figures. Even absent suchresearch, any collective memory of “Molly Pitcher” itself adds women to ournarratives of these Revolutionary war battles and histories, producing a morefull and accurate picture of those histories as a result.

I’d take thatargument one step further, however. I’ve written on multiple occasions,including in this poston Judith Sargent Murray and this oneon John and Abigail Adams, about the striking cultural, social, andpolitical voices and roles of Revolutionary-eraAmerican women (including not only Murray and Adams but also PhillisWheatley, AnnisBoudinot Stockton, and others). Indeed, it’s fair to say that such womenhelp us to see the era’s possibilities for gender and society as likewiserevolutionary, and as foreshadowing and influencing the19th century women’s movement. That some of these women,including Adams and Stockton, achieved such success in relationship to theirhusbands’ lives and work—just as, that is, Hays and Corbin did in relationshipto their husband’s wartime efforts—reflects some of the era’s limitations andobstacles; limitations and obstacles that all these women, like Molly Pitcher,pushed well beyond.

Next folkfigure tomorrow,

Ben

PS. Whatdo you think? Folk figures or histories you’d highlight?