Ten American Girls From History

Ten American Girls From History, by

Kate Dickinson Sweetser This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Ten American Girls From History
Author: Kate Dickinson Sweetser
Release Date: January 6, 2007 [EBook #20297]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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TEN AMERICAN GIRLS FROM HISTORY
BY KATE DICKINSON SWEETSER
AUTHOR OF "TEN BOYS FROM HISTORY" "TEN BOYS FROM DICKENS" ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE ALFRED WILLIAMS
[Illustration: Publisher's device]
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON

[Illustration: MOLLY PITCHER]

TEN AMERICAN GIRLS FROM HISTORY
Copyright, 1917, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America Published October, 1917

TO EDITH BOLLING WILSON
"THE FIRST LADY OF THE LAND"
A DESCENDANT OF POCAHONTAS, THE INDIAN GIRL OF THE VIRGINIA FOREST WHO LINKS THE FLOWER OF EARLY AMERICA WITH THE "NEW FREEDOM" OF TODAY, THIS BOOK IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED.

CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD xi
POCAHONTAS: THE INDIAN GIRL OF THE VIRGINIA FOREST 1
DOROTHY QUINCY: THE GIRL OF COLONIAL DAYS WHO HEARD THE FIRST GUN FIRED FOR INDEPENDENCE 36
MOLLY PITCHER: THE BRAVE GUNNER OF THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH 71
ELIZABETH VAN LEW: THE GIRL WHO RISKED ALL THAT SLAVERY MIGHT BE ABOLISHED AND THE UNION PRESERVED 86
IDA LEWIS: THE GIRL WHO KEPT LIME ROCK BURNING; A HEROIC LIFE-SAVER 125
CLARA BARTON: "THE ANGEL OF THE BATTLEFIELDS" 143
VIRGINIA REED: MIDNIGHT HEROINE OF THE PLAINS IN PIONEER DAYS OF AMERICA 174
LOUISA M. ALCOTT: AUTHOR OF "LITTLE WOMEN" 207
CLARA MORRIS: THE GIRL WHO WON FAME AS AN ACTRESS 236
ANNA DICKINSON: THE GIRL ORATOR 271

ILLUSTRATIONS
MOLLY PITCHER Frontispiece
POCAHONTAS SAVES CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH Facing p. 4
MISS VAN LEW BRINGING FOOD TO THE UNION SOLDIER IN THE SECRET ROOM " 108
IDA LEWIS " 128
VIRGINIA GOES FORTH TO FIND HER EXILED FATHER " 194

FOREWORD
The loyalty of Pocahontas, the patriotism of Molly Pitcher and Dorothy Quincy, the devoted service of Clara Barton, the heroism of Ida Lewis, the enthusiasm of Anna Dickinson, the fine work of Louisa Alcott--all challenge the emulation of American girls of to-day. Citizen-soldiers on a field of service as wide as the world, young America has at this hour of national crisis its chance to win recognition for fidelity, for bravery, and for loyal service, with victory for American ideals as its golden reward, in a world "made safe for democracy."
My first aim in bringing the lives of these ten American girls from history to the attention of the girls of to-day has been to inspire them to like deeds of patriotism and courage. Second only to that purpose is a desire to make young Americans realize as they read these true stories of achievement along such widely varying lines of work, that history is more thrilling than fiction, and that if they will turn from these short sketches to the longer biographies from which the facts of these stories have been taken, they will find interesting and absorbing reading.
May the book accomplish its twofold object, and so justify its publication at this time of the testing of all true Americans.
KATE DICKINSON SWEETSER.
August 1, 1917.

TEN AMERICAN GIRLS FROM HISTORY
POCAHONTAS: THE INDIAN GIRL OF THE VIRGINIA FOREST
Sunlight glinting between huge forest trees, and blue skies over-arching the Indian village of Werewocomoco on the York River in Virginia, where Powhatan, the mighty "Werowance," or ruler over thirty tribes, was living.
Through Orapakes and Pamunkey and other forest settlements a long line of fierce warriors were marching Indian file, on their way to Werewocomoco, leading a captive white man to Powhatan for inspection and for sentence. As the warriors passed into the Indian village, they encountered crowds of dusky braves and tattooed squaws hurrying along the wood trails, and when they halted at the central clearing of the village, the crowd closed in around them to get a better view of the captive. At the same time there rose a wild clamor from the rear of the throng as a merry group of shrieking, shouting girls and boys darted forward, jostling their way through the crowd.
Their leader was a slender, straight young girl with laughing eyes such as are seldom seen among Indians, and hair as black as a crow's wing blown about her cheeks in wild disorder, while her manner was that of a happy hearty forest maiden. This was Matoaka, daughter of the Werowance Powhatan, and although he had many subjects as well as twenty sons and eleven daughters, not one was ruled so despotically as was he himself, by this slender girl with laughing eyes, for whom his pet name was Pocahontas, or in free translation, "little romp."
Having established