A Request of Princeton Students to Rachel Wilson, of Kendal, 1769

24 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY. do not then I must take Ceare to do it my selfe which I hope you will Consider will fall hard upon mee in our yong beginning2 but having no dout of youre tender Regard which hither to hath beene largly manyfested to wards mee which is and all wees Shall bee Kindly and Regarded by mee who am in endeared love youre duteiful douter. Mary Bowne A REQUEST OF PRINCETON STUDENTS TO RACHEL WILSON, OF KENDAL, 1769.1 The following interesting document has been communicated by Norman Penney, of London. For some account of Rachel Wilson see the next article.—Editor. Madam.Nassau Hall, May 20th, 1769. We, whose names are subscribed, students of the College of New Jersey, would regard it as a singular obligation if you would favour us with a sermon on Monday next, at whatever time of the day you may please to appoint as most suitable. Some circumstances render it in some measure difficult for us to do ourselves the pleasure of hearing you tomorrow . Your compliance, Madam, will be most gratefully acknowledged by your hhble servt3. Elihu Thayer Caleb Russell Jas. Wilson Hunloke Woodruff John C. Ogden Thomas Melvill Andrew Hodge Nathl. Erwin Saml. Niles Bedford Williams John Smith John A. McDougall James Taylor Phillip (?)2 David Zubly William Willcocks 3 Thos. McFerrin Josiah Pomeroy Andrew Lott John Henry F. Freelinghousin 4 Stephen Tracy Saml. Spring S. McDougall Edm. Cheesman George Smith Jno. Taylor Samll. Harzard 6 James Linn P. Kettletas Saml. Baldwin Peter DeWit Jesse Reed Alexr. Moorhead Jno. Blindenburg Nathan Penking (?)ß Ebenezer Finley Jno. Campble Mathias Williamson Moses Allen Jno. R. Davis Gunning Bedford 7 2 As Mary Becket was married "4th of 8th mo 1691," this letter was written soon after. 1FrOm Gibson MSS., iii, 85, in Friends' Reference Library, Devonshire House, London. 2 Undecipherable. 3 Probably a well-known citizen of Philadelphia. 4 Present spelling Frelinghuysen. B Probably, Hazzard. 6 Indistinct. 7 Doubtless the distinguished citizen of Delaware, Gunning Bedford (i747- RACHEL WILSON, OF KENDAL (1722-1776).25 Joseph RossIsaac SmithJoseph Eckley James GreenAzariah HortonHenry Waggamaman Samuel SmithHugh CraigCaleb Wallace. Addressed : " To Mrs. Rachel Wilson Present." Endorsed : " Request from the Students of Nassau Hall in New Jersey , May 20, 1769." RACHEL WILSON OF KENDAL. 1722-1776. Notes and Incidents of Her Visit to America, 1768-1769. Rachel Wilson (1722-1776) was the daughter of John and Deborah Wilson, of Kendal, Westmorland, England. She married Isaac Wilson, son of Anthony and Dorothy Wilson, of Highwray , near Hawkshead, who had moved to Kendal in his youth.1 Rachel Wilson was recorded a minister when eighteen, and in the course of her life traveled considerably in the ministry. In 1768 she visited America. She landed at Philadelphia Tenth month 16, 1768, and remained in the colonies a few weeks over a year. " Her journey in America was performed almost entirely on horseback. It was a journey of many thousand miles through districts then very imperfectly cleared, in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, North and South Carolina, New York and New England. Her simple narrative (still preserved amongst the family records) gives a vivid picture of the toil and occasional peril then to be encountered in passing through dense forests, in some places almost impenetrable, in the fording of deep rivers where the horses were often obliged to swim, and in many other hardships." 2 One incident of the southern journey is thus described in her journal: 1812), who was in the Continental Congress, 1783-1786, a member of the Constitutional Convention, and signer of the Constitution, 1787. 1 " Piety Promoted," Isaac Wilson, iii, 147, Phila. ed. 2 J. B. Braithwaite, " Memoirs of Anna Braithwaite," London, 1905, P- 42. ...