Esther de Berdt

Esther de Berdt Reed (October 22, 1746 – September 18, 1780) was active in the American Revolutionary War as a leader who organized women in the cause of American independence.

Early life

Esther de Berdt was born in London, into a family descended of Protestant refugees from Ypres, who had fled the "Spanish Fury" led by the Duke of Alba. Her family called her Hette or Hettie and she loved books very much. In 1770, at the age of twenty-three, she married Joseph Reed, an American who had studied law in London. Thereafter, she and her widowed mother followed him to Philadelphia in the American colonies. Reed later served as George Washington's secretary and aide-de-camp.

History

Though she was English by birth, Esther was exceptionally devoted to the revolutionary cause. During the Revolutionary War, she helped organize a women's group in Philadelphia which raised more than $7000 in support of the war. At the suggestion of General Washington, the group then used the funds to purchase linen and sew clothing for American troops. De Berdt had wanted to give the men gold or silver coins, something above and beyond what they would normally receive, but Washington feared the money would be used for liquor, and that the men, used to receiving paper money, would start to demand hard currency. De Berdt acquiesced after two letters from Washington, but to personalize the gift, she had each volunteer seamstress, whether married or unmarried, sew her name into the clothing she made. For de Berdt's efforts in support of the American cause, she was recognized as a Daughter of Liberty. During an evacuation of Philadelphia she fled with her six children to Flemington, New Jersey.

She is buried in the Arch Street Presbyterian Church cemetery in Philadelphia. Her epitaph reads:

In memory of Esther, the beloved wife of Joseph Reed
President of this State, who departed this life
On the 18th of September, A.D. 1780, aged 34 [sic] years.
Reader! If the possession of those virtues of the heart
Which make life valuable, or those personal endowments which
Command esteem and love, may claim respectful and affectionate
Remembrance, venerate the ashes here entombed.
If to have the cup of temporal blessings dashed
In the period and station of life in which temporal blessings
May be best enjoyed, demands our sorrow, drop a tear, and
Think how slender is that thread on which the joys
And hopes of life depend. [William B. Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed (1847; Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, p. 269]

References

2. Founding Mothers, by Cokie Roberts (2004: New York:Harper Collins, p. 118-130)

External links

* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/dreamteam/estherreed.html Biographic sketch of Esther de Berdt at White House website for children]