Mrs. Slocumb possessed a strong and original mind, a commanding intellect and clear judgment which she retained unimpaired to the time of her death. Her characteristic fortitude in the endurance of bodily pain—so great that it seemed absolute stoicism — should be noticed. In her seventy-second year she was afflicted with a cancer on her hand which the surgeon informed her must be removed with a knife. At the time appointed for the operation, she protested against being held by the assistants, telling the surgeon: "It was his business to cut out the cancer; she would take care of the arm," and bracing her arm on the table, she never moved a muscle nor uttered a groan during the operation.
At the age of seventy-six, on the sixth of March, 1836, she sank quietly to rest in the happy home on the plantation "Pleasant Green," where all these exciting scenes and stiring events of the Revolution had taken place.
SARAH REEVE GIBBES.
No better picture of the distress and, indeed, the cataclysm that the later campaigns of the Revolution brought into southern life can be offered than the story of the experiences of Sarah Reeve Gibbes. She was married when about eighteen to Robert Gibbes, a man considerably older than herself, but who possessed wealth and was in every case one of those gentlemen of the old school of whom South Carolina has justly made her boast. He had a house in Charleston, which had been the girlhood home of Miss Sarah Reeve, but they both preferred to spend most of the year at his country seat and plantation on John's Island, about two hours sail from the city. This was a splendid place, the various clusters of buildings resembling a settlement rather than one estate, while the beautifully laid-out grounds and shaded walks gave a most inviting aspect, and earned for its large, square, ancient-looking stone mansion the name of "Peaceful Retreat." Here the young wife devoted herself with earnestness to the duties before her. The children that came to them were many and strong, but before they were fully grown she assumed the care of seven orphan children of the sister of Mr. Gibbes, who at her death had left them and their estate to his guardianship. Two other children were before long added to her charge. Then she saw her husband gradually become a chair-ridden invalid with gout, and the management of the estate, with the writing on business it required, devolved absolutely upon Mrs. Gibbes. The multiplied cares involved in meeting all these responsibilities, together with the superintendence of household concerns, required a rare degree of energy and activity, yet the mistress of this well-ordered establishment dispensed the hospitality of "Peaceful Retreat" with such grace that it became famous. Unable by reason of his affliction to take active part in the war, the feelings of Robert Gibbes were nevertheless warmly enlisted on the republican side and their house was ever open for the reception and entertainment of the friends of liberty. It was doubtless the fame of the luxurious living at this delightful country-seat which attracted the attention of the British during the invasion of Prevost, while the Royal army kept possession of the seaboard about Charleston. A battalion of British and Hessians determining to quarter themselves in so desirable a spot, arrived at the landing at the dead of night, and marching up in silence, surrounded the house.
