Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/472

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Women from the Time of Mary Washington
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maintained, and at her weekly receptions one may meet many agreeable and eminent persons.

DELIA GRAEME SMALLWOOD.

Mrs. Smallwood, vice-regent of the District of Columbia, was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Her Revolutionary ancestry is on the side of her mother, whose people have lived in New England for many generations. Her great-grandfather, Dr. James Jackson, for whom the town of Jackson, New Hampshire, was named, was one of the first surgeons of New England. Another ancestor was Joseph Clark, who was one of the men who rowed General Benedict Arnold to the British ship "Vulture" on the morning of his desertion and who refused a command in the British army which was offered him as an inducement to remain on the British side. One of the earliest of Mrs. Smallwood's ancestors in this country was General Hercules Mooney, who came from the north of Ireland in his own boat, "The Hercules," landing at Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was highly educated and became one of the foremost teachers of his day. He served in the early Colonial wars as a British colonel and took part in the capture of Louisburg. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, however, he united his fortunes with the American colonies, was made a general and figured largely in the northern campaign of that heroic seven years' struggle. Through her father Mrs. Smallwood belongs to the Graemes of Scotland and the Hetheringtons of England. "The Fighting Graemes," as they were called, have served in every English and Scotch war and at the battle of Bunker Hill they were in the British army and stormed the heights which her mother's people were valiantly defending. Mrs. Smallwood's family have always placed a high valuation upon education. Her own was obtained in Boston, where she received the advantages of its splendid public school system in conjunction with private tutoring in music, art, oratory, literature and science, and finally occupied a high position as a teacher in the Boston public schools. For years she has been, conjointly with her husband, principal of the Washington Seminary of the Capital city. Mrs. Smallwood is a public spirited woman, active in the philanthropic work of the city, and she is closely identified with the Young Women's Christian Association as one of its vice-presidents. She is well known as an accomplished teacher, able speaker and an enthusiastic member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is tireless in her work in whatever case she champions.

RUTH M. GRISWOLD PEALER.

Ruth M. Griswold Pealer, genealogist of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was born in Dansville, Steuben County, N. J., daughter of Hubbard Griswold, one of the pioneers of western New York, a descendant through an unbroken male line from Edward Griswold, of Kenilworth, England, who settled in Connecticut in 1639.

In early life Ruth Griswold was a student at the Rogersville Union Seminary, near her home, and spent a year at the seminary in Dansville, Livingston County, N. Y. At the age of seventeen she became a teacher in a country school, which