Elizabeth F. Ellet

“ The nephew, an accomplished scholar and gentleman, was till his death a lieutenant in the British army.
The talents and attainments of Mrs. Ferguson, her virtues, elevated and invigorated by Christian faith, her independence and integrity of character, and her benevolent feeling for others-endeared her name to a large circle of friends. Yet her life appears to have been one darkened by sorrow. In her later years, the reduction of her income diminished her means of usefulness ”

“ She was the centre of the literary coteries of that day, who were accustomed to meet at her father's residence. Even in early life she discovered a mind richly endowed with intellectual gifts. These were cultivated with care by her excellent and accomplished mother. She was born in 1739. In her youth she passed much time in study; for which, and the cultivation of her poetical talents, opportunities were afforded in the pleasant retreat where her parents spent their summers-Graeme Park, in Montgomery county, twenty miles from Philadelphia. ”

“ She was in company with him three times; the conversation being general on the first two occasions. His declarations, she says, were so warm-in-favor of American interests, that she looked upon him as really a friend to her country. He wished, since he could not himself be permitted to pass the lines, to find some person who would step forward and act a mediatorial part, by suggesting something to stop the effusion of blood likely to ensue if the war were carried on. ”