Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/475

438 Almost in sight of Judge's cave, in the home of her son-in-law, near New Haven, Connecticut, lives Mrs. Lucy Parlin, one of the surviving daughters of the heroes of 1776. The father of this venerable lady was Elijah Royce, of Wolcott, Connecticut, who at the age of sixteen enlisted in the Revolutionary Army and served seven years and three months. In the famous battle of Monmouth, New Jersey, he received a severe sabre wound on the face and was left for dead on the field. During the terrible winter at Valley Forge, Corporal Royce was awakened one night by some intruder who was trying to share his scanty blanket. He kicked the unwelcome visitor most lustily, and when daybreak came, to his surprise and chagrin, he saw the familiar features of the Marquis de Lafayette.

"Mrs. Donald McLean, member and vice-president of the New York State Commission to the Jamestown Exposition, and president-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was born in Prospect Hall, Frederick, Maryland; and is the daughter of Judge and Mrs. John Ritchie. Her father was judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, and served in the National Congress before his elevation to the bench.

"Mrs. McLean's grandfather was Judge William P. Maulsby, and her grandmother, Emily Nelson (for whom Mrs. McLean is named), was the daughter of General Roger Nelson, who was at college, a boy of sixteen, when the Declaration of Independence was signed. He ran away from the university and joined the Revolutionary forces. He was commissioned lieutenant, and afterwards brevetted brigadier-general for conspicuous bravery on the field of battle. Later in life he served in the National Congress, and afterwards was placed upon the bench of his native state.

"Further back in Mrs. McLean's ancestry were Judges Lynn and Beattie, two of the twelve judges known as 'The Twelve Immortals,' who first signed a protest against the British Stamp Act, eleven years before the first battle of the