Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/673

632 took a prominent part and not a few were numbered among the belles of that day.

Among these may be mentioned several ladies of the wealthy and influential Franks family; Abigail Franks married Andrew Hamilton, of Philadelphia. Phila Franks, in 1750, married General De Lancy and their New York home was one of the pretentious mansions of the day and later became the Fraunces Tavern and was the very building in which George Washington delivered his farewell address. A daughter of Joseph Simon, of Lancaster, married Dr. Nicholas Schuyler, subsequently one of the surgeons in the Revolutionary War. Sarah Isaacs, the daughter of a patriot soldier, married outside of her own religion and her son was John Howard Payne, the noted composer of "Home, Sweet Home." Among these Rebecca Frank deserves special mention. She was born of wealthy parents gifted with a ready wit and rare personal beauty, and had access to the most exclusive circle of colonial society. Her grandfather was the sole agent for the British kings for the Northern colonies while her father was the king's agent for Pennsylvania, which readily explains why this family, like so many of the colonial aristocracy, took the king's side in the Revolutionary struggle. Rebecca Franks is mentioned as one of the queens of beauty at the Meschianza, a splendid fete given to General Howe before leaving Philadelphia in 1778. She married Colonel, afterwards General, Sir Henry Johnson. Many distinguished Americans visited her in her English home, among these being General Winfield Scott. Her death occurred in 1823. The great majority, however, were staunch adherents of the patriot cause and several Jewish women figure in Revolutionary history. Among the women of the South are the names of Mrs. Judy Minis and her daughter. The wife of a Revolutionary soldier, she was heart and soul in the cause. A strict observer of Jewish ritual, she prepared the