Sally Wister's Journal : A True Narrative Being a Quaker Maiden's Account of Her Experiences with Officers of the Continental Army, 1777-1778

By Albert Cook Myers, Sally Wister, Sarah Wister

Book Overview

Sally Wister's Journal is an engaging account of a young Quaker girl's experiences during the American War of Revolution. When the British invaded Philadelphia in 1775, Sally Wister and her family left their gentile suburban life and moved to the countryside of North Wales, fifteen miles away from the city. Throughout this time, she kept a daily journal in the form of letters to her close friend Deborah Norris who remained in Philadelphia. Her lively letters, beginning in 1777 when the British entered nearby Germantown, describe the war from the point of view of a girl of sixteen. She gives a unique insight into Quaker life continuing during the years of war. One of the most interesting aspects of Sally Wister's Journal is her record of the American soldiers who stayed with the family and who visited them throughout 1777 and 1778. With extensive footnotes and an illuminating introduction from Albert Cook Meyers, this journal is both a valuable historical record and an engaging and amusing narrative of a young Quaker girl during a tumultuous time in her country's history. Sarah (Sally) Wister was born July 20, 1761, and lived in Pennsylvania during the American Revolution. She is principally known as the author of Sally Wister's Journal, written when she was sixteen. She returned to Philadelphia in 1778 where she remained until her death in 1804.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1549845055
• ISBN13: 9781549845055
• Release Date: September 2017
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 91 Pages
• Weight: 0.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Real Diary of a Real Girl...

In 1775 the British invaded Philadelphia and Sally Wister, a young Quaker, was sent into the countryside to protect her from harm. While most of it deals with her stay in the country and her interaction with officers of the American Army, it is also shows the fears, dreams and hopes of a girl during the time of the Revolutionary War. True, being a Quaker she is against war and this makes for a interesting first person point of view. A must for any library on early American history, women's history and the American Revolution.

American Revolutionary War Journal, from a Quaker Teenager

><p>Sally Wister was a 16-year-old Quaker maiden when the British, who had already overtaken New York, threatened Philadelphia. Her family left the city for the safety of the farm of William & Hannah Foulke ("Aunt" Foulke), some 15 miles from the city, in the countryside of Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.<p>From September 1777 to July 1778, she kept a journal to tell her friend Debby everything that happened, as the American Army marched by and the British invaded their encampment 6 miles away, and she offered descriptions from headquarters, to camps, to social occasions.<p>During those months, the British captured Philadelphia, battles and skirmishes were held, Burgoyne surrendered, General Washington entrenched at Whitemarsh, and then encamped for the winter at Valley Forge, a cabal rose against Washington, France acknowledged American independence, and, finally, the British withdrew.<p>This girl, at once a proper Quaker maiden and an enthralled teenager, met with (and fancied) Continental officers, hosted General Smallwood, visited the Americans' camps, and showed us real examples of the fears of war, when brought to your door. (The Quakers were sympathetic to the cause of the revolution, but religiously anti-war.)<p>This is a terrific resource -- reading like a novel, yet a real, historical autobiography, a primary source, showing the human side of the American Revolution, as the war swirled around her. Written in the language and spelling of the day, it offers a fresh and vital look<p>The republication of the 1902 edition of the book offers an excellent Introduction by Albert Cook Meyers, placing all the events in context and giving the Wister and Foulke family backgrounds.

American Revolutionary War Journal, from a Quaker Teenager

... Sally Wister was a 16-year-old Quaker maiden when the British, who had already overtaken New York, threatened Philadelphia. Her family left the city for the safety of the farm of William & Hannah Foulke ("Aunt" Foulke), some 15 miles from the city, in the countryside of Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.From September 1777 to July 1778, she kept a journal to tell her friend Debby everything that happened, as the American Army marched by and the British invaded their encampment 6 miles away, and she offered descriptions from headquarters, to camps, to social occasions.During those months, the British captured Philadelphia, battles and skirmishes were held, Burgoyne surrendered, General Washington entrenched at Whitemarsh, and then encamped for the winter at Valley Forge, a cabal rose against Washington, France acknowledged American independence, and, finally, the British withdrew.This girl, at once a proper Quaker maiden and an enthralled teenager, met with (and fancied) Continental officers, hosted General Smallwood, visited the Americans' camps, and showed us real examples of the fears of war, when brought to your door. (The Quakers were sympathetic to the cause of the revolution, but religiously anti-war.)This is a terrific resource -- reading like a novel, yet a real, historical autobiography, a primary source, showing the human side of the American Revolution, as the war swirled around her. Written in the language and spelling of the day, it offers a fresh and vital look at the War.Another edition, the Library-Binding republication of the 1902 edition, offers an excellent Introduction by Albert Cook Meyers, placing all the events in context and giving the Wister and Foulke family backgrounds.

American Revolutionary War Journal, from a Quaker Teenager

Sally Wister was a 16-year-old Quaker maiden when the British, who had already overtaken New York, threatened Philadelphia. Her family left the city for the safety of the farm of William & Hannah Foulke ("Aunt" Foulke), some 15 miles from the city, in the countryside of Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.From September 1777 to July 1778, she kept a journal to tell her friend Debby everything that happened, as the American Army marched by and the British invaded their encampment 6 miles away, and she offered descriptions from headquarters, to camps, to social occasions.During those months, the British captured Philadelphia, battles and skirmishes were held, Burgoyne surrendered, General Washington entrenched at Whitemarsh, and then encamped for the winter at Valley Forge, a cabal rose against Washington, France acknowledged American independence, and, finally, the British withdrew.This girl, at once a proper Quaker maiden and an enthralled teenager, met with (and fancied) Continental officers, hosted General Smallwood, visited the Americans' camps, and showed us real examples of the fears of war, when brought to your door. (The Quakers were sympathetic to the cause of the revolution, but religiously anti-war.)This is a terrific resource -- reading like a novel, yet a real, historical autobiography, a primary source, showing the human side of the American Revolution, as the war swirled around her. Written in the language and spelling of the day, it offers a fresh and vital lookThe republication of the 1902 edition of the book offers an excellent Introduction by Albert Cook Meyers, placing all the events in context and giving the Wister and Foulke family backgrounds.