My Heroes... Elizabeth Annesley Lewis

Another woman driven to an early death by the treatment meted out by the British because of her husband's activities. What a remarkable woman. She stood in her home as the British destroyed it around her. The book tells of a young British soldier attempting to steal the gold buckles from her shoes as she stood in them. They weren't gold, and she said, "All is not gold that glitters."

She was thrown into prison without a bed or a change of clothes and scant food. An old servant did what he could for her. George Washington, when he learned of her poor treatment, put under house arrest two wives of English gentlemen. The British released her but forced her to stay in New York. The servant stayed with her. A Roman Catholic, he neared death and needed Last Rites. She arranged for a priest to be smuggled into New York.

Though she was finally allowed to join her husband her health was ruined and died not long after.

She brought into the world three children all of whom married. While her husband traveled the world in his business, before the Revolution, she cared for the children most ably.

How fainthearted so many are now, seeking ease and lamenting any tribulation in their life.