Martha Ibbetson Gray (January 28, 1734 – June 27, 1781) was an American woman known for her care of wounded soldiers at the Walnut Street Prison during the American Revolutionary War.
Martha Ibbetson Gray | |
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| Born | January 28, 1734  London |
| Died | June 27, 1781 (aged 47) |
| Spouse(s) | George Gray |
Martha Ibbetson was born on January 28, 1734 in London into a Moravian family. She was the daughter of Robert Ibbetson and Margaret Coultas Ibbetson. She received some training under an apothecary surgeon in England. In 1749, the Ibbetson family emigrated to the Pennsylvania Colony. In 1752 she married George Gray, a wealthy politician who advocated for the revolutionary cause. They were married in Whitby Hall, the Philadelphia estate built by her material grandfather, James Coultas. They had thirteen children, two of which died in infancy.[1][2][3]
During the Revolutionary War, British forces imprisoned captured American troops in the Walnut Street Prison in Philadelphia. Gray provided medical care and food to these prisoners at her own expense. At one point, she was accused of being a spy and banished from Philadelphia, but she successfully appealed that decision to William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe.[1][2][3]
Martha Ibbetson Gray died on 27 June 1781.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Shields, Charles Woodruff (1913). "A Heroine of the War for Independence". The Journal of American History. 7: 1249–1253.
- ^ a b c Liddell, Mary Stanley Field (1940). The Hon. George Gray, 4th, of Philadelphia, his ancestors & descendants / by Mary Stanley Field Liddell. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. [Ann Arbor, Mich. : Lithoprinted by Edwards Brothers, Inc.] 1940.
- ^ a b Thompson, J. J.; Leiper Holmes, Elizabeth (1942-12-31), Biddle, Gertrude Bosler; Lowrie, Sarah Dickinson (eds.), "Martha Ibbetson Gray (1734–1799)", Notable Women of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 42–43, doi:10.9783/9781512814477-028, ISBN 978-1-5128-1447-7, retrieved 2023-11-21
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