Molly Pitcher
| Molly Pitcher | |
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Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth, lithograph
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| Birth name | Mary Ludwig Hays |
| Born | October 13, 1754 Trenton, New Jersey, British America |
| Died | January 22, 1832 (aged 77) Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Buried at | (40°11′51″N 77°11′17″W / 40.19744°N 77.18797°WCoordinates: 40°11′51″N 77°11′17″W / 40.19744°N 77.18797°W) |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
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| Battles/wars | |
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Molly Pitcher was a nickname given to a woman said to have fought in the American Battle of Monmouth, who is generally believed to have been Mary Ludwig Hays. Since various Molly Pitcher tales grew in the telling, many historians regard Molly Pitcher as folklore rather than history, or suggest that Molly Pitcher may be a composite image inspired by the actions of a number of real women. The name itself may have originated as a nickname given to women who carried water to men on the battlefield during War.
The deeds in the story of Molly Pitcher are generally attributed to Mary Ludwig Hays. Molly was a common nickname for women named Mary in the Revolutionary time period. Biographical information about Mary Hays has been gathered by descendant-historians, including her cultural heritage, given name, probable year of birth, marriages, progeny, census and tax records, etc., suggesting a reasonably reliable account of her life. Nonetheless, independent review of these documents and the conclusions suggested by the family still needs to be done by professional historians; some details of her life and evidence of the story of her heroic deeds remain sparse.
Mary Ludwig was born to a family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There is some dispute over her actual birth date. A marker in the cemetery where she is buried lists her birth date as October 13, 1744. Mary had a moderately sized family that included her older brother Johann Martin, and their parents, Maria Margaretha and Johann George Ludwig, who was a butcher. It is likely that she never attended school or learned to read, as education was considered a waste of money on young girls at this time.
Johanes George Ludwick died in January, 1769, and the following June, his widow, Mary Ludwick (also "Ludwig") married John Hays. In early 1777, Molly married William Hays, a barber, in the town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Continental Army records show that William Hayes was an artilleryman at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. On July 12, 1774, in a meeting in the Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, Dr. William Irvine organized a boycott of British goods as a protest of the Tea Act. William Hays' name appears on a list of people who were charged with enforcing the boycott.
In 1777, William Hays enlisted in Proctor's 4th Pennsylvania Artillery, which later became Proctor's 4th Artillery of the Continental Army. During the winter of 1777, Mary Hays joined her husband at the Continental Army's winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. She was one of a group of women, led by Martha Washington, known as camp followers, who would wash clothes and blankets, and care for sick and dying soldiers.
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Wikipedia