{"id":15875,"date":"2023-04-23T00:49:24","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T04:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/?p=15875"},"modified":"2023-07-15T19:53:07","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T23:53:07","slug":"quarters-at-liberty-hall-miss-dally-part-viii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/quarters-at-liberty-hall-miss-dally-part-viii\/","title":{"rendered":"“Quarters at Liberty Hall” (Miss Dally Part VIII)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quarters at Liberty Hall<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

(Miss Dally Part VIII)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Although history may not repeat, there are times when it rhymes. In such cases history can be prophetic.[1]<\/a> Miss Dally\u2019s long forgotten boarding house presents a striking example. During the summer of 1787 Gouverneur Morris (the \u201cPenman of the Constitution\u201d) boarded with Miss Dally. A decade earlier Miss Dally\u2019s boarding house was known as \u201cLiberty Hall.\u201d Although additional research is ongoing, history is now ringing with the discovery that Gouverneur Morris boarded at \u201cLiberty Hall\u201d when he \u201cdrafted\u201d the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miss Dally\u2019s boarding house comes to life in a remarkable series of letters between New Hampshire Congressional delegate William Whipple and Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee. The \u201cWhipple \u2013 Lee correspondence\u201d illustrates the deep friendships that were forged around Miss Dally\u2019s hearth. Massachusetts delegates, including Samuel Adams, began boarding with Miss Dally in 1778 during the Revolutionary War. Members of the founding generation continued boarding with Miss Dally during and after the Constitutional Convention.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Upon his return to Congress in November of 1778, William Whipple wrote to Richard Henry Lee that he had \u201ctaken my quarters at Liberty Hall.\u201d[3]<\/a> This blog post will describe the extraordinary correspondence between Whipple and Lee which demonstrates that Miss Dally\u2019s boarding house was affectionately known as Liberty Hall. Indeed, the evidence suggests that Richard Henry Lee created the label \u201cLiberty Hall\u201d based on the fact that Samuel Adams and the Massachusetts delegation to the Continental Congress were boarding with Miss Dally.<\/p>\n\n\n

Residents of Liberty Hall<\/em><\/p>\n

It is likely that William Whipple and Richard Henry Lee first met as delegates to the Second Continental Congress in 1776, a momentous year in American history. Lee represented Virginia at the First Continental Congress beginning in 1774.[4]<\/a> He became the sixth \u201cPresident of Congress\u201d in November of 1784.[5]<\/a> Lee may be best known for the June 1776 \u201cLee Resolution,\u201d a motion which precipitated the vote to declare independence from Great Britain. Although they shared a similar name, Richard Henry Lee should not be confused with his nephew, Henry Light-Horse Harry Lee.[6]<\/a> As described by John Adams, in Virginia Richard Henry Lee was considered the \u201cCicero\u2026of the age<\/a><\/strong><\/span>,\u201d[7]<\/a> who was \u201cthe first who dared explicitly to propose a Declaration of Independence.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

William Whipple was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He represented New Hampshire in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1779. When he wasn\u2019t on the floor of Congress Whipple was leading troops during the Revolutionary War. Famously, Whipple was a commanding officer during the pivotal Battle of Saratoga in 1777. Whipple was one of two American officers selected to negotiate the terms of General Burgoyne\u2019s surrender. Whipple is pictured in the famous Saratoga surrender scene painted by John Trumbull. Prior to the war Whipple was a prosperous merchant with experience as a ship captain.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whipple is pictured third from right at the famous scene of General Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga painted by John Trumbell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During their time together in Congress Whipple and Lee formed a close friendship which is evidenced by years of heartfelt correspondence. While it is reasonable to assume that the term \u201cLiberty Hall\u201d referred to \u201cIndependence Hall\u201d[10]<\/a> in Philadelphia, the Whipple-Lee correspondence discussed below makes clear that Liberty Hall was the \u201cquarters\u201d where Whipple, Lee, Samuel Adams, John Adams and other Massachusetts delegates \u201cspent long winter evenings\u2026with a social pipe and friendly glass.\u201d It made sense that Whipple would board with the Massachusetts delegates as they were all from the same region of the country.[11]<\/a> Moreover, when Whipple returned to Congress in November of 1778 he was the only New Hampshire delegate in Philadelphia at the time.[12]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

Whipple \u2013 Lee correspondence<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

On or about 31 October 1778, Richard Henry Lee departed Philadelphia after having served in Congress since 1774. Prior to leaving, Lee left a letter for William Whipple apologizing that, \u201cI should have been well pleased to have had the pleasure of seeing you here, before my return to Virginia.\u201d[13]<\/a> In early November Whipple returned to Congress following the stunning victory a year earlier at the Battle of Saratoga. Lee\u2019s letter was delivered to Whipple by Samuel Adams, who was also a boarder at Miss Dally\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whipple replied to Lee by letter dated 8 November 1778 indicating that on my arrival I had the pleasure of receiving your letter delivered by \u201cour mutual friend Mr. Adams.\u201d According to Whipple:<\/p>\n\n\n

I have taken up my quarters at Liberty Hall<\/em> where you know is a set, well agreed in political sentiments and I think I may say with great certainty that they are well agreed in sentiments of esteem and respect for you. I anticipate the pleasures of some long winter evenings where with a social pipe and friendly glass we shall call to mind our worthy friend and heartily join in wishing he may soon add to our little circle.<\/p>\n

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The esteem that Lee held for Liberty Hall and the delegates who resided there is evident in his correspondence. In a letter dated November 29, Lee discusses his admiration for the inhabitants of Liberty Hall and the \u201csociable evenings they pass there.\u201d Writing from his home in Chantilly after his \u201cretirement\u201d to Virginia, Lee expressed his pleasure that the \u201cvessel of state is well steered and likely to be conveyed safely and happily into port.\u201d[14]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to their colleagues from Massachusetts residing at Miss Dally\u2019s, Lee wrote that \u201c[t]hey first taught us to dread the rocks of despotism, and I rest with confidence in their skill in the future operations.\u201d Further confirmation that the Liberty Hall label applied to Miss Dally\u2019s boarding house, Lee\u2019s letter of November 29 provides more details about the venerated quarters of the Massachusetts delegates boarding with Miss Dally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Lee:<\/p>\n\n\n

I venerate Liberty Hall, and if I could envy its present inhabitants anything it would be the sensible sociable evenings they pass there. I have not yet been able to quit the entertainment of my prattling fireside, when I have when I heard every little story and settled all points, I shall pay a visit to Williamsburg where our Assembly is now sitting.<\/p>\n\n\n

Lee concludes the November 29th<\/sup> letter by asking Whipple to \u201c[r]emember me with affection to the Society at Liberty Hall, to my friends of Connecticut, R. Island, Jersey, Pennsyln\u2019a & Delaware.\u201d It is clear that by mentioning the \u201cinhabitants\u201d of Liberty Hall, Lee was referring to the quarters where the Massachusetts delegates resided and spent \u201csociable evenings\u201d with Lee and Whipple. Moreover, the fact that Lee distinguishes between the \u201cSociety at Liberty Hall\u201d compared to delegates from other states, is further confirmation that the “inhabitants” at Liberty Hall refers to the Massachusetts delegation residing with Miss Dally.<\/p>\n\n\n

In a letter dated 13 December 1778, Samuel Adams wrote to his wife Betsy indicating that \u201cMrs Clark and her sister Miss Daily in whose house the Massachusetts delegates are agreeably situated present their respectful complements to you.\u201d According to Massachusetts delegate Samuel Holten, he began boarding with \u201cMiss Dolley & [her sister Mrs.] Clarke\u201d on 23 July 1778, after briefly boarding with the widow Robison. Holten recorded in his diary that \u201cGenl. Whipple came to board with us” on 5 November 1778. [15]<\/a> <\/p>\n

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In November of 1778 Samuel Adams shared Lee\u2019s confidence. Although General Howe had taken Philadelphia with 15,000 troops in September of 1777, the British withdrew in June 1778 after occupying the city for nine months. Congress was able to return to Philadelphia in July. No doubt spirits were also buoyed by the fact that earlier in the year the newly independent American nation entered into a formal alliance with France.[16]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

In a letter dated November 9<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, Samuel Adams wrote to James Warren in Boston indicating that \u201c[w]e now begin to hope for peace soon on our own terms\u2026.\u201d Adams also reported that \u201cGeneral Whipple is again returned to Congress.\u201d[17]<\/a> For Adams, Whipple was \u201ca man of sense and great experience in marine affairs\u201d who had served on the Marine Committee. Adams expressed the hope that Whipple could act as the committee chair during Lee\u2019s return to Virginia.<\/p>\n

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Further confirmation that the term Liberty Hall referred to Miss Dally\u2019s boarding house and the Massachusetts delegates residing there can be found in correspondence between Richard Henry Lee and Samuel Adams and in John Adams\u2019 autobiography. In a letter to Samuel Adams dated 6 June 1779<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, Lee extended \u201c[m]y best respects to the patriotic inhabitants of Liberty Hall, and to my esteemed friends Gen. Whipple, Mr. Sherman, General Spencer & Mr. Ellery. I am and shall remain whilst I live your friend.\u201d[18]<\/a><\/p>\n

In his autobiography<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, John Adams indicates that the title Liberty Hall was conceived by Richard Henry Lee. In September of 1774 when the First Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, Adams describes how \u201cthe Delegates from Massachusetts, representing the state in the most immediate danger,\u201d were frequently visited by members of Congress and other supporters. The Massachusetts delegates initially lodged together \u201cat the Stone House opposite the City Tavern then held by Mrs. Yard which was by some Complimented with the Title of Head Quarters, but by Mr. Richard Henry Lee, more decently called Liberty Hall.\u201d As evidenced by Lee\u2019s subsequent correspondence, he continued using the Liberty Hall designation to refer to any location where the Massachusetts delegation was boarding. In 1778, when the British evacuated Philadelphia, Miss Dally\u2019s boarding house inherited the Liberty Hall title when the Massachusetts delegates returned to Philadelphia and took up residence with Miss Dally.[19]<\/a><\/p>\n

When describing Samuel Adams, John Adams professed that his cousin had \u201cthe most thorough understanding of liberty…as well as the most habitual, radical love of it\u201d was \u201czealous and keen in the cause\u201d and embodied \u201csteadfast integrity\u201d and \u201cuniversal good character.\u201d[20]<\/a> It is thus entirely possible that the association of liberty with Samuel Adams may have been one of the reasons why Richard Henry Lee coined the phrase \u201cLiberty Hall\u201d to describe the quarters where Samuel Adams was living with his Massachusetts colleagues. Similarly, John Adams noted in his diary<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that Charles Thomson of Pennsylvania was \u201cthe Samuel Adams of Philadelphia \u2013 the Life of the Cause of Liberty, they say.\u201d[21]<\/a><\/p>\n

As the war was winding down, Whipple wrote to Lee in April of 1783<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to celebrate. Whipple congratulated Lee on the \u201chappy event which for many years has been the great object of your labors and anxious cares. The very unequivocal part you, my dear friend, have taken, in this great revolution, much furnish your hours of retirement with the most pleasing reflections.\u201d Whipple observed that the country was obliged to Lee for his exertions, which helped secure American trade and its fisheries. As a token of this obligation, Whipple enclosed a quintal (100 lbs) of fish.[22]<\/a><\/p>\n

Lee replied to Whipple on 1 July 1783<\/strong><\/span><\/a> indicating that while he enjoyed the fish:<\/p>\n

it is also true that I receive it with infinitely more pleasure when it comes as a token of friendship from a gentleman who I shall never cease to respect and esteem, whilst I live. For I am very sure that if my labors in the vineyard of liberty have contributed to the glorious success of our common country, that yours have done none less so \u2013 And if the Friendships of the world being too often confedericies in vice or leagues of pleasure, are but short lived; the duration of ours will be as certainly lasting as it is certainly founded on the certain principals of virtuous love for our Country.<\/p>\n\n\n

After reflecting on their friendship, Lee noted that, \u201c[t]here is no circumstance in life that would make me happier than to see you at Portsmouth and our old Friends in Boston. I hope to do so, if necessary attention to a numerous family (for I have nine children) does not prevent me.\u201d[23]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

Postscript: Liberty Trees (and the Boston “Liberty Stump”)<\/p>\n\n\n

During the Revolutionary War the concept of a liberty was a major theme. The Sons of Liberty would hold meetings under the famous “Liberty Tree” in Boston. The area beneath the “venerable Liberty-Elm” was called “Liberty Hall.” Boston’s beloved Liberty Tree inspired other Liberty Trees across the country. When the British captured Boston in 1775 they made it a point to cut down the Liberty Tree. Thereafter, Bostonians honored their “Liberty Stump.” For this reason when Lafayette visited Boston he paid his respects to the stump. The Provincial Council of Massachusetts used the iconic tree on battle flags.[24] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should also be noted that the term “Liberty Hall” was not exclusive to Miss Dally’s boarding house when the Massachusetts delegates were boarding with her. For example, William Livingston’s New Jersey home was known as Liberty Hall. Washington and Lee University was founded as Liberty Hall Academy. Yet, history rhymes with the discovery that Gouverneur Morris (and Alexander Hamilton) boarded with Miss Dally at Liberty Hall during the Constitutional Convention. No doubt, “the Penman of the Constitution” was mindful of history when he decided to board with Miss Dally when drafting the Constitution. Perhaps the Liberty Bell was chiming as Morris drafted the Preamble.<\/p>\n\n\n

Footnotes<\/p>\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to Mark Twain, \u201cTruth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn\u2019t.\u201d Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World<\/em> (Doubleday & McClure Co., 1897), 156. Mark Twain attributed the quote to Pudd\u2019nhead Wilson, a fictitious character who Samuel Clemens invented a few years earlier in Pudd\u2019nhead Wilson\u2019s New Calendar<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a>        Gouverneur Morris, Alexander Hamilton and Elbridge Gerry boarded with Miss Dally at various times during the summer of 1787. Gerry initially began boarding with Miss Dally years earlier as a delegate to the Continental and Confederation Congress. Gerry served at various times from 1776-1780 and 1783-1785. Ronald M. Gephart & Paul H. Smith, eds., 26 Letters of Delegates to Congress<\/em> (2000), xviii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a>        William Whipple to Richard Henry Lee, 8 November 1778, Letters of Delegates to Congress<\/em>, ed. Paul H. Smith (1985), 11:187<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a>        Other famous delegates to the First Continental Congress included Samuel Adams and John Adams from Massachusetts and George Washington, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee from Virginia. Journals of the Continental Congress,<\/em> 1774, ed. Worthington C. Ford et al. (1904), 1:14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a>        Lee served in the Continental Congress prior to, during and after the Revolutionary War: 1774-1779, 1784-1785, 1787. While Lee unsuccessfully opposed ratification of the Constitution in 1788 without amendments, he was elected as one of Virginia\u2019s first senators. In the First Congress he championed the adoption of the Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a>        Henry \u201cLight-Horse Harry\u201d Lee earned his nickname during the Revolutionary War as a daring officer in command of light cavalry. He penned the famous phrase \u201cFirst in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen\u201d to describe George Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/a>        According to John Adams\u2019 diary, the Virginians \u201cspeak in raptures about Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry \u2013 one the Cicero and the other the Demosthenes of the age.\u201d The Adams Papers, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams<\/em>, 28 August 1774, vol. 2, 1771\u20131781, ed. L. H. Butterfield (1961), 113\u2013114.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/a>        John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 17 August 1807. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/a>        Whipple\u2019s maternal grandfather was a prominent shipbuilder. Both Whipple and his father worked as ship captains and became successful merchants in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.<\/p>\n\n\n

[10]<\/a>       At the time, Independence Hall was known as the Pennsylvania State House. The name Independence Hall was derived from \u201cthe Hall of Independence\u201d which gradually gained currency beginning in 1824 when the Marquis de Lafayette visited the United and toured Philadelphia, The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/span>, Independence Hall, Charles Mires (2012).<\/p>\n\n\n

[11]<\/a>       While today New Hampshire is characterized as a \u201cnorthern\u201d state in New England, Lee referred to Massachusetts and New Hampshire as \u201ceastern states,\u201d as they were east of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12]<\/a>       New Hampshire\u2019s other delegate to Congress, Josiah Bartlett departed Congress on November 3, the day before Whipple arrived on November 4, 1778. William Whipple to Meshech Weare (New Hampshire\u2019s first governor), 24 November 1778, Letters of Delegates<\/em>, 11:257.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13]<\/a>       Letters of Delegates<\/em>, 11:151 & 26:xxii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[14]<\/a>       The Letters of Richard Henry Lee<\/em>, ed. James Curtis Ballagh (1914), II:453.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[15]<\/a>       In a diary entry on 5 November 1778, Massachusetts delegate Samuel Holten recorded that \u201cGenl. Whipple came to board with us.\u201d Letters of Delegates<\/em>, 11:182. According to Holten\u2019s diary he began boarding with \u201cMiss Dolley & [her sister Mrs.] Clarke\u201d on 23 July 1778, after briefly boarding with the widow Robison. Letters of Delegates<\/em>, 10:344. In a letter dated 13 December 1778, Samuel Adams wrote to his wife Betsy indicating that \u201cMrs Clark and her sister Miss Daily in whose house the Massachusetts delegates are agreeably situated present their respectful complements to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

[16]<\/a>      The British captured Philadelphia after Washington’s defeat at Brandywine and the Battle of the Clouds. The Continental Army wintered at Valley Forge. The Treaty of Alliance and a separate Treaty of Amity and Commerce were signed on 6 February 1778, having been negotiated by American commissioners Ben Franklin, Arthur Lee and Silas Deane. Office of the Historian, French Alliance, French Assistance, and European Diplomacy during the American Revolution<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/span>, 1778-1782.<\/p>\n\n\n

[17]<\/a>       Letters of Delegates<\/em>, 11:189.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[18]<\/a>          The Letters of Richard Henry Lee<\/em>, ed. James Curtis Ballagh (1914), II:59.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[19]<\/a>       The Adams Papers, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, <\/em>vol. 3, Diary, 1782-1804;Autobiography, Part One to October 1776, ed. L. H. Butterfield (1961), 307\u2013313.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[20]<\/a>       The Adams Papers, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams<\/em>, vol. 1, 1755\u20131770, ed. L. H. Butterfield (1961), 263\u2013282.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[21]<\/a>          The Adams Papers, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams<\/em>, vol. 2, 1771\u20131781, ed. L. H. Butterfield (1961), 115-117.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[22]<\/a>       Whipple to Lee, 17 April 1783, Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee, and His Correspondence<\/em>, grandson Richard H. Lee (1825), 1:238.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[23]<\/a>       The Letters of Richard Henry Lee, ed. James Curtis Ballagh (1914), 2:283.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[24] According to historian David Hackett Fischer, while many cultures have honored trees, “Boston was unique for its reverence for a shattered stump, which became a double symbol of American rights and British tyranny.” Liberty and Freedom: A Visual History of America’s Founding Ideas<\/em> (2005), 23-30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quarters at Liberty Hall (Miss Dally Part VIII) Although history may not repeat, there are times when it rhymes. In…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15875"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16184,"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15875\/revisions\/16184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}