Tompkins, Charity Purdy
John M. McDonald interview — 1847
Charity Purdy Tompkins (c.1777-1853) begins her interview by describing the Isaac Hunt house, where there was some fighting during the Battle of White Plains in 1776. The remainder of the interview recounts the love story of Jacob Romer (c.1714-1807) and Freena Haerlager (c.1725-1819), Swiss immigrants who endured a period of indentured servitude before their marriage.
Manuscript page facsimiles
High-resolution images served from the Westchester County Historical Society's IIIF endpoint. Click any page to view full size.
Transcription
- Hufeland Index Page 486 -
Mrs. Charity Tompkins: “Betty Cropper lived all the war at her house where Isaac Hunt lived afterwards. The old house stood where the present one does, on the side of the hill. She told me that at the battle of White Plains there were a good many killed about their house. Old Mr. Romer and his wife (the parents of Captain John) were very respectable. They came from the same parish or village in Switzerland and became attached to each other in early infancy – she, the daughter of a farmer, and he the son of a tailor and a tailor himself. When grown up they wanted to marry, but her parents refused to consent. They then determined to seek
- Hufeland Index Page 487 -
their fortunes in America, and left their native place together. When they arrived at New York, she had money to pay her passage, while his means were exhausted. He was about to sell himself for a time as the custom then was, when she said: “You can earn money to purchase my freedom sooner than I can yours. Let me be sold then and you work at your trade until you can earn enough to buy my time, when we will marry. He consented to this arrangement and paid for his passage with her money while she was sold. When he had earned sufficient her freedom was bought, and they were married.