Temperance Wick (October 30, 1758 – April 26, 1822), also known as Tempe Wick and Tempe, was an

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

heroine and the subject of many early American legends. She is traditionally regarded as an example of female patriotism in the early Republic, though many scholars and historians dispute the historical accuracy of the stories and traditions surrounding her life.

Early life

Tempe Wick was born at Jockey Hollow in Morris County, New Jersey, the youngest of Henry Wick's five children . She was likely named after her paternal grandmother Temperance Barnes. The Wick family were one of the first and oldest English families in America. Her father, Henry Wick, was a grandson of the Pilgrim Father John Wick, and was the wealthiest and largest landowner in that part of New Jersey. Very little is known of her early life, but at the age of 21 she and her brother Henry Wick, Jr. were the last of the Wick children living at home with their elderly parents.

Revolutionary War

Henry Wick was commander of the Morris County Cavalry, which was responsible for protecting the New Jersey government and legislature. The winter of 1779–1780 was known as the Hard Winter because of its unprecedented severity. The Continental Army, consisting of more than 10,000 soldiers, made camp on the Wick family's 1400-acre estate, Jockey Hollow, while General

Arthur St. Clair Arthur St. Clair ( – August 31, 1818) was a Scottish-American soldier and politician. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office. During ...

and his staff rented quarters in the Wick House. During the winter at Jockey Hollow, supplies for the large force put great burdens on the community. The troops were poorly clothed and fed, and many went barefoot in the snow. An estimated 100 soldiers died in the brigade hospital that winter and were buried in the field north of the Wick House.

The Pennsylvania Line Mutiny

Despite many requests and pleas to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named " United Colonies" and in ...

, the soldiers wintering in Jockey Hollow had not been paid for most of the year and over a thousand soldiers had deserted. The issues came to a head in late December, when a group of Pennsylvania soldiers organized a mutiny. They planned to march to Philadelphia to demand their pay directly from Congress. The mutineers spent several days foraging through the countryside and stealing any horses and food they found. On December 21, 1780, Henry Wick died, leaving Tempe alone to care for her sick mother Mary and her mentally ill brother Henry. When her mother's condition worsened, Tempe saddled her horse and rode for the home of Doctor William Leddell, who lived about a mile away. The doctor was not present, so Tempe left a message at the Leddell residence and returned home. Along the way, she was accosted by three mutineers. One grabbed the bridle of her horse, demanding that she give them her mount. Tempe agreed, but when the soldier released the bridle to help her down from the saddle, she whipped her horse and raced for home. She arrived safely, but she feared the mutineers would follow her home and take the horse by force. According to one version of the story, Tempe led the horse into the house and hid it in a guest bedroom. She closed the shutter over the window and put a feather bed under it to muffle the sound of its hooves. The soldiers arrived soon after and searched the outbuildings, barn, and woods around the house, but left empty-handed. Tempe supposedly kept the horse hidden in the bedroom until New Year's Day, when the mutineers marched south to Princeton, New Jersey. In another version of the story, Tempe hid her horse in the kitchen. Claims are frequently made that a faint imprint of a horse's shoe can be seen in one of the bedrooms in the Wick House. The Wick House at Jockey Hollow still stands, and is now a part of the

Morristown National Historical Park Morristown National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park, headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, consisting of four sites important during the American Revolutionary War: Jockey Hollow, the Ford Mansion, Fort Nonsense ...

. Visitors are allowed to see the bedroom where Tempe is said to have hidden her horse.

Later life

After her mother Mary died on July 7, 1787, Tempe inherited Jockey Hollow, and married Dr. William Tuttle at the relatively late age of 30. Together they had five children.

Historical accuracy

Scholars dispute the historical accuracy of her life and the traditions surrounding her role in the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny, but she and her parents are frequently mentioned in extant historical documents from the period, including letters, journals, and receipts.

Depictions in literature

Tempe Wick is the main character in a short story written by the American story-teller

Frank R. Stockton Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century. Life Born i ...

. His version emphasizes the patriotic virtues of American girls, using Tempe Wick as an example. However, most scholars agree that Stockton used very few sources when writing the story, and like most later writers and story-tellers who wrote about Tempe Wick, added many details of his own to the legend. Stockton's story is filled with exhortations to patriotism and courage: "When

empe Empe is a village in the municipality of Brummen in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. Empe is located on the Apeldoorn-Zutphen railway, 4 km west of Zutphen. The NS railway station Voorst-Empe was reopened on 10 December 2006. The ...

first began to canter over these hills and dales, it had been in times of peace, when there was nothing in this quiet country of which any one might be afraid; and now, although these were days of war, she felt no fear. There were soldiers not far away, but these she looked upon as her friends and protectors; for Washington and his army had encamped in that region to defend the country against the approach of the enemy." Ann Rinaldi's

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ...

novel '' A Ride Into Morning'' centers on Tempe Wick and her family and is told from the perspective of Tempe's cousin Mary Cooper.

Howard Fast Howard Melvin Fast (November 11, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E.V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson. Biography Early life Fast was born in New York City. His mother, ...

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

'' The Proud and the Free'' (1950) tells the story of the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny from the enlisted man's perspective.Fast, Howard ''The Proud and the Free'' (1950) Patricia Lee Gauch's version of the story, "This Time, Tempe Wick?", is a popular children's book.

References

External links

Morristown National Historical Park: The Great Story
Includes much Jockey Hollow history.

Wick House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wick, Temperance American Revolutionary War American Revolutionary War sites Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Morristown, New Jersey Historic house museums in New Jersey American Revolutionary War museums in New Jersey Museums in Morristown, New Jersey National Historical Parks in New Jersey Parks in Morris County, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Morris County, New Jersey People of New Jersey in the American Revolution Houses in Morris County, New Jersey 1758 births 1822 deaths