Hannah White Arnett

By Annabelle Sebastian

Hannah White Arnett (1733-1823) played a large role in the progression of the American Revolution in Elizabeth, New Jersey, by rekindling the hope for independence amongst town leaders.

In December of 1776, the British army released news that any colonialists who switched their allegiance to the crown would receive amnesty. This offer was tempting to citizens of Elizabeth, and a meeting was held by her husband in the Arnett home to debate the idea. Arnett, who had been listening in, was said to have entered the room and the debate at hand, claiming that they should not swear allegiance to Great Britain in exchange for the “protection of [their] life and property,” and shaming them as cowards for their consideration of the offer. Arnett refused to listen to her husband, who attempted to quiet her and remove her from the conversation, and threatened to leave him if he were to swear his allegiance to the crown. A woman leaving her husband in the 18th century was rare, and, for a Quaker woman such as Arnett herself, likely would have resulted in her removal from the local Quaker meeting.

Arnett’s actions, only told after her death, played an important role in the continuation of the American fight for freedom within New Jersey. Additionally, it was her story that was used as one of the founding stories for the creation of the Daughters of the American Revolution. As women were denied entry into the Sons of the American Revolution, Arnett’s great-grandson offered his support for the foundation of a women’s society, and an article was published in the Washington Post by Mary Smith Lockwood, asking “Where will the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution place Hannah Arnett?” It was in October of 1890, with Arnett’s great-grandson in attendance, that a meeting was held to form the Daughters of the American Revolution.

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References:

Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. Volume 47. 1915. p. 234n https://books.google.com/books?id=7S5CAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA234#v=onepage&q&f=false

Fisher, Helen Melinda. “Brave Women of the Revolution.” Woman’s Exponent 28, no. 16-17 (January 1 & February 15, 1900): 99. Nineteenth Century Collections Online (accessed April 1, 2021). https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.rowan.edu/apps/doc/YUYRXD816770069/NCCO?u=rowan&sid=NCCO&xid=129c1a1c.

Frost, J. William. “Quakerism And The Family: In The Past And Present”. Friends Journal. Volume 24. 1978. p. 9 https://works.swarthmore.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1374&context=fac-religion

Harkness, David James. Heroines of the American Revolution. University of Tennessee Knoxville, 1961. p. 8.

Somerville, Mollie D. 1974. Women and the American Revolution. [Washington]: National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/948272

[Book] American Association of University Women, Virginia M. Lyttle, Shirley J. Horner, Sally S. Minshall, and Jeanne Hamilton Watson. 1978. Ladies at the crossroads: eighteenth-century women of New Jersey : a public service project of New Jersey Division, American Association of University Women. The Division. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4499033

Suggested Citation:

Sebastian, Annabelle. “Hannah White Arnett.” New Jersey Women’s History, Rowan University Libraries, 2024. https://njwomenshistory.org/biographies/hannah-white-arnett/.