Isabella of Lennox

Isabella of Lennox

Tantallon Castle where Isabella of Lennox was imprisoned for 8 years by James I

Isabella of Lennox (d.1458) was the ruler of Lennox, from 1437–1458, and last in the line of Mormaers or Native Scottish rulers. As the wife of Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany (d.1425), she was also Duchess of Albany (1420–1425), but in 1425 her family would be almost completely destroyed when her husband, father and two sons were executed by the vengeful King James I of Scotland. Only one son, James the Fat, would escape the King's wrath, and he would die in exile in Ireland soon after. Isabella succeeded in escaping the fate of her family, and would eventually regain her title and estates, retiring to her castle in Loch Lomond where she raised her grandchildren, the children of her youngest son. She would eventually live to see the violent death of her former persecutor, King James. Though none of her four sons survived her, her grandson Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Avandale would in time rise to become Lord Chancellor of Scotland.

Early Life

Isabella was the daughter of Donnchadh, Earl of Lennox and Helena, the daughter of Sir Archibald Campbell. Her father Duncan sought to create powerful links with the great Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, who was the bastard son of King Robert II, and who ruled much of Scotland. In 1392, Duncan agreed to marry Isabella to Robert's son, Murdoch Stewart.

Murdoch and Isabella did marry, and had at least five children:

• Robert (d. 1421)
• Walter (d. 1425)
• Alasdair (d. 1425)
• James/Seamas Mòr (died 1429; some sources say 1449)
• Isabel, who married Sir Walter Buchanan, 13th Laird Buchanan
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Trial of 1425

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Disaster struck Isabella's family when her husband, father and sons Walter and Alasdair were tried for treason and executed by the vengeful King James I of Scotland in 1425. Isabella and her daughter survived this violent purge of the Albany Stewarts, which almost obliterated her family, but she was forced to spend eight years as a royal hostage at Tantallon Castle. Just one son, James the Fat, escaped the King's vengeance in 1425, escaping to Antrim, Ireland, where he would spend the rest of his short life in exile. James died in 1429, prior to an abortive attempt to recapture the throne of Scotland.

Vengeance

Isabella lived to see her family's executioner James I of Scotland die a violent death in February 1437, in a failed coup by his kinsman and former ally Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl. Walter Stewart, who had himself conspired with James against Isabella's dead husband, Murdoch Duke of Albany, also suffered a gruesome end soon afterwards. He and his co-conspirators against the King were attainted and put to death in Edinburgh by a series of tortures remarkable and hideous even for that era. Walter was tortured over a period of three days. On the first, he was put in a cart with a crane, hoisted up, dropped, and jerked violently to a stop to stretch his joints. He was then placed in a pillory and crowned with a red-hot iron crown bearing the inscription "King of all Traitors". On the second day, he was bound to a hurdle and dragged along the high street of Edinburgh. (Some claim he was also blinded and tortured with red-hot iron pincers on this day, but Buchanan speaks only of the hurdle.) On the third, he was disembowelled while alive, his entrails burnt before his face, and his heart was torn out and burnt. Finally, his corpse was beheaded and quartered, and the quarters displayed around the realm.

Restoration of her lands and title

Soon afterwards, in 1437, Isabella was released from captivity and she recovered her lands and title. In the next few years, although forced to govern her province from her castle at Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond, she issued a large numbers of charters, was popular in the province, and was tolerated by King James II. At some point after she regained her liberty, Isabella brought her young grandchildren, the children of James the Fat, to be raised at her castle at Inchmurrin.

Isabella was described by Mark Napier, writing in 1835, as being:

"reserved and lofty in her demeanor, possessing a strong mind, a calm and indomitable spirit; and no lady of ancient or modern times ever stood more in need of such attributes to sustain her under sudden and violent calamities". 

Death and legacy

When Isabella herself died in 1458, having outlived her persecutors, the oldest continuous Gaelicmormaerdom came to an end.

None of Isabella's four sons outlived her, but her grandchildren by James the Fat did survive. Among them was Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Avondale, born in Antrim, Ireland. He became Lord of Avondale in 1459, and Lord Chancellor of Scotland in the same year, becoming one of the leading servants of King James III of Scotland. He would hold the office of Chancellor for 25 years, dying in 1488.

Where does Isabella fit into the Clark family ancestry?

Stuart Benson Clark-->Robert Stuart Clark-->Sarah Jane Gaither-->Stewart Gaither-->Elizabeth Stewart-->John Stewart-->Daniel Stewart-->John Stewart-->Patrick Stewart-->Alexander Stewart-->Patrick Stewart-->William Stewart-->Patrick Stewart--Duncan Stewart-->John Stewart-->William Stewart-->James "The Fat"  Stewart-->Isabella of Lennox

The Fotteralls

The Fotteralls

Clayton Fotterall McMichael's Family Tree
His maternal great grandfather was Stephen Egan Fotterall

Stephen Egan Fotterall, the patriarch of the Fotterall family in America, was born in Dublin, Ireland  on July 4, 1772, to James Fotterall and Mary Blakely.  The surname (usually spelled Fottrell and very rare in Ireland) was held chiefly by propertied Catholics of medieval English descent in the province of Leinster.  It is said that Stephen served in the English Army at Dublin at a very young age.  Perhaps in an effort to escape the army, in 1788 at age 15 and against his family's wishes, he bound himself to a shipmaster (Captain Blair, commander of the ship Rising Sun owned by Gurney & Smith merchants in Philadelphia) for a five year term of indentured servitude (he was to act as clerk in the Gurney & Smith offices) in the United States. His immediate expectations of genteel, urban employment were bitterly disappointed.

When Fotterall arrived in Philadelphia, indentured servitude was in steep decline and Fotterall's services were sold to a master, Mr. Hubly (the Hubly clan was one of the most prominent in Lancaster borough) in rural Pennsylvania where laborers were relatively scarce.  Fotterall was not happy about being "ill-used" by Captain Blair.  In September of 1790 while on an errand collecting cash for Mr. Hubly, Fotterall absconds with $10.00.  His intention was to try and return home to Ireland and he writes a letter to Mr. Hubly informing him of his plan.  In the letter, he promises to pay him back the $10.00 and whatever money he owes for his remaining time. 

Fotterall escaped to Baltimore, Maryland hoping to board a ship bound for Ireland, however there were none. He then traveled to Norfolk, Virginia but the ship he was to board had already sailed.  He found a job in Norfolk as a clerk and stayed there for eight months, and in the interim paid back what he owed Mr. Hubley for the remainder of his servitude.  Fotterall returned to Philadelphia to see Mr. Hubly, thinking the receipt he received from him was a sufficient discharge...this was not the case. Instead of releasing him from his indenture, Hubly had a constable throw him in jail as a runaway servant.  While in jail, Fotterall petitions the Hibernian Society for help.  With their help he is released from jail...

While most Irish servitude led to Irish-American poverty, Fotterall's subsequent career was considered meteoric.  He was a very fortunate youth.

Around 1774/5 he married Catherine Myers Summers Coutance, a widow who perhaps was wealthy because in 1796 city directories listed him as a shopkeeper in partnership with several associates.

In March, 1798 he was elected Ensign of the Light Infantry Company, Third Philadelphia Regiment, and from 1801 through at least 1806 he was ranking officer of the Southwark Light Infantry, the militia unit of the city's premier if poor Irish suburb.

During the War of 1812, Fotterall held the colonelcy, in succession, of two regiments of Philadelphia troops, and from 1819-1821 he served on the executive committee of the Hibernian Society.  

In later decades Fotterall was a shipping merchant on Vine Street, and when he died at his residence on September 26, 1839 at the age of 67, he left a remarkable estate of $38,840 to his wife, two sons, and grandchildren.

Thus, through political and trade connections, this once-exploited Irish indentured servant had managed to reproduce in Philadelphia the self-indulgent lifestyle of late 18th century Dublin's more prosperous merchant-gentlemen.

S.E. Fotterall's grave plot in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA

Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America

The Benson Name

Anne Garnett Emory Clark

The "Benson" Name; Mystery Solved

Anne Garnett Emory and Robert Stuart Clark named their second child Stuart Benson Clark, thus starting a 3 generation naming dynasty that has had me perplexed for years...until now. 

I have been searching for the connection of the middle name "Benson" to anyone in the direct ancestral line of this family and have come up empty handed until some clues surfaced after the death of Stuart Benson Clark, Jr. The documents were typed research notes and questions believed to have been compiled by Eleanor Gaither Clark (married name Bullard), daughter of Anne and Robert Clark. Next to the typed notes were some handwritten notes regarding Anne Garnett Emory's father, Frank Emory's maternal ancestry (the North family). Apparently, Anne's grandmother, Ann (North) had a sister named Sarah (North) who married Alexander Benson. They had a daughter named Harriet Smith Benson (Frank Emory's 1st cousin). Harriet was a spinster but was very good and kind to Anne (Garnett Emory Clark). She took her abroad and even helped put her through Miss Reid's school in New York. It would seem that she named her first son Stuart Benson Clark for cousin Harriet Benson, as she had no children of her own. Stuart Benson Clark named his son Stuart Benson Clark, Jr., and he named his son Stuart Benson Clark, III. What a wonderful tribute to a kind and generous woman who has namesakes living on through Anne's descendants.

More on the Woman Behind the Benson name...

Harriet Smith Benson, the kindly spinster who spawned a three generation naming dynasty was more than just a nice woman, she was one of the richest women in Philadelphia and when she died, gave most of it away...

The New York Times, September 10, 1902

HALF A MILLION FOR CHARITY

The Will of Miss Harriet S. Benson of Philadelphia 

Disposes of More Than 2,000,000 Estate

PHILADELPHIA, PA, Sept. 10th - The will of Miss Harriet A. Benson, who in life was prominent as a philanthropist, was admitted to probate today .  The testament, to which are attached ten codicils, disposes of an estate estimated to be worth upward of $2,000,000.  The testatrix made charitable bequests amounting to a half-million dollars.  Among the more prominent institutions remembered are the following:

The American Sunday School Union:  $25,000

The Women's Union Foreign Missionary Society and the China Island Mission:  $50,000 each

Seaside Home for Invalid Women, Atlantic City, New Jersey; Seamen's Friends Society, Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind; Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Pennsylvania Asylum for Indigent Widows and Single Women; Pennsylvania Industrial Home for Blind Women; Pennsylvania Working Home for Blind Men; Home Missionary Society; Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble Minded Children; Children's Seashore Home, Atlantic City; Hampton, Virginia Normal School and Agricultural Institute; American Colonization Society; Pennsylvania Society to Protect Children from Cruelty; and Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, $5,000 each.

The sum of $10,000 is devised to Charles M. Morton to be expended by him in aiding certain charities not mentioned in the will.

The codicile bequeath $10,000 to the Evangelistic Mission in France known as the McAll Mission.  $5,000 to the director of the various institutions in East London and elsewhere known as "Dr. Bernardo's home and missions."  $5,000 to the Indian School at Carlisle, PA;$25,000 the income to be paid the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Episcopal Church; $25,000 the income to be used by the American Board of Commissioners For Foreign Missions for mission work in Africa; and $2,000 to the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School.

Numerous other bequests are made to local charitable institutions.

 Boston Evening Transcript September 5, 1902 Obituary:

Miss Harriet S. Benson, one of Philadelphia's richest women, a descendant of a Revolutionary officer of distinction, died Wednesday, aged seventy-five.  Her wealth was estimated at from $4,000,000 to $5,000,000, a large part of the income from which she annually spent in charity.

Reformed Episcopal Seminary

The Reformed Episcopal Seminary continues a tradition that began in 1887, when it was founded as The Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church.

The Reformed Episcopal Church was established in 1873 by evangelical Episcopalians in response to developments in the Protestant Episcopal Church of that day. By 1877, the necessity of providing formal theological education for future Reformed Episcopal clergy led to a number of experiments in providing ministry training.

On March 6,1886 Harriet S. Benson, a Philadelphia Reformed Episcopalian, proposed to create a trust to build and administer a denominational seminary and a massive new church in West Philadelphia. Miss Benson's trust was unanimously received by the General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church. The cornerstone of the Seminary building was laid in October 1886, and the Seminary was opened for its first classes in September 1887.

The Hahneman Monthly Volume 39

One of the most difficult of the problems which to-day confronts the management of un-endowed medical schools is that of securing sufficient income for maintaining an educational equipment such as is demanded by the modern methods of medical instruction...

...We are sadly in need of funds, more especially for the establishment of a new or enlarged dispensary building and pathological laboratories and for an endowment, the interest of which shall enable us to increase the salaries, and the number of salaried instructors particularly in the laboratory departments.

In this connection I am glad to inform you that in the past year the college department has received its first contribution toward such a fund, in a legacy of $5000 from the estate of Harriet Smith Benson of this city, and we trust this may stimulate other generous friends of our institution to similar gifts.

The Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy, Volume 42

POLICE MATRONS

"The Associated Committee of Women on Police Matrons" meets monthly, with three representatives each from a number of the charitable associations in this city. Dr. Emily J. Ingram, Mary S. Whelen, and Mrs. P. W. Lawrence represent the Prison Society. I regret that I am not able to give a summary of the number coming under the care of the Matrons, of whom there are now 21 in the city. They are doing most excellent work in caring for lost children, women losing their way, demented ones, etc.

It is a very rare circumstance for The Pennsylvania Prison Society to receive a legacy, as in the whole 116 years of its existence the whole of its bequests would not amount to as much as many an association would receive in a moderate one. Therefore, it is with much satisfaction that I record that by the will of the late Harriet S. Benson, of Philadelphia, she bequeathed $10,000 (only $5,000 of which is for the benefit of the Prison Society, the other $5,000 being left to us for the benefit of the Home for Discharged Prisoners). A memorial to her memory will follow, as well as one to a late member of the Acting Committee.

Feeling that this work is of the Lord and that He has called me to the service, I desire to consecrate my time and my talents to it, and knowing that of myself I can do nothing, I earnestly invoke the Divine blessing upon my labors, and that He who has called me to it may receive all the glory and honor which is His due. Thankful for continued health and strength, which has been vouchsafed to me, and asking for a continuance of the same, this report is respectfully submitted.

John J. Lytle, General Secretary

IN MEMORIUM

HARRIET S. BENSON

Whereas, Miss Harriet S. Benson departed this life on the 3rd day of September, Anno Domini 1902, a devoted Christian woman, with a heart full of love, and a life of good works, while the possessor of great wealth, also possessed of that most excellent gift of charity, actively and personally engaged in the service of her Lord and Saviour for many long years. 

And Whereas, in her last will and testament she gave and bequeathed to The Pennsylvania Prison Society the gift of $10,000 ($5,000 of which was for the use of the Home for Discharged Prisoners), thus giving us substantial strength and encouragement in our work.

Therefore, Resolved, in order to give some palpable token of gratitude, and to keep alive in the minds of future members of this society this great act of Christian benevolence that a copy of this minute be engrossed, framed, and hung upon the walls of the society's room, signed by one of the executors, our worthy President, and the Secretary and Treasurer of the Society.

And also Resolved, That a copy hereof be sent to Edward M. Benson, Miss Benson's only surviving brother, and to her cousin, R. Dale Benson.

Other Organizations that benefited from Harriet's charitable giving:

The Fairmount Park Association

The Philadelphia Children's Homeopathic Hospital

Overbrook School for the Blind

The African Repository

St. Andrew's Church, Philadelphia

The Reindeer Fund