The Scandalous
Mrs. Decrow
First woman poslmasfor in the United
States.
By BILLY ARTHUR
Sarah Moore Delano Dccrow of
Perquimans Counly never crusaded
for equal rights for women, but she was
doubtless one of North Carolina's ear¬
liest feminists — in the IXth century
when woman's place was considered
definitely in the home.
Sarah Dccrow was recognized as the
first woman postmaster in the United
States after the adoption of the Con¬
stitution. and she w as also notorious as
a businesswoman and for her activities
in the courtroom, the bar. and possibly
the bedroom.
Little is known of her childhood.
Probably she was the daughter of John
Moore and Mary Ratliff and born
about 1750. However, in 1767 she mar¬
ried Ichabod Delano from whom she
inherited considerable land at his death
in 1774. That evidently triggered an
acquisitive attitude toward affluence,
however acquired.
A year later she married Robert De¬
crow. a Hertford innkeeper. After his
death in 1784 Sarah ran the inn and was
engaged in farming and other business
activities.
Thus, in a span of about 17 years she
had become a woman of property and
affairs. She was often in court in suits
over land and for collection of debts
owed by tenants and lodgers w ho had
absconded. And. at least once she was
a defendant. In April 1789 she was
charged with bootlegging, more speci¬
fically with "selling Spiritous Liquors
in small Measures . . . contrary to the
act of the Assembly and to the great
Injury of the Rcvinue of the Govern¬
ment. . .
But a more interesting case was her
suit in October 1787 against Hinchea
Gilliam for slander. In uninhibited lan¬
guage the complaint drawn by James
Iredell, a prominent lawyer of the time,
maintained that Sarah Decrow was a
"Chaste, pious. Virtuous and faithful
citizen .... reputed and esteemed to
be of honest and Virtuous Fame Credit
and Reputation among her Relations
Friends & Neighbors and other good
citizens. . . ."
She charged that Gilliam on August
20. 1786, and at other times did
"speak, pronounce, publish and de¬
clare that Sarah Dccrow is a Whore
and I can prove that Nat Williams
. keeps her (meaning the said
Sarah and that she lived in a State of
Fornication & adultery with the said
Nathaniel Williams in open Vio¬
lation of every Law Human N di¬
vine) . "
But in October 1788 she agreed to
dismissal of the suit conditional upon
Gilliam "making a proper apology &
recanting the truth of such suggestions
.... and that on the contrary he en-
HOW DR. HARRY CHASE
WROTE HIS SPEECHES
Years ago. when J. Paul Lentz, of
Burlington, was a college student he
learned a valuable technique — purely
by accident — from the university
president. Here’s how he recalls it:
"I arrived in Chapel Hill with $50
less the cost of train fare from States¬
ville to Durham. My first "self-help"
job was washing windows in Old
South Building. The foreman or boss.
Mr. "Shack” Lloyd, put me on a lad¬
der in the office of the University
President. Dr. Harry Woodburn
Chase, to wash the inside of the win¬
dows with Bon Ami. w orking opposite
another student on the outside. I was
an all-eyes-and-cars green freshman.
“A much younger school official
was talking with Dr. Chase when the
telephone rang. Dr. Chase answered,
had some discussion on the phone.
tertains the highest respect for Mrs
Decrow & has reason to esteem her as
a good neighbor . "
One wonders, however, what placed
Mrs. Decrow, certainly an unusual
woman of rare traits for her time, in
line to be named on Sept. 27. 1792. the
postmaster at Hertford, thus becoming
the first woman postmaster of the
United States.
In that position she became disgrun¬
tled. as indicated by an August 23.
1793. letter to her from the General
Post Office in Philadelphia:
"You are mistaken in supposing that
you were entitled to no more than 20
per cent compensation. You are enti¬
tled to 40 per cent which is the highest
rate the Postmaster General is au¬
thorized to allow."
She held the office two more years,
probably until her death, but it must
have been for honor rather than com¬
pensation because the records show
that Thomas McNidcr. who succeeded
her in 1795 earned only 59c his first
year in office.
The exact date of Sarah Decrow's
death also is undetermined, but her
will was filed for probate in May of
1795 and the subsequent record of
sales from her estate w as voluminous.
A declared feminist or not. Sarah
Decrow certainly defied the social
conventions of her era.
wrote something down on his desk
pad (or calendar), hung up and said to
the other person. "They want me to
talk to a club in Salisbury. What
should I talk about?" After a brief
discussion, he wrote something else
on the same pad.
"The younger man asked Dr. Chase
how he went about writing his
speeches. His reply was that as soon
as he decided on a date, he also de¬
cided on the topic of his talk and fixed
both in his mind, as well as on his
schedule, then continued with the day
to day business at hand. When he got
up to talk, his mind would have the
speech in order to deliver, and he de¬
livered it."
Lentz says the system has always
fascinated him. and occasionally he
yields to the temptation of using it.
With something specific in mind, it
eventually becomes necessary to type
it up. in order to clear the brain.
THE STATE. MAY 1983
Little Known Stories
About Well-Known People
10