Childhood
Margaret, nicknamed "Peggy", was the fourth and youngest daughter, of Edward Shippen, IV and Margaret Francis the daughter of Tench Francis, Sr., and born into a prominent Philadelphia family which included two Philadelphia mayors and the founder of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Edward Shippen was a judge and member of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania; the family were considered "Loyalists," with allegiance to the British crown. Peggy was the youngest child of the family, though there were two other boys born later who died in infancy. She grew up as the baby of the family, but soon became the favorite of her father.
Sources related that Peggy enjoyed music, doing needlework and drawing and participated in the study of politics. She looked up to her father and, under his tutelage, learned about politics and the forces which led to the American Revolution.
Read more about this topic: Peggy Shippen
Famous quotes containing the word childhood:
“The fact remains that the human being in early childhood learns to consider one or the other aspect of bodily function as evil, shameful, or unsafe. There is not a culture which does not use a combination of these devils to develop, by way of counterpoint, its own style of faith, pride, certainty, and initiative.”
—Erik H. Erikson (1904–1994)
“Sadism is not an infectious disease that strikes a person all of a sudden. It has a long prehistory in childhood and always originates in the desperate fantasies of a child who is searching for a way out of a hopeless situation.”
—Alice Miller (20th century)
“Why are all these dolls falling out of the sky?
Was there a father?
Or have the planets cut holes in their nets
and let our childhood out,
or are we the dolls themselves,
born but never fed?”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)