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I am not a descendant of a Frazer family. I recently obtained a book, Valley Forge, by Henry Emerson Wildes, 1938 that has a wonderful story about Mary Taylor Frazer:
p. 214 to 215 --
News of the abuses reached Washington through the cleverness of Mary Taylor Frazer and Jane Sheward Gimmons,
the tall, imperious "Queen of the County," who had called on Howe to demand the return of her cow. Persifor Frazer
had been taken prisoner after the battle of Brandywine. The two aggressive women insisted on receiving permission
to visit Frazer in the jail, and Howe, anxious to win favor among the Quaker farmers, unsuspectingly allowed them to
pass Cunningham's guard. They saw the mistreatment of the prisoners and, noticing the marks of starvation and
abuse, suggested that Frazer and his fellow prisoners write a formal letter of protest to Washington.
Cunningham and Loring had been careful to prevent leakage of such information. When the women were about to
leave the jail, sentries demanded that they submit to search. Mrs. Gibbons stubbornly protested and acted as though
she were trying to escape; Mrs. Frazer, who had concealed the note in her petticoat under a strip of braid, seemed
acquiescent. Tory women called in to make the search, finding nothing on the angrily struggling Mrs. Gibbons, gave
only a cursory glance at Mrs. Frazer. She carried off not only the statement of protest but also a small sample of the
bad bread served to the prisoners.
Once past the sentries, the women rode to the Middle ferry, passed the guards as though on their way to the
Brandywine, but then wheeled their horses northward toward the American camp. Under the escort of an American
colonel found with a roistering group at Swedes' Ford tavern, the women spurred onward to Washington's
headquarters. Their information was immediately used as the basis for an official protest sent to General Howe,
Conditions thereafter were improved for prisoners.
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