Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley was the daughter of John George Ludwig Hass (or Has), who apparently dropped his last name some time after coming to America. One of the sturdy German peasants who emigrated from the Palatinate in 1730, he acquired a small dairy farm near Trenton, New Jersey, where Mary was born. In 1769, she went, as a servant in the family of Dr. William Irvine, to Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Molly obtained a livelihood by scrubbing, caring for children, and similar tasks. The General Assembly of Pennsylvania took notice of her services during the Revolution, passing on February 21, 1822, "An act for the relief of Molly M'Kolly" which directed that she be paid forty dollars immediately and an annuity of the same amount. Molly was described by contemporaries as a short, thick-set woman, of rather rough appearance and brusque manner, but industrious and kindly. Her grave was marked in 1876 and in 1916 by monuments.
On December 1, 1775, her husband enlisted in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment of Artillery, served one year, and in January 1777 joined the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment. Molly Hays remained for some time in Carlisle, then returned to her parents' home to help them, and to be near her husband. At the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, John Hays was detailed to the artillery. It was a terrifically hot day, and Molly, who was on the field, went back and forth from a well, carrying water to the exhausted and wounded. This won for her the sobriquet of "Molly Pitcher. " Her husband fell, overcome by the heat. Molly stepped into his place beside his cannon, and filled it ably and heroically for the rest of the battle. After the war she and her husband returned to Carlisle.
McCauley married John Caspar Hays, on July 24, 1769. Some years after the death of John Hays in 1789, she married George McCauley, a union which proved unhappy.
