USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 2 > Part 35
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No more vivid descriptions of Indian massacres can be found than those written in 1676 by Mary Rowlandson, the wife of the minister of the church of Lancaster: The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: an Narrative of the Cap- tivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. A part of her description of the "doleful onslaught of the Indians" makes clear the horrors of the occasion.
Oh! the doleful sight that now was to behold at this house! Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desola- tions he has made in the earth. Of thirty-seven persons who were in this one house, none escaped either present death, or a bitter captivity, save only one, who might say as in Job 1, 15: 'And I only am escaped alone to tell the news.' There were twelve killed, some shot, some stabbed with their spears,
378 EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WOMEN
some knocked down with their hatchets . . . There was one who was chopped in the head with a hatchet, and stripped naked, and yet was crawling up and down. It was a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood, some here and some there, like a company of sheep torn by wolves. All of them stripped naked by a company of hell-hounds, roaring, singing, ranting, and insulting, as if they would have torn our very hearts out; yet the Lord, by his almighty power, preserved a number of us from death, for there were twenty-four of us taken alive and carried captive . . . "
A few letters and journals of real historic and literary value were written by women who received their early train- ing during the middle of the eighteenth century. The famous letters of Mercy Otis Warren to President Adams, written during the American Revolution, have become important docu- ments for the student of the history of this period. In spite of the fact that Mrs. Warren received no formal education, her writings reveal a quickness of mind and literary genius which far excelled that of other women of her time. As a young girl Mercy Warren delighted in intellectual pursuits, and close companionship with her brother, James Otis, made it possible for her to share with him many of his educational opportunities. In 1739, when Mercy was eleven years old, he left their Barnstable home to enter Harvard College. At home Mercy studied with her tutor, the Reverend Jonathan Russell. She had a passion for history, and with him she read Raleigh's History of the World. Years later she wrote in satire to a friend, giving advice from what may have been learned from her own experiences :
"If you have a Taste for the Study of History let me Urge you not to Indulge it, least the Picture of human Nature in All Ages of the World should give Your Features too serious a Cast or by becoming acquainted with the rude State of Nature in the Earlier Ages,-the Origin of Society, the Foun- dations of Government & the Rise & Fall of Empires, you should Inadvertently glide into that unpardonable Absurdity & sometimes Venture to speak when Politicks happen to be the Subject .- In short, Science of any Kind beyond the Toilet, the Tea, or the Card Table, is as Unnecessary to a Lady's figuring
379
MADAM SARAH KNIGHT
in the Drawing Room as Virtue unsully'd by Caprice is to the Character of the finish'd Gentleman. . . "
When Mercy Warren was fifteen years old she went to the Harvard Commencement exercises of her brother. How much this experience meant to the young Puritan maid, who years later through her satirical dramas and historical poems came to be recognized as the literary genius of her period!
It is evident that there were only a few New England women of the eighteenth century who may be compared with that Puritan scholar of the seventeenth century, Anne Bradstreet; and only a few who cherished the ambition to become "blue- stockings" after the manner of their cousins across the water.
MADAM SARAH KNIGHT
The fortunate discovery of the journal of a woman of great vigor and independence, nearly a generation after she wrote it, gives us a unique picture of the ways of her world. Sarah Kemble Knight, born in Boston in 1666, knew them as few women did. Her life was filled with adventure and variety, and her ready pen made caustic comment on all the day's happenings. It was her father, Captain Kemble, a rich merchant, who drew upon himself the historic penalty when, rejoicing to see his wife after a three-year absence, he kissed her on the Sabbath Day. The punishment meted out to him for this "lewd and unseemly behavior" was to sit for two hours in the public stocks and meditate upon his offense.
Sarah married the "son of a London trader" but he died abroad when she was thirty-seven years old. Her subsequent career included many activities. For nearly fifteen years she kept a dame school in which her pupils: included no less famous persons than Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Samuel Mather. The latter later lived in the house in which he had gone to school and carefully preserved a pane of window glass on which one of Madam Knight's frequent verses had been inscribed by her with her diamond ring. Later on Madam Knight took up her residence in Connecticut and we hear of her managing a farm and operating a tavern near New Lon- don. The town of Norwich received from her a handsome gift in the form of a silver communion cup. In grateful
380 EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WOMEN
recognition of this the town permitted her to "sitt in the pue where she used to sitt in ye meeting house." Alas, we also hear of public notice of her activities in another connection, that of "selling strong liquor to the Indians," for which she was indicted and fined.
The exploit for which we are most indebted to her, how- ever, is the "perilous journey" which she took from Boston to New York in 1704, to claim some property in the latter place which had belonged to her husband. This was a most unusual undertaking for a woman and one fraught with real danger. Wild animals frequented the woods through which she had to pass and the way itself was so uncertain that she had to hire guides. She followed as much of the way as possible with a post rider.
In addition to the light which the story of the expedition throws on the character of this remarkable woman, the journal is the detailed record of the impressions of all she saw and heard and is one of the most authentic sources of information regarding the manners and customs of the time. Frequently her notes are long accounts with spicy comment. Often she entertains herself by putting her experience into verse form, evidently a favorite pastime with her. The pane of glass so carefully preserved by Dr. Samuel Mather has reference to the perils of this journey. It runs :
"Through many toils and many frights I have returned poor Sarah Knights Over great rocks and many stones God has preserv'd from fractur'd bones."
She rode on horseback from Boston through Dedham and stopped at Billing's, a tavern twelve miles farther on, in order to overtake the post. A lively description of this stop is con- tained in the journal :
"My Guide dismounted and very complasently help't me down and shewed the door, signing to me with his hand to Go in; which I Gladly did. But had not gone many steps into the Room, ere I was Interrogated by a young Lady I understood afterwards was the Eldest daughter of the family, with these, or words to this purpose, (viz) Law for mee-what in the
381
MADAM SARAH KNIGHT
world brings You here at this time-a-night ?- I never see a woman on the Rode so Dreadfull late in all the days of my Varsall Life. Who are You? Where are You going? I'me scar'd out of my witts-with much now of the same Kind. I stood aghast, Prepareing to reply, when in come my Guide- to him Madam turn'd, Roreing out: Lawfull heart, John, is it You ?- how de do! Where in the world are you going with this woman? Who is she? John made no Ans'r but sat down in the corner, fumbled out his black Junk, and saluted that instead of Debb; She then turned agen to mee and fell anew into her silly questions, without asking mee to sitt down."
We have several instances of the country custom of the day according to which our lady of high degree had to share the room in which she slept with the men who were her travelling companions. In one instance she relates :
"arriving at my apartment found it to be a little Lento Chamber furnisht amongst other Rubbish with a High Bedd and a Low one, a Long Table, a Bench and a Bottomless chair, -Little Miss went to scratch up my Kennel which Russelled as if shee'd bin in the Barn amongst the Husks, and supose such was the contents of the tickin-nevertheless being exceeding weary, down I laid my poor Carkes (never more tired) and found my Covering as scanty as my Bed was hard. Anon I heard another Russelling noise in Ye Room-called to know the matter-Little Miss said shee was making a bed for the men; who, when they were in Bed complained their leggs lay out of it by reason of its shortness-my poor bones complained bitterly not being used to such Lodgings, and so did the man who was with us; and poor I made but one Grone, which was from the time I went to bed to the time I Riss, which was about three in the morning, Setting up by the Fire till Light."
On another occasion, when she was kept awake by the loud talk of her companions who grew more noisy as they drank, she says, "I set my Candle on a Chest by the bedside, and setting up fell to my old way of composing my Resentments in the following manner :
I ask thy Aid O Potent Rum! To Charm these wrangling Topers Dum. Thou hast their Giddy Brains possest
382 EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WOMEN
The man confounded with the Beast And I, poor I, can get no rest Intoxicate them with thy fumes : O still their Tongues till morning comes !"
Accustomed to having her own way, Madam Knight could wax vindicative when she was denied. She thus describes her action at one house where she was refused the hospitality to which she thought herself entitled, she expressed herself in satiric wise :
"May all that dread the cruel fiend of night Keep on, and not at this curs't Mansion light. 'Tis Hell; 'Tis Hell! and Devills here do dwell : Here Dwells the Devill-surely this's Hell. Nothing but Wants; a drop to cool yo'r Tongue Cant be procur'd those cruel Fiends among. Plenty of horrid grins and looks sevear, Hunger and thirst, But pitty's banish'd here- The Right hand keep, if Hell on Earth you fear !"
Probably it would be almost impossible to match among the women of her time the personality which is revealed in this very human document. Yet Madam Knight, as an outstand- ing figure, illuminates their characteristics. Her spirit and her behavior in her various undertakings undoubtedly express her generation. Certainly this school teacher and innkeeper went out to meet life with energy and enthusiasm, and the limita- tions which the traditions of her society put upon her sex were not sufficient to deter her.
The contrast between the educational and occupational op- portunities of the women of today and those of our grand- mothers is so marked that we often make the mistake of as- signing to the women of the eighteenth century a place very much more in the background than the one they actually occu- pied. On the other hand, it is clear that the more finely grained individuals of the earlier day had a difficult time. It took a woman of Madam Knight's worldliness and vehemence to find
MADAM SARAH KNIGHT
383
a place where there was any degree of freedom in the order- ing of her life. It must be remembered that Madam Knight's career was made possible by the security of her economic position. She was a woman of property and owed her inde- pendence as well to that as to her own indomitable character.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABBOTT, EDITH .- Women in Industry (New York, 1909).
ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS .- Three Episodes of Massachusetts History (2 vols., Boston, 1892).
ADAMS, CHARLES FRANCIS .- Memoir and Letters of Mrs. Adams, the wife of John Adams (Boston, 1848).
BJÖRKMAN, F. M. AND PORRITT, A. G. editors .- Woman Suffrage, History Arguments and Results (New York, 1915).
BOSTON : SELECTMEN .- Records (BOSTON : RECORD COMMISSIONERS, Reports, 39 vols., Boston, 1880-1909)-For selectmen's records during the eight- eenth century see Vols. IX and later volumes.
BROWN, ALICE .- Women of Colonial and Revolutionary Times: Mercy Warren (New York, 1896).
CALHOUN, A. W .- A Social History of the American Family (Cleveland, 1917).
COOK, F. A .- "The Marriage Celebration in the Colonies" (Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 61, pp. 350-362; March, 1888).
DEXTER, E. G .- A History of Education in the United States (New York, 1904).
DWIGHT, S. E .- The Life of President Edwards (New York, 1830).
EARLE, A. M .- "A Boston School Girl in 1771." (Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 72, p. 218; August, 1893).
EARLE, A. M .- Colonial Dames and Good Wives (New York, 1895).
EARLE, A. M .- Customs and Fashions in Old New England (New York, 1893).
EARLE, A. M .- Home Life in Colonial Days (New York, 1900).
EARLE, A. M .- The Sabbath in Puritan New England (New York, 1891).
GOODSELL, W .- A History of the Family as a Social and Educational Institution (New York, 1915).
HART, A. B., ed .- American History Told by Contemporaries (New York, Macmillan, 1898) .- See Vol. II. Building of the Republic, 1689- 1783.
HART, A. B., ed .- Social and Economic Forces in American History (New York, 1913).
HART, A. B., ed .- Source Book of American History (New York, 1903). HINSDALE, B. A .- Horace Mann (New York, 1898).
HOLLIDAY, CARL .- Woman's Life in Colonial Days (Boston, Cornhill Pub. Co., 1922).
HOWARD, E. G .- History of Matrimonial Institutions (2 vols., Chicago, 1904).
KELSO, R. W .- The History of Public Poor Relief in Massachusetts, 1620- 1920 (Boston, 1922).
KNIGHT, S. K .- The Private Journal of Sarah Kemble Knight. . .. (The Academy Press, Norwich, Conn., 1901).
MACGILL, C. E .- "The Myth of the Colonial Housewife." (The Independent, Vol. 59, pp. 1318-1322. Dec. 15, 1910).
384
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385
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
MARTIN, G. H .- The Evolution of the Massachusetts Public School System (New York, 1894).
MASSACHUSETTS COLONIAL SOCIETY, Publications (Vol. 6, Boston, 1904). (Vol. 7, Boston, 1905).
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Collections (5th Series, Vols. 5-6-7, Boston, 1878, 1879, 1882; 7th Series, Vols. 7-8, Boston, 1911-1912).
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Proceedings (Vol. 20, Boston, 1884). RANKIN, J. E .- Esther Burr's Journal (Washington, 1903)-An imaginary diary.
SMALL, H. W .- "Girls in Colonial Schools" (Education, Vol. 22, p. 532. May, 1902).
STANTON, MRS. E. C., et al., editors .- History of Woman Suffrage (4 Vols., Rochester, 1889-1902).
STEDMAN, E. C. AND HUTCHINSON, E. M., editors .- A Library of American Literature (11 vols., New York, 1888).
TEMPLE, J. H. AND SHELDON, G .- History of Northfield (Albany, 1875).
TRUMBULL, J. R .- History of Northampton (2 vols., Northampton, 1898- 1902).
TYLER, MOSES COIT .- A History of American Literature (2 vols., New York, 1878).
UPDEGRAFF, H .- The Origin of the Moving School in Massachusetts (New York, 1907).
WEEDEN, W. B .- Economic and Social History of New England, 1620-1789 (2 vols., Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1890).
WHARTON, A. W .- Colonial Days and Dames (Philadelphia, 1908).
WINSOR, JUSTIN, ed .- The Memorial History of Boston (4 vols., Boston, Osgood, 1882-1886)-Volume II deals with the provincial period.
WRIGHT, T. G .- Literary Culture in Early New England, 1620-1730 (New Haven, 1920).
CHAPTER XIII
COLONIAL BUSINESS AND TRANSPORTATION
BY A. P. USHER Associate Professor of Economics, Harvard University
TABLE OF POPULATION
1765
1830
Modern
Area
Popula- Density
Popula- Density tion
counties
in sq.
tion
per sq. mile
per sq. mile
Suffolk
10.4
15982
1520
62163
5960
Essex
442
43524
97
82859
196
Middlesex
770
34940
45
77961
101
Worcester ..
1462
34167
23.3
84355
57.5
Hampshire ..
515
6429
12.5
30254
59.6
Hampden
546
9021
16.5
31639
57.7
Franklin
650
5999
9.2
29630
45.5
Berkshire
892
11306
12.6
37706
42.2
Norfolk
405
17682
43.5
41972
103
Bristol
514
26301
41.5
49592
96
Plymouth
. .
570
25756
45
43044
75.5
Barnstable . .
324
12376
38
28514
88
Dukes
9.57
2346
23
3517
36.8
Nantucket
23.7
3320
140
7202
305
Suffolk & Nor-
folk
415
33664
81
104135
252
Total State. .
7320
244149
33.2
610408
83.5
Indians
1569
245718
STATISTICS (1765-1830)
As a preliminary to the study of business conditions it is necessary to know something of the number of persons af-
386
. .
.
. .
miles
387
STATISTICS
fected. However defective may be the population figures of Massachusetts in the eighteenth century, as in the case of all the colonies there is no ground to suppose that the elements of error are sufficiently large to invalidate the more general con- clusions that may be drawn from such figures. A comparison with the figures of 75 years later will be helpful.
It is apparent from these figures that the colony was pretty sharply divided into two distinct sections,-the seaboard coun- ties, which were relatively populous, and the interior counties, which at that time were very thinly settled. Commonly the travellers saw little besides the seaboard counties. As these counties contained the major part of the population, they constituted the predominant influence in the economic and political life of the province during the eighteenth century. The inland counties were a definite frontier of settlement and all the political and economic problems of the American fron- tier emerge in Massachusetts history during this period. The inland counties, consequently, cannot be ignored, but they should be distinguished and their problems given separate treatment.
The seaboard counties constituted two groups: Essex County with 97 persons to the square mile; Middlesex, Nor- folk, Bristol and Plymouth Counties (which were very closely grouped) between 41 and 45 persons to the square mile. In the main, England was distinctly more populous than these five counties, but some interesting comparisons are possible. Essex County, Massachusetts, compares very closely with Cambridgeshire, Dorset and Hereford Counties in England and was definitely more populous than several of the midland and southern counties. The other group of Massachusetts counties was closely comparable to the northern counties of England; the North Riding of York, Westmoreland, Cumber- land were slightly more populous than the Massachusetts counties, having 54, 49, 57 persons to the square mile, re- spectively. Some further European comparisons are possible. Essex County is in density of population equal to the Rhine province of Prussia and more populous than Silesia. The other Massachusetts counties, Middlesex, Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth, were closely comparable with east and west Prussia,
388
BUSINESS AND TRANSPORTATION
and with Bohemia, Spain and Denmark. Boston was compar- able to many of the provincial towns of England and to the smaller Prussian towns like Dantzig, Magdeburg, Elbing, Stet- tin, Potsdam, Erfurt, Posen, Halberstadt, Halle, Münster, Hildesheim, Emden, Brandenburg and Frankfurt-am-Main.
VITAL STATISTICS
Prior to 1765, materials on the general population of Massa- chusetts are extremely defective. We have nothing better than crude estimates based upon the militia or the numbers of polls. Such data furnished no more than the crudest index of the growth of population. The figures available indicate a rate of growth which would have caused the population to double in a period of thirty-three years ; and this rate seems to have been maintained throughout the period from 1700 to 1765. Such a rate is relatively high and has not been ex- ceeded in the history of the state for any long period of time. It seems to be about equal to the rate of growth prevailing from 1820 to 1900 and considerably greater than the rate of growth from 1765 to the end of the eighteenth century. In the latter interval the general rate of growth would have caused the population to double in 46 years.
In so far then as growth of population can be regarded as an index of economic prosperity, conditions in the eighteenth century prior to the Revolution were closely comparable to con- ditions in the period of industrial development in the nine- teenth century. Few regions of similar size have probably shown as continuous an economic development as Massachu- setts.
The explanation of this continuous maintenance of a high rate of growth is probably to be found in the great diversity of the economic activities of the region. The prosperity of the state has at times rested upon essentially extractive industries and shipping; at other times intensive developments in the textile and leather fields have been primarily responsible for the economic development. The transition from commerce to industry was singularly long, so that the history of the state is free from sharp breaks in its economic life. Massa- chusetts, in the eighteenth century, was thus strikingly differ-
389
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
ent from the same state in the late nineteenth century, but it was relatively populous in the thoroughly settled portions and was hardly less prosperous than in later stages in its history.
The economic changes of the last century have altered the outstanding features of daily life to such an extent that some deliberate effort is now necessary, in order to put ourselves in the place of people living in the British colonies in the eighteenth century, whether in this country or in Europe. The mass of population has largely increased, the balance between town and country has been profoundly altered, notable changes have taken place in consumption and production. The external features of daily life have been completely transformed. We have come to think of these changes as fundamental.
CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS OF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
The contemporary point of view is best expressed in the writings of travellers ; and without attempting a comprehensive survey of eighteenth century travel in Massachusetts, two highly characteristic accounts of colonial conditions should be mentioned. Joseph Bennett came to America to reside a little before 1740, and prepared a substantial account of Boston which he subsequently sent to a friend in London as a letter. After a description of the harbor he says: "When we were upon the sea that part of the town [Boston] which lies about the harbor appeared to us in the form of a crescent, or half- moon; and the country, rising gradually from it, afforded us a pleasant prospect of the neighboring fields and woods.
"There are several families in Boston that keep a coach, and pair of horses, and some few drive with four horses; but for chaises and saddle-horses, considering the bulk of the place, they outdo London. They have some nimble, lively horses for the coach, but not any of that beautiful large black breed so common in London. Their saddle-horses all pace naturally, and are generally counted sure-footed; but they are not kept in that fine order as in England. The common draught-horses used in carts about the town are very small and poor, and seldom have their fill of anything but labor. The country carts and wagons are generally drawn by oxen, from two to six, according to the distance of place, or burden
390
BUSINESS AND TRANSPORTATION
they are laden with. When the ladies ride out to take the air, it is generally in a chaise or chair, and then but a single horse; and they have a negro servant to drive them. The gentlemen ride out here as in England, some in chairs and others on horse-back, with their negroes to attend them. They travel in much the same manner on business as for pleasure, and are attended in both by their black equipages.
"Their roads, though they have no turnpikes, are exceeding good in summer ; and it is safe travelling night or day, for they have no highway robbers to interrupt them. It is pleasant riding through the woods; and the country is pleasantly inter- spersed with farmhouses, cottages and some few gentlemen's seats, between the towns. But the best of their inns, and houses of entertainment, are very short of the beauty and con- veniences of ours in England. They have generally a little rum to drink, and some Indian corn roasted, and bread made of Indian meal, and sometimes a fowl or fish dressed after a fash- ion, but pretty good butter, and very sad sort of cheese; but those that are used to those things think them tolerable."
CONDITIONS IN BOSTON (1780)
For a slightly later date (1759-1760) we have the Journals of Andrew Burnaby. His itinerary took him through all of the seaboard colonies, but we are concerned only with Massa- chusetts. He entered the state from Providence, R. I. and describes his ride up from Providence. As it was early September, the season was fairly representative. He writes: "In the morning I set out for Boston, and arrived there about sunset, after a journey of five and forty miles. The country, which I travelled over, is chiefly grazing ground, laid out into neat enclosures, surrounded with stone walls and rows of pseudo acacia or locust trees, which are said with their leaves to manure and fertilize the land. . . . Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, is one of the largest and most flourishing towns in North America. . . . The build- ings in Boston are in general good; the streets are open and spacious and well paved; and the whole has much the air of some of our best country towns in England .- The country round about it is exceedingly delightful, and from a hill, which
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