American Women 1600's

This summer I was asked to do a Bible Study lesson on Rahab. We are studying Joshua in the Bible Study group I belong to at Harvest Chapel. This is the reason I wrote about her in my blog. She was the lowest woman on a very low totem poll. God gave her strength and intestinal fortitude to help the Israelites against her own people. They were Baal worshipers and idol worshipers. As I was writing it, it gave me the idea that writing some history about the women of this country might be an interesting thing to do, mostly for me, a little bit for my buddies. I had read a wonderful book several years ago, called "America's Women" by Gail Collins. This book and "The Colonial Mosaic, American Women 1600-1760, by Jane Kamensky are my two main sources for my blog on the American Women of the 1600's.
"You've Come A Long Way Baby." is a subtitle used to suggest the path of Rahab from a lowly prostitute to marrying a prince from the tribe of Judah. She was an ancestor of King David, and hence an ancestor of Jesus.
Thinking about the lot of Rahab, and many women who came to America under the most horrendous conditions, I couldn't help but see similarities in their lowly circumstances. The best analogy however, is the rise of importance of Rahab, and the rise of American Women through their personal struggle and the struggle of the United States itself. If you look at our own situations, and the job opportunities, and the women in public life today, you can't help but think,"We've Come A Long Way Baby."

Eleanor Dare migrated to America in the late 1500's with her husband and father and a few other settlers. They were headed for Jamestown which was an outpost that was known to be settled. Eleanor was pregnant, and was either the bravest or the most stupid of women, according to one of my sources.
As luck would have it they made it to the new world. They disembarked and found no one there. They found the bones of one man.
It wasn't long until they ran out of supplies. Eleanor's father, John White who was to be the governor of Virginia, sailed for England to buy more and encourage more people to come back with him. While he was gone Virginia was born. she was named for the colony of Virginia and the Virgin queen. Three years later when John White was able to return everyone had disappeared. They might have been killed by the Indians, or may have gone to live with the local Croatoan Indian tribe. If they were starving, it's very possible they disappeared looking for food, and were taken in by the Indians. In 1607 a supply of settlers arrived, but no women were among them. In the second group who arrived in 1608, there was one gentle woman and her servant. By 1610, women were much in demand, and considered the most precious resource. In 1619 women were recruited by the Virginia company of London. This was an English investment company funding Jamestown.

Women were recruited in all sorts of ways. They were kidnapped off the streets to name one.
Life in England was very bad at this time. People were stealing for food, and thrown in prison.
These young women had no future, and death might occur in prison or on the streets of London, as well as aboard a ship bound for America.

They were told lies about the bounty of the new world, and they were put on ships instead of going to prison. They were taken out of prison and shipped off to the new world. They all came as indentured servants. Many of them came to work on tobacco plantations and marry after four to seven years.

The world of the Chesapeake which at that time was Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas was the area that tobacco grew so well. It was a boom or bust business, and so times were generally hard. The work involved in growing the tiny seedlings, replanting them, and nurturing them was torturous, and lasted the first six months of the year. The second part of the year was picking and curing, and binding and shipping the tobacco to England. Women came to these farms and were basically slave labor for the duration of their indenture. There was also the probability that they would develope malaria, pellegra dyptheria, dysentery, and not live to see their first year of indenture out. The climate was humid, wet, and basically unhealthy. Many of them lived in barns, and under the worst conditions. they had little to eat, and food was of the worst quality. By 1625 an estimated three quarters of them were dead of starvation and disease.

Because most of these women were poor and illiterate, little is known of their actual situations. There were lists of passengers leaving England. Jane Dier, 25 years old, widow departed England 1621. Alice Pindon, age 19 arrived Virginia 1635. A young Huguenot woman named Judith Giton fled persecution of the Protestants in France, and came to South Carolina. She wrote,"We have suffered all sorts of evils, sickness, pestilence, famine, poverty and the roughest treatment imaginable."

In 1619 a Dutch ship brought a cargo of twenty negros to Jamestown. They didnot come by choice. Though women were not included in this first group, by 1660 it was well known that women and children were here. They held a lower position than their white counterparts. However at this time, they were freemen. They often accumulated land and farmed.

They got along very well, and there didnot seem to be any animosity or unusual measures taken to in any way keep them from moving ahead in the world.

It wasn't until the 1700's and the beginning of the cotton trade in the south that black slavery came into play. Interestingly enough this also helped the white women have a better life on the plantations. Black women were acquired for the homes as well as the fields.

In the 1600''s though, black women traded their wares with white women and there was a very good bartering system that went on among them. The black women were very good at this. Black women in Charleston, South Carolina set up stalls in the city and sold their vegetables and crafts. They practically became a monopoly, and were so successful at it whites found it hard to compete. There was some resentment, but nothing serious that seemed to change the complexion (no pun intended) of the market place. The whites no doubt liked their wares as well as the blacks.

By the 1650's and 60's both men and women were begining to survive their indentures. the women married and went to live with their husbands who were usually farmers. Life was just as tough but they learned how to survive. They had children who grew up and married and so it went.




By the late 1600's there was a bigger general population, and the women were beginning to see some relief from the work in the fields. They went back to the housework, which consisted of cooking , sewing, tending gardens, carrying water, making candles and soap, mending, taking care of the farm animals, and milking the cows. This was of course back breaking work, but maybe just a little less back breaking.

Most colonial women wanted to marry, but as soon as they did they lost all legal rights. they couldn't sign legal papers, or sue, or inherit from their husbands, and if they were fortunate to have inherited any money from their family, it went to their husband.

Margaret and Mary Brent and their two brothers migrated from England to Maryland in 1638. Maryland was then a small colony, that had become a haven to Catholics. Lord Baltimore owned the colony, and Margaret Brent had a letter from Lord Baltimore granting the Brents land, and Margaret and Mary, land in their own names. The Brent girls did not seem interested in marriage. It has been suggested they may have belonged to some sort of a "lay sisterhood." As unmarried women they could manage their own property. They had a seventy acre farm in southern Maryland next to their brother Giles.

Maryland had about four hundred settlers. Margaret entered into the business of lending money to the newly arrived settlers. Often these poor people couldn't pay her back fast enough. She wasn't shy about going to court to demand payment for delinquent loans. Between 1642 and 1650 it was recorded in court records that she was involved in 134 suits, mainly as the plaintiff. She represented herself in court and won most of the cases.

Margaret also became a friend of Governor Leonard Calvert who was the brother of Lord Baltimore. He was sent no doubt to represent Baltimore's property and interests.

In 1645 Maryland was drawn into a civil war between the Puritan government of England, under Cromwell, and the forces of the ousted Charles the first. This war became a part of the Maryland scene. Protestant mercenaries raided the lands of the Catholic settlers. Giles Brent was actually kidnapped and sent as a prisoner to England. The settlers called it the "Plundering time." Governor Calvert fled, but later returned in 1646, with soldiers who restored order. He intended to pay the soldiers off with his own funds and Lord Baltimore's if necessary. He died in 1647 before he could carry through his plans. Fortunately he had made Margaret executor of his estate. His assets couldn't begin to pay off the debt to the soldiers. Margaret sold her own cattle and kept the soldiors fed while she applied to the colonial government for funds, either from them or Lord Baltimore.

On January 21,1648 Margaret appeared before the Maryland Assembly and demanded two votes, one for herself, and one as Lord Baltimore's representative. The Assembly declined her even one, and Margaret left, but not before she lodged a protest against all proceedings that would be held without her being present, and she demanded to have a vote in future discussion.

Margaret finally got the power to sell some of Lord Baltimore's cattle to pay the soldiers. Lord Baltimore was furious! The Maryland Assembly defended her saying that the soldiers treated her with "civility and respect."They may not have treated a man the same, and that Baltimore ought to treat Margaret with "favor and thanks from your Honor. rather than bitter invectives."

Lord Baltimore was not appeased, and Margaret and family relocated in Virginia rather than live under his authority, since he had become an "implacable enemy." Margaret lived out her life on her new property, which she called "Peace," probably feeling she badly needed it. She died in 1671. Besides being regarded as the nation's first woman lawyer, she was the first colonial woman to demand women should have the right ot vote. Though Margaret didn't suffer fools and debtors, she had the integrity and courageousness to care for her fellow settlers, and keep the bargain that Governor Calvert had made with the soldiors. It seems Lord Baltimore, the absent landowner cared more for his cattle that his people.

After Christmas it's on to New England. Merry Christmas!

The Story of Rahab (You've come along way baby)

Most of the women in the Old Testament are there because of their connection with the Hebrew story. Sarah, Abraham's wife was somewhat interesting. She longed for a child all of her life. Without the birth of Isaac in her 90th year there would have been no Hebrew race as we know it.

Rebecca the wife of Isaac and Mother of Esau and Jacob appears to be a strong devious women with some sort of second sense as to how the story of Genesis should proceed.

I love the story of Ruth. Ruth married Boaz who's great great grandmother was Rahab. Boaz and Ruth were the great greats of Jesse who was the father of King David through which the lineage of Christ comes. That is one of the reasons the story of Rahab is so interesting.

Rahab lived with her family in the wall of Jericho. The walls were thirty feet wide and thirty feet high. There were probably many apartments and dwellings all around the wall. I can visualize the comings and goings of tradesmen in a bazaar-like atmosphere. No doubt the wall area would be a village within the town. The kings and lords who ran Jericho were there to guard a road that led up the mountain to a look out area where all of Canaan could be seen. This is the reason the Israelites needed to capture Jericho. If they were really going to take the entire country then they needed this only lookout area.

The spies were sent by Joshua to scout out the city and see if it could be overtaken. As they approached they probably wern't aware that their reputation of previous won battles preceded them. By the time they reached the wall, they understood their plight and entered Rahab's house.

They begged her to hide them and she agreed but only if, when they took over the town the Israelites would save her and her family. They all lived in the house together. She took them to the roof and hid them under drying flax. They made an agreement, and she was to hang a scarlet cord in the window to let the army know she had helped save them. When the king's men came to hunt them down she said, "Oh yes they had been there, but the last she saw of them they had left the city and were headed down the road." Later after dark she sent them into the hills to hide in the caves. Eventually they made their way back to camp.

Now the other part of the story of Rahab, is that she was a prostitute. We learned that many young women in the middle east at that time were used by their families as a source of income in this way. She loved her family and they were included in the bargain but this was the way things were.

Rahab knew all about the one God that the Israrelites worshiped. Egypt actually ran Jericho with all these lesser kings. It makes sense that stories were told for a couple of generations of how the Israelites had escaped Egypt. Being a poor girl who yearned for something better, she visualized this one God as the special God of the world who she could believe would save her from her oppressive unhappy life. According to our discussion her faith was what allowed her to protect the spies. She wanted a better life and was hopeful the Israelites and their God could bring it to the city. It showed great courage to do what she did. She put the scarlet cord in the window, and the day the walls came down the spies took her and her family and gave them safe haven within the Hebrew community. She was sent to the tribe of Judah, and married Prince Salmon. We actually don't know anymore about her except God used her to incorporate gentile blood into the Jewish race. We agreed this was a symbolic way for God to include the rest of the world when he sent Christ as his only son to save the world.

My purpose in telling this story is just that I have been thinking a lot about the history of women lately. Women have been real players on the world's stage, and much of the time behind the scenes, as we all know. Of course Queen Elizabeth ruled England through default, and we really don't know how much she actually ran things, but we do know that under her wing much exploration of the new world took place. Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake come to mind.

I plan to continue my writing about women through particullarly our American History. I will need to do some research as I go along, but I already have a wonderful history of American women that I can get started with. My friend Liz recommended it and it is definitely outstanding. I will be glad to loan it out when I'm done with it. In my next chapter I will probably start with Virginia Dare.

Pictures of Amish farms and horses, and Chautauqua Lake

Early September

The weather has changed again. It has been cool at night and more rain. The flowers are rejuvenating a little. The breeze has gotten stronger, and the waves are huge rolls with whitecaps. Children are few and far between. School has started in many areas. We are on the downhill road of summer.


Labor Day was a big weekend. We had friends come, and the men played in the biggest golf tournament of the year at our little country club. It was a busy time, fun time. The girls played bridge and there was a dinner dance, and other dinners and events. I guess I would miss it. I have learned to live with some empty spots in my life. This would surely be one of them. We are getting older and I know we both think of how many more years we will be able to go back and forth. I would probably have to admit I would miss the people, and the lake, and the flowers.

A few weekends ago we took my brother and his wife and went into the hill country. On our way we passed lush vineyards. It won't be long until the grapes will be picked. In the early fall you can smell the grapes when your passing through. As we head into the hills we see beautiful well kept farms, and little plots with large gardens and maybe a horse or two in a small paddock. It is like going back in time. Another aspect of the land is the number of Amish that have farms among the rolling hills. Backroads through the Amish country provide gorgeous views. There are horses and buggies that we gingerly pass. We get a glimpse of a large straw hat, and a longish beard. Jams and jellies are for sale along the road. There is a family that have a store. Quilts are brought here for sale. Through the years I have visited Katy, and once years ago she made me a wall hanging. All the women work making these quilts. It is a clearing house, and the proceeds pay for their health care. They must believe in doctors and hospitols.Years ago I didn't think too much about this. They are a rural society. They live by their religion, and off the abundance of the land. Were there people that had studied herbs and their medicinal properties? Do they follow simple well know medical procedures? Do they understand about infection? I'm sure they understand and use disinfectants. They do however realize that they can't provide all their health needs or why save money for healthcare. Their life is simple. They live as they lived one hundred years ago. They do have schools so they know how to read, and do math. They are merchants as well as farmers. They are wonderful carpenters and much of their income comes from these skills.

In August they had an auction to help with their healthcare costs. All this industry to provide for healthcare makes me wonder. Are we headed in a direction where much more of our energies will be directed into paying for more costly health insurance? The companies are going to be expected to pay for your children until their twenty-six years old. They will have to cover much more than they do now. That means they will have to raise our premiums. Will our government put the insurance companies out of business if they don't adhere to the government regulations to keep costs low? Will we wait months for an operation? At a certain age will we be turned down for certain procedures? Will there be a young doctor to see us when our doctor retires? What about the cost of hospitols? Are the doctors going to be in unions? What if the doctor's union decides to strike? These things drifted through my mind as we traveled the Amish roads. Maybe we should all read up on medecinal procedures and learn how to set a bone. hmm.... but I digress.

From along the ridges, you can see Lake Erie. As we go farther East over the long level plateaus, and start down the other side, we see Chatauqua Lake. Breath taking! You could create a beautiful tapestry of this scene. It is a contained inland lake with sailboats and bridges and houses surrounding it. You see blue misty hills on the far side. Art galleries in the region are full of paintings depicitng it's beauty. It is an area for the creative at heart, and all artists of any description. We find one especially beautiful art gallery. In the entrance room there are cases with lots of gorgeous jewelry. I see one of those new chunky bracelets with all the beads. I really like it. Silver and deep red are the two predominant colors. I find it much too pricey for my pocketbook. However this makes me start thinking. Why not start to make some jewelry. Lots of people are doing it, and I even know where I can get some help and advice. Maybe this will be one of my winter projects.

I am sitting here today looking out at the lake. I will miss it, but already that touch of fall is here. The breeze is constant. The sky is blue but just the slight bit misty, with watercolor type clouds spreading in streaks and soft clumps across the sky. People have gone home, and my bones are starting to ache, a sure sign it is nearing the time to leave. It is September 11th, my grandaughter Lyndsey's birthday. She will be fourteen and has big plans for a sleepover tonight. I do hope they have fun.

Most of us are remembering that fateful September 11th in 2001. The tragedy of that day puts a damper on all our spirits. I watched a special last night that was the most complete story I had ever seen. They showed the street below after the first tower went down. It looked like Mars or a bombed out area in the Middle East somewhere. I was actually shocked to tears. This country is wonderful though. Those people in New York just picked themselves up and helped one another while they were shedding their tears. Nothing lay around for weeks. Right away they got the rubble cleaned up. They got back to work as best they could and they buried their dead as best they could.
Rudi Guiliani believes they should not build another huge building there, which they are doing. He calls it half and half, half memorial, and half business. He thinks it should be just a memorial to the fallen, and a low museum type building. I hope we never forget this terrible day. I hope it will make everybody especially the young people who are growing up with so many advantages and so much going for them, realize that your state of well being and your good life can be a fleeting entity. Work hard, play hard and pray hard., not necessarily in that order. It is easy to think these thoughts today as I am by myself this afternoon.

We have been studying Joshua in my Bible Study. I was in charge of doing Chapter Two, which is about Rahab, the woman who helped the spies that Joshua sent to scout out Jericho. When we have discussed it a few more times I am going to let you in on our findings. We got into some very good discussions.

More pictures taken on Fourth of July

Expectation Preparation Celebration

Expectation, Preparation, and Celebration

There is a sense of expectation in the air, on the first day of July. Children appear on their bikes as though they had sprung out of the roads. Some are not far out of toddlerhood, and eight year olds ride their banana bikes with wild abandon. Old folks walking their dogs better be alert. Walking Buddy one evening I happen on a little group of bikers, and one cute little girl on a scooter. She asks to pet Buddy. She is a picture with her auburn hair and a sprinkle of freckles on her nose. She is probably eight, and free as a bird. I ask her if she is here for Fourth of July. "Oh yes, I am staying with my grandmother." What do you like to do best when you come to the lake?" "I like to ride my bike and go to the beach." I don't know anywhere else in the world where children can ride their bikes up and down our roads and have this much freedom. Parents and grandparents can feel pretty sure that they will return in one piece. Everyone looks out for them, including the occasional car. Here at the point on Fourth of July weekend, children rule. Grandmothers prepare beds and food. Mothers and children work to decorate bikes and sometimes costumes in red white and blue for the Bike Parade on Fourth of July morning. Depending on the amount of time one is able to spend, some of the bikes can be quite a production. Wagons are included and if someone's family is really clever and industrious you can have a George Washington in a wagon boat, or Paul Revere on a bike wih a horse's head, or the Statue of Liberty carrying her torch. There is a panel of Judges and the best decorated bike get's first prize, and of course there are prizes for second and third place. We have a flag bearer and a ceremony to honor the recipients of these prizes. There are pictures taken. Hotdogs, baked goods and jackets with logos are for sale. People visit with friends and neighbors under the old oak trees in front of the community house. Grown children who are back with their children catch up with friends from childhood. It is like an extended family reunion. Suddenly a siren is heard, and around the bend and up the road comes an honest-to-goodness fire engine. With the siren blaring, it pulls in and parks in the driveway by the community house. The children crowd around and line up to get on. This is the second big thrill of the day. The driver allows about twenty children on at a time. They crawl up into the back and sit on the benches. Then off they go around the lake and in and out of all the roads where the cottages are. People wave from their yards, and the kids wave and yell in response. This continues for and hour or more, until all the children who are waiting, get their ride. I often wonder how many "Show and Tell" presentations there are about the fire engine ride after school begins. By now it's about one o'clock and it's home for lunch and then to the beach. There is seaglass to look for, and pretty smooth rocks, and sandcastles to build. Jet skiis tear through the water. Boats lanquish close to the horizon. Sail boats and kyaks, are by far the most picturesque. They glide slowly by our bank in a leisurely fashion. As the afternoon progresses into evening, people head for their cottages for showers and dinner. If you scan the bay you will see piles of driftwood built up in large cones ready to light. They look like upside down ice cream cones or skinny teepees. When darkness comes the piles are set on fire. From our deck we can see the entire bay, and it looks like a firey wreath encircling the beach. We have friends over to sit on the deck and watch the display. At ten o'clock the town fire works begin, and we can see them out across the water. People gather in grassy areas along the water to build small fires and to cook marshmellows and shoot off sparklers and firecrackers. It is noisy and colorful, and sometimes a little dangerous, but oh so exciting! What a great ending to a beautiful day! I hope as our children grow up, they will always remember the wonderful times they had, and that it will spark a love and appreciation of what our country stands for. I hope they develope an interest in our history, and come to understand the struggle and difficulties and dangers our forefathers faced in order that we could live in freedom. Without freedom there is no hope, not for us, or anywhere else. The children of this country are it's future, and unless they understand they have to keep it strong, and free, there will be no way to improve what we have, or to help others. The message to us is we need to be free to celebrate. May we always have freedom.

Sunrise on Lake Erie

A morning sunrise seen from my deck. I hope to take and post some more recent pictures as time goes on. I love taking pictures here on Lake Erie, and definitely want this to be part of my blog.