THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO THE VIRTUOUS AND VIOLENT WOMEN OF SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MASSACHUSETTS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY EMILY CLAIRE KOLMODIN ROMEO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MARCH 2017 For mom and dad, historians in their own right. Table of Contents Acknowledgments v Introduction 1 Chapter 1. The Limits of Household Violence: Order and Disorder 20 Spousal Violence 26 Violence Against Children 37 Neighbor Violence 45 Violence Against Servants 52 Conclusion 63 Chapter 2. From “That wicked house”: Women and Infanticide 65 The Costs of Sexual Misbehavior 72 The Shame of Fornication 76 The Price of Adultery 82 The Importance of Sexual Reputation 89 Household Involvement in Infanticide 94 Conclusion 108 Chapter 3. Englishwomen and Indian War 110 Impact of the Indian Wars 117 Violence Against Colonial Officials 124 Life on a Frontier at War 136 Violence Against Indians 140 Conclusion 155 iii Chapter 4. Female Violence: A Tool for Societal Stability 158 Narratives of Possession 165 Execution Sermons 177 The Captivity Narrative of Hannah Dustin 187 Narrative Histories 196 Conclusion 208 Conclusion 211 Bibliography 216 iv Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the help of numerous people. I would like to thank my dissertation committee, Edward M. Cook, Jr., Catherine Brekus, and Janice Knight, for their guidance and support throughout this project. Each of them brought their own unique expertise to the project and my dissertation is richer as a result. They pushed me to craft a coherent narrative out of the many interesting stories I was finding in the archives. If I have succeeded in doing so at all, the credit belongs to them. I am very grateful to Amy Lippert for stepping in at the last minute to help me get over the final hurdle. I could not have persevered through this process without the patience and encouragement of Catherine Brekus, even from a distance. I could never have completed this project if not for the support of my family. My parents, Ken and Linda Kolmodin, instilled in me an interest in history from an early age, and gave me the confidence and support to go out and try to make my mark. I only wish my dad could have seen the end result. My sister, Karen MacDonell, showed me what was possible and made me laugh in the darkest moments. My aunt, Claire Kolmodin, has always led by example. I can never thank my husband, Tony, enough for his support and for the sacrifices he has made so that I could pursue my Ph.D. My children, Joey and Nic, have traveled to numerous archives and have come to love them as much as I do. My desire to make them proud has pushed me as much as anything else. I also need to thank my father-in-law, Joseph Romeo, for providing me with the space and time to finish this work (and for his unusual attention to detail). The initial idea for this dissertation emerged out of many meetings with Christine Stansell, whose help in the early stages of this project was invaluable. The Colonial Society of Massachusetts provided critical feedback and financial support for an early version of my v project. Professors Mary Beth Norton, Nina Dayton, and Thomas Foster were generous with their time and advice. I need to thank the staff of the Massachusetts Archives and the Haverhill Historical Society for being welcoming and helpful. Professor Lauren Fogle was kind enough to give my family a guided tour of Marblehead. Local historian Thomas Spitalere took me on a walk through Hannah Dustin’s world in Haverhill. The research for this dissertation has been funded by the Department of History at The University of Chicago through their divisional fellowship, several Freehling Research Travel Grants, and the Graduate Student Association Travel Fund Award. The Mellon Foundation also provided funding to support the completion of the project. Finally, numerous friends have supported me in my endeavor. Sarah Weicksel has listened to my off-the-wall ideas and provided encouragement from the first day of our graduate careers. Her dedication and passion for the craft have been an inspiration. Neil Gilbert and his family provided a critical New England connection during my family’s tenure as Bostonians. B McKee and Kim Mongoven have always been there to lend me an ear along the way. vi Introduction Historians of colonial New England have struggled to rectify the Puritan image of virtuous womanhood with the actual women who appear in the historical record. 1 History during this period is replete with stories of women who were assertive, unruly, and even violent. To understand how violence by colonial women was both practically and morally possible—and, in moments, acceptable—we must place women’s actions within the context of their cultural worlds, their everyday struggles, and the hardships that plagued colonial American life. Exploring women’s acts of violence enriches our understanding of the pervasiveness of violence in Puritan culture, an aspect of everyday life that has been downplayed in the larger narratives that describe this time and place. 2 My research traces a continuum of violence that appeared in almost all aspects of women's lives, extending from within the home into larger society. This work also shows how the women of colonial New England struggled to maintain their corners of, and their places in, this distinctive environment. 1 Although I refer to “Puritans” and “Puritanism,” I do not mean to imply that New England Puritanism among the laypeople was a coherent body of thought. However, the clergy were largely consistent in the belief system they presented, and a distinctive Puritan culture can be discerned in colonial New England that dominated the discourse of New Englanders. See David D. Hall, Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989), 15; Elizabeth Reis, Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England (Cornell University Press, 1997), xvii; Perry Miller, The New England Mind: The Seventeenth Century (Boston: Beacon Press, 1939, 1961), vii; Also see Richard Archer, Fissures in the Rock: New England in the 17th Century (Hanover, NH: University of New Hampshire Press, 2001). 2 Barry Levy is an historian who emphasizes the relative peacefulness of colonial New England. He argues that the state’s use of violent force eventually created a society that was less violent than “virtually every other American colonial society.” The source he references in that remark, however, is referring to eighteenth-century Pennsylvania. Barry Levy, Town Born: The Political Economy of New England from Its Founding to the Revolution (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009), 54; See, Jack D. Marietta and G.S. Rowe, Troubled Experiment: Crime and Justice in Pennsylvania, 1682-1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006), 107, 210; Seventeenth-century New England had a relatively low murder rate, at least when infanticide was not included under the definition. As Susan Amussen explains, however, homicide rates alone are not a reliable measure of violent behavior overall in a society. Amussen, “Punishment, Discipline and Power: The Social Meanings of Violence in Early Modern England,” Journal of British Studies 34 (January 1995): 1, 2. 1 A unique confluence of social, cultural, and religious forces was at work in seventeenth- century Massachusetts, and the push and pull of these elements determined, at least in part, how women conducted their lives. Pressure to conform to the ideals of Puritan womanhood—and thus preserve their reputation in the eyes of both the community and authorities—existed alongside women’s imperative to protect the interests of their households and kin groups. The interaction between these forces was neither straightforward nor one-sided. The uncertainties of life and the ubiquity of everyday violence in early New England encouraged some women to act aggressively, bolstered by an English cultural tradition of female violence that lingered in the colonies. Yet, women risked exposing themselves to community censure and official condemnation. New England Puritans held up the biblical Bathsheba as their model of womanly virtue. 3 In sermons Bathsheba stands as an industrious and productive housewife, a generous neighbor, and a trusted spouse and mother; a willing servant to her family and community. 4 She uses her skills and strength for the good of others. Bathsheba’s strength in accomplishing her tasks is considerable: “She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengthen her arms…Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” It is telling that this Puritan ideal was described as honorable, resourceful, and strong, but not gentle or timid. She was, however, 3 Proverbs 31: 10-31; Seventeenth-century Puritan advice literature frequently included references to the proverb of Bathsheba. E.g. John Dod and William Hinde, Bathshebaes Instructions to Her Son Lemuel (London, 1614) and Cotton Mather, Ornaments of the Daughters of Zion (Cambridge, MA, 1692). See Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England 1650-1750 (New York: Vintage Books, 1991), 11, 246; Marilyn J. Westerkamp, Women and Religion in Early America, 1600-1850: The Puritan and Evangelical Traditions (London: Routledge, 1999), 24. 4 Sermons from New England overlook Bathsheba’s image as the nude bather who captured the attention of King David, or describe the incident as a minor detour in an otherwise exemplary life. Cotton Mather, for instance, addresses the issue briefly in Ornaments . “Bathsheba, after a very scandalous Fall, becomes a very eminent Saint, yea a Prophetess of the Lord.