WHITNEY-L Archives

From: ALLAGREEN <>
Subject: Some thoughts relating to Lois (Whitney?) Cutler
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 02:08:48 EST

Dear WRG:

There has been a thread lately about the possibility that Lois Cutler, b. ca
1722, m. Joseph Herrick was the natural child of Anna Whitney, born prior to
her marriage to Ebenezer Cutler. There has also been some discussion on
Northeast-Roots about the frequency and social stigma (or lack of same) of
children born out of wedlock or arriving early. The following "article" was
posted on NE-Roots by a contributor whose work has impressed me repeatedly
over the past year or so, and when it appeared I wrote to her and got her
permission to reprint it for our benefit on the Whitney List. For what it's
worth, I have had several exchanges of letters with Harman Clark about his
theory that Lois was Anna's "early child" - and he has me fairly well
convinced, although we both agree that real proof is unlikely to be found.

Before pasting in the article below, I also do want to thank Robert Ward and
Donna Whitehead for responding so quickly to my request for forwarding of
copies of my lost messages. Some of those from Robert went back to last
summer, and I am very pleased to recover them as they containedvaluable
information. Here then are the thoughts of this excellent scholar, Brooke
Harlow.

***********

I think late 20th cent. concerns about family values have clouded our
picture of "the good old days." I'm not sure that early births were as
much of a social disgrace as we "moderns" think they were. Moreover,
the evidence that I have seen indicates that the Puritans were much less
straight laced about sex than we think. The "puritan" image comes
mostly from the 19th cent. (and Victorians were pretty hypocritical
about sex, too) and from the formal writings of the important Puritan
ministers (whose job it was to enforce the social mores that everyone
was ignoring).

Early births were certainly questioned and penalties assessed, but I
have seen little evidence that women were socially castigated for early
births long after the event (a la Hester Prynne). I have seen quite a
few cases in the Maine Province and Court Records of penalties for
fornication reduced from lashings to fines (and modest fines at that).
The system seemed to be pay your fine and move on.

What is more, having an illegitimate child did not seem to have much
social consequence either. It didn't happen often, which indicates to
me that women must have felt pressure to have children within the bounds
of marriage. But I have at least two cases in my own family, from two
different centuries, of women marrying very soon after having an
illegitimate child by, purportedly, a man other than the one she
eventually married. Social stigma didn't carry too far in those cases.

On cousin marriages: As Claudia informs us, it happened quite often. I
bet cousin marriages were especially frequent in small towns on the
frontier. I haven't seen a formal study of this question but I do have
accumulated anecdotal evidence from New England and Louisiana. Recall
that people often migrated in family groups. There might not be too
many other families on the frontier with eligible children. Related
families settled near each other and exchanged resources with each
other, giving cousins ample time to meet and get to know each other.

If you read the novels of Jane Austen, among others, you will note that
young people were very aware of the social and economic consequences of
the matches they made. Marrying a cousin might help ensure that land
and other resources would remain in the family (recall the situation in
Pride and Prejudice where Eliza is confronted with the prospect of
marrying her cousin, the minister. The minister has a good living and
would eventually inherit the Bennet's house, but Eliza is certainly not
in love. I think this situation was rather familiar to Jane Austen--and
would be to a number of young New England women).

It is well worth it to read books like Thompson's Sex in Middlesex not
just because it may have data about one's own family, but because it
helps the researcher place ancestors into the context of the times.
Another EXCELLENT book which discusses the problem of illegitimacy and
the the courts is Cornelia Hughes Dayton, Women Before the Bar: Gender,
Law and Society in Connecticut. (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, ca. 1995).
Both of these books are available on interlibrary loan. They are
available in paperback for less than $20 each, if you would like or can
afford to add them to your own library.
Have a good day,
Brooke
------------------------------------------
E. Brooke Harlowe
Asst. Prof. and Coordinator, Intl Studies major/minor
Dept. of Political Science
Susquehanna University
Selinsgrove PA 17870

***********

Happy Hunting and Happy Holidays to All

Allan

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• Some thoughts relating to Lois (Whitney?) Cutler by ALLAGREEN <>