Sign-In
Cart
Stray Wives: Marital Conflict in Early National New England
Hardcover
19th Century United States HistoryGeneral World HistoryRegional: New England
ISBN13: 9780814740095
Publisher: New York Univ Pr
Published: Oct 1 2005
Pages: 171
Weight: 0.85
Height: 0.69 Width: 6.30 Depth: 9.26
Language: English
Whereas my husband, Enoch Darling, has at sundry times used me in so improper and cruel a manner, as to destroy my happiness and endanger my life, and whereas he has not provided for me as a husband ought, but expended his time and money unadvisedly, at taverns . . . . I hereby notify the public that I am obliged to leave him.
Hundreds of provocative notices such as this one ran in New England newspapers between 1790 and 1830. These elopement notices--advertisements paid for by husbands and occasionally wives to announce their spouses' desertions as well as the personal details of their marital conflicts--testify to the difficulties that many couples experienced, and raise questions about the nature of the marital relationship in early national New England.
Stray Wives examines marriage, family, gender, and the law through the lens of these elopement notices. In conjunction with legal treatises, court records, and prescriptive literature, Mary Beth Sievens highlights the often tenuous relationships among marriage law, marital ideals, and lived experience in the early Republic, an era of exceptional cultural and economic change.
Elopement notices allowed couples to negotiate the meaning of these changes, through contests over issues such as gender roles, consumption, economic support, and property ownership. Sievens reveals the ambiguous, often contested nature of marital law, showing that husbands' superior status and wives' dependence were fluid and negotiable, subject to the differing interpretations of legal commentators, community members, and spouses themselves.
Also in
Regional: New England
Blizzard of Lies: Karen Read, John O'Keefe, and the Shocking Unsolved Murder in Cop Town, USA
Wedge, Dave
Hardcover
Two Ships: Jamestown 1619, Plymouth 1620, and the Struggle for the Soul of America
Reynolds, David S.
Hardcover
Don't Talk about Joe Mac: The Life, Wars, and Secret History of the Man Behind the Winter Hill Gang
Toledo, Springs
Hardcover
Spooky New England: Tales Of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, And Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
Trapped Under the Sea: One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles Into the Darkness
Swidey, Neil
Paperback
War Without Mercy: Liberty or Death in the American Revolution
Lender, Mark Edward
Martin, James Kirby
Hardcover
The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue
Sherman, Casey
Tougias, Michael J.
Paperback
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears)
Hongoltz-Hetling, Matthew
Paperback
It Happened in Vermont: Stories of Events and People that Shaped Green Mountain State History
Bushnell, Mark
Paperback
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Paperback
Witches of New England: Stories about the Accused, the Trials, and the Fear That Swept the Region
Freeburg, Jessica
Fowler, Natalie
Paperback
Spooky Massachusetts: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
Silverman, David J.
Paperback
Maine's Place in History: Joshua Chamberlain's 1876 Address at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition
Chamberlain, Joshua
Hardcover
The Last Good Heist: The Inside Story of the Biggest Single Payday in the Criminal History of the Northeast
White, Tim
Worcester, Wayne
Richard, Randall
Paperback
The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier
Woodard, Colin
Paperback
Going Up the Country: When the Hippies, Dreamers, Freaks, and Radicals Moved to Vermont
Daley, Yvonne
Paperback
The Captain, The Missionary, and the Bell: The Wreck of the Steamship Atlantic
Larsson, Eric
Paperback
New England Fairies: A History of the Little People of the Hills and Forests
Warburton, Andrew
Paperback
Abolitionists of the Northeast: Black Leaders in the Antislavery Movement
MacDonald, Gail Braccidiferro
Paperback
Real Life, Real Funny: The Way Maine Humor Should Be
Bailey, Dennis
Emery, David
Potholm, Chris P.
Paperback
Wicked Strange: Your Guide to Ghosts, Monsters, Oddities, and Urban Legends from New England
Belanger, Jeff
Paperback
Stones and Bones of New England: A Guide To Unusual, Historic, and Otherwise Notable Cemeteries
Rogak, Lisa
Paperback
Connecticut 169 Club: Your Passport & Guide to Exploring Connecticut: New 5th Edition
Podskoch, Martin
Hardcover
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter: The Remarkable True Story Of American Heroine Ida Lewis
Skomal, Lenore
Paperback
Abandoned Prayers: An Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession, and Amish Secrets
Olsen, Gregg
Paperback
Jordans of the Pond: A History of the Family from the Jordan Pond House on Mount Desert Island, Maine
Reeverts, James Daryl
Paperback
Abolitionists of the Northeast: Black Leaders in the Antislavery Movement
MacDonald, Gail Braccidiferro
Hardcover
Vermont Civilian Conservation Corps Camps: History, Memories & Legacy of the CCC
Podskoch, Martin
Paperback
The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution
Young, Alfred
Young, Alfred F.
Hardcover
The Gritty Berkshires: A People's History from the Hoosac Tunnel to Mass MoCA
Seider, Maynard
Paperback
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Hardcover
Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England
Whiting, Gloria McCahon
Hardcover
The Hub of the Gay Universe: An LGBTQ History of Boston, Provincetown, and Beyond
López, Russ
Paperback
Myths and Mysteries of New Hampshire: True Stories Of The Unsolved And Unexplained
Mayo, Matthew P.
Paperback
The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America's First Subway
Most, Doug
Paperback
Walter Beinecke and the Reimagining of Nantucket: How Preservation, Conservation, and Redevelopment Transformed the Gray Lady
Warner, John D., Jr.
Hardcover
Countdown 1960: The Behind-The-Scenes Story of the 312 Days That Changed America's Politics Forever
Wallace, Chris
Paperback
The Pilgrim Chronicles: An Eyewitness History of the Pilgrims and the Founding of Plymouth Colony
Gragg, Rod
Paperback
Connecticut Cryptids: A Field Guide to the Weird and Wonderful Creatures of the Nutmeg State
Scalisi, Patrick
Paperback
Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom: Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys and the American Revolution
Wren, Christopher S.
Paperback
The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack and the Fight for Survival in Early America
Swanson, James L.
Paperback
Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England
Hubka, Thomas C.
Paperback
The Autobiography of Leverett Saltonstall: Massachusetts Governor, U.S. Senator, and Yankee Icon
Saltonstall, Leverett
Paperback
Death on Mount Washington: Stories of Accidents and Foolhardiness on the Northeast's Highest Peak
Minetor, Randi
Paperback
More Than Freedom: Fighting for Black Citizenship in a White Republic, 1829-1889
Kantrowitz, Stephen
Paperback
Maine's Remarkable Women: Daughters, Wives, Sisters, and Mothers Who Shaped History
Kennedy, Kate
Paperback
Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea
Tougias, Michael J.
Paperback
The Enduring Shore: A History of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket
Schneider, Paul
Paperback
Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England
Hardesty, Jared Ross
Paperback
Siege at the State House: The 1879 Coup That Nearly Plunged Maine Into Civil War
Smith, Mac
Paperback
Becoming Teddy Roosevelt: How a Maine Guide Inspired America's 26th President
Vietze, Andrew
Paperback
Poet in High Street Park: Prose & Poetry for Modern Salem: Prose & Poetry for Modern Salem
Scrimgeour, J. D.
Paperback
Robert Love's Warnings: Searching for Strangers in Colonial Boston
Dayton, Cornelia H.
Salinger, Sharon V.
Paperback
Fathers and Sons in Native American New England: Massasoit, Passaconawy, Their Sons, and the End of Two Great Algonuian Nations
Gaffney, James J., III
Paperback
Indians in Eden: Wabanakis and Rusticators on Maine's Mt. Desert Island
McBride, Bunny
Prins, Harald
Paperback
It Happened in New Hampshire: Stories of Events and People That Shaped Granite State History
Rogers, Stillman
Paperback
Boon Island: A True Story Of Mutiny, Shipwreck, And Cannibalism
Erickson, Stephen A.
Vietze, Andrew
Paperback
Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England: From Flips & Rattle-Skulls to Switchel & Spruce Beer
Hirsch, Corin
Paperback
The Wreck of the Portland: A Doomed Ship, a Violent Storm, and New England's Worst Maritime Disaster
Conway, J. North
Paperback
No Right to an Honest Living (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era
Jones, Jacqueline
Paperback
God, War, and Providence: The Epic Struggle of Roger Williams and the Narragansett Indians Against the Puritans of New England
Warren, James A.
Paperback
A Dear-Bought Victory: The Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston, 1775-1776
Davis, Daniel T.
Greenwalt, Phillip S.
Paperback