Colonial dames and good wives

A study of women in early colonial society that examines their domestic duties, marriage customs, and household economies alongside their social manners and pastimes. The author draws on anecdote and records to portray widows, industrious housewives, outspoken or unconventional female figures, and women who engaged in business or political causes. Chapters survey fashions, accomplishments, fireside industries, and neighborhood life, and they consider how family formation, public service, and informal power shaped daily experience and community identity in the colonial era.