History Post One: A Midwife's Tale

Why is there so little evidence of women’s roles in the early 19th century? What revelations does Ulrich’s research bring?

In the late 18th and early 19th century Maine women had many roles and were crucial to the family. The women were the glue of the family, house keepers, business people, and neighborly companions. Much about the women’s lives beyond keeping house was not known large to do with the fact that most women did not keep written records. With the help of Martha Ballard’s diary Ulrich looks into her life and the life of the other women as well.

We learn most about history from written accounts. The parts of history that are the most hazy are the ones with no documents, literature, or any form of writing to go by. Many women in the nineteenth century did not keep writings on what they did through out the day or their transactions with neighbors; at least not that survived. Because of how little written material there is that would show what the women’s roles were, little was known and the general assumption was that they worked hard, but the work did not extend far beyond the door of their homes. Ulrich’s research, backed up by Martha’s diary shows that to be untrue, and that women played many roles in the home and community.

Martha Ballard’s diary is so unique because it chronicles the life of a woman day to day, and not only that but it shows that she, and other women in the town, had important roles in the community as well as the home. The diary and the research conducted around it by Ulrich gives important and rare insight into the life of the nineteenth century people of Maine, especially the women.

The common conception of the nineteenth century woman is on many levels true. Women worked in the garden and sewed, mended, cooked, worked the flax, spun, had and raised children. They taught their girls how to do all the work that they did, and together kept up the house. For most women though, and Martha in particular, this role of home body was not the only one.

The men were not the only ones who did business. Again, lack of record is likely the reason for the little realization of this. Another reason might be because the business often didn’t require currency, and was more of a trade system. The women would trade service for goods or goods for goods. Much of the women’s business was done with other women, but doing business with men wasn’t something that didn’t happen. The occasional trade of service or goods for money usually came from doing business with men.

Women were neighbors to the very extent of the word. They had a strong social network that exceeds what many people have now. The women came together to help when another woman was going to give birth, and often stay the night. After the baby was born women would come to help the mother until she was able to get back to her daily work. Women would go to each other’s homes and pull flax to help and to be able to take some as their own. Women would send their daughters from home to home to learn from the other women and single women would also move about the town in the same manner.

Apart from these roles some women had another attached to them that was more of a profession. Martha Ballard was not only the home maker, part time business woman and neighbor; she was also a midwife and healer. She would travel around the near by towns, helping the sick and delivering babies, being paid in money, credit or goods. All this she would do without letting her other roles as a woman slip. Having a profession the way Martha did was not a role that all women had, but it was not uncommon.

Women in nineteenth century Maine worked hard, and were not confined to one role. Because of Ulrich’s research into the contents of Martha Ballard’s diary, more light has been shed on the home maker, neighbor, business and professional roles of these women.