Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Father of All Living

In Good Wives, Laurel Ulrich writes about colonial New England women's role as Eve, Mother of All Living. In that chapter, she argues that the fulfillment of a woman's role as mother came when she saw her children's children flourish.

I have found several references to women's abundant fecundity and matriarchal achievements on their gravestones, the most notable example being the Lois Cook Bartlett stone in Brunswick, ME.

On occasion, I also find this theme on men's gravestones (see Daniel Tyler, Brooklyn, CT). My most recent addition to this collection is the Elijah Shattuck stone in Pepperell, MA.
ELIJAH SHATTUCK
DIED
OCT. 30, 1841,
AE. 88.
He was the father of
8 Children,
13 Grandchildren
& 33 Great Grand
Children.

1 comment:

Robert J. said...

Looks to be my first cousin five times removed. (Spend a couple of hundred years in a small town and these things happen.)