Ladies at the Crossroads
Morris County, New Jersey
NJGenWeb

Morris Co. Up


 ~ UNDER CONSTRUCTION ~

American Association of University Women, New Jersey Division; Ladies at the Crossroads, Eighteenth-Century Women of New Jersey, Morristown, NJ, 1978.

While most books written about 18th century people deal primarily with the men, their heroics along with their trials and tribulations, this book looks at that time from a woman's point of view. My opinion is that the book is a must read. Here are some of the highlights from the book.

Role of Women

  • production of clothing, soap, candles
  • keeping vegetable gardens and tending domestic animals
  • care of house and preparation of food
  • as wife, she was helpmate, as mother she bore many children (perhaps one for every 2 yrs of fertility during married life)
  • death in childbirth may have been as high as 1 in 10
  • legally subordinate to husband and father
  • "The common law during the 18th century  was kinder to widows and spinsters than married women, since they could enjoy most of the personal and property rights of free men."
  • expected to care for sick or injured. Taught by mother how to provide care for various sicknesses and to deliver babies
  • trained to handle weapons in defense of themselves and their families

It appears the New Jersey was ahead of its time in regards to women's rights. In NJ they were the first to be given the vote. Due to the phrasing of the New Jersey Constitution, drafted in 1776, women were given the right to vote.

. . . all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money, clear estate in the same, and have resided within the county in which they claim a vote for twelve months immediately preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote for Representatives in Council and Assembly; and also for all other public officers that shall be elected by the people of the county at large.

Have no fear, the "error" was "rectified." In 1807 a bill was passed that disenfranchised all classes of voters whose rights were doubtful. In 1875 black men were given the right to vote, but it was not until the Constitution was amended in 1920 that women regained the right to vote.

East Jersey WomenWest Jersey Women
Sarah Livingston AlexanderAnna Simkins Bacon
Catherine AndersonMary Louisa Emilia Teal Belcher and Elizabeth Belcher
Mary Stillwell Applegate Michele Johnson Bell
Hannah White Arnett Elizabeth Ray Clark Bodly
Margaret Osborn Baker The Borden Women: Elizabeth, Nancy and Maria
Catherine Smith BoudinotComfort Sayre Bower
Hannah Stockton Boudinot Mrs. James Brookfield
Rachel Bradford Boudinot Hester Schuyler Colfax
Susan Vergereau Boudinot Bradford Elizabeth Fenimore Cooper
Fanny Bryant Hannah Dent Cooper
Esther Edwards Burr Esther Bowes Cox
Theodosia Bartow Prevost Burr Mary McCullough French Creighton
Rachel Burrowes Mary Vanderpool D'Anterroches
Hannah Ogden Caldwell Jemima Ogden Day
Lucretia Emmons Chambers Sarah Sinnickson Dick
Sarah Hetfield Clark Elizabeth Worthington Dunlap
Hannah and Sarah Clarke Elizabeth Haddon Estaugh
Fanny Pierson Crane Mary Padgett Ewing
Philadelphia Doty Cunningham Elizabeth Brinckerhoff Faesch
Mistress Darby Rhoda Smith Farrand
Janet Rhea Davis Elizabeth Beatty Fithian
Margaritie Brinkerhoff Demarest Grace Kitchel Ford
Elizabeth Parcells De Voe Theodosia Johnes Ford
Catharine Alexander Duer Ester Darby Troop Ross Guion Fox
Mary Ellis Elizabeth Downes Franklin
Susanna Gifford Forbes Sarah Stillwell Griffen
Sarah Clark Graham Forest Sarah Clement Hall
Elizabeth Lee Frazee Anna Symmes Harrison
Rachel Drew French Deborah Scudder Hart
Jennet Pike Gage Penelope Anderson Hart
Mary Miller Gilman Mrs. Robert Hoops
Dinah Van Bergh Frelinghuysen Hardenbergh Eunice Foster Horton
Jemima Condict Harrison Rebecca Crispin Hubbs
Mary Hight Electa Beach Dickerson Jackson
Mary Henry Honeyman Keziah Oldfield Ludlow Johnes
Elizabeth Erskine Hooper Elizabeth Tuite Kemble
Mary Hopper Anna Tuttle Kitchel
Elizabeth Kingsland Hornblower Esther Fleming Lowrey
The Huddy Women: Mary, Elizabeth, Martha Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley (Molly Pitcher)
Ann Simpson Hutchinson Mary Horton Morrell
Sarah Van Brugh Livingston Jay Margaret Hill Morris
Sarah Hooper Jewell Sarah Kay Norris
Mary Hampton Jouet Catharine Schweighauser Otto
d/o John & Margaret Klampffer Schweighauser
b. 1751
m. Feb 6 1772 in Philadelphia Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr.
Mary Lewis Kinnan Anna Randolph
d/o Benjamin & Anna Bromwick (Brummage) Randolph 
b. abt 1767
owner of Speedwell Iron Furnace in 1789 from her father
m. 1790 Gabriel Ford
Catherine Hutchinson English Laird Rebecca Richards Sevier
d/o William & Mary Patrick Richards
b. Aug 7 1773
m. 1794 John Sevier, Jr.
Catherine Livingston Ridley Livingston Esther Tilton Spicer
m. Samuel Spicer
Susannah French Livingston Catherine Meyer Binder Stanger (Stenger)
m. Jacob Stanger (Stenger)
helped organize the business that developed into the present day Libbey-Owens-Corning Glass Co.
Catherine Vanderpool Ogden Ogden Longworth Temperance Wick Tuttle
d/o Henry & Mary Cooper Wick
m. 1788 at age 30 William Tuttle of Baskin(sic) Ridge
d. April 26 1822
Princess Ann Luker Catherine Lowree Van Houten
d/o Sarah Peer Lowreer
m. 1773 Henery Van Houten
Jane M'Crea Jinnie Jackson Waglum
m. Abraham Waglum
Susan Livingston Kean Niemcewicz Margaret Vliet Warne
obstetrician in Warren Co. during the Revolution
d/o Daniel Vliet & Gertruiitje Springsteen, b. Oct 1746
m. Joseph Warne
m. Elijah Warne brother of Joseph
Phebe Mundy Noe Ann Hugg Wheeldon
m. Joseph Hugg
m. Richard Wheeldon
1733 she sat on Gloucester Board of Freeholders
Hannah Ogden Ann Cooper Whitall
m. James Whitall, d. 1797 age 82
Phyllis Parker Rebecca Stillwell Willets
d/o Nicolas & Sarah Stillwell
m. Captain James Willets
Cornelia Bell Paterson Martha Stewart Wilson
b. 1758 m. Robert Wilson
Annauchey Van Wagenen Plume Patience Lovell Wright
d/o John Lovell b. 1725 Bordentown
m. 1748 Joseph Wright
Eliza Susan Morton Quincy 
Julia Stockton Rush 
Eliza Chadwick Roberts Scott 
Martha Tallman Seabrook 
Jemima Piatt Shotwell 
Annis Boudinot Stockton 
Penelope Van Princis Stout 
Susanna Handcock Sydenham 
Susan Livingston Symmes 
Mrs. William Tennent 
Mary Dunham Terrill 
Janetje Van Ripen Tuers 
Magdalena Fauconnier Valleau 
Martha Lott Van Doren 
Mary Alexander Watts 
Mary Whitaker Brown White 
Mary Seabrook Whitlock 
Mary Pierson Williams 
Polly Wyckoff 

 

 

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