Adams family
Addison, Vermont 166
Allen, Dr. J. A. 180
Allen, Merrit P. 202
American Education Society 159
battles during 1–2, 6, 9, 13, 188
individualism and 7, 9, 13–14, 21, 22, 61
American Tract Society 159
Andover Seminary 145
Anthony, Susannah 157
apprentices and assistants
employed by Charity and Sylvia 131, 134, 149, 151, 153–154, 160, 162, 171–173, 183
Ashfield, Massachusetts 76
Athol, Massachusetts 7
Barlow, Joel 23
Barron, Mary 32
bed sharing 36–39, 68, 73, 79–80, 85, 94, 109, 112, 114, 190, 203, 233n13
Belding, David 14
Belding, Louisa. See Drake family
Biblical references, use of
in correspondence 56, 75, 116, 120, 192–93
in diaries and memoirs 102, 114, 124–25, 128–29
Blackstone, William 102
Bodman, William 63
Boston, Massachusetts 2, 10, 15, 109, 147, 156, 188–89, 194
Brattleboro, Vermont 180
breasts 39, 79–80, 86, 105, 152
Bridgewater Academy 51
Bristol, Vermont 51–52, 54, 57, 97, 99, 110, 117, 147, 197
Brockton, Massachusetts. See North Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Brown, Charles Brockden 20
Bryant family 7, 16, 18, 19, 25, 27, 143
Anna. See Kingman family
Charity Louisa 150
Charles 59
Clement 57
Cyrus (brother of Charity) 22, 27, 29, 44, 144, 147, 175
Cyrus (nephew of Charity) 150, 181, 191
Daniel (brother of Charity) 16–22, 23, 24, 42, 64
Daniel (nephew of Charity) 65, 67, 143, 147, 148
Hannah Richards 5–6, 21, 22, 24, 69, 74–75, 107–8, 148–50
Ira 66
Job 107
Josiah 94
Lucy 148
Mary 59
Oliver (brother of Charity) 2, 16, 21
Oliver (nephew of Charity) 135, 143, 148, 171, 194, 195
Peter
correspondence with Charity 66–67, 71, 75, 103, 115, 144, 149, 181–83
household in Cummington 44, 79–82, 92, 108–9, 143
resemblance to Charity 42, 60, 132
Philip (father of Charity) 2–3, 10, 20–25, 27, 74–75, 107–8, 144, 148–50, 169, 181
Phillip (nephew of Charity) 59
Ruth Staples 3
Sarah (Sally) (sister-in-law of Charity) 30, 44, 48, 59–60, 81–2, 108, 150, 168, 188
Sarah (niece of Charity) 176, 186
Silence (mother of Charity) 1–4, 65, 181
Silence (sister of Charity) 22–23, 48, 59, 65, 78, 144, 147, 149, 179, 188, 195
William Cullen 19, 97, 132–33, 145, 150, 176, 181, 186, 188, 191, 198, 200–1, 203
Bryantville, Massachusetts 69
Buchan, William 183. See also literature
Burr, Aaron 23
Butler, Eleanor. See Ladies of Llangollen
Cambridge, Massachusetts 17
Cape Cod, Massachusetts 17
Carey, Colonel Simeon 2
Catherall, Hannah 112
celibacy 125, 129–30, 157, 183
Charlestown, Massachusetts 15
Child family
Clark, Maria 30, 33, 36, 39, 40, 45, 46, 49, 62–63, 67, 69
classical era, symbolism of in early America 17, 20–22, 83
Clinton, DeWitt 52
Coit, Dr. Daniel 178
Colby College 148
commonplace books 30
Congregationalism 1, 54, 123–24, 127–28, 157–58, 161
consumption. See health and sickness
Continental Army, 8
Cornwall, Vermont 166
correspondence
Charity’s proficiency and prolixity of 36–37, 39, 153
romantic 39, 66, 78, 80–81, 107
secrecy and 43, 68, 71–74, 88, 97,
Cozzens, Rev. Samuel 195
courtship 14, 17–18, 20, 21, 23, 39, 54, 57, 61–66, 73–74, 81, 86, 148
coverture 61, 102, 132–33, 136, 196
Cummington, Massachusetts 27, 39, 40, 48–49, 59, 62–63, 70, 75, 76–92, 108, 186
Dalie, Mehitable 57
Damon and Pythias, classical tale of 20–22, 39, 46
Dartmouth, Massachusetts 27, 32, 39, 40, 44, 62–63, 66
Darwin, Erasmus 83
diaries 41, 66, 81, 108, 127–30, 163
Dickerman, Benjamin 149
Dickinson, Emily 32
Diderot, Denis 156
dildos 85
divorce 140
domestic service 12, 24, 28, 69, 79
Drake family 8–15, 58, 94, 109–10, 120, 134, 142–52, 151, 197
Almira 142
Ann L. 196
Arzina 142
Asaph 11, 12–15, 57, 94, 119–21, 135, 138, 142–46, 149, 164–65, 170, 194–96
Charity 143
Cyrus 143
Cyrus Bryant 143–46, 165, 185, 191–92, 197, 198
Desire. See Soper family
Harriet Emily (Bowdish) 155, 162, 196–98
Isaac (brother of Sylvia) 9, 11, 57, 119, 120–21, 149
Isaac (nephew of Sylvia) 118, 142, 197–98
Louisa Belding 14–15, 129, 161
Louisa Bryant 198
Manley 57
Mary B. 162
Mary Manley 8, 12, 13, 15, 51, 57, 97, 99, 106, 116–18, 121
Miriam 120
Nathan 142
Nelson Asaph 197
Oliver 9, 11, 51, 57, 94, 119, 144, 197
Polly. See Hayward family
Polly Angelina 142, 162, 191, 200
Ransom 197
Rebecca 155
Rhoda. See Ellsworth family
Ruth 197
Sarah Harriet 171
Selvina 143
Sylvia Louisa (niece of Sylvia) 143, 146, 149, 162, 194
Thomas S. 197
Duberman, Martin 202
Easton, Massachusetts 8–11, 37, 50, 94, 107, 167
economic hardships 9–11, 58, 110, 147
bankruptcies 10–12, 135, 146, 170–71, 173
education 115
colleges 51, 119, 138, 145–46, 148
for girls 23, 24, 27, 37, 39, 41, 51–53
See also teaching
Edwards, Pierrepont 23
Eliza (last name unknown) 36, 37, 39, 40, 44, 63
Ellsworth family
Charles Bryant 143
Chauncey 117
Moriah 142
Walter 142
William 143
Faderman, Lillian 203
Fairchild, Anna Rebecca 198
Federalist party 21
female husbands 132–33, 140, 158, 237nn12–15, 239nn65–68
Flanagan, Martha 166, 171, 183
Field, Freeman 172
Fielding, Henry 133
Fielding, Sarah 33
fiction. See novels
Fobes, Philander 63
Fobes, Philena 48
Ford, Mercy 24, 39–40, 68–75, 78, 81, 108, 125, 126
Fourteenth Amendment 196
Franklin, Benjamin 21
of Charity 24, 29–49, 68–91, 112–14, 158
overlap with other forms of affection 104, 172
Grandy, Abigail 172
Green Mountains 14
Goshen, Massachusetts 81
gossip 18–19, 23, 35, 42–46, 49, 57, 60, 64–66, 70–79, 125, 134
Griffits, Hannah 139
Guild, Vesta (Howard) 79, 114, 140, 149, 167, 173, 181, 187
Gunston, Thomas 89
Guyana 69
Hagar family 138
Benjamin (son) 119
Emmeline 162
Harriet 179
Jonathan 119
Laura (daughter of Sarah) 136, 153
Laura (granddaughter of Sarah) 201
Sarah 111, 114, 134, 137, 164, 186
Hall, Edwin 161
Hall, William Whitty 183
Hamilton, George/Mary 133
Hampshire Hills 27, 76, 78–79, 103
Hart, Emma. See Emma Hart Willard
Hawley, Massachusetts 87
Hayden, Anna 67
Hayward family 99
Achsah 57–58, 62, 87, 93, 97, 103, 118, 144, 185
Asaph 52–53, 57, 85, 87, 92–93, 97–99, 117, 121, 131, 169, 181
Edwin 87, 93, 118, 136, 137, 142, 149, 151, 185
Emma 87, 93, 136, 143, 149, 171
Lucy Ann (daughter of Lucy Ann Warner) 201
Lucy Ann Warner 151, 153, 162, 185
Polly Drake 52, 55–58, 85, 87, 92–93, 97–99, 111, 117, 120–21, 137, 142–44, 147, 151, 162
Semantha 151
health and sickness 1, 20, 59, 127, 152, 175–89, 194
consumption (tuberculosis) 1–3, 5, 19, 27, 52, 127, 144, 175–77, 181, 183, 186, 188
exhaustion from overwork 168, 186
headaches 166, 168, 176, 181, 183–84
pregnancy 2, 82, 131, 152, 183
See also medicine
Heys Jr., Frank 202
Hopkins, Samuel 53
Hovey family
Clarissa 158
Mary 30, 32, 33, 34, 112–14, 159
Howard family 94
Vesta. See Vesta (Howard) Guild
Hurlburt Jr., Hiram Harvey 7, 102, 132–33, 201–2
incest 128
insanity 127, 179, 183, 187, 197–98
Iowa 197
Jericho, Vermont 160
Jones, Rebecca 112
Kent, James 102
Kentucky 147
Kingman family
Anna Bryant 4, 6–7, 22–28, 44, 48, 62–67, 75, 78, 103, 106–7, 114–15, 144, 147, 187
Ellen 151
Jane 150
Lysander 149
Martha 151
P. P. 27
Ladies of Llangollen 83–84, 112
Lawton, Marianne 73
Leonard, Eliphalet 14
Leprilete, Lewis 22
lesbianism xvii–xviii, 36–39, 41, 43, 56, 66, 70–74, 78–86, 124, 127, 138, 141, 156, 183, 198–99, 202–3
Lewis, Estelle Anna 83
Lexington, Kentucky 147
Lind, Jenny 188
Lister, Anne 41–42, 66, 73, 83, 112
Litchfield Female Academy 37, 52
literature, non-fiction
Aristotle’s Masterpiece 126, 128
The Declaration of Sentiments by Elizabeth Cady Stanton 196
Domestic Medicine by William Buchan 183
The Female Husband by Henry Fielding 133
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft 42
See also correspondence, diaries, newspapers, novels, plays, poetry, pornography, religious texts
London, England 31
Louisville, Kentucky 147
Lowell, Massachusetts 149
Luther, Martin 127
Maine 133
Manley, Nathaniel 11
Mann, Herman 63
Mann, Horace 28
Marquis de Sade (Donatien-Alphonse-François) 156
marriage 183
between Charity and Sylvia 101–9, 129–30, 132, 137–41, 201–3
within Bryant and Drake families 2, 14–15
possible secret marriage of Charity and Lydia Richards 84
rejection of 18, 37, 54–57, 59–67, 76, 88
relationship to friendship 40–42
Martin vs. Massachusetts 196
masculinity
effect of American Revolution on 17–19
female 42–43, 112, 132, 140, 143, 158. See also female husbands
land ownership and 111
Massachusetts state legislature 21
masturbation 37, 56, 72–73, 127, 183
Charity and Sylvia’s experiences of 153–55, 165
women’s desire to avoid 61, 52–53
medicine
Charity and Sylvia as healers 185–86
doctors of 3–4, 5, 17, 22, 27, 41, 118, 127, 137, 144, 185
homeopathy 182
Methodism 158
Middlebury, Vermont 52, 55, 135, 138, 158, 163, 168, 170, 178, 188
Middlebury College 138, 145, 147, 148, 198
Middlebury Female Seminary (formerly Middlebury Female Academy) 52, 168
Middlebury Mercury 95
Mitchell, Captain Elisha 2
Moira, New York 143
Moody family
Chrissa 162
Clarissa 159–s60, 191
Eli 128, 146, 158–62, 173, 190–91
Monk, Mary 57
Mount Holyoke College 146
Murray, Judith Sargent 51
National Bank of Vergennes 197
New England
hiring out of daughters 12, 149
industrialization 11, 15, 148–49, 166–67, 173–74
inheritance patterns in 10–11, 21
naming patterns in 144
western migration from 197
See also education
New Hampshire 140
New Haven Colony 124
New Jersey 1
New York 22, 49, 52, 147, 170, 191, 197
newspapers 9, 11, 20, 23, 37, 51, 55, 92, 95, 133
North Bridgewater, Massachusetts
returns to 22, 40, 44, 59–60, 69–75, 77–79, 107–108, 150
youthful years spent by Bryant and Drake siblings in 1–5, 11, 13–14, 27, 92–93
Norton, Massachusetts 22
Charlotte Temple by Susannah Rowson 88
The Coquette by Hannah Foster 23
Ermina, or the Fair Recluse by Dorinda Catesby 38, 40
The Governess, or Little Female Academy by Sarah Fielding 33
Juliette by the Marquis de Sade 156
La Religeuse by Denis Diderot 156
Nana by Émile Zola 198
Pamela by Samuel Richardson 29–30
Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett 32
Ohio 197
Oliver, W. N. 195
open secret, closet as xii–xiii, 112, 118, 140–141, 202–3
orgasm 37, 41, 73, 83, 96, 126, 130
Otter Creek, Vermont 14–15, 96, 99, 121
Packard, Hezekiah 2
Painter, Hattie 202
Pawtucket, Rhode Island 15
Pelham, Massachusetts 27, 40, 48–49, 62, 67, 75, 78, 106, 108
Pembroke, Massachusetts 24, 69, 71
Perkins, Phebe 57
Peru, New York 172
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 21, 170, 177
Plainfield, Massachusetts 27, 39, 45, 62, 79–92, 103, 107
plays
The Orphan by Thomas Otway 32
“The Suicide” by Thomas Day 44, 125
Venice Preserv’d by Thomas Otway 84
poetry 23, 26, 27, 29–35, 36, 69, 77, 83, 86, 90–91
acrostics and rebuses 12, 31–34, 39, 46–48, 85, 101
“Adieu” by Charity Bryant 85
“Backslidings and Returns” by Isaac Watts 124
“Blessed Be The Tie” by John Fawcett 105
“A Child of Melancholy” by Charity Bryant 3, 25, 48
“Earth and Heaven” by Isaac Watts 89
“Henry and Emma” 64
hymn meter 32
“The Last Hour of Sappho” 83
lesbian landscape 39, 46, 83, 95–96, 113
“The Mourning Piece” 90
“Nancy Warner” by Charity Bryant 47–48
Night Thoughts by Edward Young 24
“Ode to Spring” by S.D. (Sylvia Drake) 95–96
“On the Prospect of Separation” by Charity Bryant 104
“Parting with Carnal Joys” by Isaac Watts 89
“A Poem to a friend” by Charity Bryant 32
“Queen Mary’s Lamentation” 32
“To Sensibility” by Helen Maria Williams 33
“Sister Polly H” by Sylvia Drake 12
“Sonnet XVIII” by William Shakespeare 96
“Spring” by Charity Bryant 47
“Spring” by Lydia Richards 83
“Spring” by S.D. (Sylvia Drake) 95–96
“Sylvia Drake | W” by Charity Bryant 192–193
“Thanatopsis” by William Cullen Bryant 20
The Vale of Llangollen and Other Poems 83, 96
war poems of Ruth Bryant 6
“Winter” by Charity Bryant 46
Ponsonby, Sarah. See Ladies of Llangollen
Pope, Alexander 58
pre-marital pregnancy 2–3, 14, 20, 23, 56, 65, 70
See also maternity
Providence, Rhode Island 15
Queen Elizabeth I 32
Queen Mary of Scots 32
Ramsdell, Maria 172
Rankin family
Abiel 148
Carry (Caroline) 188
Mary Bryant 195
Rappites, the 157
Charity’s and Sylvia’s conflicts related to sexuality and 123–30
Charity’s and Sylvia’s devotion to 153, 154, 155–65
persons passionate about 45, 47, 53–54, 58
See also Congregationalism, Methodism, religious texts, Second Great Awakening, Shakers, sins, Ursulines, Virgin Mary
religious texts 145
The American and Foreign Christian Union 188
Awful Disclosures of the Hotel Dieu Convent of Montreal by Maria Monk 156
The Christian Union 157
The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge 196
The Evangelical Repository 164
The Home Missionary 157
The Religious Reporter 158
Six Months Residence in a Convent by Rebecca Reed 156–157
republican motherhood. See American Revolution, women and
Richards, James (Deacon) 36, 76, 82
Richards (Snell), Lydia
early friendship with Charity 31–34, 36, 38–40, 42, 45–47, 49, 70
love affair with Charity 76–92, 96–97, 103–4, 113, 125
marriage of 152
later friendship with Charity 107–9, 139–40, 152–52, 165, 178
visit to Weybridge 116
Richardson, Samuel 29
Rush, Benjamin 177
Rutland Marble Works 195
San Francisco, California 147
Sappho 82
Scott, Walter 83
Second Great Awakening 45, 157, 161, 173
secret vice. See masturbation
Seneca Falls Convention 161, 196
sensibility 17, 20, 33, 39, 40
sewing 4, 58, 81, 94, 99, 103, 121, 132, 161, 198–99
business of 134–36, 149, 166–74, 194
transformation by industrialization 174
sexuality 37, 41, 42, 56, 89, 124, 125, 129
Charity and Sylvia’s sexual relationship 94–96, 98, 112, 117–18, 121, 124–30
same-sex sexuality 18, 41, 43, 56, 125, 128, 140, 202–3
See also adultery, bed-sharing, bosom sex, breasts, celibacy, coquetry, courtship, cross-dressing, cunnilingus, dildos, female husbands, incest, lesbianism, masturbation, open secret, orgasm, pre-marital pregnancy, Sodom, sodomy, tribadism
Shakers 157
Shaw, Rollins 198
Shaw, Dr. Zenas 118
Shays, Daniel 21
Sheldon, Henry 200
sibling relations 5–7, 12, 17, 21, 40, 56, 72, 87, 119–21, 142–44, 156
sickness. See health
silence, as speech act 19, 43, 86
sins 44, 56, 123–30, 163, 165, 184, 193
Singer, Elizabeth
Smith, Abigail 37
Smith, Elihu 37
Smith, Harvey 160–61, 163, 164, 192
Smollett, Tobias 32
Snell, Ebenezer 82
Snell, Nabby 150
Snell, Sarah Packard 82
Sneyd, Honora 83
Society of the Universal Friend 157
sodomy 56, 78, 112, 124, 128, 140
Soper family
Amerett 142
Enos 57
Sylvia Ann 143
South Carolina 31
Southard, Fidelia 153
Southworth, Constant 138, 154, 165
Southworth, Charity Sylvia 154
spinsters. See women, single
Strong, Ida 52
St. Augustine 129
suicide 19–20, 44, 74, 147, 183
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts 196
Surinam 111
Swanzey, New Hampshire 14
tailoring. See sewing
Taverner, Hiram 151
teachers. See women, teaching as profession
Tilden, Samuel J. 198
tribadism (genital rubbing) 43, 73, 80
Troy, New York 52
tuberculosis. See health and sickness, consumption
Vermont 14–15, 50, 54, 57, 92, 103, 106, 133, 150, 185, 190, 199, 202
Vermont Domestic Missionary Society 197
Vermont Quarterly 202
Virgil 22
Virgin Mary 157
Wainwright, Jonathan 55
Wainwright, Lovina Wheeler 54–55
Wales, Captain 118
Walker, Ann 112
Warner, Nancy 29, 36, 39, 45–48, 63, 70
Washburn, Abram 17
Washington, Ida H. 202
Watts, Isaac 32, 88–91, 99, 123, 126
West Bridgewater, Massachusetts 10
Weybridge, Vermont 15, 57, 85, 87–88, 102–3, 107–9, 152, 184
Charity and Sylvia’s cottage in 110–22, 142, 190
comparisons to Sodom 56–57, 128
memorialization of Charity and Sylvia in 195, 202
Sylvia’s opportunities for schooling in 50–54
visitors to 116, 148, 173, 182, 188
Weybridge Auxiliary Tract Society 161
Weybridge Female Benevolent Society 136, 155, 162
Weybridge Female Education Society 161
Weybridge First Ecclesiastical Society 123, 156, 158
Wheelock, Philena 153–54, 162, 172–74
Whitman, Elizabeth 23
Wilcox, Edwon 153
Willard, Dr. John
Williams, Helen Maria 33
Williams College 145
Williamsburgh, Massachusetts 76
wills of
Bryant, Philip 150
Drake, Asaph 197
Drake, Oliver 197
Drake, Sylvia 136, 169, 195–96
Drake II, Thomas 11
Hayward, Grace 67
Howard, Abiel 3
Wisconsin 197
Wollstonecraft, Mary 42
women
changing roles and rights of 16, 25, 51, 53, 132, 161–62, 168
modesty as a virtue for 34–35, 42, 158
single 4, 29, 37, 48, 61, 78–80, 87, 90–91, 108–9, 138, 146, 153, 157, 167, 183, 198
Charity and Sylvia as single women x, xii, 43, 57, 62, 66–67, 74, 82, 92, 94, 97, 111, 122, 128, 132
teaching as profession for 26–35, 37–38, 69, 76, 79–80, 82
widowhood and 15, 73, 116, 139–40, 170, 192–93 See also maternity, youth
Wood, Philomela 153–54, 160, 172–74
Worcester, Massachusetts 14
Wordsworth, William 83
Worthington, Massachusetts 85, 108
Wright, Jehiel 134
Wright, Silas 170
Yale University 145
Yorkshire, England 112
Young, Edward 24
youth
effects of American Revolution on 13–14, 16–17, 21–22, 51
young women 23–25, 26–49, 54, 82, 142–54, 162
young men 17–23, 26, 34, 54, 142–54
See also education
Zola, Émile 198. See also novels