The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker
The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker: The Life Cycle of an Eighteenth-Century Woman
EDITED, WITH A NEW PREFACE, BY Elaine Forman Crane
Copyright Date: 2010
Edition: ABR - Abridged
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Pages: 352
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhwqw
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The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker
Book Description:

The journal of Philadelphia Quaker Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker (1735-1807) is perhaps the single most significant personal record of eighteenth-century life in America from a woman's perspective. Drinker wrote in her diary nearly continuously between 1758 and 1807, from two years before her marriage to the night before her last illness. The extraordinary span and sustained quality of the journal make it a rewarding document for a multitude of historical purposes. One of the most prolific early American diarists-her journal runs to thirty-six manuscript volumes-Elizabeth Drinker saw English colonies evolve into the American nation while Drinker herself changed from a young unmarried woman into a wife, mother, and grandmother. Her journal entries touch on every contemporary subject political, personal, and familial. Focusing on different stages of Drinker's personal development within the domestic context, this abridged edition highlights four critical phases of her life cycle: youth and courtship, wife and mother, middle age in years of crisis, and grandmother and family elder. There is little that escaped Elizabeth Drinker's quill, and her diary is a delight not only for the information it contains but also for the way in which she conveys her world across the centuries.

eISBN: 978-0-8122-0682-1
Subjects: History
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-iv)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. v-vi)
  3. Preface: A Woman for All Seasons
    Preface: A Woman for All Seasons (pp. vii-xii)
    Elaine Forman Crane
  4. Acknowledgments
    Acknowledgments (pp. xiii-xiv)
  5. Introduction
    Introduction (pp. xv-xxvi)

    After a particularly stressful day in the fall of 1798, Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker, a Quaker Philadelphian whose lifetime pill intake made her an expert on the subject, concluded that “a mixture of good with the bad, makes the pill of life go down.”¹ And even if this was not one of her more astute observations, it does imply that at age sixty-three she assessed her own life in terms of such a balance. Elizabeth Drinker’s life, most certainly a mixture of good and bad, is the focus of this abridged edition of her diary.

    Because she was female, the stages...

  6. Editorial Note
    Editorial Note (pp. xxvii-xxx)
  7. List of Abbreviations and Short Titles
    List of Abbreviations and Short Titles (pp. xxxi-xxxix)
  8. Family Tree
    Family Tree (pp. xl-xl)
  9. [Illustration]
    [Illustration] (pp. 1-2)
  10. 1. Youth and Courtship, 1758–1761
    1. Youth and Courtship, 1758–1761 (pp. 3-22)

    Elizabeth Sandwith introduces herself through her needlework. Preceding her chronological entries, and not reproduced here, is a compilation of handwrought accomplishments for the years 1757–60. The list of nearly one hundred items presents a young woman who was both skilled and productive. Elizabeth knitted stockings, plaited watchstrings and whipstrings, and worked pincushions, pocketbooks, and purses, most of which she either gave or perhaps sold to friends.

    Her literary entries begin on October 8, 1758, when the orphaned Sandwith sisters were already living with Ann Warner and her daughters. Daily life revolved around Quaker meetings, socializing, and shopping, activities that...

  11. 2. Wife and Mother, 1762–1775
    2. Wife and Mother, 1762–1775 (pp. 23-54)

    Life for Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker was very different from what it had been for Elizabeth Sandwith. Love overcame restraint, and Henry Drinker became “mon chere,” “my best friend,” or “my Sweet-Heart.” Yet these endearments were the only indicators of her marital relationship. Except for one entry on May 12, 1761, silence shields the seventeen months following her marriage, during which time her first child, Sarah (affectionately called Sally), was born. Elizabeth confided nothing to her diary about sex or pregnancies, apart from oblique references to several miscarriages.

    Between 1761 and 1775 Elizabeth Drinker gave birth to eight children, five of...

  12. 3. Middle Age in Years of Crisis, 1776–1793
    3. Middle Age in Years of Crisis, 1776–1793 (pp. 55-122)

    Two major public events bookend the central phase of Elizabeth Drinker’s life: a violent War for Independence and a virulent yellow fever epidemic. Both episodes threatened the Drinkers’ well-being, although neither claimed the life of immediate family members.

    During the Revolution, zealous rebel leaders banished Henry Drinker and other fellow Quakers to Virginia, leaving Elizabeth and “Aunty” to cope as best they could. With the children’s health at an all-time low and inflationary prices at an all-time high, servants running away and armies drawing near, Elizabeth found it difficult to maintain her equanimity in a war zone and occupied city....

  13. 4. Grandmother and Grand Mother, 1794–1807
    4. Grandmother and Grand Mother, 1794–1807 (pp. 123-304)

    Although the last section of the diary spans only fourteen years, it represents fully three-quarters of the journal’s entire contents. Drinker’s prolific output during this period was a measure of available time, as was her voluminous reading, judging by the lists appended to the end of every year between 1799 and 1806. As her physical pace slowed down perceptibly, her intellectual activity sped up just as appreciably.

    Advancing age did not mitigate her cares. Elizabeth’s younger son, Henry, married Hannah Smith in 1794, and the fruitful couple proceeded to multiply at a rate that astonished even his mother. Molly, the...

  14. Biographical Directory
    Biographical Directory (pp. 305-342)

    Elizabeth Drinker recorded the names of several thousand people over the nearly fifty-year period during which she penned her entries. Some, such as her husband and children, were mentioned almost daily, others less frequently, and many only sporadically. The directory has been compiled for the purpose of identifying as many people as possible in all three categories. A surprising quantity of biographical information has surfaced in the attempt, although the amount and nature of that information vary from person to person.

    Where feasible, birth, death, and marriage dates have been included, as well as occupation, public roles, religion, and relationship...

  15. Index of Names
    Index of Names (pp. 343-356)
  16. Subject Index
    Subject Index (pp. 357-367)
  17. Back Matter
    Back Matter (pp. 368-368)
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