Thank you. "Grass widow" it is.
On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 11:15 AM, Hellier, Cathy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I think you mean "grass widow," which can mean an unmarried woman who has
> a child. It can also mean a woman who is separated or divorced, one whose
> husband is temporarily away, or a former mistress. It is a difficult term
> to interpret in early records unless one really knows the context of the
> situation.
>
>
> Cathy Hellier
> Historian
> Department of Training and Historical Research
> The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
> P.O. Box 1776
> Williamsburg, VA 23187
> 757-220-7442
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lewis Burruss
> Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 9:16 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Baptism of bastard children in the Colonial Church
>
> A "gross widow", by the way, is an archaic term that meant an unmarried
> woman who has a child.
>
> On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 8:32 AM, Lewis Burruss <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Baptism of bastard children in the Colonial
> > Church An interesting note in the 1677 parish record of baptisms of
> > Abingdon parish, Gloucester Co. Va, is this (abbreviations changed to
> full words):
> > "Thomas, son of Elizabeth White, gross widow, and Dr Daniel, the
> > supposed father, was baptized about March 16th"
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 4:51 PM, [log in to unmask]
> > <[log in to unmask]
> > > wrote:
> >
> >> I should have known the discussion would veer off the main topic to
> >> slavery, though my main question was about bastard children of ANY
> >> color being baptized by the Anglican Church, which I had thought was
> >> against canon law. (Paul, I didn't mean to imply I only got that
> >> notion from *Tess of the d'Urbervilles*--I just threw that in for
> >> some humor.)--Craig Kilby
> >>
> >> Original email:
> >> -----------------
> >> From: Jon Kukla [log in to unmask]
> >> Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2014 12:47:33 -0500
> >> To: [log in to unmask]
> >> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Baptism of bastard children in the Colonial
> >> Church
> >>
> >>
> >> There's plenty of evidence of slaves being baptized in reports back
> >> to England, both to bishop of London and in the friends of Dr. Bray
> >> stuff like that which John Van Horne edited.
> >> Maury's letter struck me as kind of self-righteous ... from a guy
> >> who had found a nifty way of taking the moral high ground while also
> >> delighting in the fact that he was annoying less than favorite
> >> parishioners.
> >> On a similar note, a long-time pastor friend once commented that
> >> it was too easy to succumb to the temptation of preaching hell-fire
> >> and brimstone because it was like telling your parishioners to go to
> >> hell.
> >> Up in Richmond County when the Anglican rector announced that he
> >> was going to answer the baptists in a sermon, his service was so well
> >> attended that the balcony, where the slaves worshipped, collapsed. In
> >> short, the evidence of slave participation in VA's colonial Anglican
> >> is there if ya look for it.....
> >>
> >>
> >> Jon Kukla
> >> ________________
> >> www.JonKukla.com <http://www.jonkukla.com/>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:28 AM, Tarter, Brent (LVA) <
> >> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Years ago, Dr. Thomas E. Buckley, SJ, author of the recent
> >> > excellent Establishing Religious Freedom: Jefferson's Statute in
> >> > Virginia (Charlottesville, 2013), called my attention to a long 10
> >> > October 1759 letter in the Patrick Henry Papers at the Library of
> >> > Congress from James Maury, rector of Fredericksville Parish,
> >> > evidently sent to Commissary Thomas Dawson. Maury described at
> >> > length the objections that some
> >> members
> >> > of his parish vestry made after he attempted to baptize some
> >> > enslaved children during the regular church service. That
> >> > indicates, as Craig mentioned, that children of slaves were
> >> > sometimes baptized. The
> >> vestrymen
> >> > did not object to their being baptized, only to their being
> >> > baptized
> >> during
> >> > the regular church service along with children of decent white people.
> >> >
> >> > Brent Tarter
> >> > The Library of Virginia
> >> > [log in to unmask]
> >> >
> >> > Please visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at
> >> > http://www.lva.virginia.gov
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> [mailto:
> >> > [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
> >> > Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 9:47 AM
> >> > To: [log in to unmask]
> >> > Subject: [VA-HIST] Baptism of bastard children in the Colonial
> >> > Church
> >> >
> >> > Hello all,
> >> >
> >> > I seem to have been suffering under the illusion ever since reading
> >> *Tess
> >> > of the Turbervilles* in sophomore English class that the Anglican
> >> > church did not allow for the baptism of bastard children.* But in
> >> > going through the Christ Church, Middlesex County parish register
> >> > for the late 1600s
> >> and
> >> > early 1700s, I see that there are hundreds of bastard child baptisms.
> >> These
> >> > usually only name the mother. Also of interest are a considerable
> >> > number
> >> of
> >> > slave children being baptized, which I also found unusual. So,
> >> > gentle readers, where did I go astray regarding canon law in colonial
> Virginia?
> >> >
> >> > Craig Kilby
> >> >
> >> > *Those of you who were forced to read this drivel may recall that
> >> > Tess found herself in a family way without benefit of matrimony,
> >> > and then the baby died. She then has a nightmare that the devil was
> >> > tossing the
> >> infant
> >> > boy around in the flames of hell on his pitchfork. Our teacher,
> >> > dear
> >> Mrs.
> >> > Timmons, asked the class what this meant. One wag in class quickly
> >> > answered her with, "Burn, Baby, Burn!" She was not amused, but the
> >> > rest
> >> of
> >> > the class went into an uproar!
> >> >
> >> > -------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> > - mail2web.com What can On Demand Business Solutions do for you?
> >> > http://link.mail2web.com/Business/SharePoint
> >> >
> >> > ______________________________________
> >> > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the
> >> > instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
> >> >
> >> > ______________________________________
> >> > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the
> >> > instructions
> >> at
> >> > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
> >> >
> >>
> >> ______________________________________
> >> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the
> >> instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
> >>
> >>
> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> mail2web.com What can On Demand Business Solutions do for you?
> >> http://link.mail2web.com/Business/SharePoint
> >>
> >> ______________________________________
> >> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the
> >> instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
> >>
> >
> >
>
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
