Megan Taylor Shockley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814783191
- eISBN:
- 9780814786529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814783191.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter discusses two journals which reflect Rebecca's life following her childhood entries in Flowers in Frolic. In the first journal Rebecca wrote of her experiences with William and ...
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This chapter discusses two journals which reflect Rebecca's life following her childhood entries in Flowers in Frolic. In the first journal Rebecca wrote of her experiences with William and reminisced about him immediately after his departure. In the second, Rebecca reflected on her relationship with her husband and her role as a wife while William was away, as well as her concern that William continue to act as a faithful husband. Throughout these two journals Rebecca established important components of her life narrative. She defined her husband's personality and character, created her own persona, located her own position in society, and finally illustrated the nature of her relationship with her husband.Less
This chapter discusses two journals which reflect Rebecca's life following her childhood entries in Flowers in Frolic. In the first journal Rebecca wrote of her experiences with William and reminisced about him immediately after his departure. In the second, Rebecca reflected on her relationship with her husband and her role as a wife while William was away, as well as her concern that William continue to act as a faithful husband. Throughout these two journals Rebecca established important components of her life narrative. She defined her husband's personality and character, created her own persona, located her own position in society, and finally illustrated the nature of her relationship with her husband.
Megan Taylor Shockley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814783191
- eISBN:
- 9780814786529
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814783191.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
In 1852 Hannah Rebecca Crowell married sea captain William Burgess and set sail. Within three years, Rebecca Burgess had crossed the equator eleven times and learned to navigate a vessel. In 1856, ...
More
In 1852 Hannah Rebecca Crowell married sea captain William Burgess and set sail. Within three years, Rebecca Burgess had crossed the equator eleven times and learned to navigate a vessel. In 1856, 22-year-old Rebecca saved the ship Challenger as her husband lay dying from dysentery. The widow returned to her family's home in Sandwich, Massachusetts, where she refused all marriage proposals and died wealthy in 1917. This is the way Rebecca Burgess recorded her story in her prodigious journals and registers, which she donated to the local historical society upon her death, but there is no other evidence that this dramatic event occurred exactly this way. This book examines how Burgess constructed her own legend and how the town of Sandwich embraced that history as its own. Through careful analysis of myriad primary sources, the book also addresses how Burgess dealt with the conflicting gender roles of her life, reconciling her traditionally masculine adventures at sea and her independent lifestyle with the accepted ideals of the period's “Victorian woman.”Less
In 1852 Hannah Rebecca Crowell married sea captain William Burgess and set sail. Within three years, Rebecca Burgess had crossed the equator eleven times and learned to navigate a vessel. In 1856, 22-year-old Rebecca saved the ship Challenger as her husband lay dying from dysentery. The widow returned to her family's home in Sandwich, Massachusetts, where she refused all marriage proposals and died wealthy in 1917. This is the way Rebecca Burgess recorded her story in her prodigious journals and registers, which she donated to the local historical society upon her death, but there is no other evidence that this dramatic event occurred exactly this way. This book examines how Burgess constructed her own legend and how the town of Sandwich embraced that history as its own. Through careful analysis of myriad primary sources, the book also addresses how Burgess dealt with the conflicting gender roles of her life, reconciling her traditionally masculine adventures at sea and her independent lifestyle with the accepted ideals of the period's “Victorian woman.”
Megan Taylor Shockley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814783191
- eISBN:
- 9780814786529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814783191.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter describes passages from the autograph journal of Rebecca Burgess (neé Crowell), entitled Flowers in Frolic, and the reflections therein; which, when coupled with corroborating historical ...
More
This chapter describes passages from the autograph journal of Rebecca Burgess (neé Crowell), entitled Flowers in Frolic, and the reflections therein; which, when coupled with corroborating historical evidence, paints her as a middle-class woman of moderate privilege, a woman whose community was intrinsically important to her identity and a community whose character was not changing, despite the economic transition of Massachusetts from a rural to an industrial economy. This book establishes Rebecca's world for the reader of her journals: it reveals her gentility with references to religious and ethical tropes in the writing; it introduces her community as a network of friends and relations who cared about her; it reflects her connection with William two years before they married; and it also shows that Rebecca was no stranger to loss at an early age.Less
This chapter describes passages from the autograph journal of Rebecca Burgess (neé Crowell), entitled Flowers in Frolic, and the reflections therein; which, when coupled with corroborating historical evidence, paints her as a middle-class woman of moderate privilege, a woman whose community was intrinsically important to her identity and a community whose character was not changing, despite the economic transition of Massachusetts from a rural to an industrial economy. This book establishes Rebecca's world for the reader of her journals: it reveals her gentility with references to religious and ethical tropes in the writing; it introduces her community as a network of friends and relations who cared about her; it reflects her connection with William two years before they married; and it also shows that Rebecca was no stranger to loss at an early age.
Megan Taylor Shockley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814783191
- eISBN:
- 9780814786529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814783191.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter examines the ways in which Rebecca engaged in negotiating between multiple identities simultaneously. Her multiple identities speak to the way in which she wanted to be remembered, and ...
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This chapter examines the ways in which Rebecca engaged in negotiating between multiple identities simultaneously. Her multiple identities speak to the way in which she wanted to be remembered, and her embrace of different personas reflects a practice in which all humans engage. All people employ different identities at the same time, and these identities are complex and socially constructed. What makes Rebecca unusual is the way she inscribed all her identities and retained those narratives for the public to peruse. Rebecca's identities suggested what was important to her—country, kin, community, and, of course, her ongoing “relationship” with William.Less
This chapter examines the ways in which Rebecca engaged in negotiating between multiple identities simultaneously. Her multiple identities speak to the way in which she wanted to be remembered, and her embrace of different personas reflects a practice in which all humans engage. All people employ different identities at the same time, and these identities are complex and socially constructed. What makes Rebecca unusual is the way she inscribed all her identities and retained those narratives for the public to peruse. Rebecca's identities suggested what was important to her—country, kin, community, and, of course, her ongoing “relationship” with William.
Megan Taylor Shockley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814783191
- eISBN:
- 9780814786529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814783191.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter shows how Rebecca's journals reveal the transition of her personality from young bride to sea captain's wife. Rebecca's entries illustrate new facets of her relationship with William, ...
More
This chapter shows how Rebecca's journals reveal the transition of her personality from young bride to sea captain's wife. Rebecca's entries illustrate new facets of her relationship with William, which depict his personality aboard ship. Throughout her journey, Rebecca noted both her reliance on and independence from traditional Victorian definitions of womanhood. She became a social commentator on sailors and their lives, as well as the lands she visited, and revealed her sentiments about life on the sea by using language to justify her position away from the defined domestic sphere of traditional womanhood. She cast herself as the protagonist of an adventure story, enjoying and writing down in great detail the experiences of maritime life. Her journals reflect her growing sense of self, as defined by the maritime world of which she had become a part.Less
This chapter shows how Rebecca's journals reveal the transition of her personality from young bride to sea captain's wife. Rebecca's entries illustrate new facets of her relationship with William, which depict his personality aboard ship. Throughout her journey, Rebecca noted both her reliance on and independence from traditional Victorian definitions of womanhood. She became a social commentator on sailors and their lives, as well as the lands she visited, and revealed her sentiments about life on the sea by using language to justify her position away from the defined domestic sphere of traditional womanhood. She cast herself as the protagonist of an adventure story, enjoying and writing down in great detail the experiences of maritime life. Her journals reflect her growing sense of self, as defined by the maritime world of which she had become a part.
