The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker: The Life Cycle of an Eighteenth-Century Woman

2. Wife and Mother, 1762-1775

2. Wife and Mother, 1762-1775 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 ofwhom reached adulthood. Of the other three, none survived beyond fourteen months. Elizabeth Drinker shared her grief sparingly on these occasions, and did not even record her two-week-old namesake's death in December 1772. By the end of 1775 her youngest surviving child was not quite two years old. In addition to Elizabeth, Henry, and the children, the Drinker household contained Mary Sandwith (Elizabeth's unmarried sister) and several servants. Sister and servants relieved Elizabeth of some of the burdens of housework and child care, and although the responsibilities of motherhood consumed most of her waking hours, her limited mobility still permitted a few extended trips with her husband some distance from Philadelphia. At home, she and Henry took walks together, visited friends and Friends, and rode with the children. Elizabeth summered at their home in Frankford, where entries lengthened in proportion to Henry's frequent absences. During these years she continued to socialize with or without the children, one or more of whom were usually breeding, battling, or recovering from one or more of the relentless eighteenthcentury maladies. The children's own life cycles take form in this decade as they teethe, prattle, The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker 23 toddle, attend school, shed baby clothes, learn to ride, and enter their teens. Only a short entry on September 6, 1775, when increasingly militant Philadelphians vented their wrath on two friends, suggests the fury and disruption that lay just ahead. 24 The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker [June] 17 AJ, call'd, this Morning Sister & Self went this Mternoon to Frankford,! to notre place,2 with Sally,3 Sally Emlen, Hannah Moode, Call'd this Evening-I wrote this Morning a mon Chere.4 19. Abel here, I at Abels, B. Oxon brought his Account, let him have 20 SSister , Sally, John and self, went this Afternoon, to Quarry-Bank, or AiryHill -saw Richd. Wells preparing his Carriage to take a ride, invited him with us-he follow'd with Rachel, they stay'd an hour at our Place, visited the Spring-House &c then left us for Blooms-Berry,-we came home too late, tho I hope no ways injur'd, several to see us while we were out. Betty knows not who---wrote to my H--Y. 23 Anna Warner Senr., Saml. and Sarah Sansom, drank tea with us, B. Walln here with the Child, Richd. came in, Silvia Spicer, Patty, Becky, James, call'd, sister out this Evening looking for a Maid-Nanny Silas Iron'd here, Betty behaves Badly-some talk of an Earth-quake last seventh-Day Night I remember to have heard a Strange Noise-John Drinker Abel Js.-here. 17627 mo. July 22 took up our Aboad during the warm weather, at our place near Frankford, from 22d. to 28th. kept no account. saw but little CompanySister went to Town the 24th. 28th. She went again in the Morning with my H--y she came back to dine with me, took a ride in the Afternoon, John and Sally with her to B. Parrs, came back to Tea with me. HD. stay'd in Town all Night the first time since we came up; I have my Sister, my Sally; John Burket and Hannah Broom; with me, and did it suit HD, to be constantly here also, I think I could be very happy in the Country. [Aug.] 3d. HD. and MS. left me for Town this Morning after Breakfast, between 7 & 8 o'clock, John went with them, he return'd at II o'clock.-the first time of my dining alone since I came to Frankford-Thos. and Rebecca Say with Benny came up this Afternoon, HD. and MS, came home before Tea took a Walk round the Place, TS. &c went home towards Evening. I. The Drinkers owned...