Elizabeth Ross, The Busy Hardworking Housewife in 1770

February 29, 1770

Dear Diary,
 

      Although there is still a chill in the air, that does not stop me from getting the household chores done.There is quite a lot of snow on the ground and on top of the snow there is also ice. I got up in the morning and went outside. I saw the black steam coming from the houses with the air that smells like fire. A few days ago, Thomas our son, who is ten, was going to get water from the local well when he slipped on the ice and hurt his back. He has been in bed resting his back since. My two other boys, John, who is seven years old, and Sam, who is now eight years old, help their father run the mercantile. Early this morning I went down to the barn to feed the chickens and roosters. Katherine, our loving daughter who is eleven years old, is very ill. She has come down with small pox. Katherine has had small pox for about a week. It is so hard to see what she is going through. If only there was a medication that could help her get better. This morning she came up to me and said, "Mother will these yellow dots ever go away?" It is so hard to know that I cannot do anything to help her. All a mother wishes for her children is for them to be happy and healthy. I pray every night that she will get better.
        Last night, after eating dinner and cleaning up, I made the bread for today's breakfast. I always start making the bread from scratch. I make about three breads each night so we can use the bread for our meals the next day. Katherine would help me make the bread so she could learn, because in few years she will get married and she needs to know how to cook so she can provide food for her husband and children. But this week Katherine has not helped me because of her illness. Every morning we have to have bread on the table or no one will eat. I had some help from my indentured servant Phillis.
    The Redcoats have arrived in Boston. The Bostonians are supposed to invite the Redcoats into their homes and give them food and shelter, but no one will do so. The Redcoats were paid 8 pence a day, not a lot of money. Some of the Redcoats with families had to earn extra money by having to get another job. Everyone was shocked by the death of eleven year old boy Christopher Seider. I was one of those 2,000 people who attended his funeral. While I was there watching some men bearing Christopher, there were so many things going in my head like what is going to happen next? Are the British soldiers going to leave Boston? Samuel Adams was the one who organized the funeral. The Bostonians are angry and tense.

March 6,1770

Dear Diary,

    It makes me weak to say, but our loving daughter is no longer with us. It was hard to let her go, I will have to move on. Her memories are still with me, though. I hope the other children will not catch any colds or a disease. Thomas' back is better now.
     He is able to help his father in the shop again. I am so glad to see Thomas feeling and looking better and acting better by lending a hand to me and his father. Matthew has expanded his shop. A lot of Bostonians are buying products from his store since the British enforced the Townshend Acts. I worry every day that Matthew will get caught smuggling goods. I do not want an effigy of him hung from a tree or his store getting destroyed by Ebenezer Richardson. But of course there are also other merchants smuggling too. If my husband gets caught then all the merchants will. The imported tea is from Holland and the finest silk is from France. I went to the market yesterday to get some chicken for supper when I noticed there was a flag hung from a tree which meant there was a meeting today. I knew what the flag meant, because my husband is a Son of Liberty.
     Later that night around dusk, I was sitting in the wooden chair knitting a sweater for my dearest husband when I heard the bells ring. I quickly  grabbed  a bucket and went down to King Street to see where the fire was, but there was no fire. What I saw was a group of young men taunting a British soldier. There were people with buckets, yelling "fire" it was total chaos and confusion. I heard a gun shot, but I don't know who fired the shot. Four people lay dead on the ground. Governer Hutchinson came out on the balcony and said, "The law shall have its course, I will live and die by the law." Then he told all of us to go home. It was terrifying to think those people's lives got taken away by the British. I wonder if Governor Hutchinson will do anything about the soldiers? It seemed that Hutchinson strongly believed in the British rules and applied the law. But I did not believe in those rules.


April 5,1770

    Yesterday I woke up at seven in the morning to feed the animals and to see if the chicken had laid any eggs so I could use them to make breakfast. It was nice to see that the snow and the ice were melting. After finishing up breakfast around nine, I told my Phillis to clean up while I went and sewed the rest of my dress with other housewives. This frock was something I had to work on when I was not cleaning the house and not cleaning up after the children. I do not get a lot of free time and I wasn't going pass this one opportunity by. The boys went with their father to help him move into his bigger store. Usually Katherine, my only daughter would come along. It is painful to say but she will not be joining me anymore. This dress has to have ruffled sleeves, a hat for protection against the sun or just for fashion, silk which my husband imported from France, stays to help me with good posture, and of course, a skirt. It took me a fortnight to get the dress done. It was worth it. The dress looks beautiful. The boys arrived later around supper time. Before they arrived I went to the docks and bought some wood, so we could all sleep cozy that night. Even though it is early April, it is still really cold. Today when I woke up there was about a foot of snow on the ground. I guess there was a snow storm last night. At ten in the morning, we went to church. I left all the housework for Phillis. Usually church goes for the whole day. It is good for the boys to practice their religion as Puritans.
    Boston has calmed down since the riot that happened on King Street. I do not let the boys out a lot because I am worried something might happen between the Bostonians and the British again and I do not want my children to be around it. I don't want them to get hurt. A few blocks away the Redcoats are all camping out on the Boston Common because none of the Bostonians will let them in their houses. The Redcoats made lots of noise night and day just so they can constantly remind us of their presence because we will not let them in our houses. I especially did not let the boys go near there.
    The soldiers that were on King Street the night of March 5 have not gone to court yet, but maybe in a couple of months they will. All the townspeople say different things about the riot on King Street. One of the things I heard was that a wigmaker apprentice was taunting a Redcoat, then the Redcoat hit him with his musket. All I want is for the Redcoats to leave and let us live in peace, but I do not think that will happen. King George III sent the Redcoats because Sam Adams is spoiling for a fight. Another issue is that King George III is in debt because of the French and Indian War and he needs the money to pay off the debt so that is why he puts the tax on the tea and many other things. It is not like the Bostonians had any say, but what can I do about it?