Women on the Western Pennsylvania Frontier

The history books are full of stories about life on the frontier during the 1700s. They discuss life on the frontier during the French and Indian War, or a soldier’s life during the Revolutionary War, or the basic tasks of starting a homestead in an “untamed” land.  However different the subject, one thing these stories have in common is that the main characters are usually men: the men who cleared the land and built the cabin, the men who enlisted and fought, the men who made the laws.  These stories, while important and interesting, overlook one principal component of life in general, but especially life on the Western Pennsylvania frontier: the important and necessary role of women.

I have read my fair share of books on the subject of Pennsylvania’s history, the story of the Revolutionary War, the building and formation of the country with a focus on the region surrounding the three rivers and Great Lakes.  If women are mentioned at all in these books, it is either to draw attention to the very remarkable, such as the story of Molly Pitcher (if you don’t know this one, look it up, she was great), or to highlight the supporting role of women as household drudges.  As with other individuals of the time period, the role of women was so much more nuanced than what those extremes imply.  While no doubt many of the tasks a woman had to complete daily were monotonous, much like those of men, what the books fail to impress upon the reader is that without the numerous jobs that women did there would be no settlement, no community, and no permanence on the frontier.

The Pennsylvania frontier was a challenging and often frightening place to live from the first settlements in the 1760s to the end of the Revolutionary War and even into the 1790s.  Starting a homestead from scratch on land that had never been cleared for farming, paired with the constant threat of attacks by Native Americans (or sometimes the French), was a daunting task.  Where do women fit in with all of this?  What was their role in the formation of these early communities?   It is important to note at this time that the community would not have been permanent at all without women!  It was women who made a house a home, who took care of the children, who looked after things while the men were away.  Yet much of the work they did for the homestead and for the community was historically overlooked and always behind the scenes.  

Men on the frontier had the laborious tasks of clearing land, planting and taking care of the crops, tending the livestock, constructing buildings, and doing business.  However, the men would not have clothing to wear to work the fields had there not been women sewing their outfits.  Speaking of sewing, there would be no cloth to sew without the women to spin the wool for yarn to weave into fabric or thread to sew it with.  Men tended the livestock, sheared the sheep, and grew the flax, yet women worked to wash, comb, and card the fibers.  While fabric was commercially available at this time, the closest “market” to purchase fabric was a three- week journey away.  Without the aid of machinery, it is said that one garment would take anywhere from four to six months to complete from shearing the sheep to a finished product.  Flax was an important plant at this time as well.  Once mature, flax would be cut, dried, and processed to create the linen fiber that women would then spin into string for weaving or sewing.  Though men planted the fields, everyone–men, women, and children–helped with the processing.  Linton Park’s painting, Flax Scutching Bee, shows viewers that women are clearly part of the hard labor involved in processing the flax.

Members of the IBWCP at an event at Fort Ligonier.

Clearing trees to plant fields took a lot of time and hard work, all of which men accomplished with all hands on deck, including neighbors, wives, and children.  Men planted those fields with crops of grain to supplement the diet and feed the livestock, yet it was the kitchen gardens that the women were tending that provided a majority of the food in the form of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.  Though men hunted the game for much-needed protein, it was the women who processed and cooked it.  Speaking of processing, women were also responsible for preserving the fruits and vegetables, for turning milk into butter (or sometimes cheese), and drying the herbs they used to cook with.  Do not forget that herbs, as well as wild plants, were used to heal and cure injuries and sickness, all of which women had to be knowledgeable about as part of their role was also that of nurse and caretaker.

How about children?  Obviously there were births as well as child-rearing on the frontier.  This is where a woman’s networks of friends and neighbors were vitally important.  During the 18th century, men were not part of the birthing process; that was left to the women.  There was likely a midwife or someone to act as a midwife on the frontier. Sadly, we do not know who she was in this county.  The midwife was sent for, and then, depending on the mother’s status, the midwife would “call the women” (as Martha Ballard had written) or the mother’s support staff.  These women would see the mother through the process.  Interestingly, after the baby was born, the women would stay on to make sure that the new mother was doing well and eating.  They would take on her cleaning duties, help to watch any other children, do the cooking, and generally be there to support the mother.  These women’s networks formed on the frontier were important in other ways as well.  It was common for women to have extended visits with each other where they would help with household tasks.  Often, the women would get together to spin, sew, or quilt, with the added bonus of friendship and company.  Likewise, daughters would be sent to neighboring houses to help with child care or other jobs such as “putting up,” or storing food for the winter.  It is these networks that women formed which helped to create the early communities on the frontier.

The author, Katie Gaudreau and her son, Cameron, helping with an event at the Compass Inn. It was common for women amd children to be camp followers.

In the 18th century, a woman’s options for earning money were extremely limited. It was difficult for women living on their own to meet their needs and that of their children.  The need for money on the frontier was not as great as for those living in the city, but what was a woman to do if her husband were to enlist in the army or join the militia?  A woman had three options if that were the case: she could stay, she could live with family back east, or she could become a camp follower.  Of the three, the most harrowing was likely staying to maintain the farm in her husband’s absence.  The constant threat of attacks by Native Americans meant she could never truly relax.  In staying at the farm, she had to tend the fields, the garden, any livestock, as well as the children, under her own power.  If an attack was imminent, she was required to either stay and fight them off, or run with her children to the nearest fort or blockhouse.

If a woman had a family she could live with, this would be a great option.  Although moving back east required a weeks-long journey, she would at the very least be safe from attacks.  However, in order to avoid being a burden to her family, she would still be required to complete daily household chores including washing, sewing, and cooking.

Which brings us to the option of following the army.  For many women on the frontier, moving back east was simply not an option, so they made the decision to join their husband’s regiment, along with any children, and follow the men to their various posts.  While this may seem like the worst option of the three, at the very least a woman was guaranteed food and shelter as well as protection.  Women were still expected to “earn their keep” in the way of continuing in roles they’d performed when living at the homestead: cook, cleaner, washmaid, nurse, and caretaker.  In times of battle, many of these women would run water to and from the front lines, would tend the wounded, and sometimes take up post as part of the canon crew if one of the men had fallen (again, look up Molly Pitcher).  Many of these jobs are overlooked in the history books, but they were necessary to the health and well-being of the soldiers in the field.  George Washington himself hated the concept of the camp followers and considered them “a clog upon every movement.” He felt they did nothing but drain supplies and drive the men to drink.  Yet these women provided necessary services to the camps.

Spinning was a necessary task on the frontier and was likely done daily.

Despite all the work that women did on the frontier and their place in forming permanent settlements in Western Pennsylvania, they had few rights to speak of.  A discussion surrounding the legal rights and status of women during the 1700s will best be done in another article as there are not enough pages in the newsletter to do it justice this month.  Suffice it to say, Abigail Adams, the wife of one of our country’s founding fathers, John Adams, demanded of her husband to “remember the ladies” in the Continental Congress’ formation of laws for the new nation.  She would ask lawmakers not to put “unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands” or women would “not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”  Regardless, women’s role in the settlement of Western Pennsylvania requires more attention than had previously been paid to it.  That women would step up when needed, complete tasks their husbands could not as well as the ones they were already responsible for, much like during the First and Second World Wars, is remarkable in itself.  It is time to recognize the importance of women on the frontier and see their place in community-building as the necessity it was.  

For more information on the role of women during the 18th century, see these sources:

https://www.nga.gov/artworks/42429-flax-scutching-bee  - Linton Park’s famous painting

https://www.mountvernon.org/  - George Washington’s thoughts on women as camp followers

Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American Revolution by Holly A. Mayer - has written several very good books and journal articles about the role of women following the army

A Midwife's Tale : The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich  - while set in New England, much of what Martha Ballard accomplished on the frontier  there applies to what women went through on the frontier in Western Pennsylvania.