Martha Wadsworth Brewster
Encyclopedia
Martha Wadsworth Brewster (April 1, 1710 – c. 1757) was an 18th-century American
poet and writer. She is one of only four colonial women who published volumes of their verse before the American Revolution and was the first American-born woman to publish under her own name.
, a daughter of Joseph Wadsworth, Jr. and the granddaughter of Joseph Wadsworth, Sr. and Abigail Waite. Her mother was Lydia Brown, whose parents were Captain John Brown of Swansea, Massachusetts
, and Anna Mason.
sometime after October 19, 1776 as this is the date when he deeded land in Lebanon, Connecticut
to his son, Wadsworth.
on March 30, 1812. He married on May 24, 1759 at the Second Congregational Church at Lebanon, Connecticut, by the Rev. Dr. Eleazar Wheelock
, Jerusha Newcomb, born January 6, 1740/41 at Lebanon, Connecticut the daughter of Silas Newcomb and Submit Pinneo. She died on February 9, 1813 at Chatham, New York.
Their daughter was Ruby Brewster, born January 5, 1733/34 at Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut, and died at an unknown date in Bernardston, Massachusetts. She married on December 22, 1749 at Longmeadow, Massachusetts
, Henry Bliss. He was born on August 21, 1726 at Lebanon, Connecticut and died on February 8, 1761. He was the son of Thomas Bliss and Mary Macranney.
and Jane Colman Turell, focused primarily on religion and family life. Brewster's 21 poems vary widely in theme and form: the more than 1100 lines include letters, farewells to friends who are moving, epithalamium
s, eulogies, scriptural paraphrases, a love poem, a quaternion
, a dream (in prose), and meditations.
While she does write about more conventional religious and family themes, her work is also the first to tackle radical subject matter for a woman of the eighteenth-century and reflects a shift from those themes to focus on the evils of war, military invasion and conquest and its cumulative effect on a nation and its citizens; and locates a woman's voice alongside those of the male founders of the country. She also writes about the schisms of the Great Awakening
, and the muted stirring of personal ambition as well. Despite the traditional attitude toward women of the time, she clearly valued knowledge and intellect; and she could be considered an early feminist.
and others." In a later poem of hers, she included a line that reads "Ye Creatures all, in vast Amazement Stand" evinces some trace of personal nuance aimed at those who had attempted to depreciate her competence as a poet.
Many of her works appeared on broadsides
an early type of publication that resembled the modern-day flyer. In addition, she commemorated historical events in her poetry; in 1745, she set to meter a piece describing the capture of Cape Breton from the French by the British.
In Delight in Reading, she instructed her daughter, Ruby, "You must go on by Reading and Study to improve the Powers which God has given you."
She composed two acrostic poems of advice for her young children.The below poem is the one composed for her son, Wadsworth.
An Acrostic
for my only Son
No single volume of her work is extant. There is no recorded response to Brewster's Poems documenting the volume's reception, but it appeared in two editions, one printed in New London, Connecticut (1757), and another printed in Boston (1758). Both editions of her works were printed by publishers Benjamin Edes
and John Gill
of Boston, Massachusetts. Such reprinting suggests an audience well beyond Brewster's immediate circle of family and friends.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet and writer. She is one of only four colonial women who published volumes of their verse before the American Revolution and was the first American-born woman to publish under her own name.
Early life
She was born on April 1, 1710 in Lebanon, New London County, ConnecticutNew London County, Connecticut
New London County is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of 2010 the population was 274,055. The total area of the county is , including inland and coastal waters....
, a daughter of Joseph Wadsworth, Jr. and the granddaughter of Joseph Wadsworth, Sr. and Abigail Waite. Her mother was Lydia Brown, whose parents were Captain John Brown of Swansea, Massachusetts
Swansea, Massachusetts
Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts.It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, 47 miles south of Boston; and 12 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island....
, and Anna Mason.
Marriage
She married, at an undetermined place, on Wednesday, March 22, 1732, Oliver Brewster, who was born at Duxbury, Massachusetts on July 16, 1708, the son of William Brewster and Hopestill Wadsworth. Oliver died, possibly in Bernardston, MassachusettsBernardston, Massachusetts
Bernardston is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,155 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
sometime after October 19, 1776 as this is the date when he deeded land in Lebanon, Connecticut
Lebanon, Connecticut
Lebanon is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,907 at the 2000 census. The town lies just to the northwest of Norwich, north of New London, and east of Hartford...
to his son, Wadsworth.
Children
They were the parents of two children. Their son, Wadsworth Brewster, born April 14, 1737 at Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut and died at Columbia, Tolland County, ConnecticutTolland County, Connecticut
Tolland County is a county located in the northeastern part of Connecticut. As of 2010, the population was 152,691.Counties in Connecticut have no governmental function: all legal power is vested in the state, city, and town governments...
on March 30, 1812. He married on May 24, 1759 at the Second Congregational Church at Lebanon, Connecticut, by the Rev. Dr. Eleazar Wheelock
Eleazar Wheelock
Eleazar Wheelock was an American Congregational minister, orator, educator, and founder of Dartmouth College....
, Jerusha Newcomb, born January 6, 1740/41 at Lebanon, Connecticut the daughter of Silas Newcomb and Submit Pinneo. She died on February 9, 1813 at Chatham, New York.
Their daughter was Ruby Brewster, born January 5, 1733/34 at Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut, and died at an unknown date in Bernardston, Massachusetts. She married on December 22, 1749 at Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Longmeadow, Massachusetts
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,633 people, 5,734 households, and 4,432 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 5,879 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.42% White, 0.69% African American, 0.05% Native American, 2.90%...
, Henry Bliss. He was born on August 21, 1726 at Lebanon, Connecticut and died on February 8, 1761. He was the son of Thomas Bliss and Mary Macranney.
Death
Martha Wadsworth Brewster died sometime after 1757, possibly at Lebanon, Connecticut. Her husband, Oliver, had relocated to Bernardston, Massachusetts prior to October 28, 1765 and she is not mentioned in any of the records in that town. The location of her grave is unknown. Nothing is known of her early life or education and her life remains an enigma.Career
She was one of a handful of American women poets who produced imaginative verse in the two centuries that mark the beginning of an American poetic literary tradition. Previous colonial American women poets, Anne BradstreetAnne Bradstreet
Anne Dudley Bradstreet was New England's first published poet. Her work met with a positive reception in both the Old World and the New World.-Biography:...
and Jane Colman Turell, focused primarily on religion and family life. Brewster's 21 poems vary widely in theme and form: the more than 1100 lines include letters, farewells to friends who are moving, epithalamium
Epithalamium
Epithalamium refers to a form of poem that is written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber...
s, eulogies, scriptural paraphrases, a love poem, a quaternion
Quaternion
In mathematics, the quaternions are a number system that extends the complex numbers. They were first described by Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space...
, a dream (in prose), and meditations.
While she does write about more conventional religious and family themes, her work is also the first to tackle radical subject matter for a woman of the eighteenth-century and reflects a shift from those themes to focus on the evils of war, military invasion and conquest and its cumulative effect on a nation and its citizens; and locates a woman's voice alongside those of the male founders of the country. She also writes about the schisms of the Great Awakening
Great Awakening
The term Great Awakening is used to refer to a period of religious revival in American religious history. Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of increased religious enthusiasm occurring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century...
, and the muted stirring of personal ambition as well. Despite the traditional attitude toward women of the time, she clearly valued knowledge and intellect; and she could be considered an early feminist.
Works
Her principal work, Poems on Diverse Subjects, which does appear to pay homage to Bradstreet's verse, contains poems, prose, and letters. Perhaps because she exactingly examined topics that were considered outside both the experience and the ability of 18th-century women, a doubting public pressed her to authenticate her ability and to demonstrate her authorship to a public skeptical that a woman could write poetry by publicly paraphrasing a psalm into verse. She was accused of "borrowing her Poetry from Isaac WattsIsaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
and others." In a later poem of hers, she included a line that reads "Ye Creatures all, in vast Amazement Stand" evinces some trace of personal nuance aimed at those who had attempted to depreciate her competence as a poet.
Many of her works appeared on broadsides
Broadside (printing)
A broadside is a large sheet of paper printed on one side only. Historically, broadsides were posters, announcing events or proclamations, or simply advertisements...
an early type of publication that resembled the modern-day flyer. In addition, she commemorated historical events in her poetry; in 1745, she set to meter a piece describing the capture of Cape Breton from the French by the British.
In Delight in Reading, she instructed her daughter, Ruby, "You must go on by Reading and Study to improve the Powers which God has given you."
She composed two acrostic poems of advice for her young children.The below poem is the one composed for her son, Wadsworth.
An Acrostic
Acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
for my only Son
- "While Amorous, Gay, and Sanguine swells thy Veins,
- "An Off’ring of first Fruits, Jehovah Claims.
- "Due Odours of a sweet Perfume Present,
- "Steep’d in the Blood of the new Covenant;
- "What vulgar Notes Applaud, must be Suspected;
- "Obedience to the Standard ne’er Neglected;
- "Retire within the Mind, and shut the Door,
- "To all disord’red Passions, Rude and Sow’r,
- "Here summons, and exert each Manly Pow’r.
- "By Adequate, and Studious Observation,
- "Rise to the Poles, then dive to Navigation.
- "Early enrich thy Heart with moral Virtues,
- "Whereby to rectify inverted Nature:
- "Survey the Globe of Man, then turn thine Eyes
- "To search through Nature’s obscure Mysteries;
- "Envy may Hiss in Vain, at virt’ous Minds,
- "Regent in her own Breast, she sits Enshrin’d
No single volume of her work is extant. There is no recorded response to Brewster's Poems documenting the volume's reception, but it appeared in two editions, one printed in New London, Connecticut (1757), and another printed in Boston (1758). Both editions of her works were printed by publishers Benjamin Edes
Benjamin Edes
Benjamin Edes was a journalist and political agitator. He is best known, along with John Gill, as the publisher of the Boston Gazette, a newspaper which sparked and financed the Boston Tea Party and was influential during the Revolutionary War.-Early life:He was born on October 14, 1732 in...
and John Gill
John Gill (printer)
John Gill was a printer in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 18th century. With Benjamin Edes he issued the Boston Gazette newspaper. He later published the Continental Journal, 1776-1785.-Biography:...
of Boston, Massachusetts. Such reprinting suggests an audience well beyond Brewster's immediate circle of family and friends.
Descendants
Descendants of Oliver Brewster and Martha Wadsworth include:- Ralph Brewster Allison, M.D., is an American psychiatristPsychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and a pioneer in Dissociative identity disorderDissociative identity disorderDissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
(DID). - David BrewsterDavid Brewster (journalist)David Clark Brewster is an American journalist and the founder, editor and publisher of the Seattle Weekly and the online Northwest "newspaper" Crosscut.com...
, is an American journalist. - Diane BrewsterDiane BrewsterDiane Brewster was an American television actress most noted for playing three distinctively different roles in US TV series of the 1950s and 60s: confidence trickster Samantha Crawford in Maverick; pretty young second-grade teacher Miss Canfield in Leave It to Beaver; and doomed wife Helen...
, was an American television actress. - Lucretia Edgerton Brewster, who was active in the management of The Jackson Sanitorium. She was married to James Caleb JacksonJames Caleb JacksonJames Caleb Jackson was the inventor of the first dry, whole grain breakfast cereal which he called granula.-Biography:...
, the inventor of the first dry, whole grainWhole grainWhole grains are cereal grains that contain cereal germ, endosperm, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. Whole grains can generally be sprouted while refined grains generally will not sprout. Whole-meal products are made by grinding whole grains in order to make...
breakfast cerealBreakfast cerealA breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
which he called granulaGranulaGranula was the first manufactured breakfast cereal invented by James Caleb Jackson in 1863. Granula was an early version of Grape-Nuts, consisting of heavy grains of bran-rich Graham flour. The grains had to be soaked overnight before use....
. - Charles Champlin, is an American film critic and writer.
- Msgr. Joseph M. ChamplinJoseph M. ChamplinMsgr. Joseph M. Champlin was a Roman Catholic priest, author, and lecturer.- History :Champlin was born on May 11, 1930 in Hammondsport, New York, the son of Francis Malburn and Katherine Masson Champlin and stepson of Charles Haynes. He was educated in his hometown public schools before...
, was a Roman Catholic priest, author, and lecturer. - George Trumbull LaddGeorge Trumbull LaddGeorge Trumbull Ladd was an American philosopher, educator and psychologist.-Early life and ancestors:...
, was an American philosopher and psychologist. - William P. Malburn, was a lawyer, banker and served as United States Assistant Secretary of the TreasuryUnited States Assistant Secretary of the TreasuryThe United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury is one of several positions in the United States Department of the Treasury, serving under the United States Secretary of the Treasury....
in charge of fiscal affairs, 1914-1917. - Gaylord Brewster Noyce, was on the first Freedom RideFreedom rideFreedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the United States Supreme Court decisions Boynton v. Virginia and Morgan v. Virginia...
and was arrested for trying to integrate the bus station lunch counter in Montgomery, Alabama. - Robert NoyceRobert NoyceRobert Norton Noyce , nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel in 1968...
, nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", was the inventor of the integrated circuit or microchip. - Henry Farnham Perkins, was an American zoologist and eugenicist.
- Matthew Laflin RockwellMatthew LaflinMatthew Laflin was an American manufacturer of gunpowder, businessman, philanthropist, and an early pioneer of Chicago, Illinois.-Early life and ancestors:...
, (1915–1988) was an American architectArchitectAn architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who was responsible for the site selection, plan and design of O'Hare International AirportO'Hare International AirportChicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...
.
Further reading
- The Brewster Genealogy, 1566–1907: a Record of the Descendants of William Brewster of the "Mayflower," ruling elder of the Pilgrim church which founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. by Emma C. Brewster Jones, New York: Grafton Press. 1908
- Gates, Henry Louis. The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters With the Founding Fathers Basic Civitas Books, 2003
- Mason, L. B. The life and times of Major John Mason of Connecticut, 1600–1672 (Putnam, 1935).
- Mason, John. A Brief History of the Pequot War (1736) (reprinted by J. Sabin & sons, 1869)