his executor and thus responsible for paying his debts and preserving the estate.” By today’s standards the practice of leaving property to a wife is the norm; yet, prior to seventeenth century this practice was virtually nonexistent. Carr and Walsh continue by stating, “Evidently, in the politics of family life women enjoyed great respect.” Therefore, while the Chesapeake colonies remained underdeveloped women enjoyed a limited kind of independence.When the Chesapeake region stabled and became self-populating, life expectancy increased creating longer marriages and less widows. Land rights were restricted and the reestablishment of traditional gender roles emerged reverting to the “old way.” Patriarchy deepened with the southern man regarding himself as the lord of his domain, the master of his home. White southern women envied urban women because of the common belief that the household duties of the northern colonies were not as laborious. In contrast to the south New England colonies of the seventeenth century women did not come as indentured servants but rather with families to form a little commonwealth. The Puritans of New England created a patriarchal pattern of authority in which women played virtually no public role. The family structure was based on subordinate-superordinate relationships where the father was the unquestioned head of the Puritan household, to whom both his wife and children owed obedience. The ideal woman was a wife and mother. These roles of wife and mother could be extremely different between differing northern families. Beatrice Plummer of Newbury, Massachusetts lived an active life diligently performing her household duties. Upon inspection of her home after her passing her and her husbands diet and lifestyle could easily be predicted. Besides the expected cooking and daily fires Beatrice engaged in numerous seasonal responsibilities. Autumn was the season of slaughte...
