Elizabeth Porter Phelps Born
On this day in 1747, Elizabeth Porter was born in the Connecticut River Valley village of Hadley. Five years later, her father built the first house outside the town center. He called it "Forty Acres." It would be Elizabeth's home for the rest of her long life. Her father died in 1755. Her 36-year-old mother never remarried. With help from kinfolk, enslaved people, and hired help, the widow Porter ran a 600-acre farm on what was then the Massachusetts frontier. After her daughter married Charles Phelps in 1770, the younger woman became mistress of the estate. Elizabeth Porter Phelps's descendants would occupy it for the next 200 years, but she would be one of the last female members of the family to shoulder the burdens of a hard-working farm wife.
Related Moments
Rebels Attack Springfield Arsenal
Rebels Attack Springfield Arsenal
On this day in 1787, 2,000 farmers from western Massachusetts attacked the new federal arsenal at Springfield. The government soldiers returned fire, killing three of the farmers. This was the beginning of the end of...
nMt. Holyoke Cable Car Burned
nMt. Holyoke Cable Car Burned
On this day in 1965, Massachusetts officials burned what was left of the wooden tramway that had carried thousands of people to the summit of Mt. Holyoke. Abandoned for decades, the deteriorating tramway was a...
Newbury Offers Wolf Bounty
Newbury Offers Wolf Bounty
On this day in 1704, the town of Newbury voted to pay a bounty to men who had killed two wolves on Plum Island. Wolves were a threat to the cattle, sheep, and pigs grazing...
