Description
Book SynopsisAn ordinary eighteenth-century New England woman, Hannah Heaton left an extraordinary document as her legacy. Over a period of 40 years, from the Great Awakening through the Revolutionary War, this farm wife and mother kept a diary recounting her experiences. Now published for the first time, Heaton''s diary offers an unparalleled revelation of one American woman''s experience of the birth of the nation.
Much of her diary records Heaton''s spiritual struggles, beginning with her conversion during the Great Awakening and her separation from the established Congregational church. Pious by nature, she recalls her childhood fears of the devil, who at night tempted her away from prayer and told her in a whisper to hang herself. Deeply concerned over her own salvation and that of those she loved, Heaton found comfort in the act of writing, feeling that such self-examination brought her closer to God.
Hannah Heaton was devoutly religious and intensely self-aware.
Trade Review
"Heaton's powerful portrait is one of a kind. It opens a window into a woman's consciousness and conscience, illuminating her complex, tormented inner life. This marvelous text is full of riches."—Michael McGiffert, College of William and Mary
"Hannah Heaton's rare and wonderful diary is a great boon to scholars of early America, gender and family relations, and popular religion."—Cornelia Hughes Dayton, University of Connecticut
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Foreword by James W. Campbell
Introduction
1. 1721-1740: Childhood Memories—A Young Girl
2. 1741-1749: The Great Awakening—Her Conversion—Her Twenties
3. 1750-1759: French and Indian War—Encounters with Satan—Trial for Breach of the Sabbath—Her Thirties
4. 1760-1769: Dissenting Ministers—Her Forties
5. 1770-1775: Sermons—The Moses Paul Execution—Beginnings of the American Revolution—Her Early Fifties
6. 1776-1779: Her Sons and the Revolution—Her Late Fifties
7. 1780-1789: Her Reading—Hopes for the Second Coming—Her Sixties
8. 1790-1793: Her Husband's Death—Revivals—Final Thoughts—Her Seventies
Appendix: Letters to and from Family and Friends, 1750-1792
Notes
Index
