New Hampshire

The Algonquian tribes lived in the region that became New Hampshire for many centuries before the arrival of Europeans in about 1600, with the first settlement established in 1623. These early settlers established small communities, and with intermarriage between some of the early pioneer families, it was not long before many people had extended families, which helped mothers in birthing and bringing up their children.

The life of pioneer women was hard, with most having to combine the bringing up of children and preparing of food with the maintenance of the household. Problems over home birthing led to many children dying as infants, and also to a high maternity mortality rate. The statesman Daniel Webster (1782–1852) was one of 10 children his mother looked after on the family farm; he himself was frequently ill when young, surviving largely because of his mother's care. Many other families were not so lucky. After General Benjamin Pierce's first wife, Elizabeth, died in childbirth, he married Anna Kendrick, and they had eight children, of whom the fourth son, Franklin, was U.S. president from 1853 until 1857. Franklin Pierce married in 1834 at Amherst, and he and his wife had three [Page 912]sons, all of whom died in infancy; as a result, his wife, Jane Franklin, dressed in mourning for most of the rest of her life. In contrast, there is much controversy regarding Mary Cheney Greeley, a keen suffragette and wife (albeit often an estranged one) of the politician Horace Greeley—she doted on her sons so much that it has been suggested that one of her daughters died from neglect.

It was from these high rates of illness and death that influenced another resident of New Hampshire, Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), born in Bow, located in a southern rural county. Eddy was to become the founder of Christian Science, which she argued would provide a spiritual and practical solution to problems over health and morality. As Eddy was formulating her views on Christian Science, in 1871 compulsory education was introduced for all children between the ages of 6–16. New Hampshire was one of three states to introduce it in that year; only two other states had already introduced similar laws.