American Grit: A Woman's Letters from the Ohio Frontier

Ohio River Valley Series

by Anna Briggs Bentley

In 1826 thirty-year-old Anna Briggs Bentley, her husband, and their six children left their close Quaker community and the worn-out tobacco farms of Sandy Spring, Maryland, for frontier Ohio. Along the way, Anna sent back home the first of scores of letters she wrote her mother and sisters over the next fifty years as she strove to keep herself and her children in their memories. With Anna’s natural talent for storytelling and her unique, female perspective, the letters provide a sustained and vivid account of everyday domestic life on the Ohio frontier. She writes of carving a farm out of the forest, bearing many children, darning and patching the family clothes, standing her ground in religious controversy, nursing wounds and fevers, and burying beloved family and friends. Emily Foster presents these revealing letters of a pioneer woman in a framework of insightful commentary and historical context, with genealogical appendices.

Genres: History

344 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2003

Reviews

[Terrie Wiederich]

I read a portion of this and really enjoyed it. But I'm having a difficult time settling to any book right now. This book is a collection of letters written by a woman to her family after she moves west with her husband and children. The letters were well written. This woman was literate and the author/editor updated the letters enough to make them easier to understand. If this were my ancestor, I would gobble up every word but 20 years of letters tends to get repetitive.These letters are a treasure. What I read was great but not enough to hold my attention through 20 years of life.

No rating as I don't have enough information to rate the books I haven't finished .

[Lmichelleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of letters! That they relate to local history is extra special, but the very everyday life topics covered in Anna Bentley's letters is what makes this a valuable read. I realize how easy I have it, how many conveniences it is tempting to take for granted. Probably most glaring is the lack of medical care on the frontier in the 1800s. Also, reading this makes me want to be a more faithful letter writer!

[Mitzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read, and it makes me sad that letter writing is no longer a thing. Now we have status updates instead. :( At least books like this make us able to reach back into the past and hear about history from the words of ordinary people - pretty priceless.

[J Crossley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This historical book was amazing. It showed what trials there were trying to live in the early American West. Through letters the woman shared her hopes, fears and her love of her family.