Wives of the Signers: The Women Behind the Declaration of Independence

by Harry Clinton Green, David Barton (Foreword)

Originally penned in 1912, this historical reprint showcases individual portraits of the fiercely courageous women who endured tremendous hardship as their husbands fought to build an independent nation. women such as Abigail Adams, Dorothy Quincy Hancock, and Julia Stockton Rush contributed their wisdom,strength, and loyalty to the cause of the Revolution, shaping history a a result.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Historical, American History, Adult

283 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 1997

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I also liked this book--which I read in conjunction with Lives of the Signers. Unfortunately, there wasn't as much history recorded about the "ladies" and the book isn't very specific about some of their fates, characteristics, etc. One entry, on Button Gwinnet from Georgia, ends by stating that after he died (12 days after a duel) "Mrs. Gwinnet and her children soon followed him." (p.275) What sort of ending is that???? Did they starve to death? Die of illness? But, on the whole,I did learn quite a bit about the "wives."

[Sharon Diedrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will read this again!

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. Part of the book read simply like a geneology chart, very matter of fact, while other wives expanded upon. I would have liked to have seen more on some of the wives who appeared to be as interesting as their husbands, though I am aware that this information may not exist.

I was reminded continuously throughout the book of the old adage "behind every strong man; there is a strong woman"

[goddess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty basic book relating some info of the wives of the signers. Some of them led extraordinary lives. Many suffered greatly as a result of the Declaration and ensuing war. It's nice to put some realness behind these patriots (both the signers and their wives). While this was a decent read, sometimes I felt like it spoke more of the signer himself rather than his wife (which understandably one has to learn about the signer to understand his wife's role).

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping to learn some interesting things about the women of the Revolutionary War period. But as usual, the author had very little historical accounts to base his book off since women weren't really written about or documented well during this part of history. But I do think these women were large supporters of the Declaration of Independence.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love history. So this was a fun read for me. I would give the first half a four and the second a three. Only beacuse there wasn't a lot of detail about the lives of the women in the second half, it was more geneology. Interesting and quick read. I learned a lot about what the families really went through to begin the mold of what our country is today. So greatful for those early Americans.

[Marie Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great that someone wrote this book despite the fact that it is very hard to find information on many woman from history (which I think was often because of their family's and society's high respect for them more than a lack of interest in recording their histories).

[Lara Lazenby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook written in 1912. Most of the Founders and their families lost everything and many died early due to Tory persecution. Didn't learn that in school. Dry, factual read with occational bursts of wow. Needless to say, these women rocked!

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, however, there was very little information on the women except that they were proper wives, well educated etc. Quite often more information was given on their husbands. Some, such as Abigail Adams did have more info.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author(s) didn't have very much information on these wonderful women so they put in short biography of their husbands. The book would've been much shorter without these.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved reading about the tremendous women of this era in time

[Lifferth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I looked forward to learning of these women, and there were interesting facts in the book. However, it was a little like reading an encyclopedia and hard to get through.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I love the signers even more! What a delight it is to know their wives a bit more. Great people with love of country!

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great history.

[KingSolomon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with the Patriotic American Book Club.
While we did have some good discussion, I did not love this book. The writing is a bit rough and even appears to be contradicting itself on multiple occasions. Sometimes it’s unclear what we’re talking about. Sometimes you’ll realize deep in a paragraph we transitioned to an article about the signer’s father. It’s also just kinda poorly written.

I did like the fact that they didn’t shy away from mentioning facts like Morris’s shady business conduct toward the end of his career; Franklin and his newly engaged wife just stopping to talk to each other after he ships off to Britain; Franklin telling his wife “Oh hey babe, I have a child out of wedlock. That cool?” Shortly after they got married! Or even Washington just blatantly insulting everyone but one pretty woman at a dinner and telling them they don’t compare to her beauty. These guys were wild.

Hearing about the humanity of our patriarchs makes me respect them even more. The book mostly spoke about the men even though it was supposed to focus on the women, but that’s because, as stated by the book, there is much less documentation on the women. Sadly this made it more of a boring read because I just read Lives of the Signers and was not in the mood for a rehashing.

2.5 stars

[Elizabeth S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Excuses may be made for this book being written over a century ago. Even so, I am not impressed by the quality of the organization nor the amount of interesting information. I do think there is great value in focusing on the wives of great men, but there is so little information about so many of them, perhaps it would be better to focus on the great women of the time?

For a majority of the women listed in the book, very little is known. For all, or almost all, we are given more information about the husband than of the woman herself, which belies the purpose of the book. For many of the women, all her children are listed by name along with the name (and fancy titles) of the person the child married. Which gets rrreaaaaaaalllllllyy boring.

[Coleen Dailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really caught my eye when I saw it at Williamsburg. However upon reading it I discovered it was a reprint of several chapters from a book written in 1912. This would have been ok except that it spent much of its time writing about the signers than the women themselves and much of the knowledge we have of some of the wives is omitted. I will grant that there may not be much written about some of the wives other than the person they married and their children and that in 1912 when the original book was written, focusing on the husband would have been the thing to do nevertheless I was a little disappointed to not read more about the women than their husbands.

[Nancy Bandusky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately there is not much information available about many of the wives of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. While that is not the fault of the writers, one should seriously question writing a book that doesn't have adequate information on a majority of the subjects. This was a disappointing read as many of the wives' stories were just facts about the signers not the wives of the signers. The wives that do have a good deal of background information are fairly well known already.

[Rusty · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Originally penned in 1912, this historical reprint showcases individual portraits of the fiercely courageous women who endured tremendous hardship as their husbands fought to build an independent nation. Women such as Abigail Adams, Dorothy Quincy Hancock, and Julia Stockton Rush contributed their wisdom, strength, and loyalty to the cause of the Revolution, shaping history as a result." Amazon books

This one is for those who are seriously involved in historical facts. The reader will find birth, marriage, death, children, husband and his life detailed for most women. For most women, little about them as individuals will be found, other than physical descriptions or comments about their role as wives and mothers. I liked the records about Abigail Smith Adams, wife of John Adams; Elizabeth Checkley Adams, wife of Samuel Adams; and Sara Franklin Bache, daughter of Benjamin Franklin, among the more interesting.

[Krisette Spangler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a nice idea to pay tribute to the wives of the men who signed The Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, there weren't really any records keep about these women, so the book was just repetitive and was more about the men than the women. It was a chore to read.

[Liz Schmaltz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was not at all what I thought it would be. Wouldn’t recommend to anyone I know. Maybe someday, if I met an actual historian who was interested, I would give them my copy. I doubt I will ever pick up this book to read it again in my lifetime. I hope I won’t need to.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this book! It was a good overview of the women (and the men) of way back in Revolutionary Times. So many suffered for patriotism and freedom!

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though these women never signed their names onto the Declaration of Independence, their loyalty to their husbands, family, and this country ought to be remembered.
Incredible book!

[Carol Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of interesting tidbits and stories. It is a great start for further research.

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of facts, kids, marriages, etc. A good reference book but not that fun to read

[William Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful history of the women who helped forge America and win America's War for Independence. Highly recommend!

[Jaime Threadgill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a shame there is so little history left if these wimen

[Elizabeth Sparling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very insightful and educational, but definitely was a slow read.

[Bethany Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great research undertaking and successfully completed book.

[Robin Isham]

I enjoyed reading about some very amazing ladies.