Sarah Osborn's World

by Brekus, Catherine A.

  I am especially grateful to the many colleagues who read the book in manuscript. Ann Braude, Jonathan Ebel, Harry S. Stout, Jonathan Yeager, and Malika Zeghal commented on individual chapters, and Kathleen Cummings, Mark Noll, Bruce Hindmarsh, Philippa Koch, and W. Clark Gilpin read the entire book. I could not have asked for more insightful or generous readers.

  I would like to thank John Demos and Alan Sachs for including this book in their series New Directions in Narrative History, and my editor at Yale University Press, Christopher Rogers, for his encouragement. Everyone at the Press has been a pleasure to work with, including Christina Tucker, who provided valuable help with images, and Susan Laity, whose graceful copyediting made this a far better book. I am also deeply grateful to Andrew Wylie, my literary agent, and Scott Moyers for their indispensable support and advice.

  I am fortunate to work with a marvelous group of colleagues at the Divinity School. Susan Schreiner shared her research on certainty and experience in the early modern era; Curtis Evans encouraged me to keep writing; and even in retirement Martin Marty gave me the gift of his immense curiosity. Clark Gilpin, my first dean at the University of Chicago Divinity School, has been a cherished colleague for more than twenty years. Clark and I have taught classes together, co-edited a book, and traded ideas during workshops and hallway conversations, and his creativity has never ceased to inspire me. Richard Rosengarten, my second dean, and Margaret Mitchell, my third, have made the Divinity School a wonderful place to work. I have deeply appreciated their friendship.

  Many other friends have encouraged me along the way. Tom Tweed was my high school teacher for only a brief time many years ago, but he has never stopped teaching me about either the study of religion or the meaning of intellectual generosity. Jon Butler believed in this book from the beginning, certain that the story of an obscure eighteenth-century woman would garner a wide readership. More than two decades ago Harry Stout introduced me to the historical study of religion in an extraordinary course titled “Puritanism and the American Religious Imagination”—a course whose themes continue to fascinate me. I have always treasured his advice, friendship, and kindness. Ellen and Phillip Boiselle have been so important to me that I think of them as part of my extended family. Ever since we met at Yale, Ellen has been the truest of friends, always there to share my joys and sorrows. I am also grateful to Carol and Kevin Sontheimer for their enduring support.

  My deepest thanks go to several people who have never let me forget the abundance of love and grace in the world: my husband, Erik Sontheimer; our two daughters, Claire and Rachel; and my parents, to whom this book is dedicated.

  Index

  The abbreviation SO refers to Sarah Osborn.

  Adams, Abigail, 303

  Adams, John, 302–3

  Addison, Joseph, 56

  African Americans, free, 265, 294–95, 300, 313; and Enlightenment, 266 –67, 342–43; and evangelical movement, 174, 184, 250, 254–55, 265–66, 268, 273–75, 281, 286, 294, 312–13, 340; and literacy, 271–72, 294; missionaries, 270, 281–83, 294, 300, 313, 339; published authors, 184, 268, 286; and racism, 174, 266–68, 270, 272. See also antislavery movement; Free African Union Society; slaves

  Alleine, Joseph, 137, 146–47

  Allen, Clara, xii

  Allen, Ethan, 309

  Allen, Timothy, 31, 202

  Almy, Mary, 298–99

  Ammons, A. R., xiv

  Anabaptists, 96

  Anglicans, 21–23, 74, 99, 224, 292–93; and SO, 105, 107, 110, 254, 257; theology of, 36, 105, 209–10, 212, 214

  Anthony, Sarah, 235

  Anthony, Susanna (Susa), 56, 69, 87, 123, 216, 222, 235, 277, 280, 283, 294, 297, 305, 314, 319–20, 335; correspondence with SO, xii, 148–50, 152, 166, 176, 182, 314, 338–39; friendship with SO, 23, 123, 137, 141, 175, 177, 242, 259, 293, 307, 318–19

  antislavery movement, 286, 295, 309–10, 313; and capitalism, 285–86; and Enlightenment, 286–87, 343; and S. Hopkins, 284–87, 309–11; and Quakers, 265, 284–86, 309–10

  Appleton, Nathaniel, 157–58, 179

  Aquinas, Thomas, 326

  Arminianism, 21, 25–26, 100, 340

  Arminius, Jacobus, 21, 25

  Articles of Confederation, 308

  assurance. See conversion; evangelical movement; Osborn, Sarah: conversion of

  Astell, Mary, 187

  Augustine of Hippo, 50, 82, 94

  Austin, Punderson, 277

  Bacon, Thomas, 240

  Balch, William, 25

  Baldwin, Ebenezer, 304

  Ballard, Martha, 78

  Bannister, John, 255

  Bannister, Susanna, 275

  baptism: disputes over, 108, 257, 259, 279; of slaves, 202–3, 243, 253, 265, 274–75. See also children

  Baptists, 99, 293, 339; Separate, 257–58; Seventh-day, 257, 297, 306; and SO’s prayer meetings, 257–58, 260, 263, 274

  Barlow, Philip L., 22

  Baxter, Richard, 330, 339

  Bebbington, David, 9, 103

  Becker, Carl, 301

  Bellamy, Joseph, 87, 171, 279, 309

  benevolence: and Enlightenment, 8, 46, 59–60, 133, 214, 219, 227, 279; and evangelical movement, 60, 84, 86–87, 105, 133, 210, 213, 218–19, 226–27, 277, 279, 288, 341; of God, 8, 25, 59–60, 83–84, 86–87, 105, 133, 201, 214, 279, 341; and humanitarianism, 83–84, 87, 218–19, 226. See also Osborn, Sarah: and evangelical Christianity

  Berkeley, George, 24, 63

  Bernard of Clairvaux, 9

  Bissell, Lydia, 318

  Blair, Samuel, 48

  Bloch, Ruth, 304

  Bobey (slave), 201–2; and SO, 174–75, 234, 237–43, 246, 269–70, 288

  Boston Massacre, 285, 292

  Bowen, Nathan, 180

  Bradstreet, Anne, 178

  Brainerd, David, 42, 100–101

  Brattle, William, 25

  Brewster, Martha, 184

  Brockwell, Charles, 268

  Brooks, Thomas, 165–66

  Brown, Moses, 294, 309

  Bulkeley, Peter, 323

  Bunyan, John, 41–42, 74, 116

  Burr, Aaron, 42, 332

  Burr, Esther Edwards, 50, 143, 182

  Burr, Sally, 50

  Bury, Elizabeth, 179–81

  Caesar (slave), 255

  Calvin, John, 36–37, 82, 197, 199, 214, 325–26, 329, 337

  Calvinism, 9, 36, 38, 47, 82, 224, 279; challenges to, 21–22, 24–25, 28, 47, 83–84, 211–12, 214–15, 340–41; and SO, 37, 53, 105, 107, 129

  capitalism, 194–95, 210, 340; and antislavery movement, 268, 284–86; and Enlightenment, xiii, 342; and evangelical movement, 7, 213, 268, 286, 324, 327, 340–41, 343

  Caswell, William, 173

  Catholics, 7, 74, 105, 111, 115, 159, 197, 199, 292, 307, 325, 337; and Seven Years’ War, 192, 203, 232, 252

  Champlin, Christopher, 306

  Channing, Duchess. See Quamine, Duchess

  Channing, William, 282

  charity. See benevolence

  Chauncy, Charles, 16, 29, 117, 145, 151, 180, 195, 328–31

  Chesebrough, Abigail, 234

  Chesebrough, David, 234, 261

  Chesebrough, Mrs., 259, 261

  children, 57–58; apprenticeship of, 139–41, 174–75, 204, 245, 295; baptism of, 79, 143, 164, 257, 279; conversions of, 48–49, 143–44, 149; and covenant theology, 143, 155, 164; death of, 143–44, 158–60, 165–67; and evangelical movement, 35–38, 41–50, 57–58, 144, 225, 323, 331–33; literature for, 36, 38–41, 48, 254; punishment of, 49–53, 230–31. See also Osborn, Sarah: prayer meetings of

  Chipman, Handley, 198

  Chubb, Thomas, 24–25

  Church, Benjamin, 123, 252

  Church, Quamenee. See Quamine, John

  Church of England. See Anglicans

  Clap, Nathaniel, 107–8, 111, 113–14, 119, 173, 182, 197

  Clap, Thomas, 25, 209

  Clarke, Elizabeth, 314, 318

  Clarke, Latham, 314, 318

&
nbsp; Clarke, Samuel, 25

  Cleaveland, John, 42

  Clinton, Henry, 295

  Coercive Acts (1774), 292

  Coffee, Charles, 236

  Coggeshall, Nathaniel, 182, 235, 251–52, 254, 280, 283, 310; friendship with SO, 234, 259, 261, 264, 298, 307

  Coggeshall, Thomas, 197

  Cole, Nathan, 71, 87, 103, 109

  Colman, Benjamin, 25, 208

  communion, 94; exclusion from, 283, 292; and slaves, 202, 243, 252–53, 274; and SO, 105, 111, 113–15, 173

  Conant, Sylvanus, 302–3

  Congregationalists, 21–22, 35–36, 79, 99, 105, 107, 111, 113, 143, 160, 212, 253, 257, 263, 275–76, 283, 292–93; and African Americans, 265, 274; liberal, 25, 210, 214–15; Strict (see Separates). See also First Church of Christ

  Constitution, U.S., 324

  consumer revolution, xi, 26, 192–95, 200, 208, 308; and evangelical movement, 7, 11, 17, 99–100, 193, 207–8, 212–13, 318, 324, 343; and God, 84–85, 193, 208, 211; and human nature, 28, 47, 193, 207–8, 210–13, 225, 340

  conversion: and African Americans, 202, 250, 265, 268, 271, 281, 313; and assurance, 96–100, 103–4, 121, 129, 148, 150; and authority, 11, 180–81, 265, 268; and children, 36, 47–48, 143–44; and church membership, 113–14; as crisis, 69, 71, 105, 110–11; at death, 146–47; and evangelical movement, 1, 10–11, 94–95, 100–101, 104, 143–45, 187, 219, 231–32, 265, 279, 282, 322; and individualism, 187; and language of experience, 94, 97–98, 100–101, 171, 265, 268, 322; narratives of, 19, 100, 103–4, 114, 252, 268; and Native Americans, 265; physical effects of, 29, 42, 102, 111, 116, 322; and Puritans, 95–97, 187; and revivals, 21, 29, 48, 55, 98, 102–3, 129, 143–45; and SO’s prayer meetings, 252–53, 274, 281; and women, 55, 180–81, 187. See also Osborn, Sarah: conversion of

  Cooper, Samuel, 209, 227

  Cornwallis, Charles, 308

  covenant theology, 36–37, 155, 168, 187–88, 303, 309; and children, 44, 78–79, 143, 151, 162, 164, 168

  Croswell, Andrew, 99

  Cutler, Timothy, 22

  Davenport, James, 15, 29

  Davies, Samuel, 211, 265

  Davis, David Brion, 285

  death: and the body, 318, 322–23, 333; and burial, 156, 160–61; and children, 48, 77–78, 144, 165–67; evangelical views of, 80–81, 85, 88, 138–39, 141–42, 144, 146–47, 150–53, 155–57, 159–60, 162–69, 204, 222–223, 314, 317, 333–34. See also heaven; mourning

  Declaration of Independence, 287, 294

  Defoe, Daniel, 182

  deism, 84, 97, 100, 309, 312, 315

  De Wolf, James, 311

  Dickinson, Jonathan, 171

  Diderot, Denis, 335

  Doolittle, Thomas, 115, 166

  Drelincourt, Charles, 80–81, 322

  Dunlap, Jane, 184–85

  Dutton, Anne, 184

  Dwight, Timothy, 309

  Edwards, Jonathan, xiii, 7, 21, 50, 63, 88, 100, 143, 171, 182, 189, 209–12, 224, 226, 265–66, 268, 279, 305, 309, 322–23, 326–28, 331, 341; and children, 37, 42, 45–50, 144, 332; and revivals, 15, 55, 102, 117–18, 145, 199; and women, 117–18, 180, 189, 323

  Edwards, Jonathan, Jr., 279

  Edwards, Sarah Pierpont, 102

  Emerson, Joseph, 49

  empiricism. See experience

  Enlightenment, xiii, 7–8, 10–11, 24, 159, 183–84, 335, 342–43; and antislavery movement, 286–87; and benevolence, 8, 46, 59–60, 133, 214, 219, 227, 279; and the body, 322; and capitalism, xiii, 342; and evangelical movement, 8–11, 17, 19–20, 30, 60, 85, 94, 100, 112, 133, 138, 171, 183–85, 187, 190, 265, 267, 273, 279, 287, 290, 301, 304–5, 324, 330, 339, 342–43; and evil, 46, 82, 83–84, 100, 225; and gender, 183; and happiness, 227, 326, 330; and heaven, 324, 327; and hell, 145, 324, 332; and modernity, 8, 11, 30, 100, 159, 342; and poverty, 214–15, 343; and progress, 8, 10, 226, 301–2, 304–5, 324–25, 327, 342–43; and racism, 250, 266–67, 287, 342–43; and self-interest, 10, 343; and suffering, 46, 59–60, 82, 226, 303, 326, 343; and violence, 231–32, 303, 343; and women, 8, 10, 173, 183, 187–90, 267, 342–43. See also experience; humanitarianism; human nature; individualism

  Estaing, Admiral d’ (Jean-Baptiste-Charles-Henri-Hector), 298–99

  evangelical movement, xiii, 5, 7, 9–11, 21–23, 30, 102, 128, 157, 283, 301–2, 309, 319, 339–40, 342–43; and assurance, 11–12, 95, 99–100, 102–3, 117, 129, 133, 176, 343; and the Bible, 8, 11, 38, 98, 116, 122, 157, 162, 237, 265–66, 287, 302, 343; and the body, 322–23; and born-again Christianity, 1, 5, 9–10, 12, 31, 36, 48, 71, 94–95, 98, 100, 102–3, 105, 265, 267–68, 274–75, 331, 343; and Calvinism, 9, 82, 224, 279; and capitalism, 7, 213, 268, 286, 324, 327, 340–41, 343; and consumer revolution, 7, 11, 17, 47, 99–100, 193, 207–8, 212–13, 343; and Enlightenment, 8–11, 17, 19–20, 30, 60, 85, 94, 100, 112, 133, 138, 171, 183–85, 187, 190, 265, 267, 273, 279, 287, 290, 301, 304–5, 324, 330, 339, 342–43; and family, 45–46, 138, 159, 164 –65, 343; and gender, 5, 187–88, 262, 340; and humanitarianism, 7, 10, 60, 83, 85–88, 145, 218–219, 225–28, 286–87, 343; and millennialism, 10, 16, 252, 266, 274, 290, 301–2, 304, 309, 313–14; and missions, 11, 190, 219, 224–25, 228, 270, 281–83, 294, 313, 343; and modern world, 1, 5, 7, 11, 30, 100–101, 208, 342–43; and mourning, 85, 138, 148, 157–60, 164–65; and Native Americans, 10, 184, 265, 268; and progress, 7, 10–11, 218, 226, 290, 301, 304, 314, 327–28, 342; and Puritanism, 7, 9, 11, 86, 102, 112, 116, 187, 189, 208; and republicanism, 290, 302–3, 340; and self-interest, 10, 193, 207, 210, 226–27, 340; and slavery, 28, 219, 237, 268, 287, 309; and violence, 231–32, 302–3. See also African Americans, free; benevolence; children; conversion; death; experience; happiness; heaven; hell; human nature; individualism; revivals; slaves; suffering; women

  evil: Christian interpretations of, 9, 46, 81–82, 85–87, 167, 199, 201, 225, 264, 267, 273, 279, 301, 311–12, 314; Enlightenment interpretations of, 46, 82, 83–84, 100, 225; and slavery, 219, 237, 266–67, 273, 285–86, 310–12

  experience: and conversion, 94, 96–97, 100–102, 202; and Enlightenment, xiii, 8–10, 94, 97–98, 100–101, 133, 173, 176, 184–85, 190, 250, 265, 267, 343; and evangelical movement, xiii, 9–10, 94, 97–98, 100–104, 122, 133, 173, 176, 183–85, 187, 189–90, 250, 257, 265, 267–68, 331, 339, 343; and individualism, 11, 185, 187, 190

  —and authority, 10–11, 173, 183–85, 187, 189–90, 265, 267–68, 343; and African Americans, 202, 250, 265, 267–68, 343; and Native Americans, 265, 267–68; and SO, 100, 103–4, 113–14, 119, 121–22, 133, 138, 148, 176, 189–90, 257, 339; and women, 10–11, 173, 183–85, 187, 189–90, 265, 267, 343

  family: evangelical views of, 45–46, 130, 138, 159, 164–65, 329–32, 343; historical changes in, 45–46, 165, 185

  Fellows, Daniel, 283, 293, 295–98, 319

  Fellows, Sally. See Osborn, Sally

  Fellows, Susanna (SO’s step-great-granddaughter), 293, 295, 297–98, 314

  Fiering, Norman, 145

  First Church of Christ, xiv, 22, 107, 113, 123, 129, 182, 223, 263, 279, 296, 339; and American Revolution, 292, 295, 306; and S. Hopkins, 277, 279, 281, 305, 339; and slaves and free African Americans, 202–3, 237, 239–40, 252–53, 274–75, 309, 313, 339; and W. Vinal, 230, 275, 277, 283; women’s society, 123, 131, 202, 239, 297, 339

  Fish, Joseph, 51, 117, 181, 208–9, 257, 263, 291, 307; correspondence with SO, 174–75, 197, 219–21, 230, 233, 236, 246, 248–49, 251–55, 257–63, 269–71, 274, 277, 290, 300, 304–6; friendship with SO, 123–24, 177, 213, 308

  Fiske, Sarah, 178–79

  Flavel, John, 19, 76, 80, 158, 165–66

  Francke, August Hermann, 50

  Franklin, Ann, 196

  Franklin, Benjamin, 19, 196, 214, 324

  Free African Union Society, 273, 312–13

  French, “Brother” (SO’s brother-in-law), 175, 238

  French and Indian War. See Seven Years’ War

  Freud, Sigmund, 67

  Friedan, Betty, 341

  Frothingham,
Ebenezer, 99, 180

  Gardner, Jenny, 313

  Gardner, Newport (Occramar Marycoo), 273, 312–13, 339

  Gaustad, Edwin S., 22

  Gavin, Antonio, 292

  Gay, Peter, 8

  gender: and Enlightenment, 183; and evangelical movement, 5, 187–88, 262, 340; and female body, 323; and language of humility, 56–57; and revivals, 117–18, 262; and sexuality, 54–55

  George III (king of England), 292

  Gerrish, Brian, 148

  Gerrish, Martha, 50–51, 179

  Gibbon, Edward, 302

  Gibbs, Henry, 157

  Gill, Sarah Prince, 31, 87, 101, 103, 160, 182

  Gilman, Nicholas, 130, 226

  Goen, C. C., 26

  Goodhue, Sarah, 178–79

  Gosper (slave), 202, 239–42

  Graham, Billy, 5

  Grant, Mrs., 259, 261

  Gray, Mrs. Ebenezer, 223

  Great Awakening. See revivals

  Greenman, Almey, 204–5, 220

  grief. See mourning

  Gronniosaw, James Albert Ukawsaw, 268, 286

  Guyse, John (SO’s uncle), 24, 35, 38, 140, 207, 226, 244–45

  Gyles, William, 280

  Haggar, Benjamin (SO’s father), 35–36, 40–41, 60, 79–80, 95, 108, 125, 167; SO’s relationship with, 49–53, 61–64, 68, 70–77, 88–89, 113–14, 125

  Haggar, Susanna Guyse (SO’s mother), 35–36, 40–41, 60, 79, 95, 108, 252, 293; SO’s relationship with, 49–53, 61–63, 65, 68, 70–77, 88–89, 105, 107, 110, 113–14, 125–28, 173

  Haggar, William Guise, 263

  Hammon, Jupiter, 268

  Hammond, Elnathan, 198, 283

  Hammond, Polly, 198

  happiness, xiii, 9; and Enlightenment, 227, 326, 330; and evangelical movement, 60, 85–88, 133, 151, 153–54, 207, 209, 218, 227, 287, 310, 322, 325–26, 328–29, 331–32, 341; and humanitarianism, 60, 84, 218; and liberal Protestantism, 209–10, 227, 322, 325–26, 331