The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-07-08
Women OF the O,den Times.

Race suicide and the decrease In the
number Of children born to American
parents are questions that re just
now occupying the public attention.
A recent article by q writer in q
monthly magazine contrssts the large
families of the early days of the Re-
public with the small ones Of the
present day, with masterful pen.
This portrayal Of the experiences Of
the patient women Of the olden times,
when women not only bore many chill
dren but were overburdened with the
toll and care necessary to bring them
up, is graphic in it's correctness.
The picture is 80 true that I keenly
appreciated it, being myself the eldest
Of thirteen.
In the Retrospective it seems to me
incredible that any woman could have
had the endurance and have accom-
plished what our mother did FOR her
large family in country primitive in
every sense of the word in those days.
Yet she performed her duties so
faithfully and With such marked ab;li.
ty that the remembrance OF her
achievements has been rebuke TO
me ell the long years since her un-
timely death.
She allied her mission with such ex-
allied ambition for All Of her. children
THAT it still seems to me that her like
is not to be seen in these latter days.
That the women Of her day were su-
perior in the qualities that go to. make
up blessed womanhood and mother
hood seems indisputable. In the first
place theS wsre wholly unsel6sh and
self-sacrifcing for their families.
+ 1 do not claim that there are no wo-
men of the present day who would not
do as they did, but / do claim that
their prototypes are not numerous.
We have only to contrast the con.
ditions Of to-day with those of quar-
ter Of century ago to realize tie diff
ference in the facilities for accom-
plishing anything in those days and
the present era.
Electricity and the ingenuity Of men
have lifted many Of the burdens Of
domesti. life from the shoulders Of
women.
Imagine the contrast Of the White
House with its up-to-date improve
ments and the modern methods Of con-
Quoting it as the home Of the Presi-
dont's family and ;ts condition when
Abigail Adams had to have the family
washing dried in the East Room and
wrote suoh gloomy letters about her
domestic trials while she was its mis-
tress.
All along the line from the fret
home in the land to the humble cot
sage in the far West, domestic work
has been made easy; to say nothing
Of the change from hand.oarding,
spinning, weaving handmade material
and handmade blankets, table ard
bed linen and the clothes for these
large families. =
The cheese, butter and swaetmeats
that these women made every year,
not only for the use Of their large
families, but the hosts OF guests they
entertained, sssFT sssF hospitality was un-
limited in .'ye olden Eimes.''
To which add the prodigious labor
they performed ;n raising poultry and
supervising. if not actually working,
the kitchen and flower gardens. 9th
er fields occupied their time also.
The work Of their: churches--they.
took I'm active part in every movement.
for the advancement Of religion end
the building Of churches.
They had to take turns in boarding
the ministers and school teachers, and
aid in keeping up the six month";
schools--all they had each year.
Mrs. ohm a. Logan in St. Louis Re.
public. ss,s 4 ~