Sentence:  The paths were kept clean; the bits of board before the door were well swept, the children looked tidy, and the old grandmother, of whose fat, happy face, and clean-starched cap, I have yet a faint vision, seemed the "belle ideal" of a bold-hearted, <WSD>strong-handed</WSD> western woman, sinking into the well-earned repose of ripened years. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Having hands that are strong; by extension, Strong, mighty