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Charity and Sylvia : a same-sex marriage in early America / Rachel Hope Cleves.

by Cleves, Rachel Hope, 1975-

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New York : Oxford University Press, c2014.

Bryant, Charity.

Drake, Sylvia, 1784-1868.

Same-sex marriage -- United States -- To 1865.

9780199335428 (hbk. : alk. paper) :

0199335427 (hbk. : alk. paper)

xix, 267 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Preface --A child of melancholy, 1777 -- Infantile days, 1784 -- O the example!, 1787 -- Mistress of a school, 1797 -- So many friends, 1799 -- Discontent and indifferent, 1800 -- Never to marry, 1800 -- Charity and mercy, 1805 -- Charity and Lydia, 1806 -- Charity and Sylvia, February 1807 -- The tie that binds, July 1807 -- Their own dwelling, 1809 -- Wild affections, 1811 -- Miss Bryant was the man, 1820 -- Dear aunts, 1823 -- Stand fast in one spirit, 1828 -- Diligent in business, 1835 -- The cure of her I love, 1839 -- Sylvia Drake/W, 1851 -- Afterword.

Explores the lives of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, two ordinary middle-class women who serve as a window on historical constructs of marriage, gender, and sexuality in late 18th-century and early 19th-century America. Both were born in Massachusetts, but in different towns, 11 years apart. Charity's attachment to women was so blatant that after she turned 20, her father told her to leave the house. She worked as a schoolteacher, but was forced to leave jobs several times because of hurtful gossip about her relationships with other women. In early 1807, Charity moved to Vermont to stay with a friend, and there she met Sylvia. The two fell in love, set up housekeeping, and considered themselves married. Gradually, their family members and the residents of Weybridge did as well. Charity and Sylvia became integral to the community, attending church, running their tailor shop, and contributing to charitable endeavors. Most of all, Charity and Sylvia remained passionately committed to each other and refused to hide their relationship. An important work of history that resonates with one of today's most public debates.

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