What Did Northampton Pray for in the 1730s?
What were the hopes and needs of 1700s Northampton residents? In this activity, you can see what people asked their neighbors to pray for. These little slips of paper were prayer requests, and someone who wanted the spiritual and emotional support of neighbors would write down their request for prayers and give it to the minister, who would refer to it during the service. The prayer requests you see here were given to Jonathan Edwards, the minister of the First Church in the 1730s and 40s.
Read the requests. Discover the writers’ worries. Test yourself on their unusual spelling.
Read the requests. Discover the writers’ worries. Test yourself on their unusual spelling.
The activities on this page were created by Nicole Huang, a Historic Northampton intern from Smith College.
Test Your 1700s Spelling Know-How!
Today, we are educated to believe that there is a hard line between words that are spelled correctly, and those that are spelled incorrectly. In the 1700s, that line was a lot softer. Northampton residents in the 1730s and 40s would not have recognized one system of standardized spelling, and often just spelled words how they sounded like they should be said. So, when you look at writing from this time, you aren't just seeing how people wrote, you're seeing how they talked.
If you're having fun, try to write a letter to one of your friends spelling words like they sounds to you instead of how you've been taught to spell them, and see if they can figure it out!
If you're having fun, try to write a letter to one of your friends spelling words like they sounds to you instead of how you've been taught to spell them, and see if they can figure it out!
The Story Behind the Story
Some of these requests express feelings that we are all familiar with, but they all are also products of their time. Is our fear of fire the same as that of a 1700s person? Do we think about childbirth in the same way?
The background image for the main page is a view of Northampton's Main Street as it would have been seen in the 1740s. The building with the steeple is Northampton's Third Meetinghouse, where Jonathan Edwards the minister. This drawing was created by Nancy Haver.
The background image for the main page is a view of Northampton's Main Street as it would have been seen in the 1740s. The building with the steeple is Northampton's Third Meetinghouse, where Jonathan Edwards the minister. This drawing was created by Nancy Haver.
Click on the major topics in the prayer requests to learn more.
The Prayer Requests
These prayer requests are fascinating documents in their own right. If you're intrigued by the activities, take a look at these documents. These 11 are a selection from over 100 that Edwards saved. Think about the questions raised above. What do these requests tell you about life in Northampton in the 1700s, or even life in Northampton today?
Images courtesy of Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, Jonathan Edwards Collection.
Images courtesy of Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, Jonathan Edwards Collection.