| Jan.
1: Martha Ballard begins her diary. The diary is the only record
we have of Martha Ballard's very active life as an individual and as a central
participant in the healthcare and female economy of Hallowell. |
Ephraim
Ballard elected Hallowell
town moderator. |
Aug.
6: Ephraim's mill burns.
Scarlet fever
strikes Hallowell, and Martha nurses its victims. In her Aug.
7 entry, Martha shows rare sympathy for her patients, probably remembering
the summer of 1769, when three of her own children died in a similar epidemic.
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July
10: Judge Joseph North stands trial for rape. |
April
21: The Ballards move from the Jones Mill to their own property,
which they finally have cleared. |
Three
Marriages:
Jan. 11: Jonathan Ballard marries Sally Pierce.
Oct. 28: Hannah Ballard
marries Moses Pollard.
Nov. 18: Parthenia Barton
marries Shubael Pitts.
Dec. 12: Moses and Hannah Pollard "go to housekeeping." |
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May
14: Dorothy Ballard marries Barnabas Lambard. |
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Feb.
20: Hallowell divides in a dispute over whether to bridge the Kennebec
at Fort Western or
The Hook. North and Middle parishes soon incorporate as the town of
Augusta, which later will become the capital of Maine.
Nov. 21: Kennebec Bridge at Fort Western is dedicated. |
Nov.
8: Lucy Ballard Towne dies. Martha Ballard nursed her daughter through
a long illness with persistence and hope, but meets Lucy's death with acceptance
and a prayer. |
Nov.
26: Martha and Ephraim move to their new house on son Jonathan's
farm. The new house, about a mile uphill from the town center, turns out
to be a difficult move for Martha. Walking to town and to the scattered
houses of clients will become increasingly difficult for the aging woman. |
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Feb.
5: Ephraim Jr. marries Mary Farwell.
December 23: Jonathan and family move in with Martha who
is living alone while Ephraim is in jail. As tax collector Ephraim is punished
personally when he does not collect the full amount. |
May
29: Ephraim released from jail.
Sep. 14, 1805: Jonathan
and family move out of Martha and Ephraim's house.
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July
9: Capt. James Purrington kills
his wife, his six children and himself. |
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The
Malta War divides Maine. Settlers without land title from the Plymouth
Proprietors contest attempts to remove them. Ephraim Ballard receives much
of his work from
the Plymouth Proprietors. |
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Apr.
26: Martha Ballard midwives for the last time.
May 7: Martha Ballard
writes the last entry in her diary.
Between May 7 and June 9: Martha
Ballard dies and her daughter Dolly Lambard inherits her diary. |
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Thomas Denman
publishes An Essay on Natural Labours. |
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Alexander
Gordon writes A Treatise on the Epidemic of Puerperal Fever of Aberdeen,
in which the Scotsman observes that the fever is spread from patient-to-patient
by birth attendants. |
Edward Jenner
develops a vaccine against smallpox using the less dangerous Cowpox virus. |
The Kennebec
Medical Society is founded. |
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Dec. 25:
Ephraim McDowell, a Kentucky surgeon, performs the first recorded gynecological
surgery in the U.S., removing a 22 1/2 pound ovarian tumor from Jane Crawford. |
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New England
Journal of Medicine founded. |
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The Dollar becomes
the official U.S. currency, as Congress adopts a decimal monetary system.
Martha Ballard and her neighbors, as well as the rest of the country,
often lack hard currency with which to carry on their daily trade.
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Daniel
Shays leads an armed revolt by farmers in Western Massachusetts, closing
local courts in an attempt to stop foreclosure on their farms. |
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June
21: U.S. Constitution is ratified by the ninth state, New Hampshire. |
George
Washington becomes the first U.S. President. |
Judith
Sargent Murray publishes On the Equality of the Sexes. |
The
Bill of Rights is added to the Constitution. |
Mary
Stone Wollstonecraft publishes Vindication of the Rights of Women,
in which the Englishwoman argues for equality of opportunity for men and
women. |
America's
first cotton mill -- built by Samuel Slater -- opens in Rhode Island.
Martha Ballard buys by the pound raw cotton brought up the Kennebec River
by ship. The women of Hallowell and Augusta pick, comb, spin, and weave
the cotton. |
Eli Whitney patents
the cotton gin.
The Jay Treaty,
postpones - but does not avert - an Anglo-American war.
The Whiskey Rebellion
pits Pennsylvania farmers against the U.S. Army.
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John
Adams is elected the second U.S. President. |
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The
Alien and Sedition Acts pass Congress. |
George
Washington dies. |
Thomas Jefferson
is elected third president of the United States.
National Census:
US population 5.3 million
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Apr.
30: U.S. Purchases Lousiana Territory from France for $15 million. |
May:
Lewis & Clark expedition into the Louisiana territory begins. Aaron
Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel. |
Toussaint Charboneau and his wife Sacajawea join the Lewis &
Clark expedition with their infant son. |
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Congress outlaws slave
importation.
Jefferson bars all exports to Britain and France, causing New Englanders
severe economic hardship.
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Jefferson's embargo
on American trade with Europe brings a slump to the Kennebec River economy.
Martha Ballard's diary notes the celebration
when the embargo is repealed.
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National
Census: US population 7.2 million. |
William
Henry Harrison and his troops engage Tecumseh's army at the battle of
Tippecanoe. |
James Madison is
elected fourth U.S. President.
Shipping disputes
lead the U.S. to declare war on Britain.
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1785