Though their stories are not often told, female pioneers were pivotal to the settlement of Wayne County. At first, few women made their way to the frontier, and throughout its earliest period most settlers were men1Hurt, 251. However, as communities slowly established themselves, more women arrived.2Hurt, 251.
Ben Douglass, a prominent local historian in the late 1800s, proclaimed that “there was no hardship [pioneer women] were not willing to endure, [and] no sacrifice they were not ready to incur.”3Douglass, 184-185. The work undertaken by frontier women was exceedingly difficult. Their responsibilities included both growing and cooking their own food, raising children, caring for farm animals, and keeping the home4George Knepper, Ohio and Its People, 3rd ed. (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2003), 113. In this new land, many women felt the strain of social isolation, and struggled with the physical toll childbirth, disease, and malnutrition could take.5Knepper, 113. If the female head of a household died without a daughter to take over, families would be left in disarray, and many could not function.6Knepper, 113. The work of female pioneers, while often overlooked, was vital to the land’s success.
For further reading:
“1815 Census of Wayne County.” Wayne County (OH) Wiki. Wayne County Public Library, March 17, 2019. https://wiki.wcpl.info/w/1815_Census_of_Wayne_County.
Knepper, George. Ohio and Its People. 3rd ed. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2003 https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wooster/reader.action?docID=4403606.
Hurt, R. Douglas. The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720–1830. Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996. Accessed May 19, 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1zxz1gb.13