Taylor Hammons
T. Akin
English 2110-101
19 February 2014
Madam Knight

Mrs. Sarah Kemble Knight was born on 1666 to Thomas and Elizabeth Kemble in Boston. Sarah married a man significantly more mature in age than she, who was a sea captain as well as a London agent for an American company. Knight was considered stubborn and mildly arrogant, these conceptions of her were caused by her joy in managing peoples affairs as well as being rather ambitious for a woman of her faith but mainly her time period. With her father having passed away and her husband being abroad, she decided to run a boarding house and teach school. Benjamin Franklin as well as the Mather children were said to have attended Mrs. Knight’s school while she taught penmanship. Another of her achievements, training herself in the law, helped her be more knowledgable when it came to copying court documents and settling peoples affairs and estates. Sometime during 1706 Knight becomes a widow and decides eight years later that she will move to New London with her daughter. The last fourteen years of her life were spent running an Inn and investing in property. There is no doubt that Mrs. Knight was a highly educated woman with many goals and practically fearless. The Private Journal of Mrs. Sarah Kemble Knight was never meant to be read, instead it was meant to be personal and a way for her to capture all the events she experienced while on her travels. Knight’s journal was not published until the nineteenth century and was edited for a shorthand version by Theodore Dwight and again edited by George P. Winship in 1920. Her journal helps shed light on the difficult expectations provincial women faced religiously, economically and socially. Beginning on October the seventh, Knight writes in her journal that she has set out for New York to settle her cousins estate with the assistance of a male traveler to guide her. In all of Mrs. Knight’s travels she would hire a male hand to guide her and keep her safe. This could be seen as controversial in the early 1700s because she was traveling with a strange man for many weeks and even months. Being a member of the puritan faith Knight was taught women were to be dependent and inferior to men because they were descendants of Eve. However, Knight did not let the cultural standards of Provincial America serve as a barrier, instead she worked hard and proved herself to be capable of almost anything. When she arrives in New Haven, she paid her guide for his services and familiarized herself with the customs of the citizens and notes that they governed themselves much like Boston. While conversing with a pair of justices they told her the story of how a slave had stolen a hogshead and sold it to an Indian who in turn sold it to a member of the town who made notice of the theft to the owner. Other encounters in New Haven include her displeasure in finding out how well some of the farmers treated their salves by allowing them to eat at the table with them commenting “into the dish goes the black hoof as freely as the white hand” (164). Along with how savage the Indians that congregated around the town behave. Her upset with Indian culture was how “they marry many wives and at pleasure put them away” by stating “stand away” to represent a divorce (164). Her beliefs of modesty, monogamy, and serving God explain why she sees these Indian’s practices as ‘most savage’ (164). Upon inquiring of the Indian culture she learned other less revolting practices such as how respectful they are in the rituals for the dead, even though they were frightening to her ears. In New York, she notes that many things are different then Boston, there is a strong connection to the Church of England and a small group of Baptist and Quakers present. Unlike Boston and New Haven, the New Yorkers have a much more fashionable way of dressing accompanied by gaudy jewelry and drink quite heavily. Another clash with her puritan belief is the practice of keeping the sabbath holy and not working. Having finally reached New York she went about her business of settling her cousins estate with over a months delay by the family. On her Journey back to Boston she strayed in New Haven after being asked to dinner at the wonderful Governor Winthrop’s house. Her travels back home once leaving New Haven were treacherous due to winter changing to spring. Under her new guide, Mr. Richards she arrived home safely. After learning about Mrs. Knight I have grown to admirer her for her bravery and strength. While on her adventures she would constantly compare each city and the peoples behavior to that of Boston. She was a very courageous woman who does not receive much credit for her constant pursuit of pushing the limits for her time period. Did Knight purposely go against the cultural customs of her religion to make some point? Or did she do so just to make ends meet? I believe that she did not let any man or religious customs tell her how she should live her life and for that I respect her. She proves that you can still be a devout christian without having to agree with everything society and religion tells you. During her lifetime she never quit, despite what was expected of women.
Works Cited Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter 7th Edition, Vol 1. Norton & Company: New York, 2008. Print. Knight, Sarah Kemble. “From The Private Journal of a Journey from Boston to New York.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Shorter 7th Edition. Vol 1. Norton & Company: New York, 2008. 162-68. Print