Charity and Sylvia is the intimate history of two ordinary women who lived in an extraordinary same-sex marriage during the early nineteenth century. Based on diaries; letters; and poetry; among other original documents; the research traces the women's lives in sharp detail. Charity Bryant was born in 1777 to a consumptive mother who died a month later. Raised in Massachusetts; Charity developed into a brilliant and strong-willed woman with a passion for her own sex. After being banished from her family home by her father at age twenty; she traveled throughout Massachusetts; working as a teacher; making intimate female friends; and becoming the subject of gossip wherever she lived. At age twenty-nine; still defiantly single; Charity visited friends in Weybridge; Vermont. There she met Sylvia Drake; a pious and studious young woman whose family had moved to the frontier village after losing their Massachusetts farm during the Revolution. The two soon became so inseparable that Charity decided to rent rooms in Weybridge. Sylvia came to join her on July 3; 1807; commencing a forty-four year union that lasted until Charity's death. Over the years; the women came to be recognized as a married couple; or something like it. Charity took the role of husband; and Sylvia of wife; within the marriage. Revered by their community; Charity and Sylvia operated a tailor shop employing many local women; served as guiding lights within their church; and participated in raising more than one hundred nieces and nephews. Most extraordinary; all the while the sexual potential of their union remained an open secret; cloaked in silence to preserve their reputations. The story of Charity and Sylvia overturns today's conventional wisdom that same-sex marriage is a modern innovation; and reveals that early America was both more diverse and more accommodating than modern society imagines.
#364400 in Books Cleves Rachel Hope 2016-10-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.10 x .70 x 9.10l; .0 #File Name: 019062731X296 pagesCharity and Sylvia A Same Sex Marriage in Early America
Review
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Not as Queer as It Used to Be?By Frank BellizziCharity Sylvia is a carefully-researched and beautifully-written story of two women who were as married as they could have been in early nineteenth-century America. Readers learn a great deal about Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake; their families of origin; their decades-long relationship as "husband and wife;" and their dozens of in-laws; nieces and nephews. Rachel Hope Cleves tells this interesting tale in part to demonstrate her thesis: "Same-sex marriage is not as new as Americans on both sides of today's debate tend to assume; it is neither the radical break with timeless tradition that conservatives fear nor the unprecedented innovation of a singularly tolerant age that liberals praise. It fits within a long history of marriage diversity in North America that included practices such as polygamy; self-divorce; free love; and interracial unions" (xviii). One reason that Charity Sylvia is getting so much "buzz" is that the story related in this book stands on the other side of typical boundaries in the field of LGBT history. Specifically; it pays attention to:women; not menthe early nineteenth century; not the late twentieth centurylife in a small town; not a huge cityreligion; in this case New England Puritanism; as a part of the story; not the antithesis of the storyIn other words; this book isn't about gay men living in New York during the late twentieth century who happen to keep as far away from churches as they can. Charity and Sylvia also breaks with previous historiography in another way: Cleves argues that people in early America actually assumed that women who were close friends; and especially those who lived together as a couple; were sometimes more than just friends. One question the book raises has to do with its character as a case study. This story is about one couple. So; just how representative are they? However we might answer that question; one thing is not in doubt. Because "same-sex marriage" is such a hot-button topic in American culture and politics these days; this book will be read and commented on for several years to come.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Lynda W. DanielsVery interesting!0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. History done rightBy Charles E. CoulterThe story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake -- members of the founding generation and friends; lovers and partners in business and life -- has finally been told right. Although the author has to do some reading between the lines; I believe her conclusions are dead on. The author also does a wonderful job of putting the lives and the relationship between Charity and Sylvia in their proper context. And the author should be praised for writing in a clear and precise manner. My only problem with the book was trying to keep straight the names of Charity's and Sylvia's numerous siblings; in-laws; nephew and nieces and their children. Wow!
