Society or the community during Martha's time was explained as similar to a blue checkered cloth. The men and their businesses were represented by the blue squares; the women and their businesses were represented by the white squares. Those few squares that have both colors represent the few times that the socially separate worlds of men and women overlapped.
These types of transactions were few and far between in Martha's diary. For the most part, men handled their businesses and the public business. Women handled their business and the unseen community business. Both sides flourished in economy and trade.
Ephraim was a surveyor, a mill operator, a community selectman, and, at times, constable, and tax collector. Martha tells in her diary that Ephraim worked at these jobs but did not have a lot to say.....
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