Old Age in Early New England Last update: 5.17.18
Boston (Massachusetts) was first settled in 1630 by John Winthrop and his Puritan followers, who had left England because they wanted to make the Church of England (Anglican) more pure, and eliminate the vestiges of Catholic ritual. One of his followers was 10-year-old Anne Pollard who would live to the age of 105. For Puritans there was a special religious dimension to the accumulated experience of old age. The elderly were thought to have a “peculiar acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ,” which focused on the physical resemblance to God. Elderly persons were literally and figuratively viewed as closer than others to God because they stood near the boundary between the natural and supernatural worlds. The fear of God and honoring the "old man" was commanded with the same breath and linked together in the same sentence.
Colonial New England (1600s) was decidedly favorable to old age. “Honor,” “respect,” even “veneration” were the terms most frequently used in prescribing attitudes toward the elderly. Young people were urged to “rise up" before the "old man," and conduct themselves with “a bashful and modest reverence.” The elderly, for their part, would use a kind of authority and confidence in their words and carriage.
Yet in the literature of early New England, old age is characterized as a state of weakness and of much infirmity where loss, decline and decay were the central images. “Older people are likely to be too drowsy and remiss in the things of God...too covetous and tenacious for the things of this world…too timorous and fearful…too touchy, peevish, angry and forward…very unteachable since they think they know more than others…hard to please…full of complaints…full of suspicion…and very apt to surmise, suspect and fear the worst."
Among modern-day Americans, the 60+ crowd represents about 15 percent of the population. In early New England, the best guess is between 4 percent and 7 percent. Since the birthrate was very high (families of up to 15 or 16 children were not uncommon), people under the age of 20 made up a majority of the population. At birth 44.5 percent of the population might expect to live to age 60 or more, and 20.8 percent to at least 70. Among those who survived to age 20, the figures rose to 54.9 percent and 34.6 percent respectively. Life expectation at age 60 appears to have been at least 15 more years; at 70 about 10; at 80 about 5.
With people living so long, one scholarly review suggests that “grandparents” might have been a New England invention, with evidence scattered in probate records indicating direct bequests by elderly testators to their children’s children. Grandparent-grandchild ties were relatively close and widespread. Many children received exposure to the ways and wisdom of the elderly. There was much interest and affection in this relationship, at least on the side of the grandparents; occasionally there was co-residence and mutual dependence. Most elderly New Englanders were grandparents many times over.
Just as the culture at large recognized old age as a distinct time of life, so too were elderly people conscious of their own aging. They thought about it and talked about it, and in various ways they acted from a particular sense of age-appropriate needs and requirements. “Old age has come upon me,” wrote one man. There were set phrases included in various wills as a kind of explanatory preface: “being ancient and weak of body,” or “considering my great age and many infirmities accompanying the same,” or "having thought God’s goodness lived in this world until old age, and now finding my strength to decay not knowing how near my glass is run.”
Anne Bradstreet’s poem (1612-1673), “The Four Ages of Man,” provides an especially pungent description of what it felt like to be old in early New England.
However, literary materials on old age make little reference to illness; they stress instead the loss of capacities and skills because of the importance of physical exertion in pre-modern times. “Strong arms” and “nimble legs” were required for work on the farm, by routines of the household, and by travel, transport and a host of other activities. Toward the end of the 17th century, a controversy arose in Massachusetts about what one man called "the evil fashion and practices of wearing wigs," which hid the beauty of old men and their gray heads. But most of all, old people dreaded what the young might think or say about them.
Regardless, most older New Englanders continued to live in their own homes even after their children had grown up and moved out to begin separate families. There was no general pattern of relocation for the elderly in response to altered needs for space or resources. In fact, a majority of older people were financially well off when compared with those in other age groups. Wealth was lowest for men in their 20s, rose strongly through the 30s and 40s, reached a peak in the 50s, and declined gradually thereafter.
While the details of intrafamilial relationships remain obscure, what is clear is that grown children would continue to live nearby, enabling the elderly to remain connected. However, elderly couples preferred to look after themselves and live self-sufficiently for as long as possible. Inevitably, there were obvious circumstances in which they required assistance. The most common of these was widowhood.
When a man died, his wife was placed in a position of some doubt or even jeopardy. If she was still young, she might look forward to remarriage, which would automatically supply her efficiencies. But if she was elderly, her prospects were greatly reduced. Her rights to her late husband’s property had to be secured through appropriate action in the courts. The principle of the widow’s thirds was long established in custom and in common law: she would have the use of one third of the family lands during her lifetime, plus full title to a third of all moveable properties. In many instances arrangements were spelled out with extraordinary precision.
Typically, the widow was guaranteed appropriate space for her lodging (e.g. parlor at the end of the house), access to their parts of the household, a fuel supply, furnishings, household implements such as pots and kettles, and she might also be given domestic animals and regular assistance in caring for them. Sometimes elderly men made formal arrangements for their own care following the death of their wives. One old farmer promised a bequest of his son-in-law on condition that the latter “be helpful toward the maintenance of him” while he lived. The care of old and infirm persons did not always require legal documents; sometimes it was managed informally or simply developed out of familiar closeness and affection.
Some elderly New Englanders without relatives living nearby were obliged to appeal to the public authority. Usually, the local meetings would supervise their care. Particular tasks and services were obliged to individual townspeople, who were subsequently reimbursed out of town funds.
The problems of infirmity were only part of the experience of old age. Many elderly New Englanders retained a substantial capacity for work, public service, and for ordinary forms of social intercourse. Several governors and assistants of the Plymouth Colony seemed to have retained their offices until the end of their lives. The careers of New England clergymen were also extremely prolonged. Local records show a 60-year-old who was employed to mow salt-water grass in the marsh, a 70-year-old who was employed to haul grist to the local mill, a 70-year-old woman who served as a midwife, and a 102-year-old who worked as a collier (a person who sells or carries coal). However, it appears that most men past 60 voluntarily reduced their activities in work or public service. Yet this was nearly always a gradual process until infirmities were incapacitating.
Some final notes…the connotations of the word “old” are worth mentioning. In local records elderly people are mentioned in a special way: “old Bright,” old Bunnill,” “old Hammond.” Their given names are, in effect, discounted, and age itself becomes the identifying mark. Interestingly, not everyone was called “old.” The term was often associated with people of little means and no public responsibilities.
The inhabitants of New England towns also came together weekly or twice weekly for worship in the village meetinghouse. On these occasions they reaffirmed not only the shared basis for their corporate lives, but also the hierarchical arrangement of their constituent parts. Every meetinghouse was carefully seated. All adult members of the community occupied places assigned to them in accordance with their individual status. The basic principle was the higher the rank of the person the closer his or her seat was to the front. The official criteria for making these status evaluations invariably included age, along with estate (wealth), office, dignity of descent and pious disposition. Older men or women who were both old and wealthy had a double claim on front-row seats, while those who were young and poor invariably sat in the back.
Learn More
Boston (Massachusetts) was first settled in 1630 by John Winthrop and his Puritan followers, who had left England because they wanted to make the Church of England (Anglican) more pure, and eliminate the vestiges of Catholic ritual. One of his followers was 10-year-old Anne Pollard who would live to the age of 105. For Puritans there was a special religious dimension to the accumulated experience of old age. The elderly were thought to have a “peculiar acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ,” which focused on the physical resemblance to God. Elderly persons were literally and figuratively viewed as closer than others to God because they stood near the boundary between the natural and supernatural worlds. The fear of God and honoring the "old man" was commanded with the same breath and linked together in the same sentence.
Colonial New England (1600s) was decidedly favorable to old age. “Honor,” “respect,” even “veneration” were the terms most frequently used in prescribing attitudes toward the elderly. Young people were urged to “rise up" before the "old man," and conduct themselves with “a bashful and modest reverence.” The elderly, for their part, would use a kind of authority and confidence in their words and carriage.
Yet in the literature of early New England, old age is characterized as a state of weakness and of much infirmity where loss, decline and decay were the central images. “Older people are likely to be too drowsy and remiss in the things of God...too covetous and tenacious for the things of this world…too timorous and fearful…too touchy, peevish, angry and forward…very unteachable since they think they know more than others…hard to please…full of complaints…full of suspicion…and very apt to surmise, suspect and fear the worst."
Among modern-day Americans, the 60+ crowd represents about 15 percent of the population. In early New England, the best guess is between 4 percent and 7 percent. Since the birthrate was very high (families of up to 15 or 16 children were not uncommon), people under the age of 20 made up a majority of the population. At birth 44.5 percent of the population might expect to live to age 60 or more, and 20.8 percent to at least 70. Among those who survived to age 20, the figures rose to 54.9 percent and 34.6 percent respectively. Life expectation at age 60 appears to have been at least 15 more years; at 70 about 10; at 80 about 5.
With people living so long, one scholarly review suggests that “grandparents” might have been a New England invention, with evidence scattered in probate records indicating direct bequests by elderly testators to their children’s children. Grandparent-grandchild ties were relatively close and widespread. Many children received exposure to the ways and wisdom of the elderly. There was much interest and affection in this relationship, at least on the side of the grandparents; occasionally there was co-residence and mutual dependence. Most elderly New Englanders were grandparents many times over.
Just as the culture at large recognized old age as a distinct time of life, so too were elderly people conscious of their own aging. They thought about it and talked about it, and in various ways they acted from a particular sense of age-appropriate needs and requirements. “Old age has come upon me,” wrote one man. There were set phrases included in various wills as a kind of explanatory preface: “being ancient and weak of body,” or “considering my great age and many infirmities accompanying the same,” or "having thought God’s goodness lived in this world until old age, and now finding my strength to decay not knowing how near my glass is run.”
Anne Bradstreet’s poem (1612-1673), “The Four Ages of Man,” provides an especially pungent description of what it felt like to be old in early New England.
However, literary materials on old age make little reference to illness; they stress instead the loss of capacities and skills because of the importance of physical exertion in pre-modern times. “Strong arms” and “nimble legs” were required for work on the farm, by routines of the household, and by travel, transport and a host of other activities. Toward the end of the 17th century, a controversy arose in Massachusetts about what one man called "the evil fashion and practices of wearing wigs," which hid the beauty of old men and their gray heads. But most of all, old people dreaded what the young might think or say about them.
Regardless, most older New Englanders continued to live in their own homes even after their children had grown up and moved out to begin separate families. There was no general pattern of relocation for the elderly in response to altered needs for space or resources. In fact, a majority of older people were financially well off when compared with those in other age groups. Wealth was lowest for men in their 20s, rose strongly through the 30s and 40s, reached a peak in the 50s, and declined gradually thereafter.
While the details of intrafamilial relationships remain obscure, what is clear is that grown children would continue to live nearby, enabling the elderly to remain connected. However, elderly couples preferred to look after themselves and live self-sufficiently for as long as possible. Inevitably, there were obvious circumstances in which they required assistance. The most common of these was widowhood.
When a man died, his wife was placed in a position of some doubt or even jeopardy. If she was still young, she might look forward to remarriage, which would automatically supply her efficiencies. But if she was elderly, her prospects were greatly reduced. Her rights to her late husband’s property had to be secured through appropriate action in the courts. The principle of the widow’s thirds was long established in custom and in common law: she would have the use of one third of the family lands during her lifetime, plus full title to a third of all moveable properties. In many instances arrangements were spelled out with extraordinary precision.
Typically, the widow was guaranteed appropriate space for her lodging (e.g. parlor at the end of the house), access to their parts of the household, a fuel supply, furnishings, household implements such as pots and kettles, and she might also be given domestic animals and regular assistance in caring for them. Sometimes elderly men made formal arrangements for their own care following the death of their wives. One old farmer promised a bequest of his son-in-law on condition that the latter “be helpful toward the maintenance of him” while he lived. The care of old and infirm persons did not always require legal documents; sometimes it was managed informally or simply developed out of familiar closeness and affection.
Some elderly New Englanders without relatives living nearby were obliged to appeal to the public authority. Usually, the local meetings would supervise their care. Particular tasks and services were obliged to individual townspeople, who were subsequently reimbursed out of town funds.
The problems of infirmity were only part of the experience of old age. Many elderly New Englanders retained a substantial capacity for work, public service, and for ordinary forms of social intercourse. Several governors and assistants of the Plymouth Colony seemed to have retained their offices until the end of their lives. The careers of New England clergymen were also extremely prolonged. Local records show a 60-year-old who was employed to mow salt-water grass in the marsh, a 70-year-old who was employed to haul grist to the local mill, a 70-year-old woman who served as a midwife, and a 102-year-old who worked as a collier (a person who sells or carries coal). However, it appears that most men past 60 voluntarily reduced their activities in work or public service. Yet this was nearly always a gradual process until infirmities were incapacitating.
Some final notes…the connotations of the word “old” are worth mentioning. In local records elderly people are mentioned in a special way: “old Bright,” old Bunnill,” “old Hammond.” Their given names are, in effect, discounted, and age itself becomes the identifying mark. Interestingly, not everyone was called “old.” The term was often associated with people of little means and no public responsibilities.
The inhabitants of New England towns also came together weekly or twice weekly for worship in the village meetinghouse. On these occasions they reaffirmed not only the shared basis for their corporate lives, but also the hierarchical arrangement of their constituent parts. Every meetinghouse was carefully seated. All adult members of the community occupied places assigned to them in accordance with their individual status. The basic principle was the higher the rank of the person the closer his or her seat was to the front. The official criteria for making these status evaluations invariably included age, along with estate (wealth), office, dignity of descent and pious disposition. Older men or women who were both old and wealthy had a double claim on front-row seats, while those who were young and poor invariably sat in the back.
Learn More
- Past, Present and Personal--The Family and Life Course in American History, John Demos