A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812

Chapter 10 shifts to 1809, later in Martha’s life when her midwifery practice had slowed down and she began to increasingly dedicate herself to her garden. The later diary entries, in contrast to those of her earlier years in Hallowell, show families with the same last names as the original families, but are the younger descendants of the people Martha once knew, with many of the original townsfolk having died. 

Ulrich gives historical context for the changes in Kennebec and in the US at large, especially as it pertains to westward expansion. She explores the various conflicts between land proprietors and settlers or squatters—who, notably, in one conflict impersonated Indigenous Americans to intimidate land proprietors—as well as the shifting global politics taking place during the Jefferson presidential administration. This was the background for Martha’s world, yet she made little mention of any of it in her diary, oftentimes in the margin of entries about what crops she planted that day.

The garden became significant to Martha toward the end of her life. While she danced around political events, like the lifting of Jefferson’s embargo in 1809, she went into detail about her gardening practices, offering more description than any other sources from the region for that period.