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Things to Improve Upon Original Article

 * 1) Adding sources to text already there
 * 2) Rewriting text to be less biased and more clarifying
 * 3) More about her early life [in process]
 * 4) Write more about how her faith influenced her singlehood [in process]

= Rebecca Dickinson = Rebecca Dickinson (July 25, 1738 – December 31, 1815) was an American gownmaker who lived during the mid-to-late eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century. She is significant as the author of a journal in which she writes about her life as an artisan in the context of a woman actively engaging in the economy and a Calvinist in New England  in the years following the Revolutionary War (1787-1802). Throughout her life, Dickinson chose to live as a single woman in Hatfield, Massachusetts, sustaining herself through her trade. Her surviving journal documents her struggle to understand her singlehood in the context of her faith. Her diary also allows a glimpse into the lives of people, especially women, living through extremely influential historical events.

Early Life
Rebecca Dickinson (sometimes spelled as Rebekah or Rebeca) was born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, as the oldest daughter of six children born to farmer and dairy man Moses Dickinson and Anna Smith. Named after her grandmother, Rebecca Barrett Wright, Dickinson entered a world of political and religious concerns. The relatively small town of Hatfield (which held a population of 803 in 1765) had a history of political, military, and religious upheaval for more than half of a century before Dickinson was born. Such conflict is demonstrated by the fact that Rebecca’s own grandmother, Canada Waite, was born in captivity as her mother, Martha Waite, had been captured by Natives and gave birth as a hostage. Surrounded by both Native American enemies and their French allies in Canada, the people of Hatfield from its founding through the mid eighteenth century worried about the possibility of war, as well as the state of their souls. ^^^^^As a result of the conflict surrounding Hatfield as well as the religious upheaval occurring simultaneously, the people of Hatfield were often worried about the possibility of war and the state of their spiritual lives. ======.

Gownmaking ^^^^^Becoming an Artisan
== Around the age of twelve, Dickinson’s parents sent her to an apprenticeship at mantua making so that she could learn the trade of gown making. Around the age of twelve, Dickinson went to learn the trade of gownmaking. Her parents sent her to an apprenticeship at mantua making, also known as gownmaking. While ornamental needlework reflected a “degree of gentility” among young girls in elite families, [I feel like that is an unnecessary detail and it is taken almost straight from the book] Artisanal work in clothing production for Dickinson and other women was a way for them to earn money for their families at a young age, capitalizing on the social connections of these girls'/ women's families. Though many women had some knowledge of clothing construction and maintenance, given the expense of fabric, many women hired gownmakers to cut the pieces required to create a garment, since they could properly handle cutting and sewing the garment without ruining costly materials. As she emerged into adulthood an unmarried adult, Dickinson became a well-known gownmaker in Massachusetts. One of her more important clients, Elizabeth Porter Phelps, gave her business through her large estate, Forty Acres, with other women in the community making it a habit to make an appearance when Dickinson was there. Whenever Dickinson came to visit, some women “made it a point to come up to the Phelps house while [she] was there”. While Rebecca did have some higher profile and wealthier clients, fixing wardrobes for local families made up most of her business.

Dickinson went on to oversee apprenticeships for local children, with one of them being her niece Rebecca. as well as her niece, Rebecca. For her, apprentices were beneficial as they provided an extra set of hands for daily work and offered companionship. It is “possible that parents paid her for instructing their daughters”, but the “younger pairs of hands and eyes” made business go smoother, so she benefitted either way. At the height of her career, Dickinson was part of a community of gownmaking women in the Connecticut Valley who were well known for their work in altering wardrobes and creating new and fashionable garments.

Diary
Dickinson was born during a period of “rising level of female literacy” in the eighteenth-century colonies increasing levels in female literacy during the eighteenth century in the colonies. This meant that she was among the population of young girls who were taught to read and write. These skills are what allowed her to start her own diary, which she began keeping in her thirties. An example of her diary comes from her earliest surviving diary entry on Jul 22, 1787 where she wrote, “This day is the 22 of July 1787. Here alone in this house. There has been a thunderstorm here this afternoon, some hard thunder and rain. It is good to be where God’s voice is to be heard.” Dickinson began keeping a diary in her thirties. Due to her marital status, she referred to herself as an “old maid”, which was a popular derogatory term for older women that had never married. After the Revolutionary War in New England, however, some young women felt a sense of pride in holding such a position or reputation “honourable appellation of [an] old maid”. Rediscovered in the late nineteenth century by relatives, Dickinson’s surviving diary consists of her struggles with her faith and her state of singlehood. Although “Aunt Bek” was well liked in Hatfield and had a reputation of a “Saint on Earth”, her diary reflects a frequent tone of sadness and despair. Dickinson kept a journal for years but she burned each page that existed just before her forty-ninth birthday because “they were but poorly written” and she stopped caring about “such petty, earthly things” like motherhood and her possessions. Rebecca Dickinson kept a journal for years but she burned all of those that existed just before her forty-ninth birthday because she believed that they had been written poorly and were too concerned with “earthly” matters, such as motherhood and her personal possessions. An example of her diary comes from her earliest surviving diary entry on Jul 22, 1787 where she wrote, “This day is the 22 of July 1787. Here alone in this house. There has been a thunderstorm here this afternoon, some hard thunder and rain. It is good to be where God’s voice is to be heard.”

^^^^^Singlehood
Refusal to marry and singleness == Although Dickinson was offered marriage at least three times, she chose to live alone for most of her life as she did not find the idea of wifehood or having a traditional family attractive. Despite this choice and Dickinson’s commitment to it, there were signs of both her regret and her embrace of singleness that were often reflected in her journal. “She cried herself sick, ‘that others and all in the world was in Possession of Children and friends and a house and homes while [she] was so odd as to sit here alone.’” To push away these thoughts, she told herself “no other place would to wean her from the distractions of early comforts”. Reflecting on a local newspaper in the summer of 1791, Dickinson wrote that an “old maid” who had died at the age of one hundred was given the status of “venerable”, which was a title she wanted to “live and die” by. ^^^^^A considerable portion of the suffering expressed within her journal came as a result of her loneliness, not necessarily a desire to have a family, but to have the sort of connections that matrimony had offered her female peers.=====

Dickinson’s first proposal of marriage came in the winter of 1777/1778, through her long-time client Elizabeth Porter Phelps. Phelps’ father-in-law, Charles Phelps, was in search of a new partner after his wife had died the previous winter. The second proposal came in 1787 from an unknown person, however, no diary entries exist concerning the marriage proposal other than her minister's wife, Hannah Lyman, questioning her about “chang[ing] her name ” The second proposal came in 1787 from an unknown person and there are no diary entries that concern this marriage proposal other than one concerning her minister’s wife, Hannah Lyman, who had questioned Dickinson about changing her name. The third proposal occurred in the fall of 1788 by a physician named Moses Gunn. He intrigued her to consider him “more agreeable than [she] could think of” (as suggested in her diary), but she ultimately decided that she would “never change [her] name” His proposal had intrigued her the most and was the one proposal that she had genuinely considered, but she ultimately decided that she would never change her name.

In her diaries, Dickinson shows interest in both the single life and the married life, Her feelings grew after the death of her sister’s husband, which left her alone to raise a family While Dickinson shows interest in both the single life and the married life in her diaries, her feelings grew after the death of her sister’s husband when her sister had been left to raise a family alone. Whether her lifetime status of single is due to her commitment to faith or her overall disinterest in having a family cannot be proven. But unlike most women of this time and place, Dickinson was able to keep herself financially stable through her gownmaking and tailoring to where she did not need a man in her life to support her Whatever her reasons were, Dickinson was able to keep herself financially stable independent of a man to support her, unlike most women of the time and place, through her gown making and tailoring.

Faith
During Dickinson’s later years, she lived a life of Calvinist devotion. In September 1787, she came to the conclusion that wanting a family was what condemned her to a life of solitude. The time she used thinking about it took away from her time with God. In May 1789, she wrote in her diary that because there were no children, grandchildren, or household for her to preoccupy her time with, her “spirit [would] hold communion with God at all times”. At times, she expressed anger and confusion when it came to her treatment and why God made her go through certain trials in life. Perhaps death in particular made her question her faith the most. She expressed a fear of dying after a nightmare she wrote about on her forty-ninth birthday, just three days after her earliest surviving diary: “Last night had a sad dream which I hope will never come to pass; me thought that I was in a place where I could not escape. [Noting that she felt weak in faith] why should I doubt? […] The God who made me will dispose of me in his own time and way.” Throughout her life, Dickinson was deeply devoted to her faith as a Calvinist. She believed that singleness was part of God’s plan for her, and that it was her specific “cross” to bear. Following September 1787, Dickinson was convinced that such desires of family-life and marriage were distracting her from her devotion to God. Following this, Rebecca became even more devoted in her commitment to living a life of singlehood. In May 1789, she wrote in her diary that because there were no children, grandchildren, or household for her to preoccupy her time with, her “spirit [would] hold communion with God at all times. ^^^^^Coming from the Calvinist idea of predestination, Dickinson spent much of her time in religious contemplation in order to prepare herself for God.===== Though she was devoted to this life, she did express anger and confusion concerning why God was making her go through certain trials and struggles in her life. When her niece died at the age of one, she told herself that God took her niece away so that she would avoid distractions from her faith. This belief became a factor in her reasoning for never having children.

Dickinson coped with death of loved ones by justifying the loss with God's plan to wean people away from distractions of faith. However, in May 1788, Dickinson became concerned with losing people to death in the community. “Why do I live while others die?” she wrote in her diary, either showing concern for death or frustration for her age. Dickinson convinced herself that her lack of faith caused turmoil to herself and those around her (especially people that she loved). When her niece died at the age of one from “eruptive sores”, she told herself that God took her niece away so that she would avoid distractions from her faith. This belief stood reasoning for never having children. In April 1789, Dickinson wrote, “God knew my tender make and doomed my darlings to death before they was my own for which […] I give thanks”.

Later Life and Death
On September 10, 1788, Dickinson chose to leave Hatfield for Bennington, Vermont where her sister, Martha, lived with her own family. In the course of this move Martha’s husband became sick, forcing Dickinson to return to Hatfield. This event was followed by the marriage proposal of Moses Gunn on October 22. The last mention of gownmaking or designing of any kind in Dickinson’s diary is in 1790. In August 1795, Dickinson permanently moved to live with her sister Miriam Billings. In her later years, she aimed to come to peace with her life alone. As she wrote in her diary on August 3, 1794, “Hoping, waiting, doing God’s will to the end of my mortal life is the desire of Rebecca Dickinson”. In the next decade of her life she made very few diary entries, suggesting that the journal writings were a “source of companionship” in times of loneliness. After the 1808 death of Silas Billings, Dickinson and her sister Miriam moved into Miriam's son Roswell’s home. In April 1810, Dickinson wrote her will. In it, “being of sound mind and memory”, she gave her land Williamsburg, Massachusetts to her nephews. In April of 1810, Dickinson wrote her will and gave her land in Williamsburg, Massachusetts to her nephews. In March 1815, Elizabeth Porter Phelps, who also kept an extensive diary that survives in the collections of the Porter Phelps Huntington House Museum, wrote that she “rode to Hatfield to see Becca Dickinson” to find that she “hurt her hip badly”. Nine months later, on December 31, 1815, Rebecca Dickinson died at the age of 77 of influenza. In March 1815, she hurt her hip and nine months later, on December 31, 1815, Rebecca Dickinson died at the age of 77 from influenza. She was buried alongside her parents in Hatfield, Massachusetts.

Legacy
Although none of the garments she constructed are known to survive, a set of crewelwork bed furnishings decorated with vines and flowers are preserved in the collections of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library in Deerfield, Massachusetts, which also holds the manuscript diary. A sketch based on Dickinson's headcloth, made by Margaret C. Whiting in 1905, is also among the PVMA collections. A piano scarf, embroidered by Mary Wait Allis Hurlburt in 1916, and based on an element of Dickinson's crewelwork, survives in the collections of the Hatfield Historical Society, as does a firescreen believed to have been made by Dickinson.