Lydia Richards 1782 – 1846

From 1799 to 1826, a time of great change in the newly formed United States of America, Lydia Richards from Plainfield, Massachusetts conducted a thirty year correspondence with her friend, Charity Bryant from the Middlebury, Vermont area. While it was not unusual for folks from rural New England to exchange letters over the course of a lifetime, it is unusual to have such a complete archive of letters. Currently the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury, Vermont houses a collection of over 400 of Charity Bryant’s letters, with 180 being sent from Lydia Richards. Listed below are some of the letters written by Lydia to Charity, giving us a sketch of the life and times of rural life at the turn of the 19th century – the religious, political, moral, and domestic day to day life of two women living on the edge of the frontier.

Included is a 1977 paper by historian William Hosley’s research on these letters entitled: The Richards – Bryant Correspondence 1798 – 1851

August 19 & 21, 179 9

September 28, 1799