7. Tablestone
There are two memorials to Hannah Barnard, who died in Hadley,
Massachusetts in 1716. The first, a colorful cupboard with her
name emblazened on the front, was passed along from mother to daughter for
four generations and eventually ended up at the Henry Ford Museum in
Michigan. On the second, a massive table
stone honoring Samuel Barnard, she appears only as "HANNAH
HIS DAUGHT[ER]." The table stone shows the power of patriarchy in colonial
Massachusetts, the cupboard the ability of families to perpetuate female
lineages through material objects.
To see other objects related to Hannah Barnard's cupboard, go to the
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association web site, or go directly via the links provided below.
