Interesting how different people were so long ago. I do not think there are very many 18YO's who can accomplish so much in the present day. That's because no one expects them to or raises them this way anymore but just think if they did.

Love it! And, at what age was a young woman considered a spinster back in those days?

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Love it! And, at what age was a young woman considered a spinster back in those days?

UEG, I bet pretty young by our present standards!

At 18 I was in my second year of college, working at the same time and renting a room and paid my way all the way through. At my age now I still clear woodland for firewood but I use a chain saw and a tractor to get it back to the house. Not a single regret for the hard work either. But even for my generation, it has been vastly different than expectations now.

I can't imagine a hand saw, ax, mule or ox team, etc like this young man had to wrangle to get his land going yet a lot of people did this.

Not sure many of the folks at such an age these days would even consider doing such hard work?

I read a book few years ago (can't remember the name now) about diaries of folks going west in the 1800s. This one woman tells in her diary about everyday life in the wagon train (+ damned brutal it was) + I recall at some point in her story just passes in slight mention, oh, + BTW, gave birth today. Some tough ladies,eh? Remember Kipling's poem of "The Female of the Species". As to the query about aged spinsterhood, most girls were married off at 14-15, maybe 16. By the time they were 18-20 they were in the spinster category. Remember that back then they started birthing at 14-16 with an age expentency of 45. As to the young mans advert; in those days he would be considered quite a catch,especially with all his teeth. (Would be today too, I would think)

Thank you Ann
That just goes to show the changes on social norms over time