Introducing....Ms. Leah Blackman!

"One could write volumes about Leah Blackman, though it would be unnecessary. Leah was
an autobiographical writer. Emotional and outspoken, she told the reader exactly what was
on her mind...We understand Leah's society tended more towards women and farmers. She
was a farmer's daughter and a farmer's wife. Had she been a sea captain's daughter, her
histories would have been substantially different. In being bound to the farm she missed
an intimacy with occupations that "went by the water." In being with the women in the
kitchen, she missed an intimacy with masculine pursuits. Leah was not clamming,
lumbering, or hunting with the men and so was unable to record the details. One must
write, after all, what one knows. Leah, when she wrote what she knew intimately was,
and is, fascinating. When she speculated or had an incomplete knowledge, her narrrative
weakened."

Courtesy of Leah Blackman's Old Times and other writings, Tuckerton Historical Society, Tuckerton, New Jersey

Take a look at another photograph for comparison.

After you have closely observed this photograph, what further conclusions, can you draw about this peculiar New Jersey woman?

What would you say to her?

What might she say to you?