"That which she calls her own:": gender and material culture in early Philadelphia wills
Date
2001
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Sixteen Philadelphia couples left wills during the years 1682 to 1712. A total of forty-four women also left wills during these same years. These wills (and inventories) offer a unique chance to study issues of gender and material culture for the first generation of city residents. Analysis of the types of property, portion sizes, and kinds of specific object bequests bequeathed to heirs between husbands and wives and between women testators themselves actually reveal that gender may not be the best way to view the material culture shown in these wills. There are only a few discernible patterns to the way these women and couples bequeathed. In fact, one pattern seems to be that of exception. These wills suggest that factors, such as number of children, individuality, and possibly religious views, and not gender, guided the behavior and thinking of these early testators.