Martha Moore Ballard (1734/1735 - 1812) was an American midwife, healer, and diarist.
Martha Ballard is known today from her diary, which gives us a rare insight to the life of the average midwife and woman in 18th century Maine. Born on February 20, 1735, Ballard grew up in a moderately prosperous family in Oxford, Massachusetts. Her father Elijah Moore was a farmer and innkeeper, and her mother Dorothy Learned was a house mother, who could neither read nor write.
Both her grandfathers and father were town selectmen and militia officers. Her younger brother Jonathan Moore was the town of Oxford’s second college graduate and the librarian of Harvard College. Her brother-in-law, Stephen Barton, was a physician. Historians believe Ballard learned her trade from an older midwife in Oxford.
In 1754, Ballard married Ephraim Ballard. He was a miller and surveyor. They started out in Oxford, Massachusetts. Mr. Ballard tried to set up an inn in Fort Halifax, Maine, by using the land of Sylvester Gardiner, a Boston loyalist. The Revolutionary government considered him a Tory and his land was taken, forcing him to move to Augusta, Maine. There he rented out sawmills and gristmills, and finally brought his nine children and wife Martha to live with him, gaining back peace with the Revolutionaries. Three of the couple's children died in the Oxford diphtheria epidemic of 1769.
Other than this, from the records of Martha Ballard, we have no information about her involvement with politics, or government issues. We also see no records of enslaved people; black folks and Indians are barely mentioned. Martha was not very religious, going to church only once a week.
In Augusta she started the journal which makes her remembered today. From January of 1785 until her death in May 1812, she kept this journal. She kept record of over 1000 births happening in her town in addition her cases as a general practitioner and nurse.
We also learned of how society functioned, like how they dealt with premarital pregnancies. We learned the community wanted to know the name of the father not to reprehend moral behavior, but to make sure he supported the child, to avoid burdening the community. This happened with Martha Ballard’s own son Jonathan, and Martha’s employee Sally Peirce. An entry from Tuesday, July 19, 1791, “Shee informd me that Sally Peirce Swore a Child on my son Jon a & he was taken with a warrent.” At the height of the birth, Martha asked Sally who the father was, and she swore it was Jonathan. It was believed that a woman could not tell a lie when in the height of birth. Jonathan and Sally ended up getting married. In Martha’s journal she recorded about 13 first births out of wedlock, not all of which resulted in a marriage. If the woman did not marry, she would stay with her family, and eventually marry another. Women could still maintain their respect in the community. The journal also told us of how she was paid. Since she lived with little money, she was sometimes paid in different currencies, and also with barter and trade. When she was paid with money it was shillings and pence. Thursday April 14, 1785, Martha writes, “Clear & very Cold for Apl. I was at home. Let John Sahaw have 1 oz of salve; prs Eight pence.” On Saturday, September 2, 1786, she wrote, “I have been at home. Benjamin White Brot me a pair of Flat Irons, prs 6/, which is my fee, 2/ remains, Due for remidies. Dolly is 14 years of age this Day.” When she writes 6/, she means six shillings. If she wrote /6, she would mean six pence. We also learned a little about Martha’s household. In her house, everyone worked. The boys would survey, draw maps, collect taxes, farm, cut wood, and help with the mills. The girls would harvest flax, spin wool, weave fabric (taught by their neighbors), and sold textiles. While her family was doing this work, Martha would grow herbs, make medicines, made and fixed clothing, did housework, treated the sick, and birthed babies. On Wednesday, June 6, 1787 Martha wrote. “Clear. mr Ballard gone to Coart. mrss Shaw & Ellis & her twin Boys Dind here. I have been Combing flax. the Girls strikeing a harnis to a 36 & Coulering a Linning warp. Becky Wiman rode by here today.” Combing flax was a process where they would run thick fibers called flax through nails to straighten it. Then it could be spun into thread and woven. Another thing we learned about Martha Ballard was how she interacted with the male physicians of her community. Apart from some disagreements, they did not mind each other. Martha did not let blood, use opiates, or set bones like the male physicians. She used natural remedies usually made from herbs grown by herself to treat patients. Being a female midwife was widely accepted, and sometimes they would work with male physicians. To learn more about the human body, many dissections were conducted. Women of this time were sometimes invited to watch dissections of human cadavers, but not to participate in them. Martha was invited to witness 4 dissections conducted by male physicians. One of these was on her niece, Parthenia Barton Pitts. The others were people from her community, named John Davis, Naby Andros, and Rachel Savage. Her records speak of the bloody murder of an entire family, by their father. In July 1806, Captain James Purrington killed his wife, 6 children, and then himself with an axe. The only two surviving the attack were his son James and his daughter Martha, but she died a few weeks later. Wednesday, July 9, 1806, Martha writes, “at the hous of Capt Purington to behold A Dreadful Scean indead. him Silf & wife & Six of his Childn all Dead Corps.” This tells us horrible murders also happened long ago. There was, and always will be crazy people, willing to do crazy things. Martha Ballard was an ordinary woman. What makes us remember her today is what she left with us; valuable information, an insight into the everyday lives of normal people 200 years ago. From her simple diary she will be remembered for a very long time. Martha’s diary was handed down her daughter Dolly’s line, and finally into the hands of historian Laurel Ulrich. Ulrich has studied Martha’s diary inside and out, and she thinks very highly of Martha. The fact that she was a mother of nine, and a midwife is impressive, but the fact that she kept such consistent records of her daily life and the daily life of the community is extraordinary. Not many women from that time knew how to write, so they were mostly forgotten. Martha spoke for them and herself, getting the remembrance she deserves.
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