Patricia Beynen

My Life in Lincoln Bathsheba Brooks Fiske 1789 - 1872 Patricia Beynen

Born 2 years after the US Constitution became the law of the land, Bathsheba Brooks lived her whole life in Lincoln, Massachusetts, 18 miles northwest of Boston. Her own ancestors had arrived in the 1600s, and her grandfathers fought in the Revolution. She was educated in Lincoln in the Liberal School, by Dr. Charles Stearns, the Congregational minister for the town. Married to Elijah Fiske, she bore five children. As she lived her life, Lincoln and the country changed. Massachusetts abandoned state-sponsored religion, trains came through the town, and several of her children and step children moved far away. This story of her life comes from the artifacts she left behind and passed down through her family, especially the sampler she made at the Liberal School. This short read will help you see that self-sufficient life as if she personally visited you to tell you her story, for she does visit, and she does tell her story.