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Letter to daughter, Dorothy Ashley in Boston

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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The Reverend Jonathan Ashley (1712-1780) wrote a cautionary letter to his seventeen-year-old daughter, Dolly, when she left home to attend school in Boston in 1760. The minister wanted his daughter to learn the graces suitable to her social class and knew that she, as a child of one of the finer families, needed more worldly knowledge than was available in Deerfield. Like all parents, he also was concerned about Dolly's safety and morality. He signed his full name, as was the custom, but declared himself, "your affectionate Father."

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