Letter from Parentha Bodwell, Farmington, to Amos Augustus Phelps, July 4th 1829

Amos A. Phelps’s cousin, Parentha Bodwell, writes to Phelps about her religious feelings. She then asks his advice concerning a proposal of marriage, from “a good honest farmer” with small means. She says she does not feel ready to marry, and is willing to stay single if she can “in any way be made useful to [her] fellow creatures.” She closes the letter discussing some domestic affairs of Phelps's family.
Courtesy of Boston Public Library