![]() ![]() ![]() A nephew, Cullen, who benefited from their tutoring wrote of “how, in their youthful days, they took each other as companions for life, and how this union, no less sacred to them than the tie of marriage, has subsisted, in uninterrupted harmony, for forty years, during which they have shared each other’s occupations and pleasures and works of charity while in health, and watched over each other tenderly in sickness”. Training young people in tailoring and sewing, running Sunday schools, caring for their dozens of nieces and nephews, the women were celebrated for their devotion to each other. Villagers were willing to abide by this “open secret” because the women were pillars of the church, economy, and society. Its not often I read a biography and find myself turning. ![]() Rachel Hope Cleves, Charity and Sylvia’s biographer, explains how, living in a small village, surrounded by relatives and family-friends, the two women could live as a couple because it was an “open secret” that they were in a relationship. I found both Rachel Hope Cleves and her book to be exceptionally articulate, intelligent and engaging. Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, Wikimedia Commons ![]()
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