Following on the heels of Mr. Lucier's other three works, this book presents still more newspaper abstracts from New England in the 1700s. Specifically, readers will be treated to news items, chiefly from Boston newspapers that convey vividly what life was like in New England in the years 1722 through 1731. The stories reveal a time that was less complicated than today but fraught with dangers that we no longer think about, such as Indian raids and kidnappings, smallpox, frequent acts of piracy, drownings (almost no one seems to have known how to swim at that time), fires, duels, accidents with ships, firearms, wagons, mill wheels, lightning and even bear maulings. There are articles about shipwrecks, murders, mutinies, thefts, suicides, arson, sudden unexplained deaths, auctions, hangings and whippings, drunks, adulterers, funerals, state occasions, strange weather and more. There are advertisements for merchants, brides, missing persons, lectures, social events, debtors and public events. Not all of the stories concern death and disaster — a number of humorous episodes are included among the many curious and intriguing accounts to be found in these pages. An every-name index lists about 1,700 people whose names are mentioned in the articles.
Armand Francis Lucier
(1997), 2015, 5.5" x 8.5", paper, index, 220 pp.
ISBN: 9780788406348
101-L0634
