The Frozen River

by Ariel Lawhon

Memory is a wicked thing that warps and twists. But paper and ink receive the truth without emotion, and they read it back without partiality. That, I believe, is why so few women are taught to read and write. God only knows what they would do with the power of pen and ink at their disposal.

“The native people believe that the fox presents itself only in times of great uncertainty. That it acts as a guide.”

As I rise from the table, it occurs to me that part of what I feel, watching them, is a sense of betrayal. I carried these children into the world, paid their entrance fee with dues rendered upon my own body, and now they no longer need me.

“You married her early.” “It was the right thing to do. I had to protect her. They would fine her in court. You know that. They’d call her a fornicator and the baby a bastard. And if anyone ever found out about Burgess, they would never look at May the same way again. Or the

Every story moves like a river, from source to mouth, so let this one flow, and I’ll meet you back here at the end.

The court system in early America was nothing like it is today. At the time this story takes place, the Constitution had existed as the country’s founding legal document for only two and a half years, and the Bill of Rights had not yet been ratified. In Martha’s day there was only the Court of General Sessions (where you could sue your neighbor for petty reasons), the Court of Common Pleas (that considered more serious crimes such as assault), the Supreme Judicial Court (that handled rape, murder, and appeals from the lower courts), and the Supreme Court of the United States (there were only six justices and its first meeting was on February 1, 1790—toward the end of when this story takes place). So when I ask you to take everything you know about due process and legal matters and throw it out the window, that is why. Honestly, the citizens of early America were lucky to have a justice system at all.

One phrase in her diary is repeated thousands of times over twenty-seven years: “I have been at home.”

And for every other woman who hasn’t seen justice in her lifetime. It’s not enough. But it’s something.

Martha Ballard is the great-aunt of Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. She is also the great-great-grandmother of Mary Hobart, one of the first female physicians in the United States. She left a medical legacy in this country that is unmatched. And it is all thanks to the diary she kept. Just words on paper, right? Seemingly meaningless. They’re only the record of one woman’s meticulous daily life.