Rebecca Hammond Lard (Laird) (born Rebecca Hammond; March 7, 1772 – September 28, 1855), is called by some critics "the first poet in
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
".
[Cavinder, Fred D. ''The Indiana Book of Records, Firsts, and Fascinating Facts''. Indiana University Press. 1985 p.28] Her poetry reflects on the lives of the early people in Indiana
and the colonists in Vermont.
Lard's works are mainly religious and meditative in tone, but draw their inspiration in part from the
Bucolics and
Georgics
The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek word , ''geōrgika'', i.e. "agricultural (things)") the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from being an example ...
of
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...
. She is best known for Indiana's first book of poetry, ''On the Banks of the Ohio'', a poem she is believed to have written.
Life and work
Early life
Rebecca (sometimes Rebekah) Lard (Laird) was born on March 7, 1772, in
New Bedford, Massachusetts, to parents Jabez and Priscilla (Delano) Hammond.
The following month, she was baptized at Mattapoisett in
Rochester, Massachusetts.
Lard was the oldest of ten children.
Jabez Hammond Jr. named his other children, from the next of oldest to the youngest: Abigail, Caleb, Jabez Delano, Priscilla, George C, Mary, Rhoda, Thankful and Philip. At age ten, Rebecca moved with her father's family from Rochester to
Woodstock, Vermont
Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock.
History
Cha ...
.
On her mother's side of the family, her great grandmother was sister to
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
.
At the age of fourteen Rebecca began to teach at a school; she became a teacher despite a lack of schooling herself but relied on her own talents. Her brother,
Jabez Delano Hammond
Jabez Delano Hammond (August 2, 1778 – August 18, 1855) was an American physician, lawyer, author and politician.
Life
Hammond was born in New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts. He practiced medicine in Reading, Vermont, but afterward stu ...
, followed in her footsteps and began teaching at the age of fifteen, eight years later. Hammond continued to read and practice medicine in
Reading, Vermont
Reading is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 687 at the 2020 census.
History
On August 30, 1754, after being captured by Abenakis at Fort at Number 4, Charlestown, New Hampshire, and being force-marched to Mont ...
, and also to read and practice law in
Cherry Valley, New York
Cherry Valley is a town in Otsego County, New York, United States. According to the 2020 US census, the village of Cherry Valley had a population of 487. However, the town has a much higher population.
Within the town of Cherry Valley is a vill ...
, where he was elected a member of Congress. Rebecca would later dedicate her first book to this brother.
Family
Rebecca Hammond married Samuel Laird on February 12, 1801 in Woodstock, Vermont and had four children.
She continued to teach, being her chief occupation there.
About 1807 Samuel moved the Laird family to
Hancock, Vermont
Hancock is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for John Hancock. The population was 359 at the 2020 census. Hancock is home to the Middlebury College Snow Bowl and contains Middlebury Gap through the Green Mountai ...
, and from there to
Cherry Valley, New York
Cherry Valley is a town in Otsego County, New York, United States. According to the 2020 US census, the village of Cherry Valley had a population of 487. However, the town has a much higher population.
Within the town of Cherry Valley is a vill ...
, where her brother was living at that time. From there, Samuel decided to migrate to Indiana.
Rebecca refused to join him, taking her children back to Vermont to be with her own family, instead.
Marcus Davis Gilman said of her, "Her life struggle appears to have been a severe one, having a family of four children dependent upon her for support from their childhood, but bravely did she triumph over all obstacles".
Samuel Laird filed land entry papers in 1815 for 160 acres in
Montgomery Township, Jennings County, Indiana
Montgomery Township is one of eleven townships in Jennings County, Indiana, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 978 and it contained 416 housing units.
Geography
According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of , of w ...
. Their son, Samuel Jr., joined his father in 1817. They made a permanent home there on Graham Creek. In 1819, Samuel Jr. returned to convince his mother to bring the family west.
At some unknown date, prior to the birth of their children, Samuel changed the spelling of his surname to LAIRD from LARD. All of their children and descendants carry the name of LAIRD.
Poetry
Rebecca's first collection of 143 pages of poetry, ''Miscellaneous Poems'' by a Lady, was first published by David Watson of Woodstock in 1820 as ''Miscellaneous Poems on Moral and Religious Subjects'' by a Lady.
She dedicated this work to her brother,
Jabez Delano Hammond
Jabez Delano Hammond (August 2, 1778 – August 18, 1855) was an American physician, lawyer, author and politician.
Life
Hammond was born in New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts. He practiced medicine in Reading, Vermont, but afterward stu ...
.
In these poems, she talks about beauty, death, and feeling by comparing them to phenomena in nature.
Rebecca's twelve-page poem, ''On the Banks of the Ohio'', was published in 1823 as a booklet and was featured widely by many magazines and papers.
This is recorded as Indiana's first published poetry.
In this poem, Rebecca talks about the area's landscape and the beauty of undisturbed nature. She also describes the native people as dangerous.
An old edition of Rebecca's five-page volume of verse is maintained in the collection of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio,
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, and an undated clipping of the ''Cincinnati Gazette'' identifies the work as that of Mrs. Lard, "a lady of Indiana".
Divorce and death
Rebecca left Montgomery township in 1823 to become a school teacher in
Vernon, Indiana
Vernon is a town within Vernon Township and the county seat of Jennings County, Indiana, United States. With a population of 318 in the 2010 census, it is the smallest town with that designation in the state of Indiana, lying just south of the ...
. A cabin was built there by John Vawter to serve as the area's schoolhouse and board Mrs. Laird as a means of payment.
["Montgomery Township." ''Jennings County --Indiana-- 1816-1999''. Jennings County Historical Society. 1999. p.85.] She was one of the first women school teachers in Jennings county
and taught some of the best minds in Indiana.
Among her students were Squire Billy Deputy's children.
In 1826, Samuel started divorce proceedings against Rebecca for not returning after leaving him.
He was granted a divorce on March 4, 1828, in the Jennings County court.
Rebecca later left the Vernon area of Jennings county and returned south. She started teaching at Solomon's Temple by Coffee Creek.
Rebecca Laird died on September 28, 1855, and is buried at the Coffee Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in
Paris Crossing, Indiana
Paris Crossing is an unincorporated community in southern Montgomery Township, Jennings County, Indiana, United States. It lies along State Road 250, south of the town of Vernon, the county seat of Jennings County. Its elevation is 623 ...
.
["Rebecca H. Laird". Old Section of Coffee Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. Tombstone. 2010.] The epitaph on her tombstone reads: "she has done what she could".
Works
*''Miscellaneous Poems on Moral and Religious Subjects'' (1820)
*''The Banks of the Ohio'' (1823)
References
External links
Rebecca Lard Award - Poetry Quarterly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lard, Rebecca Hammond
1772 births
1855 deaths
18th-century American women writers
18th-century American poets
19th-century American poets
19th-century American women writers
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Vermont
Writers from Massachusetts
American women poets
People from New Bedford, Massachusetts
People from Rochester, Massachusetts
People from Woodstock, Vermont
People from Reading, Vermont
People from Cherry Valley, New York
People from Jennings County, Indiana
People from Vernon, Indiana