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Neither Hers Nor Theirs: Dower And Household Relationships Between Widows, Family, And Friends In York County, Maine, Christi A. Mitchell

Maine History

If architecture expressed a sense of boundaries between family and society and even within the family, the law was central in defining and protecting these. In this article, Christi A. Mitchell, a historian of vernacular architecture from Peaks Island and Alna, Maine, explores the changing definitions of domestic space allotted by law to widows. She uses this aspect of dower rights as a window into changing family relations in the early nineteenth century. Dower assignments reflect an attempt to adapt to shifting household dynamics, to declining emphasis on land-based wealth, to a growing desire for privacy, and to the sanctity …