Women’s History Month: Jan 1987- The Californians, Children of the Adobes by Rev. Walter Colton:

“Monday, August 10, 1846: The fecundity of the Californians is remarkable and must be attributed in no small degree to the climate. It is no uncommon sight to find 14-18 children at the same table with the mother at their head. There is a lady of some note in Monterey, who is the mother of 22 living children.

The youngest at breast, and must soon, it is said, relinquish his place to a newcomer, who will, in all probability, be allowed only the same brevity of bliss.

There is a lady in the department below who has 28 children, all living, in fine health, and who may share the ‘envied kiss’ with others yet to come. What a family- what a wife- what a mother! I have more respect for the shadow of that woman than for the mincing being who raises a whole village if she has one child and then puts it to death with sugar-plums. A woman with one child is like a hen with one chicken; there is an eternal scratch about nothing.”

From the California Diary by Rev Walter Colton…this excerpt from the diary and picture of the children were a featured exhibit in the 1983 Monterey Adobe Tour.

An interesting excerpt from Walter Colton and a prime example of how far our society has come in the way women are treated and thought of. Posted in honor of Women’s History Month, March 2021.

Check out savingplaces.org to learn more about where women made history because every place has a women’s story to tell.