GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 29

history

Did New England invent
grandparents?
The Peale family by Charles Willson Peale

29 GRAND JAN., FEB. & MAR. 2020

I

f you wanted to know your grandparents or grandchildren back in the 17th and 18th centuries, your best
bet was to live in New England. That's because New
England invented grandparents.
Before Europeans came to New England, not many
people in the western world ever got to know Gramps
or Meemaw. Their grandparents usually died before they
were born. In England, for example, most men wed just
before age 30 and died in their early fifties - before
their own children married and had children.
"Few people today realize how unusual it was for
western European adults to become grandparents centuries ago," wrote historian Thomas L. Purvis. But then
colonists arrived in New England, lived long lives and
prospered. They had lots of children and lots of grandchildren. And along the way they figured out how to be
grandparents.
New Englanders on average led longer lives than
anyone in the world during much of the 17th and 18th
centuries. Cold winters discouraged disease, and stable,
close-knit communities helped people live longer. So did
the highest living standards in the world.
Granted, infant mortality was high in colonial New
England. But if you made it out of childhood you had
a better-than-average chance at living a long life. In
Middlesex County, Massachusetts, for example, 20-yearolds lived to a mean age of 60.5 - old enough to have
grandchildren.
Continued on next page


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0994809700/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0994809700&linkId=c0cf2342749a51234e00421ef2df453e https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B6QYSW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B003B6QYSW&linkId=74a78ba0a510c9871c2e38f745d59213 https://www.google.com/books/edition/Colonial_America_To_1763/BZRJSx3uMYEC?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=grandparents http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/how-the-puritans-raised-new-england-living-standards-to-the-worlds-highest/

GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020

Contents
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 1
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 2
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 3
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - Contents
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 5
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 6
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 7
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 8
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 9
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 10
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 11
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 12
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 13
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 14
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 15
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 16
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 17
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 18
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 19
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 20
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 21
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 22
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 23
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 24
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 25
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 26
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 27
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 28
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 29
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 30
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 31
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 32
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 33
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 34
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 35
GRAND Magazine- Winter 2020 - 36
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2023winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2022fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2022summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2022spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2022winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2021fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2021summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2021spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2021winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020fall_v2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/2020winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20191112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20181112_drm
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20170102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20161112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20160102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20151112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20150102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/201401112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20140102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20131112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20130102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20121112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20120102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20111112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20110102_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20101112_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20100910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20100708_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20100506_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20100304_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/201001_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200912_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200911_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200909_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200908_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200907_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200906_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200905_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20080910_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200904_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200903_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/200902_v3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grand/20081112_v6
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com