The Woman Behind the Man
Abigail Phillips Erving (1702-1759)
Although John Erving had emigrated to Massachusetts Bay from Scotland's northern islands, his wife Abigail Phillips was native to Boston. She was born 26 April 1702 to John and Mary (Gross) Phillips.(1)
This portrait of Abigail was painted by John Smibert about 1733(2), certainly commissioned by her husband. It hangs in the Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, Massachusetts. Smibert was a popular portrait artist in Boston at that time, with a fashionable European style.
By 1733 Abigail would already have borne five children. By 1740 she would have five more. Does that stretch the limits of biology? A brief mention of a family artifact gives an insight into the norms of the time. Women of means could employ a wet nurse to provide for their infants. By avoiding lactation, the mother increased her chances of conceiving again soon after childbirth. In a letter from Abigail's grandson, George William Erving, to one of his nephews, he passes along a receipt from his grandmother "for the nursing her son George" in 1739.(4) George Erving was born 23 December 1738, so the pieces fit together. Five shillings, two pence were paid to an unknown woman during George's first year.
Thirteen months after George's birth, Abigail had her last child at 37. She had lost only one infant of her ten known births. It was not unusual at that time to use the name of a child who did not survive for a subsequent child. In this case her own name was given to two daughters. The second Abigail lived to adulthood.
Of course, a sea captain's long ocean voyages were not conducive to conceiving children, but this was clearly not an impediment for the Ervings.
The mariner John Erving was about 32 when they married. He would have spent the years since his arrival in Boston climbing the ladder of society before being able to make a "good" marriage. Money brought status, and the status of the Ervings continued to rise in the following years. They bought and sold property in Boston and further afield. In 1756 John and Abigail sold their home on Beacon Street to their daughter Elizabeth and her husband James Bowdoin. Also in 1756 John began serving on the Provincial Council and was known by the title "Honorable." Their home on Marlboro Street was called a mansion and would have been fitting for one of the most prominent families of the time. What role did Abigail play in outfitting it?
When Abigail died in 1759, her youngest daughter was just 19. There would be many grandchildren to come whom she would not meet in this life. She did not experience the peak of John's social status, but neither did she experience the divisions that were to come as activities in Boston became the spark for revolution.
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