Thirteenth of November, 1687

 Dear Lucy,

I miss you and our friendship so much! I wish you could come over daily like you used to at home so I could talk to you about everything that has happened to me during the past months. How’s Barbados? The trip to get to Wethersfield was quite the hard journey. I met a lot of interesting people on the voyage. One day a little girl named Prudence dropped her precious doll into the ocean. No one even considered helping her out, so I decided to be a helpful person and jump into the water to save the girl’s doll. Everyone was worried about my clothing. I was very puzzled about this so I said, “Bother the clothes! They’ll dry. Besides I have plenty of others” (9). This must have been quite a sin because everyone was so surprised that I had extra clothing. The girls mother Goodwife Cruff was so cruel to me when I was trying to help her and Prudence when she dropped her doll into the water. Instead of being thankful that I helped her and her daughter she hissed,"You must be daft...To jump into the water and ruin those clothes"(9).The boat was so filthy. I swear I could not get the stench of horses out of my hair. However, according to Nat this is nothing compared to what the slaves go through. How dare he talk about my opinions in such a manner!  

When I got to my families house I met my Aunt Rachel, Uncle Matthew, and my cousins Judith and Mercy Wood for the first time. Everyone in the Wood’s family was very shocked to see me. Aunt Rachel was happy to see me. When she saw me she thought that I was my mother. My cousins, Judith and Mercy, seemed very excited that I was coming to live with them. Judith is very pretty. Initially she seemed friendly but as I got to know her I realized that she can be rude and overbearing. Mercy is crippled but she is extremely kind and thoughtful. Uncle Matthew did not seem pleased to have me. I learned that he is very austere and very loyal to his puritan beliefs. We ate a nice meal and then Uncle Matthew and Aunt Rachel left. While they were gone I let the girls try on my clothes and accessories, they seemed so happy! I was so glad to make a good first impression. When Aunt Rachel came back she wanted to put all of the clothes back but I convinced her to try something on, it looked marvelous on her! Uncle Matthew came home a bit early to grab something and boy was he furious. At first I was very flustered, I didn’t understand what was happening. Everything was just so different.                                                          

Life in Connecticut was very different from our life in Barbados. In Barbados I was very used to depending on slaves to do the dirty work for me but now that I live in a Puritan household I must follow their rules therefore I must be working...always. I also cannot wear my beautiful dresses. It’s so absurd! Everyone in Wethersfield wears very plain, boring, and heavy clothing. We are expected to wear dark dresses that start at the neck and go down to the ankles. We also have to wear these dreadful bonnets that cover the whole head. In my opinion the worst difference between the two societies are that the only thing we read is the bible. No plays (not even Shakespeare or Otway), no books, no poetry-just the bible, how boring! I got offered a job at a dame school and to keep the lesson interesting I decided that the children should act out Good Samaritan but later I learned that was a mistake. It’s unbelievable they can’t even act out something that came out of the thing that they cherish most.

Unfortunately it seemed like Uncle Matthew and Judith didn’t want me. Even the very first night I overheard Judith complaining to Aunt Rachel about how she didn’t want to share a room with me. It made me feel so uncomfortable. She said, “...Will she expect us all to wait on her hand and foot like her black slaves?” (49) It was horrible that Uncle Matthew didn’t want me from the start but now my own cousin. I felt horrible that I couldn’t do anything to help them because I was so bad at doing the work. It was very obvious that the family wanted me to be a boy so I could help out more with the work. According to Mercy though one of the reasons why Uncle Matthew was upset that I was a girl with no experience of work was because he once fathered two sons. Unfortunately one died from the same sickness that left Mercy crippled and the other died a week after birth.

I feel like an outsider here in Connecticut because I am nothing like the puritans. We believe in different things, dress differently, and we even read different things. Our values and beliefs are so different. I wish I was home where I am more comfortable. Living here in Wethersfield is nothing like I imagined it to be. Back home in Barbados I would relax and never lift a finger but here i’m either working or reading the bible. Lucy here is some friendly advice, NEVER COME TO AMERICA! Barbados is so pleasant and calm while here it’s just work, work, work! Say hello to everyone back home for me. Write me back as soon as possible! I miss you.

Sincerely,

Kit Tyler♡