ABSTRACT
The boredom of farm life was rarely interrupted with the kind of excitement she had known as a girl growing up in Boston. Belknap’s parishioners hoarded their money and were unwilling to part with it. Ironically, Hazard envied Belknap's life of study, of the warm hearth, the laughter of children, the companion of the cold nights. Though the many distractions of the clergy, his literary hobbies and farm life ensured that his heart was not quite in it, duty and filial affection required him to try. Farm life was sufficiently monotonous that the entertainment of Sunday sermons had to be spiced up with visitors, news and interesting sermons. The fort had at times served as Washington's headquarters, and whenever Hazard passed through he saw military barracks and heard the sounds of camp life pervading the place. Merely carrying on responsibly, doing one’s duty at a time of crisis, when disorder and anarchy threaten, was a sufficient accomplishment.
