Celestia Rice Colby
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Celestia Rice Colby | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 19, 1827 |
| Died | July 20, 1900 (aged 72) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Children | June Rose Colby, Vine Cynthia Colby Foster, Branch Harris Colby, Montie Plummer Colby |
Celestia Rice Colby was an activist who promoted feminist and anti-slavery ideas through her writing. Reviewing her prose also illuminates the idea of separate spheres that was present in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Celestia was born on December 19, 1827.[1] Her parents were Joel and Flavia (Bradley) Rice, and they resided in Andover, Ohio. She was the fourth child followed by a younger brother a year and a half later. However, her mother died two months after his birth. Joel then married a woman named Evelina Johnson in November 1830, moving the whole family to Cherry Valley, Ohio two years later.[1]
This move accumulated great wealth for the Rice family, as Joel owned a dairy farm and a local business.[1] They were considered one of the richest families in Cherry Valley, which was a growing community. Celestia gained three step siblings born to Joel and Evelina.[1]
Per Celestia's diary entries, she was unhappy in her childhood and did not share a pleasant relationship with Evelina, contributing to her little writing about her step siblings.[1] She grieved her mother and thus did not adjust well to these changes.[1]
However, education was her primary outlet for happiness.[1] In her writing, she remarked that “’Some of the dearest memories of the past are linked with that spot, and the strongest ties of friendship which have blessed my path … were there bound in the sunny days of girlhood.’”[2] She first attended a common school in Cherry Valley, but then pursued further education at Grand River Institute, a private seminary school, in Austinburg, Ohio.[1] Achieving such levels of schooling was very rare for girls during the early 1840s, and Celestia arrived only soon after they permitted girls to attend the school. This was also especially rare considering their rural location and lifestyle.[1] For instance, Andover, her hometown, was a town of “just over 600 residents.”[2] The GRI offered the same courseload to both male and female students and assured those students held proper morals and sufficient intellect.[1]
Although it is unknown how long Celestia attended the school, it was recorded that she taught in the area within the same decade after her time there.[1]
Personal life
Celestia would stop teaching in the summer of 1847 as she was then engaged to Lewis Colby, who was a longtime friend.[1] The two were married the following year in July. Celestia noted in her personal writings that she was unsatisfied with her marriage as a result of having to forego her independence (i.e., working) to spend her time as a housewife, while Lewis travelled away from home for his job.[1]
They bored their first child in April 1850, Montie Plummer Colby (a.k.a, “Plummer”).[1] The next child was born in September 1852, by the name of Vine Cynthia Colby.[1] Despite Plummer's good health, he died unexpectedly in November of the following year. This was also concurrent with Celestia's third pregnancy, who came to be Branch Harris Colby, born in July 1854.[1] Her last daughter was born in June 1856, named June Rose Colby.[1] Celestia birthed her fifth and final child in an undocumented year, but he was stillborn. His name was alleged to be Thorn.[1]
Despite all the tragedy and dissatisfaction in Celestia's life, she maintained happiness through her children.[1] She ensured that her children were properly educated, particularly with June Rose, as she wanted them to positively contribute to society. Her surviving children were all successful, as Vine became a doctor, Branch worked for the St. Louis Sewer Department, and June was a prominent faculty member at Illinois State Normal University.[1] All three of them also attended college at the University of Michigan.[1]
The family often moved around as a result of Lewis's job prospects.[1] For instance, they moved to Freeport, Illinois, in 1866.[1] He had transitioned from agriculture to sales. Their next move was to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1890 for their children's attendance at the university.[1] Once they all graduated and moved to different areas in the Midwest, Celestia and Lewis did the same, eventually separating themselves at some point between 1881 and 1883.[1] It is unknown whether they officially divorced, however.[1]
During her time with Lewis, in addition to domestic work, she was preoccupied with labor on the farm.[1] The combination of these duties negatively impacted her happiness as she desired a different way of life, on top of her general unhappiness with Lewis.[1] In one of her articles, “Rainy Days,” published for The Dollar Newspaper in Philadelphia, she characterized male farmers as lazy, and that they should use their free time to learn as opposed to visiting taverns or sleeping.[3] This piece was certainly inspired by her observations of Lewis and the disdain she felt for being forced into farm labor.
Celestia eventually moved in with June to Normal, Illinois in the 1890s.[1] Upon her arrival, the all-female Normal History Club was formed, where she found joy in discussing ideas with other women.[1] Thankfully, this was not her only form of fulfillment in regard to interacting with like-minded women, as she was known to form bonds with other women in the later 1850s to discuss ideas and garner inspiration as well.[2] One person who contributed to this was her sister-in-law, Annie Colby. Despite their different circumstances, their views brought them together.[2] However, their bond was only temporary as Annie eventually moved to Illinois.[2]
