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Ruth Henshaw Bascom (1772-1848) was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, the daughter of William Henshaw (1735-1820) and Phebe Swan Henshaw (1753-1808). Her father was an influential Leicester resident, and Ruth Henshaw grew up as a member of a large and very active family. In 1804 she married Dr. Asa Miles (1762-1805), a physician who had graduated from Dartmouth College. They lived in Westminster, Massachusetts, until his death, after which she returned to her family in Leicester.

In 1806, she married the Rev. Ezekiel Lysander Bascom (1779?-1841). They had no children, but Ruth Bascom raised his only child by his second marriage, Priscilla Elvira Bascom Philbrick (1803- ), as well as the son of the Reverend Bascom's sister, Eunice Loveland ( -1810), after she committed suicide. The child took the name Lysander Bascom (1803- ), and eventually married Lucretia Tholman ( -1839) of Concord, Massachusetts.

Reverend Bascom served as minister of the Congregational Church in Phillipston, Massachusetts, for twenty-one years. In 1820, he was dismissed by his congregation and the Bascoms moved to Ashby, Massachusetts, where he served a church for fourteen years. In the latter part of his career, he became a Unitarian. After his retirement, he spent winters in Savannah, Georgia, with his daughter, but Ruth Bascom stayed in New England visiting with friends and relatives. Around 1839, they moved to Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, where he seems to have served a church on a semi-retired basis. He died there in 1841. Ruth spent her remaining years boarding in Ashby and traveling throughout Massachusetts and Maine.

The last entry in Ruth's diary for 1828 notes that she had kept a journal since 1789. This collection begins with the first diary in 1789 and continues through 1846. The following years are missing: 1795, 1798, 1811, 1815, 1822, 1838, and 1844. Two of the volumes were kept by Ruth's sister, Catherine Henshaw (1784-1806). The only diary for 1804 (from February 13 through December 6) was written by Catherine, but there are two diaries for 1805, one by each woman. Catherine's is incomplete after May. The earliest volumes tend to be the least complete—there are gaps in the coverage and many of the leaves are torn and fragile. For most years, however, there is an entry for each day in which Ruth records the weather and her activities. Her time was occupied, as a young girl, by classes and special programs at Leicester Academy, social activities, housework, and family occasions. After her marriage to the Rev. Bascom, she spent much of her time helping her husband to fulfill his ministerial responsibilities. She carefully recorded his sermon topics, funerals, and marriage ceremonies. Until she began doing pastel portraits and silhouettes the latter part of her life, most of her energy was devoted to visiting, watching the sick, serving on local library and temperance societies, and doing household tasks.

In 1801, she made what appears to be the first entry concerning the profiles for which she is famous. The frequency of these entries increases in the 1820s and 1830s. There are only a few notations of receiving money for her sketches, but there are occasional records of what she spent for art supplies such as the construction of frames for her profiles. Most of the sketches were done for neighbors and relatives, probably as presents for them or their families. Some of the profiles were of deceased children and babies, sketched as remembrances for the parents, and others were done for strangers who had heard of Bascom's ability.

In 1816, she began recording vital statistics for the town in which she lived and, at the same time, she started to keep personal accounts. These records gradually expanded to include births, deaths, marriages, lists of letters received and sent, expenses and visitors. Her lists of visi Show more Show less