1839:  Phebe Weed writes Larkin from Sandwich to tease & joke & vent (in some unexpected ways!)… :

SOURCE: Weed Family Letters

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27 Oct 1839

All of Phebe’s letters demonstrate her independent & outspoken personality; here, she openly flirts around Larkin’s longtime friendship with Caroline McGaffrey.  Phebe, Caroline, and Caroline’s sister, Irene, would all eventually leave Sandwich to work in the Lowell mills, and then eventually return to Sandwich with enough money to start their own businesses or manage family enterprises.  None of the three ever married.