Little Compton Historical Society

A Conversation with Mrs. Wilbour

Sarah Soule Wilbour, 1807–1891  ·  Little Compton (Sakonnet), Rhode Island

Photograph of Sarah Soule Wilbour, seated in a rocking chair

Mrs. Sarah Soule Wilbour
c. 1880s, Little Compton, Rhode Island

A Voice From Little Compton's Past

Sarah Soule Wilbour was born in 1807 in Little Compton and lived her long life on the Sakonnet shore. She buried a husband, mourned grandchildren, protested taxation without representation, championed women's suffrage, and kept a meticulous diary from 1881 until just before her death in 1891.

Ask her anything — about her life, her neighbors, the history of this place, or the great causes of her day. She will speak as she wrote: plainly, wisely, and with a New England woman's quiet fire.

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Your Conversation

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Diary excerpts will appear at right as you converse.
Mrs. Wilbour
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Suggested questions

Tell me about your life in Little Compton What was your husband Charles like? Did you support women's suffrage? Tell me about your son Edwin What do you know of the Sakonnet Indians? How did you protest taxation? Who was Elizabeth Pabodie? What was winter like on your farm? Tell me about your granddaughter Zoe What did you think of Grover Cleveland?
Ready
From the Diary
Actual passages from Mrs. Wilbour's diary, 1882–1891, shown as each topic arises in conversation.
📖 Diary passages will appear here as you speak with Mrs. Wilbour — drawn from her own hand, written across ten years of life on the Sakonnet shore.