[SevenDaysInMay]

A valuable wife (well fertile by 14 y.o.) could be produced by the community more quickly whereas a valuable husband took longer to mature = skills and wealth to support his family, perhaps well into his 20's.

1 in 4 women died from birthing. A problem birthing usually meant cutting out the child sacrificing the poor teen wives.

The icky dying processes and the dead was much more a personal experience for them than we 21st Century sorts. The deaths of so many children and child brides must have been overwhelming for survivors.

[LauraleeBraswell]

My greatgrandmother once said that "people were mean years ago." Of course she didn't live in 1650s(more like the turn of the century), but it explains allot. People were harder years ago, because they HAD to be.