Biography
Sarah Haggar was born on November 22, 1714, in London, England, the daughter of Benjamin Haggar, a shipwright, and Susanna, his wife. The family moved to Newport, Rhode Island, when she was a child, in 1722. Newport was a busy seaport, a place of trade and of religious variety, where Baptists, Quakers and Congregationalists lived side by side. Sarah grew up in a modest home. She was a thoughtful girl, who joined the church in her teens. At the age of eighteen, she married Samuel Wheaten, a sailor, and they had a son. But the marriage was short. Her husband was lost at sea in 1733, and she was left a widow with a small child, in poverty.
She went to work to support herself and her son. She opened a school for girls in her home, where she taught reading, writing and sewing. It was a hard way to earn a living, but she kept at it for most of her life. She married again, in 1737, to Henry Osborn, a widower with a son, who was a tailor, or a merchant. He soon fell into debt. His business failed, and he suffered from poor health. The household was in financial distress. Her husband died in 1745, after several years of illness, and she was a widow for the second time. She supported the family on her teaching. She also bore the pain of her own illness, as she suffered from various ailments for much of her life, including a painful condition of the breast. She kept a diary in which she wrote of her sorrows and of her sense of sin.
She was a woman of deep faith and of a restless conscience. She wrote of her struggles with despair and with her own weakness. She felt that God was dealing with her in her troubles and drawing her to Himself. She was influenced by the revival of the Great Awakening, and she was moved by the preaching of George Whitefield, who came to Newport in 1740. She was among those who were deeply stirred. In 1741, she formed a society of young women, who met in her home on Sunday evenings for prayer, Bible reading and the reading of sermons. She was a leader of the group, and it grew. In time, young men joined, and later a number of adults. She was a strong and quiet leader.
She was a woman of ability and of vision. She also took in boarders and fostered children. Her house became a center for religious meetings. In 1766 and 1767, a revival took place in Newport, in which her home was at the center. In the winter of 1766, as many as five hundred people came to her house in a single week. They were men and women, white and black, free and enslaved. She was astonished at the number who came. She opened her doors to all. She taught the enslaved people to read the Bible. She held a weekly meeting for them, and a great number of them were converted. She was one of the few white women of her day who gave herself to this work. The revival was marked by confession of sin and by a deep seriousness.
Her role was unusual for a woman in the eighteenth century, and it drew criticism. A number of ministers were uneasy that a woman should lead a meeting of men and women. She was warned that she was stepping out of her place. She answered with humility. She said that she had no wish to preach and that she was only opening her house to those who wished to come. She took the advice of the minister of her church, Samuel Hopkins, who became her friend and counselor. He supported her work and wrote her life after her death. She said that she was ready to give up the meetings if he thought best, but he told her to go on.
She wrote many letters and kept her diary for much of her life. She also wrote an account of her life, in which she told of her faith and her struggles. The record of her feelings is candid. She said that she was a poor, unworthy worm. She was often depressed, and she grappled with doubt. She also showed a strong will. She was criticized by some for being too ready to take the lead. She also had a number of disagreements with her church.
She died on August 2, 1796, in Newport, at the age of eighty-one. Her memoirs were published in 1799, edited by Samuel Hopkins. In recent years, historians have taken a new interest in her. She is a notable example of the part that women played in the revival and of the way in which a widow, by hospitality and by prayer, could shape a community. Her life shows the effect of a quiet teacher who opened her home to all.