This study of New England transplants Thomas and Charity Rotch to Ohio country,explores their roles in the transformation of the frontier environment from wilderness to a prosperous market town. The book uses a wide selection of archival sources to provide insights into early community building in Ohio. The letters of Charity Rotch suggest that Quaker women forged particular sorts of relationships that encouraged their interconnections and interdependence. Women also recognized the significance of gender int their lives as they defined themselves collectively as women. The vocabulary and the cultural grammar that women used to reinforce kinship ties were crucial to building and and maintaining their faith communities over extended geographic distances.