Persis Hoyt of Deerfield, Massachusetts, grew up in the “Old Indian House” on the town’s common, a legendary building that survived the 1704 raid on Deerfield by the French and their Native allies during Queen Anne’s War (1701-1713). Persis was the second of four children of David Hoyt (1722-1814) and Mercy (Sheldon) Hoyt. In 1751, when she was four years old, Persis’ mother died at age twenty-nine. Three years later her father married Silence King, age 22, of Northampton, Massachusetts, and they had eight children. Her father was a tavernkeeper and wigmaker, and one room of their home served as the tavern. In 1769, at age twenty-two, Persis married John Sheldon (1739-1806) and moved to his house at the north end of the street. They had eight children. After John died, Persis continued to live in the house, which was also occupied by her son, Seth (1787-1860), her daughter-in-law Caroline (Stebbins) Sheldon (1789-1865), and their children.