Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by SIDNEY, Margaret

The Five Little Peppers series was created by Margaret Sidney covering the life of five children with the surname Pepper. The Pepper children were very poor, and their widowed mother was left to raise them by herself. In order of age (descending), the childrens names were Ben (Ebaniezer), Polly (Mary), Joel, Davie, and Phronsie. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew is the first book in the series. (Summary from Wikipedia)