tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58095302160526192062024-02-21T02:42:21.490-05:00Women in 18C Colonial America & the New NationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger658125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-11506662947037422692024-01-06T00:30:00.002-05:002024-01-07T14:56:34.070-05:0012th Night Celebrations in Colonial British America<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPoJSzEShdCzZdd8F98GnQfEH1tHIuR1f8QksBCwdpzOI7cr0GwhRziG5bF_r4AgBgdF-AJztvTPPJ3d45OFSQToekQiZasd2_cm5PpKdN5enmjVWphPSVx3wbcEvgUeUaeRggF68XSqat/s1600/12+Twelfth+Night+Issac+Cruikshank+1756-1811,+London++Pub+1794+by+Laurie+&+Whittle,+No.+53+Fleet+Street.jpg" /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Twelfth Night by Isaac Cruikshank 1756-1811, London Pub 1794 by Laurie & Whittle, No. 53 Fleet Street, London</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span>When the British settled in colonial America, many brought their Twelfth Night celebrations with them. In the 18C colonies, Twelfth Night parties frequently took place in regions where large numbers of English colonists had settled, such as Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, & Pennsylvania. These celebrations were especially popular with members of the Church of England (later the Episcopal Church) but not among the New England Puritans, who found them too frivolous & not at all religious. </span><br /></span>
<span><br /></span><span>Among the wealthy in the middle & southern colonies, many celebrated Twelfth Night with formal balls. These balls usually featured a bountiful buffet table of such delicacies as Twelfth Night Cake, roasted meats, root vegetables, candied fruit, cookies, fritters, & New Year's pie. This last item was an elaborate dish prepared by placing a beef tongue into a boned chicken, wedging the chicken into a boned duck, stuffing the duck into a boned turkey, cramming the turkey into a boned goose; & then roasting the stuffed goose in an oven. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Just as in Europe, colonial & early American cooks often placed a bean & a pea inside their Twelfth Night cakes as a means of selecting a Twelfth Night king & queen. If there was only a bean in the cake & a woman found it in her piece, she got to chose the king of the evening.</span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>In colonial & early America, the Christmas season, capped by the celebration of Twelfth Night, served as a favorite time of year for weddings. Twelfth Nightballs offered young, single people the chance to meet & to interact freely, & hopefully, to find a mate. This goal was facilitated by the fact that the parties usually featured dancing & some form of masking, as well as card & dice games. Indeed, some balls were designed exclusively as affairs for the young. One very famous colonial romance led to a marriage scheduled for Epiphany. George Washington (1732-1799) and his bride, Martha Dandridge Custis (17321802), married on January 6, 1759.</span><br />
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<span>The importance of Twelfth Night celebrations in the American colonies is illustrated in the papers of George Washington. On Christmas Day, Washington usually attended a church service, after which he would spend the day sorting through other year-end business matters of his plantation. But, George & Martha Washington were married on Twelfth Night in 1759 in Williamsburg. Washington's records indicate that he & his wife Martha often entertained groups of relatives and friends throughout that day. Martha Washington's papers, preserved at Mt. Vernon, include her recipe for a huge Twelfth Night cake that included 40 eggs, four pounds of sugar, & five pounds of dried fruits.</span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Nicholas Cresswell, who was an Englishman who spent years in Virginia and kept a journal, wrote while in Alexandria on December 25, 1774: <b><i>“Christmas Day but little regarded here.” </i></b> Cresswell did, however, attend a ball on Twelfth Night: <b><i>"There was about 37 Ladys Dressed and Powdered to the like, some of them very handsom, and as much Vanity as is necessary. All of them fond of Dancing. But I do not think they perform it with the greatest elleganse. Betwixt the Country Dances they have What I call everlasting Jiggs. </i></b><b><i>A Couple gets up, and begins to dance a Jig (to some Negro tune) others comes and cuts them out, these dances allways last as long as the Fiddler can play. This is social but I think it looks more like a Bacchanalian dance then one in a polite Assembly. Old Women, Young Wifes with young Children on the Laps, Widows, Maids, and Girls come promsciously to these Assemblys which generally continue til morning. A Cold supper, Punch, Wine, Coffee, and Chocolate, But no Tea. This is a forbidden herb. The men chiefly Scotch and Irish. I went home about Two Oclock, but part of the Company stayd got Drunk and had a fight."</i></b></span><br />
<span><strong><em><br /></em></strong>Famously weathy Robert Carter of Nomini Hall had hired New England tutor Philp Fithian to teach his children. Fithian's journal entry of December 29 of that same year he wrote <b><i>“we had a large Pye cut today to signify the conclusion of the Holidays.”</i></b></span><br />
<span><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span>Those who did not celebrate Christmas deplored the idea of a Twelfth Night ball. Mordecai Noah, who published a book on home economics in the year 1820, decried the wasteful custom of Twelfth Night feasting: <b style="font-style: italic;"> "What a sum to be destroyed in one short hour! The substan-tials on this table, consisting of a few turkeys, tongues, hams, fowls, rounds of beef and game, all cold, could have been purchased for fifty dollars; the residue of this immense sum was expended for whips, creams, floating islands, pyramids of kisses, temples of sugarplumbs, ices, blanc manges, macaroons and plumb cake; and ladies of delicacy, of refined habits, of soft and amiable manners, were at midnight, cloying their stomachs, after exercise in dancing, with this trash." </b></span><br />
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<span>For further Twelfth Night & Epiphany information see:</span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Bellenir, Karen. <b>Religious Holidays and Calendars</b>. 3rd ed. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2004. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Chambers, Robert. <b>The Book of Days</b>. 2 vols. 1862-64. Reprint. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1990. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Christianson, Stephen G., and Jane M. Hatch. <b>The American Book of Days</b>. 4th ed. New York: H.W. Wilson, 2000. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span><b>Christmas in Colonial and Early America</b>. Chicago: World Book, 1996. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Cohen, Hennig, and Tristram Potter Coffin. <b>The Folklore of American Holidays.</b> 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1999. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Crippen, T.G. <b>Christmas and Christmas Lore</b>. 1923. Reprint. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1990. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Gulevich, Tanya. <b>Encyclopedia of Christmas and New Year's Celebrations.</b> 2nd ed. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2003.</span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Hadfield, Miles, and John Hadfield. <b>The Twelve Days of Christmas.</b> Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, 1961. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Henderson, Helene, ed. <b>Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary.</b> 3rd ed. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2005. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Henisch, Bridget Ann. Cakes and Characters: <b>An English Christmas Tradition.</b> London, England: Prospect Books, 1984. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Hole, Christina. <b>British Folk Customs.</b> London, England: Hutchinson and Company, 1976. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>MacDonald, Margaret Read, ed. <b>The Folklore of World Holidays. </b>Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research, 1992. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Miles, Clement A. <b>Christmas in Ritual and Tradition.</b> 1912. Reprint. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 1990. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Muir, Frank. <b>Christmas Customs and Traditions.</b> New York: Taplinger, 1977. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Pimlott, J. A. R. <b>The Englishman's Christmas.</b> Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press, 1978. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Spicer, Dorothy Gladys. <b>The Book of Festivals.</b> 1937. Reprint. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1990. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Urlin, Ethel L.<b> Festivals, Holy Days, and Saints' Days.</b> 1915. Reprint. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1992. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>Weaver, William Woys. <b>The Christmas Cook.</b> New York: HarperPerennial, 1990.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-38520312610662162752023-01-03T04:00:00.062-05:002023-10-15T17:37:54.772-04:00Eleanor Magruder Briscoe (1766-1806) by John Drinker (1760-1826) 1800-02 <p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5JSZqWRS_33A8CyXGaAuxx2KJVPrpLZ8Ov-7DLUtpVhpiWn_mgbRL-ki66VKAMG3s7LEQAUsi-KOb1nvr3fuMAP_v2DVXIiVpQa6m4a7tNC3y5sMBtgJ_1M54bXc_sMAoXzimmmL8Nr6_NwptfgTeyXwtR3f184E0pxcZI-NZJBQPUsRycjMHvmn_7U/s929/ACC_973_2a-jpg637183248980000000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5JSZqWRS_33A8CyXGaAuxx2KJVPrpLZ8Ov-7DLUtpVhpiWn_mgbRL-ki66VKAMG3s7LEQAUsi-KOb1nvr3fuMAP_v2DVXIiVpQa6m4a7tNC3y5sMBtgJ_1M54bXc_sMAoXzimmmL8Nr6_NwptfgTeyXwtR3f184E0pxcZI-NZJBQPUsRycjMHvmn_7U/s16000/ACC_973_2a-jpg637183248980000000.jpg" /></a></p>Eleanor Magruder Briscoe by John Drinker, in Jefferson County West Virginia 1800-02 <div><br /></div><div>When Eleanor Magruder Briscoe was born on January 6, 1766, in Maryland, her father, Alexander, was 46, and her mother, Susannah, was 39. She married John Briscoe on February 19, 1784, in Frederick, Maryland. They had 11 children in 16 years. She died on March 11, 1806, in Virginia at the age of 40.<br /><p></p><div><div><a href="https://mesda.org/lp/collection/paintings-portraits-and-sculpture/">MESDA tells us that </a>this portrait of Eleanor Magruder Briscoe by John Drinker shows a woman seated in a Chippendale type chair, half-length, facing forward & dressed with a white high crowned cap, gray dress & white neck piece with a black ribbon & jewel at her throat. She has brown eyes, dark hair. She holds a reddish-brown book in her right hand & is seated at a column base to the right, with red drapery & tassel, & with a balustraded rail & trees in the background to the left. </div><div><br /></div><div>Eleanor (Magruder) Briscoe (1766-1806) & her husband Dr. John Briscoe (1752-1818) lived at Piedmont, an imposing two-story brick house in Jefferson County, West Virginia, near Charlestown. The families had 17th century roots in tidewater Maryland: The Briscoes in St. Mary’s & Charles County, Maryland; the Magruders in Queen Anne County, Maryland. The couple married in 1784 in Frederick County, Maryland. </div><div><br /></div><div>The portrait descended at Piedmont, the Briscoe Family home, in Berkeley County, Virginia. Two years later they formally acquired the land on which Piedmont was built. Though the deed to the house is dated November 22, 1786, it is generally believed that the Briscoe family were living on the property for some years prior to that time. It is now generally thought that Piedmont was constructed between 1786 & 1800. (Piedmont was surveyed in 1937 by the Historic American Buildings Survey:</div><div>http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/wv0088/ Piedmont was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973: http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/73001913.pdf)</div><div><br /></div><div>The artist John Drinker (<span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">1760–1826)</span> was a miniaturist, portrait painter, & drawing master, who advertised in 1787 that he was opening a drawing school in Philadelphia with the assistance of Matthew Pratt. Using funds from an inheritance Drinker began investing in Berkeley County, Virginia, land in the 1780s. In 1797 he married Elizabeth Peppers in Berkeley County, West Virginia. Though the couple first lived in Philadelphia, by 1801 they had permanently resettled in Berkeley County. This painting is signed on the reverse “A.D. 1800/ by Drinker.” . He was listed as a portrait painter or limner in Philadelphia directories in 1800-1801. Two portraits <span style="font-family: inherit;">by him are listed by FARL (<span style="background-color: white; color: #757575;">Frick Art Reference Library)</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>The MESDA Collection includes 5 paintings from “Piedmont," the house built between 1786-1890 for Dr. John Briscoe, Jr. (1752-1818), & Eleanor (Magruder) Briscoe (b.1766). These include portraits of Dr. & Mrs. Briscoe by John Drinker (1760-1826) (MESDA acc. 973.1-2); a portrait of Sarah D. Rutherford by Drinker (MESDA acc. 973.3?); & a portrait of General William Darke (1736-1801), by Frederick Kemmelmeyer (1760-1821) (MESDA acc. 973.3).</div><div><br /></div><div>See: Kate Hughes, “Piedmont’s Portraits: Patrician Image-Making in the Lower Shenandoah Valley”, MESDA Summer Institute 2017.</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-60820914707304444782023-01-01T04:00:00.001-05:002023-10-13T17:48:30.536-04:001716 Frances L’Escott (1705-1747) by Henrietta Johnston(c 1674-1729)<p style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_uG4_2N_Zl_gEJNMngiryLWMyM2387JejqHySjtjIzNCSIQbRsEAkpgR6fuhszYJPmputG3t3vz3GqVCvpo3nLAcWT_Eoyq7vOq4UK2NsrToC0Y5OhkgQfy4qKlRNSbY_NzJI5PZJV2Yew8l3EUdHXHAapB_BLZgUpRR2ThWQhAP5HK7gedtj2lbdD8/s16000/1716%20Frances%20L%E2%80%99Escott%20(1705-1747)%20by%20Henrietta%20Johnston(c%201674-1729).jpg" /></p><div style="text-align: center;">1716 Frances L’Escott (1705-1747) by Henrietta Johnston(c 1674-1729)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><a href="https://mesda.org/lp/collection/paintings-portraits-and-sculpture/">MESDA tells us that </a>Frances L’Escott (1705-1747) was the daughter of the Reverend Paul L’Escott (b.1675), pastor of the Huguenot Church in Charles Town from 1700 to 1719 & from 1731 to 1734. She married Peter Villepontoux (1684-1748), a wealthy Huguenot. He owned a plantation on James Island; a town lot near the Quaker Meeting House on King Street; a lot on Trott’s Point; & a plantation in Christ Church Parish. The couple had seven children though only one daughter & four sons are mentioned in Peter Villepontoux’s will; there is no mention of his wife Frances, & it is believed that her death preceded his. She was living, however, in 1741, when she & her husband signed deeds of lease & release for property.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is an anecdote about young Frances L’Escott in The Carolina Chronicle of Commissary Gideon Johnston in his letter to the secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. His letter, dated July 5, 1710, reads: “One of the enclosed papers is a letter of Sir John Chardins to Mrs. L’Escot. . . .You will see by it that a Legacy of 30 [pounds] was left to her daughter, which was to revert to the Mother in case of the Daughters death. The Daughter is still alive & the father & Mother think it their undoubted right to have this money & the Interest of it hitherto.” The letter does not state whether the parents received control of the legacy. It does, however, mention that Mr. L’Escot could not understand English so that any other correspondence to him must be done in “Latin or French.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Henrietta de Beaulieu Dering Johnston (ca. 1674 – March 9, 1729) is recognized as the earliest professional female artist & the first known pastelist working in the American colonies. The daughter of Susannah de Beaulieu, it is generally accepted that she was born in northwestern France & that her family immigrated to London in the mid-1680s. Henrietta was of French Huguenot descent.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 1694 Henrietta Beaulieu married William Dering, & moved to Ireland. It was during this time that she began to draw pastels, as is evidenced by her earliest portraits of a number of people to whom she was related by marriage, including members of the Percival family. Although the quality of her work suggests that she had received formal training, nothing is known of her education. Like her contemporaries, however, she copied the conventions set by London court painter Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723). It is possible that she studied with Dublin artist Edward Lutterel (1650-1710).</div><div><br /></div><div>Widowed by 1704, & the mother of two daughters, Henrietta married in 1705 Anglican clergyman Gideon Johnston who was appointed two years later to serve as commissary of the Church of England in North & South Carolina & the Bahama Islands & to serve as rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Charles Town (Charleston), South Carolina. The Johnstons arrived in Charleston in 1708, & over the next few years Henrietta’s work as a pastel portraitist became critical to the economy of her family as is proven by one of her husband’s letters, in which he wrote: “were it not for the assistance my wife gives by drawing of Pictures (which can last but a little time in a place so ill peopled) I should not be able to live.” Gideon Johnston died in a boating accident in 1716 & Henrietta remained in Charleston until her death in 1729. She is believed to have traveled to New York City in1725 where she drew at least four portraits of a family of that city. More than forty of her portraits survive, many of which are of members of Charleston’s early Huguenot community.</div></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-11760641308626911402022-06-08T15:30:00.001-04:002023-10-13T17:17:10.495-04:00Martha Washington's Laundry Wash House at Mount Vernon in 18C Virginia <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbP-qI_fIq55TjhoPX52pFqwwl48ProCBvNCD7QUiXyr5z_LNakV3yZmSTD3BLMHhaz9aVrckI7nokT2_341HvNhh6QuED54q-jExcECaZC6KFbUbAFXE7vZSZ0pV7BAyxPJqAg_k1lVojdhGnefh0rBQgc-tFPj-OjLkVV7IaRvcLkA9N8TTh_2GG/s700/wash%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="700" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbP-qI_fIq55TjhoPX52pFqwwl48ProCBvNCD7QUiXyr5z_LNakV3yZmSTD3BLMHhaz9aVrckI7nokT2_341HvNhh6QuED54q-jExcECaZC6KFbUbAFXE7vZSZ0pV7BAyxPJqAg_k1lVojdhGnefh0rBQgc-tFPj-OjLkVV7IaRvcLkA9N8TTh_2GG/w640-h426/wash%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/location/wash-house/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=estate&fbclid=IwAR38oZo2n-ioSk1-VYVQe1Dd9yVHH4pKNgY7TK03jR4D4I2nEn9Aw8Wlp2o">George & Martha Washington's Wash House at Mount Vernon in Virginia </a> </b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Compiled by Sydney Marenburg </b></p><p><b>In the Mount Vernon home of Martha & George Washington. the Laundry or Wash House, enslaved laundresses performed weekly washings for the Washington family, long-term guests, hired white servants, & overseers.</b></p><p><b>Laundry in the 18C was usually a 3-day, labor-intensive process reserved for household linens, like sheets & tablecloths, & clothing worn closest to the skin: shirts, shifts, & stockings. Many people contributed garments to each laundry load, so clothes & linens often were marked with the owner’s initials or name in ink or cross-stitch. </b></p><p><b>At Mount Vernon, as at many other elite 18C houses, the employment contracts of unmarried, white male servants often included the provision of laundry services.</b> <i>(See: Agreement with Burgis Mitchell, 1 May 1762,” https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-07-02-0074.) </i></p><p><b>A married man’s laundry fell to his wife.</b> <i>(See: "George Washington to James Anderson (of Scotland), 7 April 1797,” https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-01-02-0059.)</i></p><p><b>George & Martha Washington’s famous hospitality included providing laundry services for Mount Vernon guests staying longer than 1 week (the typical turn-around time of the Wash House.) A constant stream of guests surely created a heavy workload for the enslaved laundresses.</b></p><p><b>Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, a visiting Polish Nobleman who stayed at the plantation for 2 weeks, noted that the enslaved workers “took care of me, of my linen, of my clothes,” treating him “not as a stranger but as a member of the family.”</b><i> (See: Ursyn Niemcewicz, Julian, Early Description by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz. June 5, 1978.)</i></p><p><b>The 1799 probate inventory taken after George Washington’s death recorded the contents of the Wash House. The building contained 9 tubs, 4 pails, 2 small buckets with handles (called piggins), 4 tables, & 2 copper tubs (called boilers) valued at $34.75.</b><i> (See: P.C Nash, Fairfax County Will Book J, 1801-1806, Fairfax, Virginia: Fairfax County Court Archives, 1810, George Washington.) </i></p><p><b>In addition, 8 jars of soap, valued at $25, were stored in the Mansion cellar. When Washington inherited the property in 1761, the Wash House inventory records 9 hand irons.</b></p><p><b>Although there were no automated laundry appliances, Mount Vernon’s Wash House was equipped with a built-in brick stove that held a copper kettle over a fire. This was a feature of many elite homes in the 18C & was a relative luxury, as laundresses did not have to move the heavy pots of hot water.</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiul29ClozQXk2aHR5l3xfpsCZSDZgb-553mGzfDTPyWAZa4-sz04bMr2oYe5ZRIt79gIUqOvVzi6JnteCBsxYpn0SvQMowcR38U-gObbf_ZOiAXjK7zzWqK7Fos1g-cpw4w0ByJ_ef9C3IR_pUdi8zf0WwCktmqO7_dzrpjTL2DmVeWlkvz-9trRZU/s1008/Woman%20with%20Bag%20of%20Laundry%20The%20Lewis%20Walpole%20Library,%20Yale%20University%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiul29ClozQXk2aHR5l3xfpsCZSDZgb-553mGzfDTPyWAZa4-sz04bMr2oYe5ZRIt79gIUqOvVzi6JnteCBsxYpn0SvQMowcR38U-gObbf_ZOiAXjK7zzWqK7Fos1g-cpw4w0ByJ_ef9C3IR_pUdi8zf0WwCktmqO7_dzrpjTL2DmVeWlkvz-9trRZU/s16000/Woman%20with%20Bag%20of%20Laundry%20The%20Lewis%20Walpole%20Library,%20Yale%20University%20(2).jpg" /></a></div><p><b>Generally, laundry in the 18C was conducted exclusively by women. </b><i>(See: Mohun, Arwen Palmer. “Laundrymen Construct Their World: Gender and the Transformation of a Domestic Task to an Industrial Process”The Johns Hopkins University Press and the Society for the History of Technology, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Jan., 1997): 97-120</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Woman with Bag of Laundry The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Records from 1759 to 1799 indicate the names of 9 enslaved women & when they were assigned to the Wash House.</b></div><p><b>Jemima, 1759</b></p><p><b>Jenny, 1759</b></p><p><b>Mima, 1787 –1788</b></p><p><b>Sall, 1786 –1791</b></p><p><b>Sinah, 1794</b></p><p><b>Lucy, 1794</b></p><p><b>Caroline, 1793 –1798</b></p><p><b>Dolshy, 1786 –1799</b></p><p><b>Vina, 1798 –1799</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GMqMxfkz8lnMzz3LiOYp8JLk02wSqQwL1wrpRJrv1UCiB8wPDfpnYSBw2xkWR-t6kz22dq1RveTyefKET2xZnrsqWhEl4nmRIGTTgfOCHb-VccvIZHNZaddRjekDeDMwpsVxylz5Dm896LDzlUmyfkAdIKIVj8CYBpjzbnL-j2FUri2OqB0f0M21/s926/laun3%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GMqMxfkz8lnMzz3LiOYp8JLk02wSqQwL1wrpRJrv1UCiB8wPDfpnYSBw2xkWR-t6kz22dq1RveTyefKET2xZnrsqWhEl4nmRIGTTgfOCHb-VccvIZHNZaddRjekDeDMwpsVxylz5Dm896LDzlUmyfkAdIKIVj8CYBpjzbnL-j2FUri2OqB0f0M21/s16000/laun3%20(2).jpg" /></a></p><p><b>Home-care manuals of the 19C instructed that laundry should begin Monday & conclude on Wednesday, leaving Thursday to Saturday free for other work. </b><i>(See: Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie's Lady's House-book: A Manual of Domestic Economy, Containing Approved Directions for Washing, Dress-making, Millinery, Dyeing, Cleaning, etc 1850. Note: although this source is from a much later period, it is conjectured that the laundry process remained very similar between eras until the widespread use of laundry machines.)</i></p><p><b>Many of the enslaved women assigned to Mount Vernon’s Wash House were not only doing laundry, but also acted as seamstresses, spinners, & knitters.</b></p><p><b>Laundresses also needed a wide knowledge of treatments for all sorts of stains on many different fine fabrics. Finer garments made out of wool, silk, & cotton were rarely, if ever, fully washed, but instead spot-treated for stains. </b></p><p><b>Laundry was an intense job requiring an incredible amount of physical strength. During the hot Virginia summers, the washhouse would be an almost unbearable temperature due to the constant fires & clouds of billowing steam. Laundresses had to move pounds of clothing, made even heavier with water, from pot to pot & agitate the laundry—all by hand.</b></p><p><b>The enslaved laundresses began each load by hauling the necessary water & firewood: thirty to fifty gallons of water from the kitchen well to fill copper kettles, & roughly 180 pounds of firewood to feed the boiler that heated water for the first phase of washing. Depending on the volume of laundry, a total of over 100 gallons of water could be necessary. This could entail more than 2 dozen trips back & forth to the well for each day of washing.</b></p><p><b>Copper kettles, not iron, were used for washing. The water, soap, bleaching agents, & heat would cause iron to leach into the water, potentially ruining delicate linen fabric.</b></p><p><b>Soap was rubbed over stains & soil, but not added to the water. Items of the highest quality were washed 1st; when the water was cleanest.</b></p><p><b>Washerwomen agitated the clothes by hand, stirring them in the water or scrubbing them with laundry bats, flat wooden paddles with ridges.</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisUmch7fIWMyoaI7m9R7xl0g7HMbwU18wtjR2i1xB69vooradObc9xYDihuhc1NOSFvLcGYXXQLVPAuCoLGKvhON8pcAmeXybgdQzeLXwa-nN7G90wbWfJsV8eyv-idO2udSX7NUdsZvmjMVD8h2kLl1F4d3HdKMVpNXqH3KyTZrtqJ75ebbtlcSUi/s656/laun2%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="656" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisUmch7fIWMyoaI7m9R7xl0g7HMbwU18wtjR2i1xB69vooradObc9xYDihuhc1NOSFvLcGYXXQLVPAuCoLGKvhON8pcAmeXybgdQzeLXwa-nN7G90wbWfJsV8eyv-idO2udSX7NUdsZvmjMVD8h2kLl1F4d3HdKMVpNXqH3KyTZrtqJ75ebbtlcSUi/w640-h628/laun2%20(3).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Usually, once cleaned, the clothes would be rinsed in separate water. To keep the fine white fabrics of shirts, shifts, & tablecloths white, sometimes a bluing powder would be added to the water. A bluing powder, made of indigo, would counteract the yellowing of the fabric & make it look whiter. </b><i>(See: Dunbar, James. Smegmatalogia, or the art of making potashes and soap, and bleaching of linen. By which the industrious farmer is taught to bleach and wash his cloath with the produce of our own country. United Kingdom: the author, 1736.)</i></p><p><b>To dry, items could be hung over drying racks indoors or spread out on the grass outdoors on warm, dry days.</b></p><p><b>Once dry, the process of ironing would begin. Ironing required experience & skill: the laundress managed the temperature of at least 3 irons. When one grew too cool, another would be ready for use, hot but not hot enough to burn the fabric.</b></p><p><b>Finally, the laundry would be folded with the assistance of the housemaids & distributed to the closets of the house & outbuildings.</b></p><p><i>Much of this research & more are available from George Washington's (1732-1799) home Mount Vernon's website, MountVernon.org. You can donate to their excellent efforts directly from their website. Please do. </i></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-86985022258196465692022-06-08T04:00:00.004-04:002024-01-07T14:50:42.158-05:00Women's Work - Doing Laundry in the 15-18C<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="background-color clear: both; font-weight: 700;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: 400;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuwGqlwY0OSy40-Z4C2qWntXAmiK-Yf7cGUI-Jo4WDsYT21jX-Uwi_r5ZyRCO5ly7f7GqLV5zqxLKJZcBG_zJZgsvS9yHthomNmDND-0hYERagbsTXabXBOG_yJQ4Wnj_A9d7BKuT3mysIuDaKbSlXBvVvjwKYpEqP4e_TU3DJXfoHSzd4Yb9zH4m/s605/l%20%20A%20Laundress%20on%20the%20Beach,%20The%20Decameron,%20Manuscript%205070.%201432.%20Arsenal,%20Paris.%20(4).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="605" height="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuwGqlwY0OSy40-Z4C2qWntXAmiK-Yf7cGUI-Jo4WDsYT21jX-Uwi_r5ZyRCO5ly7f7GqLV5zqxLKJZcBG_zJZgsvS9yHthomNmDND-0hYERagbsTXabXBOG_yJQ4Wnj_A9d7BKuT3mysIuDaKbSlXBvVvjwKYpEqP4e_TU3DJXfoHSzd4Yb9zH4m/w640-h602/l%20%20A%20Laundress%20on%20the%20Beach,%20The%20Decameron,%20Manuscript%205070.%201432.%20Arsenal,%20Paris.%20(4).jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="text-align: left;">A Laundress on the Beach, The Decameron, Manuscript 5070. 1432. Arsenal, Paris. <br /></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Soap, mainly soft soap made from ash lye & animal fat, was used by washerwomen supplied by their masters or employers. Soap was rarely used by the poorest people in medieval times but by the 18C soap was fairly widespread: sometimes kept for finer clothing & for tackling stains, not used for the whole wash. </span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xKTd5NbkDRzn0MeMX5Li6fFEdueDIkgaReOF-D-GMSEyYHJXN-yRls_CoZH0kWbQ-YGQl3_S7TmmpycBj3rESmzwsFCUCwquixzDQ5yoWwEy4tGdjfhnx5_5yDyhRQZPCi-fb2iUbCv1/s1600/1736+Giacomo+Ceruti+The+Laundress.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xKTd5NbkDRzn0MeMX5Li6fFEdueDIkgaReOF-D-GMSEyYHJXN-yRls_CoZH0kWbQ-YGQl3_S7TmmpycBj3rESmzwsFCUCwquixzDQ5yoWwEy4tGdjfhnx5_5yDyhRQZPCi-fb2iUbCv1/s1600/1736+Giacomo+Ceruti+The+Laundress.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>1736 <span class="st">Giacomo Ceruti (Italian painter, 1698-1767)</span> The Laundress</span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxeTLJIiHenxU-uSMwAiNEyZUNiXptNpHFvrIYoHwJrm5lMT18zh5T2mKdqBLcHt1A-br4gWX2E4P1SekxbJ1pstq1_pjC4iFp6k_OEPt0_6PdAX3FIxPSoxPVQhjUyRuYATw1rGtlG8m/s1600/1736-75+Richard+Houston,+after+Philippe+Mercier+Domestik+Employment+Washing+pub+by+Robert+Sayer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxeTLJIiHenxU-uSMwAiNEyZUNiXptNpHFvrIYoHwJrm5lMT18zh5T2mKdqBLcHt1A-br4gWX2E4P1SekxbJ1pstq1_pjC4iFp6k_OEPt0_6PdAX3FIxPSoxPVQhjUyRuYATw1rGtlG8m/s640/1736-75+Richard+Houston,+after+Philippe+Mercier+Domestik+Employment+Washing+pub+by+Robert+Sayer.jpg" width="497" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">1736-75 Richard Houston, after Philippe Mercier Domestik Employment </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span>A variety of preparations might be used on stained clothing. Chalk, brick dust, & pipe clay were used on greasy stains. Alcohol treated grass stains & kerosene, bloodstains. Milk was thought to remove urine stains & fruit. Urine, due to the ammonia content, was often used for bleaching as were lemon & onion juice.</span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSg0BjN3CC8nOL7FgRy5pAN-UyA_1huxHWHIf4PRi1rJI8Nwyu1_f4kWj5MB3zrS0V_YLBy419RdiPbcOQ8nE-i5cHbL3VyWLCQ0UUwTpV_LOBkhFse9ywCS8VbGXYgFDrUxTGD3YDKGsw/s1600/1740+Pietro+Longhi+The+Laundress.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSg0BjN3CC8nOL7FgRy5pAN-UyA_1huxHWHIf4PRi1rJI8Nwyu1_f4kWj5MB3zrS0V_YLBy419RdiPbcOQ8nE-i5cHbL3VyWLCQ0UUwTpV_LOBkhFse9ywCS8VbGXYgFDrUxTGD3YDKGsw/s640/1740+Pietro+Longhi+The+Laundress.jpg" width="507" /></span></a></div><span>1740 Pietro Longhi (French-born Italian artist, 1701-1785) The Laundress</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiXMlSZEk-9Q8xsCcwuELL1H5xX56JnTEDrfFTo8obaX2xTDb4sSH6eKE37iYEVXrVqKIHALXe6dCHCk0L8Crf20l6CIAjlHYXB1aSR0f9y6wqMDZ1HN5-Mcti8U-JXZOD2Uq8MpnOBVe/s1600/1730+John+Baptiste+The+Laundress.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiXMlSZEk-9Q8xsCcwuELL1H5xX56JnTEDrfFTo8obaX2xTDb4sSH6eKE37iYEVXrVqKIHALXe6dCHCk0L8Crf20l6CIAjlHYXB1aSR0f9y6wqMDZ1HN5-Mcti8U-JXZOD2Uq8MpnOBVe/s1600/1730+John+Baptiste+The+Laundress.jpg" /></span></a></div><span><span>1730 Jean Siméon Chardin (French artist, 1699-1779) The Laundress</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>Shakespeare calls a laundry basket a “buck basket.” The phrase might be related to the back-&-forth action of washing laundry, agitating water, soap, & clothes in a tub, not unlike the motion of a bucking horse. A buck was a tub for soaking or washing. And a small buck was a bucket.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCA3XIGEeoybdCt58ILjILExMbRbVvtBaDIIPm_GSMKokr3K7S4p1ldyIlvGXngWFhmEoBO5fV0gIrdii-y_VUr6Cp6UYdRNENKCuDUWYIDxzjWrWR2NnB5kWsUnZvS9JRhNb4VJhcYk/s1600/a+Henry+Robert+Morland+(British+artist,+1716-1797)+A+lady%E2%80%99s+Maid+soaping+linen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCA3XIGEeoybdCt58ILjILExMbRbVvtBaDIIPm_GSMKokr3K7S4p1ldyIlvGXngWFhmEoBO5fV0gIrdii-y_VUr6Cp6UYdRNENKCuDUWYIDxzjWrWR2NnB5kWsUnZvS9JRhNb4VJhcYk/w301-h400/a+Henry+Robert+Morland+(British+artist,+1716-1797)+A+lady%E2%80%99s+Maid+soaping+linen.jpg" width="301" /></span></a></div><span><span>1750s Henry Robert Morland (British artist, 1716-1797) A Lady’s Maid soaping Linen</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br />Silk was cleaned by scourers, who fully cleaned gowns, usually only once a year. Mainly they spot-cleaned them, using salt, chalk, or fuller’s earth & solvents like turpentine, lemon juice, warm milk, or urine. The whole gown was not immersed in water or scrubbed. As a result, silk garments tended to last. They were loosely stitched, because sooner or later they would be taken apart & remodeled. In 1763, one of Martha Washington’s old dresses was sent to London to be retailored in a more contemporary style.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iWA8h8xG1VU22ec1O3umlEabF9Pik5yGxCeuLMmv29hHP_ZtPgrUmc5Rx8adn3nA8KuR3zr04F7B1-U1ht4PAevEYOCa-UBkcNaFvPTEbb2sSQ_u-Za51Kaqrb9xPCRJhAcxbggx5_Nj/s1600/1750s+Hubert+Robert+Paris.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="523" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iWA8h8xG1VU22ec1O3umlEabF9Pik5yGxCeuLMmv29hHP_ZtPgrUmc5Rx8adn3nA8KuR3zr04F7B1-U1ht4PAevEYOCa-UBkcNaFvPTEbb2sSQ_u-Za51Kaqrb9xPCRJhAcxbggx5_Nj/s640/1750s+Hubert+Robert+Paris.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1768 <span class="st">Hubert Robert (French painter, 1733-1808) La Bievre</span></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Washing clothes in the river is still the normal way of doing laundry in many parts of the world. Even in prosperous parts of the world riverside washing went on well into the 19C, or longer in rural areas - even when the river was frozen. Stains might be treated at home before being taken to the river. Women might take tools to the river to help the work: like a washing bat or a board to scrub on. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6zd8GH9kPyWqM_JrWrwdVQRZ9cbbuALWdoTRESp0dkj-lCb8T14zFDldhyphenhyphenR3UsexaEnUtSq_w8iid5JlFKau5qfT_J0T9BfO2t4tYqHg1Gbb5uYqq1UwHMjUCrCGv_y038mJmDLQgnw2/s1600/1782.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy6zd8GH9kPyWqM_JrWrwdVQRZ9cbbuALWdoTRESp0dkj-lCb8T14zFDldhyphenhyphenR3UsexaEnUtSq_w8iid5JlFKau5qfT_J0T9BfO2t4tYqHg1Gbb5uYqq1UwHMjUCrCGv_y038mJmDLQgnw2/s640/1782.jpg" width="483" /></span></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><span>1782 Camp Laundry. Robert Sayer & J. Bennett. London</span></span></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwa232-6JNPlh5gMr46KMDkWnDMEIXCX2Dg00RedPrrOk0O5te8-cJO13I-uKqHYlAdMvAEAivmtpKsEJudK80wrHhYVWICau0QmBghqwcbUnsAP2VynCsnY9B8n6H4v7m4d2EgvV_E8/s1600/7868002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwa232-6JNPlh5gMr46KMDkWnDMEIXCX2Dg00RedPrrOk0O5te8-cJO13I-uKqHYlAdMvAEAivmtpKsEJudK80wrHhYVWICau0QmBghqwcbUnsAP2VynCsnY9B8n6H4v7m4d2EgvV_E8/s640/7868002.jpg" width="513" /></span></a></div><span>1761 Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French painter, 1725-1805) The Laundress</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>This painting shows a rather well-dressed washerwoman with her utensils. She sits on two boards laid across the top of a buck. The buck’s unplugged hole drains away lye or dirty water. Behind her is a buck basket. Atop the cabinet are a large boiling copper and two earthenware pots. Two sheets dry on the line. And in the lower-left corner is her battledore, or bat, for hammering wet linen until it released its dirt.</span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZpeu1bwh3FutS3Bb_OexsNAmodo6e4vUdJpRgjGehfqYTdGOmdcg9Odkh6KhU6I_8urOQ5TTP3XYfJZDQcDy_xrE5aed6VLf1fXvd8j_EKpib3qPHpAKtgmm1nbq3y6kkwmwDWpBHjMY/s1600/1700s+Henry+Robert+Morland+d+1787+Lady's+Maid+Soaping+Linnen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZpeu1bwh3FutS3Bb_OexsNAmodo6e4vUdJpRgjGehfqYTdGOmdcg9Odkh6KhU6I_8urOQ5TTP3XYfJZDQcDy_xrE5aed6VLf1fXvd8j_EKpib3qPHpAKtgmm1nbq3y6kkwmwDWpBHjMY/w335-h400/1700s+Henry+Robert+Morland+d+1787+Lady's+Maid+Soaping+Linnen.jpg" width="335" /></span></a></div><span>1765 Henry Robert Morland (British artist, 1716-1797) A Lady's Maid Soaping Linen</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>As a rule, wool was dry-cleaned by people called fullers, who tackled stains on woolens using fuller’s earth, a clay that absorbs grease. They also used fuller’s teasel, a thistle, to rough up the fibers & mechanically shake away the offending dirt.</span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR72wyF7HdrG05ugYBDo_qYB83X73s1yX6GubMGAASEpoRFZX_hKdMuec4h447TAMCn9EJ95fWDix4Mus_sGcT5EnAHcaLDaRhNP3lOeErfs2jQeM2-hZvusDuoD7TjijqFlkPxqfYx-yc/s1600/1770+Illustration+from+Basedow's+Elementary+Work.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR72wyF7HdrG05ugYBDo_qYB83X73s1yX6GubMGAASEpoRFZX_hKdMuec4h447TAMCn9EJ95fWDix4Mus_sGcT5EnAHcaLDaRhNP3lOeErfs2jQeM2-hZvusDuoD7TjijqFlkPxqfYx-yc/s640/1770+Illustration+from+Basedow's+Elementary+Work.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span>1770 Illustration from Basedow's Elementary Work</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: inherit;">A 1770 inventory of the laundry at Williamsburg’s Governor’s Palace in colonial Virginia on the death of Governor Botetourt includes<b><i> “2 Linnen Baskets, 3 Washing Tubs, 3 Rensing Tubs, 2 pails, 1 Large Iron pot, 1 Large Boyling Copper. ”</i></b></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNhjugNHe3V52pfckzr14t3Raib_ngCqHy2Vq4gqvqHyzvUbPz70gKyeGoc5IX3sEebHQ61eRgM63n2DlBaYCD66EWGMa8oGDl2b5_eGh97-HeHp32n1Tgf8OkChTf9jtsSgNvcOuOlnH/s1600/1750-80+Mrs+Grosvenor+Landry+Woman+to+the+Queen++Unknown+British+Artist.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNhjugNHe3V52pfckzr14t3Raib_ngCqHy2Vq4gqvqHyzvUbPz70gKyeGoc5IX3sEebHQ61eRgM63n2DlBaYCD66EWGMa8oGDl2b5_eGh97-HeHp32n1Tgf8OkChTf9jtsSgNvcOuOlnH/s640/1750-80+Mrs+Grosvenor+Landry+Woman+to+the+Queen++Unknown+British+Artist.jpg" width="498" /></span></a></div><span>1750-80 Mrs Grosvenor Laundry Woman to the Queen Unknown British Artist</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div>Soaking laundry in lye, cold or hot, was an important way of tackling white & off-white cloth. It was called bucking, & aimed to whiten as well as cleanse. Colored fabrics were seldom used for basic items like sheets & shirts. Ashes & urine were the most important substances for mixing a good "lye" to remove stains & encourage a white color, these acted as de-greasing agents.</div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH33tKGR7_Bhk2NIHPQR4U9w-cWOmvA-BhPldCjwtM9nf6RT4d8jvhmc4wmwOp8u68sSOI1WM1VktJHX8-SbpPKNhmYIx2nNN6bsptRdPDksgoW2pVblDCDufMkiV91oOvCk3O5PTeHSZH/s1600/1760-70+Nicolo+Cavalli+La+Lavandaja.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH33tKGR7_Bhk2NIHPQR4U9w-cWOmvA-BhPldCjwtM9nf6RT4d8jvhmc4wmwOp8u68sSOI1WM1VktJHX8-SbpPKNhmYIx2nNN6bsptRdPDksgoW2pVblDCDufMkiV91oOvCk3O5PTeHSZH/s640/1760-70+Nicolo+Cavalli+La+Lavandaja.jpg" width="518" /></span></a></div><span>1760-70 <span class="st">Nicolo Cavalli (Italian artist, 1730-1832) </span>La Lavandaja</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Bucking involved lengthy soaking & was not a weekly wash. Until the idea of a once-a-week wash developed, people tended to have a big laundry session at intervals of several weeks or even months. Many women had agricultural & food preparation duties that would make it impossible for them to "waste" time on hours of laundry work every week. </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSx7XfZDzfJO0D3UzCqPecZnO5JSMi7wuEwAfoLKdhJ97fMCf-vYfHJ1EUkzS1rvES4Pe0CxqIc9kA1JEjSWoU3RpJXabHluFLcgK-Z5sIK8cTD9r29tsh7ZJGVsCKP5xFwfKaPzWXrvLh/s1600/1750-80+Miss+White+Clear+Starcher+to+the+Queen+Unknown+British+artist.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSx7XfZDzfJO0D3UzCqPecZnO5JSMi7wuEwAfoLKdhJ97fMCf-vYfHJ1EUkzS1rvES4Pe0CxqIc9kA1JEjSWoU3RpJXabHluFLcgK-Z5sIK8cTD9r29tsh7ZJGVsCKP5xFwfKaPzWXrvLh/s640/1750-80+Miss+White+Clear+Starcher+to+the+Queen+Unknown+British+artist.jpg" width="491" /></span></a></div><span>1750-80 Miss White Clear Starcher to the Queen Unknown British artist</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span>Starch & bluing were available for better quality linen & clothing. A visitor to England just before 1700 sounded a little surprised at how much soap was used in London: <b><i>"At London, & in all other Great Britain where they do not burn Wood, they do not make Lye. All their Linnen, coarse & fine, is wash'd with Soap. When you are in a Place where the Linnen can be rinc'd in any large Water, the Stink of the black Soap is almost all clear'd away."</i></b> M. Misson's <b><i>Memoirs & Observations in his Travels over England</i></b> (published in French, 1698)</span></span><span><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRE-kd_Y_gqgHdQ1zZWlwOu-Pv6djM98hpygbYnaANoABzpuwtrMeL6vXr08T4Q8Hx_1WM4vos8IvaIyeETEdTWKIu2jyd7ULQLbCXsWfrO9V-TlgYZd3IfdNCIKXlf9txU_o5WzXdtb1/s1600/1700s+Laundry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRE-kd_Y_gqgHdQ1zZWlwOu-Pv6djM98hpygbYnaANoABzpuwtrMeL6vXr08T4Q8Hx_1WM4vos8IvaIyeETEdTWKIu2jyd7ULQLbCXsWfrO9V-TlgYZd3IfdNCIKXlf9txU_o5WzXdtb1/s640/1700s+Laundry.jpg" width="483" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span>1774 Henry Robert (British artist c 1716-1797) Laundry Maid (</span></span>after Moreland)</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In most cases, that source was a brigade of servants or slaves who trudged to a nearby well or stream. But in the basement laundry in the colonial Virginia Wren Building at Williamsburg’s College of William & Mary, water was drawn from a well in the center of the room.</span></div></div><div><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNf6wYMXc-YcGrAUTCe8Xzy43HoDKDU82Owr9E20VLJ9w-n0cF1_Y1d0Tb-YAY13zmYEe2n0b7gcXPmkcPaGSepGvqIyv-DHLfvq1otYHPi9uWYr9SH8ML6nV1yNPBaVUKvBENzr_mVqTW/s1600/1+Henry+Robert+Morland+(British+Painter,+1716-1797)++Woman+Ironing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNf6wYMXc-YcGrAUTCe8Xzy43HoDKDU82Owr9E20VLJ9w-n0cF1_Y1d0Tb-YAY13zmYEe2n0b7gcXPmkcPaGSepGvqIyv-DHLfvq1otYHPi9uWYr9SH8ML6nV1yNPBaVUKvBENzr_mVqTW/w336-h400/1+Henry+Robert+Morland+(British+Painter,+1716-1797)++Woman+Ironing.jpg" width="336" /></span></a></div><span><span>1750s Henry Robert Morland (British painter, 1716-1797) Woman Ironing</span></span></span></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div>Blacksmiths started forging simple flat irons in the late Middle Ages. Plain metal irons were heated by a fire or on a stove. Some were made of stone, like soapstone irons from Italy. Earthenware & terracotta iroms were also used, from the Middle East to France & the Netherlands.</div><div><br /></div><div>Flat irons were also called sad irons or smoothing irons. Metal handles had to be gripped in a pad or thick rag. Some irons had cool wooden handles. This stayed cool while the metal bases were heated & the idea was widely imitated. Cool handles stayed even cooler in "asbestos sad irons." The sad in sad iron (or sadiron) is an old word for solid. Goose or tailor's goose was another iron name, & this came from the goose-neck curve in some handles. In Scotland, people spoke of gusing (goosing) irons.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many 2 irons for an effective system: one in use, & one re-heating. Large households with servants or slaves might have used a special ironing-stove for this purpose. Some were fitted with slots for several irons, & others might have water-jug on top.</div></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPHFePJLOpNzK0GC87VoOrBDOV4EGJOnJ4XSxIBhlyscSYNjvr_06zSsmY4XNkWJ6eQY5hl8iZfPDI2vphkkJ2TNSIFzQ0pLMKNy3sJpm3Sr0PNbksEUwt3xZ3yG4H1t-CqkvKmwE/s1600/Louis+Leopold+Boily+%2528French+painter%252C+1761-1845%2529+Young+Woman+Ironing%252C+1800.bmp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPHFePJLOpNzK0GC87VoOrBDOV4EGJOnJ4XSxIBhlyscSYNjvr_06zSsmY4XNkWJ6eQY5hl8iZfPDI2vphkkJ2TNSIFzQ0pLMKNy3sJpm3Sr0PNbksEUwt3xZ3yG4H1t-CqkvKmwE/s640/Louis+Leopold+Boily+%2528French+painter%252C+1761-1845%2529+Young+Woman+Ironing%252C+1800.bmp" width="518" /></span></a></div><span>1800 Louis Leopold Boily (French painter, 1761-1845) Young Woman Ironing</span><br /></span><br /><div><div>Box irons, charcoal irons used the base of the iron as a container for putting glowing coals inside it & keep it hot a bit longer. Notice the hinged lid & the air holes to allow the charcoal to keep smouldering. These are sometimes called ironing boxes, or charcoal box irons, & may come with their own stand.</div><div><br /></div><div>For centuries charcoal irons have been used in many different countries. When they had a funnel to keep smokey smells away from the cloth, they were sometimes called chimney irons. Today charcoal irons are manufactured in Asia & also used in much of Africa. </div></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UuHblVEdLqPevehm_IR9jYlbxdDQh7R0IrAhflcLXvY6rKoIopuQ62zoUml8oFTWiSwqHds4hpOF6NAK7NnPNP8yeISyex4fBY5HdYSpO1bf5a73CK60Z-DovH63aE1o8GKLkPXHkz8/s1600/a+Henry+Robert+Morland+(British+artist,+1716-1797)+A+Girl+Ironing+Shirt+Sleeves.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UuHblVEdLqPevehm_IR9jYlbxdDQh7R0IrAhflcLXvY6rKoIopuQ62zoUml8oFTWiSwqHds4hpOF6NAK7NnPNP8yeISyex4fBY5HdYSpO1bf5a73CK60Z-DovH63aE1o8GKLkPXHkz8/w303-h400/a+Henry+Robert+Morland+(British+artist,+1716-1797)+A+Girl+Ironing+Shirt+Sleeves.jpg" width="303" /></span></a></div><span><span>1750s Henry Robert Morland (British artist, 1716-1797) A Girl Ironing Shirt Sleeves</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><div><span>Some irons were shallower boxes & had fitted "slugs" or "heaters" - slabs of metal - which were heated in the fire & inserted into the base instead of charcoal. It was easier to keep the ironing surface spotlessly clean, away from the fuel, than with flatirons or charcoal irons. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Brick inserts could be used for a longer-lasting, less intense heat. These are box or slug irons, were also called ironing boxes. In some countries they are called ox-tongue irons after a particular shape of insert. </div></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi889Yi4PIeOrdrSRrQsK1bxSFc2RXnRAC3CHMHvp4ez4m3T0be3ERcb0enUIjAmhNX7B9i_Wmb8CBK6VYtVYfVUcpUd-97-JR04EBatrNBIqZdnyxI-qIYlJW-sF1CnY-eLkbLpLLzxlY/s1600/a+Henry+Robert+Morland+(British+artist,+1716-1797)+Laundry+Maid+Ironing+1785+(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi889Yi4PIeOrdrSRrQsK1bxSFc2RXnRAC3CHMHvp4ez4m3T0be3ERcb0enUIjAmhNX7B9i_Wmb8CBK6VYtVYfVUcpUd-97-JR04EBatrNBIqZdnyxI-qIYlJW-sF1CnY-eLkbLpLLzxlY/w349-h400/a+Henry+Robert+Morland+(British+artist,+1716-1797)+Laundry+Maid+Ironing+1785+(2).jpg" width="349" /></span></a></div><span><span> 1785 Henry Robert Morland (British artist, 1716-1797) Laundry Maid Ironing</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span>At home, ironing traditional fabrics was a hot, arduous job. Irons had to be kept immaculately clean, sand-papered, & polished. They must be kept away from burning fuel, & be regularly but lightly greased to avoid rusting. Beeswax prevented irons sticking to starched cloth. Constant care was needed over temperature. Experience would help decide when the iron was hot enough, but not so hot that it would scorch the cloth. A well-known test was spitting on the hot metal, but Charles Dickens described someone with a more genteel technique in <b><i>The Old Curiosity Shop</i></b>. The ironer held <b><i>"the iron at an alarmingly short distance from her cheek, to test its temperature..."</i></b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span>The 1770 inventory of the laundry at Williamsburg’s Governor’s Palace in colonial Virginia on the death of Governor Botetourt includes<b><i> </i></b>owned<b><i> “5 Flat Irons, 2 Box Irons, with one Heater to each, 2 Iron Stands, 1 pr of Tongs” </i></b>The ironing would have been done on Botetourt’s <i><b>“2 pine Tables,” </b></i>which were probably padded with his<i> <b>“2 Ironing Cloaths,”</b></i> wool blankets perhaps pinned to tabletops. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span>The inventory of the Palace laundry says that Botetourt had<b><i> “4 Mangle Cloaths, 1 Mangle.”</i></b> This was a sort of ironing machine that was coming into use in the late 18C. Also called a box mangle, it was a box of stones resting on 2 large cylinders. When it was rolled across carefully folded items of washing that had been tucked inside the clean mangle cloths, many items could be smoothed and ironed at once.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXEU9yDimNuWiiUKKqdHjSxXJKdYVhrwJ5mbZP3b7r_FmySsu4VXDTmhCob4qpHvamKGWehsfFNkFqo6TKikXE4N5F5zQIW3NXffO83t1OWgeyfaP9eoUApNDBfTfgHmRKjQCoTN7IbH1qpNfh2ahtXBvh4YvjKYVuqU1qwWsEtMDfpJ4IQysbmeS2/s685/laundry2Splendor%20Solis%20(British%20Library%20Harley%203469,%20fol.%2032v),%201582%20(5).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="650" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXEU9yDimNuWiiUKKqdHjSxXJKdYVhrwJ5mbZP3b7r_FmySsu4VXDTmhCob4qpHvamKGWehsfFNkFqo6TKikXE4N5F5zQIW3NXffO83t1OWgeyfaP9eoUApNDBfTfgHmRKjQCoTN7IbH1qpNfh2ahtXBvh4YvjKYVuqU1qwWsEtMDfpJ4IQysbmeS2/w608-h640/laundry2Splendor%20Solis%20(British%20Library%20Harley%203469,%20fol.%2032v),%201582%20(5).jpg" width="608" /></a></div>Women washing clothes in a river, spreading them to dry in the fields alongside and hanging them from a rack, Splendor Solis, Harley 3469, fol. 32v. 1582. British Library, London. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>Wash or the Great Wash were names for the irregular "spring cleaning" of laundry. Soaking in lye & bucking in large wooden bucking tubs were similar to processes used in textile manufacturing. So was the next stage - drying & bleaching clothes & fabrics out of doors. Sunshine helped bleach off-white cloth while drying it. Sometimes cloth was sprinkled at intervals with water &/or a dash of lye to lengthen the process & enhance bleaching.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcch2F4m_VKydQUofVfP37BaNt8AJ7g1KrLyUSDQPR-N4yfkNXcCaCjblmIJCAlgO8ZK2tiKsAbUlvFCy5uRj-f9s1aiw-YgYiPNRslfmDk5HDQDzPJ27iUdQIVTlH-EGl1HEti27nzgvHLuOpq5GlnsB4GDd4950uuKW0nMCgmwnAQJ1OyDdGxLN8/s333/l%2017th%20century%20washing%20drying%20laundry%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="333" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcch2F4m_VKydQUofVfP37BaNt8AJ7g1KrLyUSDQPR-N4yfkNXcCaCjblmIJCAlgO8ZK2tiKsAbUlvFCy5uRj-f9s1aiw-YgYiPNRslfmDk5HDQDzPJ27iUdQIVTlH-EGl1HEti27nzgvHLuOpq5GlnsB4GDd4950uuKW0nMCgmwnAQJ1OyDdGxLN8/w640-h398/l%2017th%20century%20washing%20drying%20laundry%20(3).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Towns, larger estate houses, & weavers often had an area of mown grass set aside as a bleaching ground, or drying green, where household linens & clothing could be spread on grass in the daylight. Early settlers in North America established communal bleaching areas like those in European towns & villages. Both washing & drying were often public or local group activities.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelWAZY7uYxprU3JXyUhDsKIKqji-kallu8Y6EGspJ8-k8vylgpPf6low66jpJSX4K6ajEDEfSU5f3FANuxpC_eM8ZHIHdtx70IMeWRrpryj_rMQSn0rI8OfgPRltsG0hrBKXpytIMd-pOq_JIB9sGZORcW2XC0sER-E2P1mIl4gLZcKON1d_2ZYT2/s400/l%2017th%20century%20drying%20laundry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="400" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelWAZY7uYxprU3JXyUhDsKIKqji-kallu8Y6EGspJ8-k8vylgpPf6low66jpJSX4K6ajEDEfSU5f3FANuxpC_eM8ZHIHdtx70IMeWRrpryj_rMQSn0rI8OfgPRltsG0hrBKXpytIMd-pOq_JIB9sGZORcW2XC0sER-E2P1mIl4gLZcKON1d_2ZYT2/w640-h484/l%2017th%20century%20drying%20laundry.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Pieter de Hooch (1629–after 1684 ) A Woman & Child in a Bleaching Ground 1657-1659 Betail Private collection<br /><div><br /></div><div>People also dried clothes by spreading them on bushes in Europe & the North American colonies. Outdoor wooden drying frames & clotheslines are seen in a few paintings from the 16C, but most people would have spread laundry out to dry on grass, hedgerows etc. Clothes pins appear to have been rare before the 18C. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Drying the laundry in sunshine was, among other things, an effective way of bleaching linen & keeping it white. Spreading laundry on grass, bushes or washing lines out of doors meant there was a risk of having it stolen. In Britain. thieves of white clothes & household linen were sometimes called <b><i>"snow gatherers."</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Well-to-do 17C households were advised that box or privet (primp) hedges were good for drying. They could be clipped to have a "smooth & level" surface. <b>"...a border of Primpe, Boxe, Lauandar, Rose-mary, or such like, but Primpe or Boxe is the best, & it was set thicke, at least eightéene inches broad at the bottome & being kept with cliping both smooth & leuell on the toppe & on each side, those borders as they were ornaments so were they also very profitable to the huswife for the drying of linnen cloaths, yarne, & such like: for the nature of Boxe & Primpe being to grow like a hedge, strong & thicke, together, the Gardiner, with his sheares, may kéepe it as broad & plaine as himselfe listeth</b>." See: <b>Gervase Markham, The English Husbandman, 1613</b></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJIIcgLt1RPbvtYCA0BBRamafAUubxY-WRfnKs78t9ODQZKWOTg0QNj6sfQ8s07WbjoNRTWjoWBSBFwLUL4fc0OVX0Rpnf-74D8IU_WKbJYqUDIw7Jxnjqn2mQjQP9xUsmi-2r05k50pNzZxMe-hMroSjLvdlreSMRr-4qJLLM9grcKub2WrV6usB/s731/l%20George%20Moreland%201792%2018th%20century%20drying%20clothes%20on%20branches%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="550" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJIIcgLt1RPbvtYCA0BBRamafAUubxY-WRfnKs78t9ODQZKWOTg0QNj6sfQ8s07WbjoNRTWjoWBSBFwLUL4fc0OVX0Rpnf-74D8IU_WKbJYqUDIw7Jxnjqn2mQjQP9xUsmi-2r05k50pNzZxMe-hMroSjLvdlreSMRr-4qJLLM9grcKub2WrV6usB/w482-h640/l%20George%20Moreland%201792%2018th%20century%20drying%20clothes%20on%20branches%20(3).jpg" width="482" /></a></div>George Moreland 1792 Drying clothes on Branches of Trees </div><div><br /></div><div>In his 1745 <b><i>Directions to Servants</i></b>, Jonathan Swift suggests that <b><i>“the place for hanging”</i></b> laundry <b><i>“is on young Fruit Trees, especially in Blossom; the Linnen cannot be torn, and the Trees give them a fine Smell.” </i></b> ... <b><i>“When your Linnen is pinned on the Line, or on a Hedge, and it rains, whip it off, although you tear it, &c. ”</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><span>London lawyer Roger North liked hedges better thja tree limbs. He set down his thoughts on buildings, gardens, & housekeeping in a long manuscript called <b><i>“Cursory Notes of Building,” </i></b>which he wrote after the completion of building his country house at Rougham, Norfolk, England in 1698. For the best clothes drying, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>North wxplained, <b><i>“Hedges of prim are best; thorn tears linen, and box is of slow growth, and not sweet.” </i></b>By “prim” he meant privet.</span><span> </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.66667em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span>Janet Schaw, an Englishwoman, liked little or nothing about the washing methods in early America. She observed laundry being done in Wilmington, NC in 1776. She wrote that<b><i> </i></b></span></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><b><i>“all the cloaths coarse and fine, bed and table linen, lawns, cambricks and muslins, chints, checks, all are promiscuously thrown into a copper with a quantity of water and a large piece of soap. This is set a boiling, while a Negro wench turns them over with a stick.”...</i></b></span><b><i>"This operation [boiling] over, they are taken out, squeezed, & thrown over the Pales to dry. They use no calendar; they are however much better smoothed when washed. Mrs Miller showed them [how to wash linen] by bleaching those of Miss Rutherfurd, my brother & mine, how different a little labour made them appear, & indeed the power of the sun was extremely apparent in the immediate recovery of some bed & table-linen, that has been so ruined by sea-water that I thought them irrecoverably lost." </i></b></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.66667em; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: justify;">Schaw also noted that North Carolinians were the <b><i>“worst washers of linen I ever saw, and tho’ it be the country of indigo, they never use blue, nor allow the sun to look at them.”</i></b> See: <b><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Janet Schaw, </span><i style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Journal of a Lady of Quality; Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the Years 1774 to 1776</span></i><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">, eds, Evangeline Walker Andrews and Charles McLean Andrews, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1921)</span></b></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">University of Maryland English Professor Michael Olmert, who integrates art, architecture, & archaeology into his literature & drama classes, says that in England & America, the large country & town houses often had dedicated laundry outbuildings, or at least a separate room with a large hearth, dedicated to cleaning and repairing clothes and all sorts of fabrics. Its basic elements were a hearth, space to manipulate the vast copper tubs of hot water, dressers or tables for ironing, ropes or racks overhead for drying, & a source of water. </span></div><div><br /></div></div></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Professor Olmert tells us that in Calvert County, Maryland, a 1711 house is listed as having an outside laundry, according to a probate inventory from 1715. </span></div><div></div></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span>As with the kitchen in America, the laundry moved out of the main house as the 18C wore on. Originally, most people had washed their clothes in the room where they cooked & lived. But in elite households, both operations moved outside to a separate one-room structure, in which laundering & cooking were once again done at the same hearth.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span><span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia, although entirely demolished, the archaeology of the site discovered a laundry building was made of brick & had a basement with a paved floor. The site also had a catchment for wash water, & the floor had brick drains connected to a drainage system that ran from the Palace down to the garden canal.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Williamsburg, all that remained of the original Tayloe House laundry was a decayed brick foundation that indicated a large chimney & a brick entrance platform where a door would have been. Although there was no record of what the 16-by-12 foot building looked like above ground, it is clear it was framed, to judge by the narrow 8-3/4 inch width of the old foundation; heavier, brick structures have more substantial roots. The reconstruction was given the simplest of roofs, a typical gable-end A-frame with forty-five-degree slope. Colonial precedent was used for the details of weatherboarding, cornice, windows, & shutters. Mainly, the design was meant to match other Tayloe buildings. The paneled door was copied from a number of existing Tayloe doors: six-paneled, but with the paneling on one side. It is a workaday structure.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">A laundry near a kitchen appears in 1770s Williamsburg in colonial Virginia, The ledger of Williamsburg builder Humphrey Harwood shows that October 9, 1777, he was paid 19 shillings for whitewashing the kitchen & laundry of printer Alexander Purdie. On May 14, 1783, Harwood got 12 shillings for repairing the plaster in the kitchen & laundry of Susanna Riddell. Before she died in December 1785, Riddell lived on Francis Street. Her home is gone, but the archaeological report on her kitchen site indicates it had 2 rooms & was likely a kitchen-laundry. Riddell also rented the Everard House in Williamsburg & its brick laundry, a separate building with a massive chimney & attic. On July 13, 1784, Humphrey Harwood got another 7s 6p for whitewashing the Riddell laundry.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Nicholas-Tyler Laundry & its matching office fronted Francis Street, according to the Frenchman’s Map, the 18C military map detailing Williamsburg’s structures. An 1820 insurance plat shows the building & lists it as<b><i> “wood, one story, 16 x 36’, valued at $400.”</i></b> The laundry was pulled down in the mid-19C century & was reconstructed on its original footprint in 1931 & 1940.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Professor Olmert notes that in Williamsburg, Virginia, Wetherburn’s Tavern (& laundry) was a combination kitchen-laundry, servicing an ordinary that catered to overnight guests as well as townies out for a meal, a drink, a chat, & a card game. Wetherburn’s estate inventory says he owned 20 pairs of sheets, 19 pillowcases, 18 tablecloths, 27 napkins, & 17 towels. He also had 12 very busy slaves.</span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Annapolis, Maryland, the 1739 Ogle Hall had a <b><i>“brick kitchen & laundry 16 by 32” </i></b>feet, according to the United States Direct Tax of 1798. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Lunenberg County, Virginia, Cumberland Parish built a 28-by-16-foot kitchen-laundry that must have been a two-room structure, because the vestry book stipulates the kitchen floor is to be tiled, while the laundry floor is <b><i>“to be layd with Plank." </i></b>The entry requires the laundry walls to be <b><i>“lath’d & plastered.” </i></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">An elegant two-room laundry still exists at 1739’s Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County, Virginia, made of brick & plastered throughout.</span></div></div></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Olmert's observations are verified beginning in the 1750s up to the Revolution, when colonial American houses with combination kitchens & laundries appeared for sale ads in regional newspapers.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div><div>The PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE. September 22, 1757</div><div><b><i>To be Sold...an exceeding good large Brick Dwelling house, in the Town of Newcastle, almost opposite to the Court house, a fine Garden and Lot thereto adjoining, with an excellent Laundry , Kitchen, Stable, Chaise house, and other Houses thereto belonging, a large commodious Cellar under the whole House...John Land </i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE. August 15, 1766</div><div><b><i>A BEAUTIFUL tract of LAND, situated on Rappahannock river, about half a mile below Port Royal , containing 700 acres, on which is a very good brick house one story high, 4 rooms and 3 closets on the lower floor, and 2 above, a good cellar under it, a portico 52 feet long and 8 wide facing the river, a 12 foot porch on the front side, a good kitchen and laundry with a brick chimney, a garden 200 feet square paled in with sewed pales, poplar rails, and cedar posts</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE. April 21, 1768</div><div><b><i>I PURPOSE to reside in the county of Culpeper , as soon as I can sell my habitation and estate in and near Fredericksburg for near its value. I therefore now offer it for sale; and, although the great worth of it is well known, yet it may not be amiss to describe it, that it may be more generally known. The dwelling-house is very pleasantly situated on the main street, in a retired part of the town, and near the river, where a ship may lie close to the shore. There are three very good rooms, a large airy passage, and two large closets, below stairs, and three commodious dry cellars, with stone walls; and up stairs are four good chambers, with three fire-places, and a large closet. The out-houses are, a new built kitchen and laundry under one roof, with two good white limed rooms and fire-placed above stairs, two other common kitchens for servants to lodge in, two diaries, one of them built with freestone, with several steps under ground; there are many other conveniences, such as a smokehouse, hen houses, a well of water, and several yards wood, fowls, &c. a large coach house, with stables at each end, and two other stables and a large stable yard, and cooper's and shoemaker's shop. These improvements are fixed on three lots and a half of ground, consisting of half an acre each; the garden contains an acre of ground, is well paled in with locust posts, and the north west end has a high freestone wall, and is well stocked with fruits and every thing necessary for a family...Roger Dixon</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE. LANCASTER, April 15, 1770.</div><div><b><i>I OFFER...my plantation, handsomely situated on Corotoman river, containing about 400 acres, on which is a large and very commodious dwelling-house, above 50 feet long and 30 wide, with six good rooms and a fireplace to each, five closets, two large passages, and cellars under the whole, in three rooms. There is another house divided into a kitchen and laundry, with lodging rooms above, also a neat dairy and meat house, all new, and handsomely finished, and several outhouses. There are two very good springs, and fish and oysters very convenient, besides good landings, and water for vessels of any burthen...James Waddel</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE, March 10, 1774</div><div><b><i>I will dispose of the Tract of LAND whereon I live, containing about 820 Acres, six Miles from Petersburg , mostly very level, good Wheat and Corn Land, as may appear from the present crop of fifty Acres sown in Wheat; it is well timbered with Pine, White and Red Oak, has on it a new Dwelling-House 32 Feet by 18, neatly finished, good Cellars, a new Kitchen and Laundry 36 Feet by 18...Duncan Rose</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Publication: THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE. December 8, 1774</div><div><b><i>THE purchase I lately made of Warner Washington , Esq; consisting of an exceeding good Brick House with five Windows in Front, a very good Kitchen and Laundry , Coach House and Stables (the Latter entirely new) Negro Quarters, &c. together with 2000 Acres of Land, more or less, whereof about 500 Acres adjoin to the House...Jonathn Watson</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE 3. January 17, 1777</div><div><b><i>I HAVE for sale a valuable plantation, on Nottoway river, adjacent to Freeman's bridge, about 500 acres, whereon is a dwelling-house, with two rooms below and two above, with a passage on each floor underpinned and brick chimnies, and a cellar under the whole, a kitchen and laundry , of the whole building underpinned, and a stack of chimnies in the middle...Augustine Claiborne</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE 3. April 18, 1777</div><div><b><i>For SALE , EIGHT valuable lots in the town of Fredericksburg , on which are the following improvements, viz. A large and commodious brick dwelling-house, two stories high, with five rooms on a floor, and a good cellar, a kitchen, laundry , wash house, meat house, dairy, joiner's shop, stable, coach house, and granary; also a brick storehouse and warehouse convenient, well situated for trade, being on them in street. Four of those lots are well improved with a good falling garden, &c. , the others are under a good enclosure...Edward Carter</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE. August 8, 1777</div><div>Port Royal. <b><i>TO BE SOLD...a valuable House on the Market Square in this City, with 4 handsome Rooms below neatly papered, and a Fire Place in each, with 3 Closets, and 6 Rooms above, with dry Cellars under the Whole, a good Kitchen and Laundry , with Closets, a Brick Dairy, Corn House, Smokehouse, Stable, and Coach Houses, with a Flower and Kitchen Garden, well paled in; also a small House adjoining, with 2 Rooms and Fire Places, a good Cellar, and Yard...John Baker</i></b></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Even the early decades of the 19C saw the kitchen & the laundry combined in an outbuilding in Washington, DC, where the Octagon House had a separate wood-frame laundry built in 1817. Writing in 1870, a family member said the structure was <b><i>“a two story house for the laundry & servant rooms.”</i></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b>See:</b></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div><b>“Fuller’s earth”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.,</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><a href="<http://www.oldandinteresting.com/history-of-laundry.aspx>.">“History of Laundry.” Old & Interesting. N.p., 13 June 2010. </a></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Leed, Drea. “Ye Shall Have It Clene” : Textile Cleaning Techniques in Renaissance Europe. In Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owen-Crocker (Eds), Medieval Clothing and Textiles 2. Woodbridge, UK Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 2006.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Markham, Gervase. The English Houswife : Containing the Inward and Outward Vertues Which Ought to Be in a Compleat Woman: As Her Skill in Physick, Surgery, Cookery, Extraction of Oyls, Banquetting Stuff, Ordering of Great Feasts, Preserving of All Sorts of Wines, Conceited Secrets, Distillations, Perfumes, Ordering of Wool, Hemp, Flax: Making Cloth and Dying; the Knowldege of Dayries: Office of Malting; of Oats, Their Excellent Uses in a Family: Af Brewing, Baking and All Other Things Belonging to an Houshold. a Work Generally Approved, and Now the Eighth Time Much Augmented, Purged, and Made Most Profitable and Necessary for All Men, and the General Good of This Nation. London: Printed By I.B. for R. Jackson, 1615. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><a href="https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/Foundation/journal/Autumn09/laundries.cfm"><b>Olmert, Michael. </b><span>Laundries : </span><span>Largest Buildings in the Eighteenth-century Backyard</span></a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Sim, Alison. The Tudor Housewife. The History Press: Stroud, 1996. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Wheeler, Jo. Renaissance Secrets, Recipes & Formulas. London New York: Victoria and Albert Museum. Harry N. Abrams, 2009. </b></div></div></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-62499472002967003992021-11-14T04:00:00.005-05:002023-12-24T15:57:13.798-05:0018C Women + their Families & Friends by Henry Benbridge 1743-1812<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmTwi1bY3PHW1K_RsLjHcfJh6MxJnKtH4yVx8rJK6ZkDjhb_yLeTLRwYySKXKL5YNKMv8Xbr9lhASsFmZwbRhwGXNcMyXqC6yqKCFx9pvNKk7y0S_1TGmKOQXcqtiBQmoiEZJZK1LNbM/s1600/1+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Margaret+Cantey+%2528Mrs.+John+Peyre%2529.+Gibbes+Museum+of+Art%252C+Charleston%252C+South+Carolina.jpg" style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552067351878306610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmTwi1bY3PHW1K_RsLjHcfJh6MxJnKtH4yVx8rJK6ZkDjhb_yLeTLRwYySKXKL5YNKMv8Xbr9lhASsFmZwbRhwGXNcMyXqC6yqKCFx9pvNKk7y0S_1TGmKOQXcqtiBQmoiEZJZK1LNbM/w552-h640/1+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Margaret+Cantey+%2528Mrs.+John+Peyre%2529.+Gibbes+Museum+of+Art%252C+Charleston%252C+South+Carolina.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 345px;" width="552" /></a></div><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Margaret Cantey (Mrs. John Peyre).</span></strong><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong>Henry Benbridge (1744–1812), early American portrait painter, was born in Philadelphia, the only child of James & Mary (Clark) Benbridge. When he was 7 years old, his widowed mother married Thomas Gordon, a wealthy Scot. The boy's artistic talent was encouraged, as he made decorative designs for his stepfather's drawing-room.</div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8UOF1EV8f3f-QBdr2L8B1EkOSrjLadqphoFaHob0F4nD8p9JdibWEWGBGKdiWvntivdHWEpwTVttwTR-6iq1SHf89Ev-ssX_F2rTFX6oZnOfaxLMfDwN5UhZCpNlUQ0OgCtgW3xMNaY/s1600/2+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529++Gordon+Family+%2528his+stepfather+%2526+mother+Mary+Clark+Benbridge+Gordon%2529+1763-65.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="563" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552067228784759586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8UOF1EV8f3f-QBdr2L8B1EkOSrjLadqphoFaHob0F4nD8p9JdibWEWGBGKdiWvntivdHWEpwTVttwTR-6iq1SHf89Ev-ssX_F2rTFX6oZnOfaxLMfDwN5UhZCpNlUQ0OgCtgW3xMNaY/w640-h563/2+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529++Gordon+Family+%2528his+stepfather+%2526+mother+Mary+Clark+Benbridge+Gordon%2529+1763-65.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 352px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="640" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Gordon Family (his stepfather & mother Mary Clark Benbridge Gordon) 1763-65</span></strong><div><b><br /></b>When he was 21, Benbridge was sent to Italy, where he studied with Pompeo Batoni & Anton Raphael Mengs. From there he journeyed to London before returning to Philadelphia. Like other young Americans he was encouraged by Benjamin West. He wrote, on December 7, 1769, to his stepfather:<strong><span style="color: #ffcc66;"> </span><span style="color: #339999;">"Upon my arrival I waited upon Mr. West who received me with a sort of brotherly affection, as did my cousin, Mrs. West."</span></strong> <div><br /></div><div>He left England in 1770, bearing from West the following note of recommendation to Francis Hopkinson: <span style="color: #339999;"><strong>"By Mr. Benbridge you will receive these few lines. You will find him an Ingenous artist and an agreeable Companion. His merit in the art must procure him great incouragement and much esteem. I deare say it will give you great pleasure to have an ingenous artist resident amongst you."</strong></span></div><div><span style="color: #339999;"><b><br /></b></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQj0VvVESkR-Jciza5D_NaFc_IzPMtscK4ZWsXosoz8xT3Qe-LP47aozDeZAcNJDIlNgyinL87BnteSlKzdfzqXSScQEfMnhUM4C3P2v5gEgl-d95TNuCeOssiQM2iBaBE6qZ5G1HoC4/s1600/3+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529++Mrs+Charles+Coteworth+Pinckney+Sarah+Middleton+Benbridge+1773.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552067116796976658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQj0VvVESkR-Jciza5D_NaFc_IzPMtscK4ZWsXosoz8xT3Qe-LP47aozDeZAcNJDIlNgyinL87BnteSlKzdfzqXSScQEfMnhUM4C3P2v5gEgl-d95TNuCeOssiQM2iBaBE6qZ5G1HoC4/s400/3+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529++Mrs+Charles+Coteworth+Pinckney+Sarah+Middleton+Benbridge+1773.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 466px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 338px;" /></a><span style="color: #339999;"><strong>Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Mrs Charles Coteworth Pinckney Sarah Middleton Benbridge 1773</strong></span></div><div><br /></div><div>In Philadelphia, Benbridge married & was admitted to membership in the American Philosophical Society in 1771. Suffering from asthma & the cold of Philadelphia, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he succeeded Jeremiah Theus as the region's popular portrait painter. Around 1800 Benbridge relocated to Norfolk, Virginia, & made frequent visits to his native Philadelphia. At Norfolk he gave Thomas Sully his first lessons in oil painting. Earlier in Charleston, he had instructed Thomas Coram. Sully described his master as <span style="color: #339999;"><strong>"a portly man of good address–gentlemanly in his deportment."</strong></span></div><div><span style="color: #339999;"><b><br /></b></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTLE7NNc-mO6IgzG9-sd3aKBb_m9ObSWXz6ICZs1F9xW_HguZKTQ7Ar56PqtPIW7QOXhOr_CZxGqDHq4zE75-HJhkAuoy57CeeHi1BRhuEp922GD4tvurR-Mvfew9O_tlCJVfwGIDdJ4/s1600/4+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Archibald+Bulloch+Family+1775.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552067015415598626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTLE7NNc-mO6IgzG9-sd3aKBb_m9ObSWXz6ICZs1F9xW_HguZKTQ7Ar56PqtPIW7QOXhOr_CZxGqDHq4zE75-HJhkAuoy57CeeHi1BRhuEp922GD4tvurR-Mvfew9O_tlCJVfwGIDdJ4/s400/4+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Archibald+Bulloch+Family+1775.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 436px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 336px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Archibald Bulloch Family 1775</span></strong></div><div><b><br /></b>Benbridge, who had certainly seen the lastest opulent fashion trends, as he studied in Italy with Pompeo Batoni & in England with expatriate Benjamin West, had a distrust of the trendy fashionable. In 1770, when his sisters were nearing marrying age, Benbridge wrote his mother from London, that his sisters <span style="color: #339999;"><strong>"should not refuse a good plain honest Country farmer if such a one should offer himself with tolerable good estate, for one of the town who perhaps may have a better taste for dress, but not more merit, if perhaps as much."</strong></span></div><div><span style="color: #339999;"><b><br /></b></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318972781229888466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvW0RgnsxLSi-iKYEh9NjE3IFj9HLtPVmbtRUOhyphenhyphenuxADKuQop80ALHaovCWHh8NBovKpZt3L-TItmVeobnauX8eJN6AGhn55JFAc-jIVNJysVqlk6CUNQyyt8jvAJMHip7HCkAmsjoky0/s400/1784+%2B+Henry+Benbridge+1743-1812+Mrs.+William+Allston,+Jr+(Rachel+Moore)+MESDA1st-gallery-art.com.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 349px;" /><strong><span style="color: #339999;">1784 Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Rachel Moore (Mrs. William Allston II).</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong>When Benbridge had returned from Europe settling in Charlestown, South Carolina, to make a living painting portraits, he wrote to his sister Betsy in 1773, <strong><span style="color: #339999;">"Every kind of news here is very dull, the only thing attended to is dress and dissipation, & if I come in for a share of their superfluous Cash, I have no right to find fault with them, as it turns out to my advantage."</span></strong></div><div><span style="color: #339999;"><strong><br /></strong></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318972278041759218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLD6WLVSbl_tg_wLd5sFnf7VOVUa07zeEqb_rrq8fKwzA6ir-igZD5yCxCwg06WFAIwd5GToCBTRC1AnfSZi2u-4WLNSe6Im9eE5L_g2uxrFZtRlNAkeC94J2SHcnaZUu221Vwjz7Wb64/s400/1790+Henry+Benbridge+1743-1812+Mary+Boyer+Mrs+Robert+Shewell+San+Fran.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 309px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><strong><span style="color: #339999;">1790 Henry Benbridge (743-1812). Mary Boyer (Mrs. Robert Shewell).</span></strong><br /><br />In 1785, Benbridge, who loved the simple pleasures of gardening, was still worried about the too fancy dress of his son, Harry, whom Benbridge lovingly called <strong><span style="color: #339999;">"my little fellow."</span></strong> He wrote to his sister that he felt that his wife was dressing him in<strong><span style="color: #ffcc66;"> </span><span style="color: #339999;">"too good things for a boy like him to wair, & likewise too many of them at once; he can't take care of them when he is at play & more common & Strong stuff in my Opinion would answer much better, & not fill his head with foolish notions of dress, which perhaps may be his bane."</span></strong></div><div><span style="color: #339999;"><b><br /></b></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318973096387128290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO89qw7K05tcB5WUOPfpjEdzytTveFmTAGcucOskpv9acfrOWkP63jYLjRjLESs1Wk1gZVgtJA5C6Cytm4qOLu73zF_S1FiwPXR3Z7PwL4vza05JRrg6AhvQaAAoktPJO4CEbD3WeWiOs/s400/1780s+Henry+Benbridge+(1743-1812).+Elizabeth+Allston+(Mrs.+William+H.+Gibbes)..jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 347px;" /><strong><span style="color: #339999;">1780s Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Elizabeth Allston (Mrs. William H. Gibbes).</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong>It is not surprising that Benbridge painted many of his female clients in dignified classical gowns looking serious, thoughtful, & restrained.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjgw8H8i-oyVdpWOYJCVMBqMJ1zgAoyO-dHtY3v6DceKVmIyqgbKUk8Ncw9Pv0g_gWhLfGZq5p-1tDwBnQFhlzOqZBCvp14dxDNt3yZoISOJK198SlOvm2LJbPYGVL30FZcnek7f8em0/s1600/5+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Lady+of+the+Middleton+Family.+1780s.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552066915656243154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjgw8H8i-oyVdpWOYJCVMBqMJ1zgAoyO-dHtY3v6DceKVmIyqgbKUk8Ncw9Pv0g_gWhLfGZq5p-1tDwBnQFhlzOqZBCvp14dxDNt3yZoISOJK198SlOvm2LJbPYGVL30FZcnek7f8em0/s400/5+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Lady+of+the+Middleton+Family.+1780s.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 345px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #ffcc66;"><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Lady of the Middleton Family. 1780s</span></span></strong></div><div><b><br /></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2XN0NtYzV-tGzQ2ES7p0ljhUbxT068_jofqfR7akNT37SyFhwrMre-Nh1KVfqvHbg9GrjYGKvdrL3GViiY15wSiIzi_u7GeuF54dhZCL-JY6iREvPmUWGGUBMu8Me3H9lSZaWDqPaZ0/s1600/6+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529++Enoch+Edwards+Family+1779.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552066806004114434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2XN0NtYzV-tGzQ2ES7p0ljhUbxT068_jofqfR7akNT37SyFhwrMre-Nh1KVfqvHbg9GrjYGKvdrL3GViiY15wSiIzi_u7GeuF54dhZCL-JY6iREvPmUWGGUBMu8Me3H9lSZaWDqPaZ0/s400/6+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529++Enoch+Edwards+Family+1779.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 297px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 244px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Enoch Edwards Family 1779</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkLdFa70mYJgw29UUMlZE7KBuXyGAr9t4Z8fwutmO2wod_pBUg1xP4a9WPkSWepV2Ne6Nq8UPOsQEFrT_1o79Bw3uCEB9X_9xAdthO0hoKBs_Tv2sdtTjVxY5GccwLBytmKVjnMwnj-k/s1600/7+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Mrs+Benjamin+Simons+1771-76.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552066707769070546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkLdFa70mYJgw29UUMlZE7KBuXyGAr9t4Z8fwutmO2wod_pBUg1xP4a9WPkSWepV2Ne6Nq8UPOsQEFrT_1o79Bw3uCEB9X_9xAdthO0hoKBs_Tv2sdtTjVxY5GccwLBytmKVjnMwnj-k/s400/7+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Mrs+Benjamin+Simons+1771-76.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 331px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Mrs Benjamin Simons 1771-76</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JMh-wT3BMWHQ-HRHihfo415H1qI6CLLzD8IVit1YRd2XVWLrRDmc29LDZ_NXsPkZnXlJdnOTwR9a_QQPtOBvp60Gy6grq46tH3NDVbP0ScAF8qa5FcUcpsZxgIBNg15tBDosBiV-VhU/s1600/8+Henry+Bendridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+The+Hartley+Family.+1787.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552066600561211618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JMh-wT3BMWHQ-HRHihfo415H1qI6CLLzD8IVit1YRd2XVWLrRDmc29LDZ_NXsPkZnXlJdnOTwR9a_QQPtOBvp60Gy6grq46tH3NDVbP0ScAF8qa5FcUcpsZxgIBNg15tBDosBiV-VhU/s400/8+Henry+Bendridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+The+Hartley+Family.+1787.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 390px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Bendridge (1743-1812). The Hartley Family. 1787</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivs3RrfZE7pIArVZUMkDZcOLlaouAwc1vDWeVYyh0-qbCBexReB0UrGcP62mB4G5ld4mH-pRASYTOQfjk9gRek9QbF8tktIH4Qag1evo6PcQ9JFxdynO21tfuI8SieZK8_rL7Wjxqz3Lg/s1600/8a+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Sarah+White+%2528Mrs.+Isaac+Chanler%2529.+1770s.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552066479176834514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivs3RrfZE7pIArVZUMkDZcOLlaouAwc1vDWeVYyh0-qbCBexReB0UrGcP62mB4G5ld4mH-pRASYTOQfjk9gRek9QbF8tktIH4Qag1evo6PcQ9JFxdynO21tfuI8SieZK8_rL7Wjxqz3Lg/s400/8a+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Sarah+White+%2528Mrs.+Isaac+Chanler%2529.+1770s.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 284px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Sarah White (Mrs. Isaac Chanler). 1770s</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcRkMPtYItyvsM7ogNMtMBTK7oZgne-pL9larpgU2Ik5qlFJ8sZ2WJr3GgEJKGr2-PbRvkEv3IratWxZMKnr9FkeYXNsLXmcU40WvNgi7QaYU8U-rzBpQLqyKSK8NbjiWmMxe2ipUTnEM/s1600/9+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812+The+Tannant+Family+1770s.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552066290883379218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcRkMPtYItyvsM7ogNMtMBTK7oZgne-pL9larpgU2Ik5qlFJ8sZ2WJr3GgEJKGr2-PbRvkEv3IratWxZMKnr9FkeYXNsLXmcU40WvNgi7QaYU8U-rzBpQLqyKSK8NbjiWmMxe2ipUTnEM/s400/9+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812+The+Tannant+Family+1770s.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 268px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 436px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812 The Tannant Family 1770s</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDtMn8WNbjKdnxYGdIeHSjmXP3NJRq3z-p-HTL0F0TI_ANDZOgiFUy8Me1WI_ADJe6YH4L5ZwDlww_9unzinBQkjtayKtG77ywzPUd7vMzlEqY8EmHz7QWqRQT6XpnMOGMimPa1MbK3Q/s1600/9a+Attributed+to+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Rebecca+Lloyd+%2528Mrs+Edward+Davies%2529+1770s.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552066177657770290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDtMn8WNbjKdnxYGdIeHSjmXP3NJRq3z-p-HTL0F0TI_ANDZOgiFUy8Me1WI_ADJe6YH4L5ZwDlww_9unzinBQkjtayKtG77ywzPUd7vMzlEqY8EmHz7QWqRQT6XpnMOGMimPa1MbK3Q/s400/9a+Attributed+to+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Rebecca+Lloyd+%2528Mrs+Edward+Davies%2529+1770s.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 346px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Attributed to Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Rebecca Lloyd (Mrs Edward Davies) 1770s</span></strong></div><div><b><br /></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzDeNtrfaUi-xK4-gaXYuX-LudfE3PZ5XVuunDprMUD1hhBExPWO1Fl2LLQ7rXbigGT7Me5yNxGPNbeG0xxaMK2sYuFRLdTGJjU1ilD1F4EvJz9M4y2Z3Ix382beyvW7iAldnhyphenhyphen-GhUwI/s1600/10+a+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Mary+Bryan+Morel+and+Her+Children+c+17773.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552066048673816578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzDeNtrfaUi-xK4-gaXYuX-LudfE3PZ5XVuunDprMUD1hhBExPWO1Fl2LLQ7rXbigGT7Me5yNxGPNbeG0xxaMK2sYuFRLdTGJjU1ilD1F4EvJz9M4y2Z3Ix382beyvW7iAldnhyphenhyphen-GhUwI/s400/10+a+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Mary+Bryan+Morel+and+Her+Children+c+17773.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 347px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 439px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Mary Bryan Morel and Her Children c 17773</span></strong></div><div><b><br /></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHadEPLgWqJuzBS_3EG16FZlxZI3GYyc2wOBIXao8Egz0ZwPjW5-PPBiL5G1ncvR-h4ApE3qprDtecH_y40GeaHXuT__fRVr8Y1ZqwkMKwcD8F_s1vyYXELO_vwXRPLmo1vf_c8gFsAcQ/s1600/Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Allegorical+Portrait+of+Sarah+Flagg+c+1774.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552065895229601410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHadEPLgWqJuzBS_3EG16FZlxZI3GYyc2wOBIXao8Egz0ZwPjW5-PPBiL5G1ncvR-h4ApE3qprDtecH_y40GeaHXuT__fRVr8Y1ZqwkMKwcD8F_s1vyYXELO_vwXRPLmo1vf_c8gFsAcQ/s400/Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Allegorical+Portrait+of+Sarah+Flagg+c+1774.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 369px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 304px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Allegorical Portrait of young Sarah Flagg c 1774</span></strong></div><div><b><br /></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgluuHZoxmt8OHkDvDksjuDpkVmTqbz2PZbg_UKrUKznQWmShCHGrvGvmdVGs5qNaNwq4U7wHumBln8HCAoRlSzHP-omcSI_OsoAWeDSpTJKUDA_KmpQJjXI94J6jeDKCZmCYIWShj-DWE/s1600/Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Mrs.+Mumford+Milner+%2528Elizabeth+Brewton%2529+b+1786.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552065372744562210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgluuHZoxmt8OHkDvDksjuDpkVmTqbz2PZbg_UKrUKznQWmShCHGrvGvmdVGs5qNaNwq4U7wHumBln8HCAoRlSzHP-omcSI_OsoAWeDSpTJKUDA_KmpQJjXI94J6jeDKCZmCYIWShj-DWE/s400/Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529.+Mrs.+Mumford+Milner+%2528Elizabeth+Brewton%2529+b+1786.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 303px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 247px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Mrs. Mumford Milner (Elizabeth Brewton) b 1786</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color: #339999;"><br /></span></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfJHXlAaReO9b43N1yywqUmtFqcsmxjQisWAcnYvPYpD7nqBPRETNdKtUZyB-5nRo1JuPxuFK0sHe4twSoc6dk-pGMTOEczke-SAeJEkLZtlKhWvhrnTY38I_SWWO7sLPxcFqNI_nC58/s1600/12+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Rebecca+Gordon+%2528his+half+sister%2529+1770s.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552062635130513586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfJHXlAaReO9b43N1yywqUmtFqcsmxjQisWAcnYvPYpD7nqBPRETNdKtUZyB-5nRo1JuPxuFK0sHe4twSoc6dk-pGMTOEczke-SAeJEkLZtlKhWvhrnTY38I_SWWO7sLPxcFqNI_nC58/s400/12+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Rebecca+Gordon+%2528his+half+sister%2529+1770s.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 440px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 299px;" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Rebecca Gordon (his half sister) 1770s</span></strong></div><div><b><br /></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEthKXHAbsCDegk0vCq7h36ICV9utE1PJmImja542W_a_TfJi_nj6IB4KIzeQ6VgNoGJJf3djbWB6B_uKWpGO-mxpbNhCfnIfMqAUWDoRIMMzhnJwupSlxBcGew81GYW9lQYsFabQbIjk/s1600/13+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Elizabeth+Ann+Timothy+Mrs+William+Williamson+c+1775-85.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552062516098318850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEthKXHAbsCDegk0vCq7h36ICV9utE1PJmImja542W_a_TfJi_nj6IB4KIzeQ6VgNoGJJf3djbWB6B_uKWpGO-mxpbNhCfnIfMqAUWDoRIMMzhnJwupSlxBcGew81GYW9lQYsFabQbIjk/w537-h640/13+Henry+Benbridge+%25281743-1812%2529+Elizabeth+Ann+Timothy+Mrs+William+Williamson+c+1775-85.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 266px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 223px;" width="537" /></a><strong><span style="color: #339999;">Henry Benbridge (1743-1812) Elizabeth Ann Timothy Mrs William Williamson c 1775-85</span></strong></div><div><b><br /></b><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318975975604792562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdgrpWdDdc3XUWugXJ4nlwzCF2EhBiTb0pZN7WRtIjrPLCjmxnqnyOnZXVyQAU7hDoG2ihVrFOc9DSQ4CKm5GwpLQMHMoKg0ZToZBN2oe7dyS4-_nQeSoANbazXXfOHsk6y-thavQi2k/s400/1770s+Henry+Benbridge+(1743-1812).+Charlotte+Pepper+(Mrs.+James+Gignilliat).+Colonial+Williamsburg+Foundation..jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 338px;" /><strong><span style="color: #339999;">1770s Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Charlotte Pepper (Mrs. James Gignilliat).</span></strong></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-36233724404334095292021-07-17T04:00:00.005-04:002023-12-24T16:01:08.016-05:0018C Considerations for Planning Meals in Colonial America<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93LNmHe7iY-JqA7ewGciHGbH2TR8ny-40MZv8qe9qupLsGFjN1bE3t46tS951cCbgIfo_Qw5iI0s60KLTdOoFd8rdRt7tqrIMr5NXjOOjeibcc2ExTQmQFitxnF3f1ak7ftC2vjNMcp8/s551/cooking+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="551" height="588" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93LNmHe7iY-JqA7ewGciHGbH2TR8ny-40MZv8qe9qupLsGFjN1bE3t46tS951cCbgIfo_Qw5iI0s60KLTdOoFd8rdRt7tqrIMr5NXjOOjeibcc2ExTQmQFitxnF3f1ak7ftC2vjNMcp8/w640-h588/cooking+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><a name="colonialmealtimes">Colonial meal structures & serving times differ from today. Breakfast was taken early if you were poor, later if you were rich. There was no meal called lunch. Dinner was the mid-day meal. For most people in the 18th century it was considered the main (biggest) meal of the day. Supper was the evening meal. It was usually a light repast. It is important to keep in mind there is no such thing as a "typical colonial meal." The Royal Governor of Virginia ate quite differently from the first Pilgrim settlers and the West Indians laboring in Philadelphia's cook shops.</a></div><p></p><p><a name="colonialmealtimes"><b><i>"Most New Englanders had a simple diet, their soil and climates allowing limited varieties of fruits and vegetables. In 1728 the Boston News Letter estimates the food needs of a middle-class 'genteel' family. Breakfast was bread an milk. Dinner consisted of pudding, followed by bread, meat, roots, pickles, vinegar, salt and cheese. Supper was the same as breakfast. Each famly also needed raisins, currants, suet, flour, eggs, cranberries, apples, and, where there were children, food for 'intermeal eatings.' Small beer was the beverage, and molasses for brewing and flavoring was needed. Butter, spices, sugar, and sweetmeats were luxuries, as were coffee, tea, chocolate, and alcoholic beverages other than beer."</i></b>---<i>A History of Food and Drink in America</i>, Richard J. Hooker [Bobbs-Merrill Company:Indianapolis IN] 1981(p. 67)</a></p><p><a name="colonialmealtimes"><b><i>"English settlers in teh seventeenth century ate three meals a day, as they had in England...For most people, breakfast consisted of bread, cornmeal mush and milk, or bread and milk together, and tea. Even the gentry might eat modestly in the morning, although they could afford meat or fish...Dinner, as elsewhere in the colonies, was a midday, through the wealthy were like to do as their peers in England did, and have it midafternoon...new England's gentry had a great variety of food on te table...An everyday meal might feature only one or two meats with a pudding, tarts, and vegetables...The different betweeen the more prosperous households and more modest ones might be in the quality and quantity of the meat served...Supper was a smaller meal, often similar to breakfast: bread, cheese, mush or hasty pudding, or warmed-over meat from the noon meal. Supper among the gentry was also a sociable meal, and might have warm food, meat or shellfish, such as oysters, in season."</i></b>---<i>Food in Colonial and Federal America</i>, Sandra L. Oliver [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2005(p. 157)</a><a name="colonialmealtimes"><br /></a></p><p><a name="colonialmealtimes"></a><a name="colonialmealtimes"><b><i>"Breakfast. The Colonial American breakfast was far from the juice, eggs and bacon of today. The stoic early settlers rose early and went straight to the chores that demanded their attention. In frontier outposts and on farms, families drank cider or beer and gulped down a bowl of porridge that had been cooking slowly all night over the embers...In the towns, the usual mug of alcoholic beverage consumed upon rising was followed by cornmeal mush and molasses with more cider or beer. By the nineteenth century, breakfast was served as late a 9 or 10 o'clock. Here might be found coffee, tea or chocolate, wafers, muffins, toasts, and a butter dish and knife...The southern poor ate cold turkey washed down with ever-present cider. The size of breakfasts grew in direct proportion to growth of wealth. Breads, cold meats and, especially in the Northeast, fruit pies and pasties joined the breakfast menus. Families in the Middle Colonies added special items such as scrapple (cornmeal and headcheese) and dutch sweetcakes wich were fried in deep fat. It was among the Southern planters that breakfast became a leisurely and delightful meal, though it was not served until early chores were attended to and orders for the day given...Breads were eaten at all times of the day but particularly at breakfast."</i></b></a><a name="colonialmealtimes">---<i>A Cooking Legacy</i>, Virginia T. Elverson and Mary Ann McLanahan [Walker & Company:New York] 1975 (p. 14)</a></p><p><a name="colonialmealtimes"><b><i>"Dinner. Early afternoon was the appointed hour for dinner in Colonial America. Throughout the seventeenth century and well into the eighteenth century it was served in the "hall" or "common room." ..While dinner among the affluent merchants in the North took place shortly after noon, the Southern planters enjoyed their dinner as late as bubbling stews were carried into the fields to feed the slaves and laborers...In the early settlements, poor families ate from trenchers filled from a common stew pot, with a bowl of coars salt the only table adornment. The earliest trenchers in America, as in the Middle Ages, were probably made from slabs of stale bread which were either eaten with the meal or thrown after use to the domestic animals. The stews often included pork, sweet corn and cabbage, or other vegetables and roots which were available...A typical comfortably fixed family in the late 1700s probably served two courses for dinner. The first course included several meats plus meat puddings and/or deep meat pies containing fruits and spices, pancakes and fritters, and the ever-present side dishes of sauces, pickles and catsups...Soups seem to have been served before of in conjunction with the first course. Desserts appeared with the second course. An assortment of fresh, cooked, or dried fruits, custards, tarts and sweetmeats was usually available. "Sallats," (salads) though more popular at supper, sometimes were served at dinner and occasionally provided decoration in the center of the table...Cakes were of many varieties: pound, gingerbread, spice and cheese."</i></b>---<i>A Cooking Legacy</i> (p. 24-28)</a></p><p><a name="colonialmealtimes"><b><i>"Supper. What is there to say about a meal that probably did not even exist for many settlers during the eary days of the Colonies and later seemed more like a bedtime snack made up of leftovers?...In the eighteenth century supper was a brief meal and, especially in the South, light and late. It generally consisted of leftovers from dinner, or of gruel (a mixture made from boiling water with oats, "Indian," (corn meal) or some other meal). One Massachusetts diary of 1797 describes roast potatoes, prepared with salt but no butter. Ale, cider, or some variety of beer was always served. In the richer merchant society and in Southern plantation life, eggs and egg dishes were special delicacies and were prepared as side dishes at either dinner or supper...Supper took on added importance as the nineteeth century wore on. This heretofore casual meal became more important as dinner was served earlier in the day."</i></b>---<i>A Cooking Legacy</i> (p. 79-81)</a></p><p>Colonial Era Cookbooks</p><p>1615, New Booke of Cookerie, John Murrell (London) </p><p>1798, American Cookery, Amelia Simmons (Hartford, CT)</p><p>1803, Frugal Housewife, Susannah Carter (New York, NY)</p><p>1807, A New System of Domestic Cookery, Maria Eliza Rundell (Boston, MA)</p><p>1808, New England Cookery, Lucy Emerson (Montpelier, VT)</p><p>Helpful Secondary Sources</p><p>America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking/Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 2004.</p><p>Colonial Kitchens, Their Furnishings, and Their Gardens/Frances Phipps Hawthorn; 1972</p><p>Early American Beverages/John Hull Brown Rutland, Vt., C. E. Tuttle Co 1996 </p><p>Early American Herb Recipes/Alice Cooke Brown ABC-CLIO Westport, United States</p><p>Food in Colonial and Federal America/Sandra L. Oliver</p><p>Home Life in Colonial Days/Alice Morse Earle (Chapter VII: Meat and Drink) New York : Macmillan Co., ©1926.</p><p><a name="colonialmealtimes"></a></p><p>A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America/James E. McWilliams New York : Columbia University Press, 2005.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-57867867909913746282021-07-15T04:00:00.002-04:002021-10-21T09:18:17.169-04:00Mary Jemison on The Revolution from the Native American Viewpoint <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="825" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ct4QFb4HrvN8f9SZlfIKxKD9E4jBh2aBDAcG7Ic0g4y99PsbF9AWCZpBjemK1cbzWqfGRD9o6T-X4nzAIHX92zYhUQz6PetnvXYKEXYOplbdyMCRrE4ozkbBwXKYfXzvOjXq4-YLJm0/w525-h640/Mary+Jemison+captured+by+Native+Americans+from+the+1856+printing+of+The+Life+of+Mary+Jemison%252C+Deh-He-Wa-Mis.jpg" width="525" /></span></div><p> <b style="color: #3333ff; font-family: inherit;">Mary Jemison captured by Native Americans from the 1856 printing of The Life of Mary Jemison, Deh-He-Wa-Mis</b></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><strong><span style="color: #3333ff;">Mary Jemison (Deh-he-wä-mis) (1743–1833)</span></strong> was probably about 15 years old, when she was captured & adopted by Seneca Indians during the French and Indian War. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Mary Jemison recounts her experience of the American War for Independence from a Native American perspective. The Senecas, after first pledging to remain neutral, were persuaded to take the side of the British at the council of Oswego. The resulting conflagration, in which the Senecas faced the advancing colonial army of General Sullivan, pitted Indian against Indian and would prove to have a catastrophic impact on <span style="font-family: inherit;">Jemison's adopted tribe. </span></span></span> <div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Thus, at peace amongst themselves, and with the neighboring whites, though there were none at that time very near, our Indians lived quietly and peaceably at home, till a little before the breaking out of the revolutionary war, when they were sent for, together with the Chiefs and members of the Six Nations generally, by the people of the States, to go to the German Flats, and there hold a general council, in order that the people of the states might ascertain, in good season, who they should esteem and treat as enemies, and who as friends, in the great war which was then upon the point of breaking out between them and the King of England.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Our Indians obeyed the call, and the council was holden at which the pipe of peace was smoked, and a treaty made, in which the Six Nations solemnly agreed that if a war should eventually break out, they would not take up arms on either side; but that they would observe a strict neutrality. With that the people of the states were satisfied, as they had not asked their assistance, nor did not wish it. The Indians returned to their homes well pleased that they could live on neutral ground, surrounded by the din of war, without being engaged in it.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>About a year passed off, and we, as usual, were enjoying ourselves in the employments of peaceable times, when a messenger arrived from the British Commissioners, requesting all the Indians of our tribe to attend a general council which was soon to be held at Oswego. The council convened, and being opened, the British Commissioners informed the Chiefs that the object of calling a council of the Six Nations, was, to engage their assistance in subduing the rebels, the people of the states, who had risen up against the good King, their master, and were about to rob him of a great part of his possessions and wealth, and added that they would amply reward them for all their services.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>The Chiefs then arose, and informed the Commissioners of the nature and extent of the treaty which they had entered into with the people of the states, the year before, and that they should not violate it by taking up the hatchet against them.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>The Commissioners continued their entreaties without success, till they addressed their avarice, by telling our people that the people of the states were few in number, and easily subdued; and that on the account of their disobedience to the King, they justly merited all the punishment that it was possible for White men and Indians to inflict upon them; and added, that the King was rich and powerful, both in money and subjects: That his rum was as plenty as the water in lake Ontario: that his men were as numerous as the sands upon the lake shore: and that the Indians, if they would assist in the war, and persevere in their friendship to the King, till it was closed, should never want for money or goods.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Upon this the Chiefs concluded a treaty with the British Commissioners, in which they agreed to take up arms against the rebels, and continue in the service of his Majesty till they were subdued, in consideration of certain conditions which were stipulated in the treaty to be performed by the British government and its agents.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>As soon as the treaty was finished, the Commissioners made a present to each Indian of a suit of clothes, a brass kettle, a gun and tomahawk, a scalping knife, a quantity of powder and lead, a piece of gold, and promised a bounty on every scalp that should be brought in. Thus richly clad and equipped, they returned home, after an absence of about two weeks, full of the fire of war, and anxious to encounter their enemies. Many of the kettles which the Indians received at that time are now in use on the Genesee Flats.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Hired to commit depredations upon the whites, who had given them no offence, they waited impatiently to commence their labor, till sometime in the spring of 1776, when a convenient opportunity offered for them to make an attack. At that time, a party of our Indians were at Cau-te-ga, who shot a man that was looking after his horse, for the sole purpose, as I was informed by my Indian brother, who was present, of commencing hostilities.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>In May following, our Indians were in their first battle with the Americans; but at what place I am unable to determine. While they were absent at that time, my daughter Nancy was born....</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Previous to the battle at Fort Stanwix, the British sent for the Indians to come and see them whip the rebels; and, at the same time stated that they did not wish to have them fight, but wanted to have them just sit down, smoke their pipes, and look on. Our Indians went, to a man; but contrary to their expectation, instead of smoking and looking on, they were obliged to fight for their lives, and in the end of the battle were completely beaten, with a great loss in killed and wounded. Our Indians alone had thirty-six killed, and a great number wounded. Our town exhibited a scene of real sorrow and distress, when our warriors returned and recounted their misfortunes, and stated the real loss they had sustained in the engagement. The mourning was excessive, and was expressed by the most doleful yells, shrieks, and bowlings, and by inimitable gesticulations.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>During the revolution, my house was the home of Col's Butler and Brandt, whenever they chanced to come into our neighborhood as they passed to and from Fort Niagara, which was the seat of their military operations. Many and many a night I have pounded samp for them from sun-set till sun-rise, and furnished them with necessary provision and clean clothing for their journey.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>For four or five years we sustained no loss in the war, except in the few who had been killed in distant battles; and our tribe, because of the remoteness of its situation from the enemy, felt secure from an attack. At length, in the fall of 1779, intelligence was received that a large and powerful army of the rebels, under the command of General Sullivan, was making rapid progress towards our settlement, burning and destroying the huts and corn-fields; killing the cattle, hogs and horses, and cutting down the fruit trees belonging to the Indians throughout the country.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Our Indians immediately became alarmed, and suffered every thing but death from fear that they should be taken by surprize, and totally destroyed at a single blow. But in order to prevent so great a catastrophe, they sent out a few spies who were to keep themselves at a short distance in front of the invading army, in order to watch its operations, and give information of its advances and success.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Sullivan arrived at Canandaigua Lake, and had finished his work of destruction there, and it was ascertained that he was about to march to our flats, when our Indians resolved to give him battle on the way and prevent, if possible, the distresses to which they knew we should be subjected, if he should succeed in reaching our town. Accordingly they sent all their women and children into the woods a little west of Little Beard's Town, in order that we might make a good retreat if it should be necessary, and then, well armed, set out to face the conquering enemy. The place which they fixed upon for their battle ground lay between Honeoy Creek and the head of Connessius Lake.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>At length a scouting party from Sullivan's army arrived at the spot selected, when the Indians arose from their ambush with all the fierceness and terror that it was possible for them to exercise, and directly put the party upon a retreat. Two Oneida Indians were all the prisoners that were taken in that skirmish. One of them was a pilot of Gen. Sullivan, and had been very active in the war, rendering to the people of the states essential services. At the commencement of the revolution he had a brother older than himself, who resolved to join the British service, and endeavored by all the art that he was capable of using to persuade his brother to accompany him; but his arguments proved abortive. This went to the British, and that joined the American army. At this critical juncture they met, one in the capacity of a conqueror, the other in that of a prisoner; and as an Indian seldom forgets a countenance that he has seen, they recognized each other at sight. Envy and revenge glared in the features of the conquering savage, as he advanced to his brother (the prisoner) in all the haughtiness of Indian pride, heightened by a sense of power, and addressed him in the following manner:</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>"Brother, you have merited death! The hatchet or the war-club shall finish your career! When I begged of you to follow me in the fortunes of war, you was deaf to my cries you spurned my entreaties !</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>"Brother! you have merited death and shall have your deserts! When the rebels raised their hatchets to fight their good master, you sharpened your knife, you brightened your rifle and led on our foes to the fields of our fathers! You have merited death and shall die by our hands! When those rebels had drove us from the fields of our fathers to seek out new homes, it was you who could dare to step forth as their pilot, and conduct them even to the doors of our wigwams, to butcher our children and put us to death! No crime can be greater! But though you have merited death and shall die on this spot, my hands shall not be stained in the blood of a brother! Who will strike?"</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Little Beard, who was standing by, as soon as the speech was ended, struck the prisoner on the head with his tomahawk, and despatched him at once!</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Little Beard then informed the other Indian prisoner that as they were at war with the whites only, and not with the Indians, they would spare his life, and after a while give him his liberty in an honorable manner. The Oneida warrior, however, was jealous of Little Beard's fidelity; and suspecting that he should soon fall by his hands, watched for a favorable opportunity to make his escape; which he soon effected. Two Indians were leading him, one on each side, when he made a violent effort, threw them upon the ground, and run for his life towards where the main body of the American army was encamped. The Indians pursued him without success; but in their absence they fell in with a small detachment of Sullivan's men, with whom they had a short but severe skirmish, in which they killed a number of the enemy, took Capt. or Lieut. William Boyd and one private, prisoners, and brought them to Little Beard's Town, where they were soon after put to death in the most shocking and cruel manner. Little Beard, in this, as in all other scenes of cruelty that happened at his town, was master of ceremonies, and principal actor. Poor Boyd was stripped of his clothing, and then tied to a sapling, where the Indians menaced his life by throwing their tomahawks at the tree, directly over his head, brandishing their scalping knives around him in the most frightful manner, and accompanying their ceremonies with terrific shouts of joy. Having punished him sufficiently in this way, they made a small opening in his abdomen, took out an intestine, which they tied to the sapling, and then unbound him from the tree, and drove him round it till he had drawn out the whole of his intestines. He was then beheaded, his head was stuck upon a pole, and his body left on the ground unburied. Thus ended the life of poor William Boyd, who, it was said, had every appearance of being an active and enterprizing officer, of the first talents. The other prisoner was (if I remember distinctly) only beheaded and left near Boyd.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>This tragedy being finished, our Indians again held a short council on the expediency of giving Sullivan battle, if he should continue to advance, and finally came to the conclusion that they were not strong enough to drive him, nor to prevent his taking possession of their fields: but that if it was possible they would escape with their own lives, preserve their families, and leave their possessions to be overrun by the invading army.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>The women and children were then sent on still further towards Buffalo, to a large creek that was called by the Indians Catawba, accompanied by a part of the Indians, while the remainder secreted themselves in the woods back of Beard's Town, to watch the movements of the army.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>At that time I had three children who went with me on foot, one who rode on horse back, and one whom I carried on my back.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Our corn was good that year; a part of which we had gathered and secured for winter.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>In one or two days after the skirmish at Connissius lake, Sullivan and his army arrived at Genesee river, where they destroyed every article of the food kind that they could lay their hands on. A part of our corn they burnt, and threw the remainder into the river. They burnt our houses, killed what few cattle and horses they could find, destroyed our fruit trees, and left nothing but the bare soil and timber. But the Indians had eloped and were not to be found.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Having crossed and recrossed the river, and finished the work of destruction, the army marched off to the east. Our Indians saw them move off, but suspecting that it was Sullivan's intention to watch our return, and then to take us by surprize, resolved that the main body of our tribe should hunt where we then were, till Sullivan had gone so far that there would be no danger of his returning to molest us.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>This being agreed to, we hunted continually till the Indians concluded that there could be no risk in our once more taking possession of our lands. Accordingly we all returned; but what were our feelings when we found that there was not a mouthful of any kind of sustenance left, not even enough to keep a child one day from perishing with hunger.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>The weather by this time had become cold and stormy; and as we were destitute of houses and food too, I immediately resolved to take my children and look out for myself, without delay. With this intention I took two of my little ones on my back, bade the other three follow, and the same night arrived on the Gardow flats, where I have ever since resided.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>At that time, two negroes, who had run away from their masters sometime before, were the only X inhabitants of those flats. They lived in a small cabin and had planted and raised a large field of corn, which they had not yet harvested. As they were in want of help to secure their crop, I hired to them to husk corn till the whole was harvested.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>I have laughed a thousand times to myself when I have thought of the good old negro, who hired me, who fearing that I should get taken or injured by the Indians, stood by me constantly when I was husking, with a loaded gun in his hand, in order to keep off the enemy, and thereby lost as much labor of his own as he received from me, by paying good wages. I, however, was not displeased with his attention; for I knew that I should need all the corn that I could earn, even if I should husk the whole. I husked enough for them, to gain for myself, at every tenth string, one hundred strings "of ears, which were equal to twenty-five bushels of shelled corn. This seasonable supply made my family comfortable for samp and cakes through the succeeding winter, which was the most severe that I have witnessed since my remembrance. The snow fell about five feet deep, and remained so for a long time, and the weather was extremely cold; so much so indeed, that almost all the game upon which the Indians depended for subsistence, perished, and reduced them almost to a state of starvation through that and three or four succeeding years. When the snow melted in the spring, deer were found dead upon the ground in vast numbers; and other animals, of every description, perished from the cold also, and were found dead, in multitudes. Many of our people barely escaped with their lives, and some actually died of hunger and freezing.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>See: James E. Seaver, The Life of Mary Jemison: The White Woman of the Genesee. 1824. New York.</strong></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-88179880784665956012021-07-13T04:00:00.004-04:002021-10-21T09:10:44.144-04:00Mary Jemison captured by Native Americans in the 1750s<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ct4QFb4HrvN8f9SZlfIKxKD9E4jBh2aBDAcG7Ic0g4y99PsbF9AWCZpBjemK1cbzWqfGRD9o6T-X4nzAIHX92zYhUQz6PetnvXYKEXYOplbdyMCRrE4ozkbBwXKYfXzvOjXq4-YLJm0/s1600/Mary+Jemison+captured+by+Native+Americans+from+the+1856+printing+of+The+Life+of+Mary+Jemison%252C+Deh-He-Wa-Mis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="825" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ct4QFb4HrvN8f9SZlfIKxKD9E4jBh2aBDAcG7Ic0g4y99PsbF9AWCZpBjemK1cbzWqfGRD9o6T-X4nzAIHX92zYhUQz6PetnvXYKEXYOplbdyMCRrE4ozkbBwXKYfXzvOjXq4-YLJm0/w525-h640/Mary+Jemison+captured+by+Native+Americans+from+the+1856+printing+of+The+Life+of+Mary+Jemison%252C+Deh-He-Wa-Mis.jpg" width="525" /></span></a></div>
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<span><span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: inherit;"><b>Mary Jemison captured by Native Americans from the 1856 printing of The Life of Mary Jemison, Deh-He-Wa-Mis</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><strong><span style="color: #3333ff;"><br /></span></strong></span>
<span><strong><span style="color: #3333ff;">Mary Jemison (Deh-he-wä-mis) (1743–1833)</span></strong> was probably about 15 years old, when she was captured & adopted by Seneca Indians during the French and Indian War. Jemison was 80 years old, when she told her story to James Seaver who wrote the narrative of the young English woman who chose to remain within the Indian culture which had adopted her.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #006600;"><b><i>The night was spent in gloomy forebodings. What the result of our captivity would be, it was out of our power to determine, or even imagine. At times, we could almost realize the approach of our masters to butcher and scalp us; again, we could nearly see the pile of wood kindled on which we were to be roasted; and then we would imagine ourselves at liberty, alone and defenseless in the forest, surrounded by wild beasts that were ready to devour us. The anxiety of our minds drove sleep from our eyelids; and it was with a dreadful hope and painful impatience that we waited for the morning to determine our fate.<br /><br />The morning at length arrived, and our masters came early and let us out of the house, and gave the young man and boy to the French, who immediately took them away. Their fate I never learned, as I have not seen nor heard of them since.<br /><br />I was now left alone in the fort, deprived of my former companions, and of every thing that was near or dear to me but life. But it was not long before I was in some measure relieved by the appearance of two pleasant looking squaws, of the Seneca tribe, who came and examined me attentively for a short time, and then went out. After a few minutes' absence, they returned in company with my former masters, who gave me to the squaws to dispose of as they pleased.<br /><br />The Indians by whom I was taken were a party of Shawnees,* if I remember right, that lived, when at home, a long distance down the Ohio.<br /><br />My former Indian masters and the two squaws were soon ready to leave the fort, and accordingly embarked -- the Indians in a large canoe, and the two squaws and myself in a small one-and went down the Ohio. When we set off, an Indian in the forward canoe took the scalps of my former friends, strung them on a pole that he placed upon his shoulder, and in that manner carried them, standing in the stern of the canoe directly before us, as we sailed down the river, to the town where the two squaws resided.<br /><br />On the way we passed a Shawnee town, where I saw a number of heads, arms, legs, and other fragments of the bodies of some white people who had just been burned. The parts that remained were hanging on a pole, which was supported at each end by a crotch stuck in the ground, and were roasted or burnt black as a coal. The fire was yet burning; and the whole appearance afforded a spectacle so shocking that even to this day the blood almost curdles in my veins when I think of them.<br /><br />At night we arrived at a small Seneca Indian town, at the mouth of a small river that was called by the Indians, in the Seneca language, She-nan-jee, about eighty miles by water from the fort, where the two squaws to whom I belonged resided. There we landed, and the Indians went on; which was the last I ever saw of them.<br /><br />Having made fast to the shore, the squaws left me in the canoe while they went to their wigwam or house in the town, and returned with a suit of Indian clothing, all new, and very clean and nice. My clothes, though whole and good when I was taken, were now torn in pieces, so that I was almost naked. They first undressed me, and threw my rags into the river; then washed me clean and dressed me in the new suit they had just brought, in complete Indian style; and then led me home and seated me in the center of their wigwam.<br /><br />I had been in that situation but a few minutes before all the squaws in the town came in to see me. I was soon surrounded by them, and they immediately set up a most dismal howling, crying bitterly, and wringing their hands in all the agonies of grief for a deceased relative.<br /><br />Their tears flowed freely, and they exhibited all the signs of real mourning. At the commencement of this scene, one of their number began, in a voice somewhat between speaking and singing, to recite some words to the following purport, and continued the recitation till the ceremony was ended; the company at the same time varying the appearance of their countenances, gestures, and tone of voice, so as to correspond with the sentiments expressed by their leader.<br /><br />"Oh, our brother! alas! he is dead-he has gone; he will never return! Friendless he died on the field of the slain, where his bones are yet lying unburied! Oh! who will not mourn his sad fate? No tears dropped around him: oh, no! No tears of his sisters were there! He fell in his prime, when his arm was most needed to keep us from danger! Alas! he has gone, and left us in sorrow, his loss to bewail! Oh, where is his spirit? His spirit went naked, and hungry it wanders, and thirsty and wounded, it groans to return! Oh, helpless and wretched, our brother has gone! No blanket nor food to nourish and warm him; nor candles to light him, nor weapons of war! Oh, none of those comforts had he! But well we remember his deeds! The deer he could take on the chase! The panther shrunk back at the sight of his strength! His enemies fell at his feet! He was brave and courageous in war! As the fawn, he was harmless; his friendship was ardent; his temper was gentle; his pity was great! Oh! our friend, our companion, is dead! Our brother, our brother! alas, he is gone! But why do we grieve for his loss? In the strength of a warrior, undaunted he left us, to fight by the side of the chiefs! His warwhoop was shrill! His rifle well aimed laid his enemies low: his tomahawk drank of their blood: and his knife flayed their scalps while yet covered with gore! And why do we mourn? Though he fell on the field of the slain, with glory he fell; and his spirit went up to the land of his fathers in war! They why do we mourn? With transports of joy, they received him, and fed him, and clothed him, and welcomed him there! Oh, friends, he is happy; then dry up your tears! His spirit has seen our distress, and sent us a helper whom with pleasure we greet. Deh-hew5-mis has come: then let us receive her with joy!-she is handsome and pleasant! Oh! she is our sister, and gladly we welcome her here. In the place of our brother she stands in our tribe. With care we will guard her from trouble; and may she be happy till her spirit shall leave us."<br /><br />In the course of that ceremony, from mourning they became serene,-joy sparkled in their countenances, and they seemed to rejoice over me as over a long-lost child. I was made welcome among them as a sister to the two squaws before mentioned, and was called Deh-hew5-mis; which, being interpreted, signifies a pretty girl, a handsome girl, or a pleasant, good thing. That is the name by which I have ever since been called by the Indians.<br /><br />I afterward learned that the ceremony I at that time passed through was that of adoption. The two squaws had lost a brother in Washington's war, sometime in the year before, and in consequence of his death went up to Fort Du Quesne on the day on which I arrived there, in order to receive a prisoner, or an enemy's scalp, to supply their loss. It is a custom of the Indians, when one of their number is slain or taken prisoner in battle, to give to the nearest relative of the dead or absent a prisoner, if they have chanced to take one; and if not, to give him the scalp of an enemy. On the return of the Indians from the conquest, which is always announced by peculiar shoutings, demonstrations of joy, and the exhibition of some trophy of victory, the mourners come forward and make their claims. If they receive a prisoner, it is at their option either to satiate their vengeance by taking his life in the most cruel manner they can conceive of, or to receive and adopt him into the family, in the place of him whom they have lost. All the prisoners that are taken in battle and carried to the encampment or town by the Indians are given to the bereaved families, till their number is good. And unless the mourners have but just received the news of their bereavement, and are under the operation of a paroxysm of grief, anger, or revenge; or, unless the prisoner is very old, sickly, or homely, they generally save them, and treat them kindly. But if their mental wound is fresh, their loss so great that they deem it irreparable, or if their prisoner or prisoners do not meet their approbation, no torture, let it be ever so cruel, seems sufficient to make them satisfaction. It is family and not national sacrifices among the Indians, that has given them an indelible stamp as barbarians, and identified their character with the idea which is generally formed of unfeeling ferocity and the most barbarous cruelty.<br /><br />It was my happy lot to be accepted for adoption. At the time of the ceremony I was received by the two squaws to supply the place of their brother in the family; and I was ever considered and treated by them as a real sister, the same as though I had been born of their mother.<br /><br />During the ceremony of my adoption, I sat motionless, nearly terrified to death at the appearance and actions of the company, expecting every moment to feel their vengeance, and suffer death on the spot. I was, however, happily disappointed; when at the close of the ceremony the company retired, and my sisters commenced employing every means for my consolation and comfort.<br /><br />Being now settled and provided with a home, I was employed in nursing the children, and doing light work about the house. Occasionally, I was sent out with the Indian hunters, when they went but a short distance, to help them carry their game. My situation was easy; I had no particular hardships to endure. But still, the recollection of my parents, my brothers and sisters, my home, and my own captivity, destroyed my happiness, and made me constantly solitary, lonesome, and gloomy.<br /><br />My sisters would not allow me to speak English in their hearing; but remembering the charge that my dear mother gave me at the time I left her, whenever I chanced to be alone I made a business of repeating my prayer, catechism, or something I had learned, in order that I might not forget my own language. By practicing in that way, I retained it till I came to Genesee flats, where I soon became acquainted with English people, with whom I have been almost daily in the habit of conversing.<br /><br />My sisters were very diligent in teaching me their language; and to their great satisfaction, I soon learned so that I could understand it readily, and speak it fluently. I was very fortunate in falling into their hands; for they were kind, good-natured women; peaceable and mild in their dispositions; temperate and decent in their habits, and very tender and gentle toward me. I have great reason to respect them, though they have been dead a great number of years...<br /><br />After the conclusion of the French war, our tribe had nothing to do till the commencement of the American Revolution. For twelve or fifteen years, the use of the implements of war was not known, nor the warwhoop heard, save on days of festivity, when the achievements of former times were commemorated in a kind of mimic warfare, in which the chiefs, and warriors displayed their prowess, and illustrated their former adroitness, by laying the ambuscade, surprising their enemies, and performing many accurate maneuvers with the tomahawk and scalping knife; thereby preserving, and banding to their children, the theory of Indian warfare. During that period they also pertinaciously observed the religious rites of their progenitors, by attending with the most scrupulous exactness, and a great degree of enthusiasm, to the sacrifices, at particular times, to appease the anger of the Evil Deity; or to excite the commiseration of the Great Good Spirit, whom they adored with reverence, as the author, governor, supporter, and disposer of every good thing of which they participated.<br /><br />They also practiced in various athletic games, such as running, wrestling, leaping, and playing ball, with a view that their bodies might be more supple -- or, rather, that they might not become enervated, and that they might be enabled to make a proper selection of chiefs for the councils of the nation, and leaders for war.<br /><br />While the Indians were thus engaged in their round of traditionary performances, with the addition of hunting, their women attended to agriculture, their families, and a few domestic concerns of small consequence and attended with but little labor.<br /><br />No people can live more happy than the Indians did in times of peace, before the introduction of spiritous liquors among them. Their lives were a continual round of pleasures. Their wants were few, and easily satisfied, and their cares were only for to-day -- the bounds of their calculation for future comfort not extending to the incalculable uncertainties of to-morrow. If peace ever dwelt with men, it was in former times, in the recess from war, among what are now termed barbarians. The moral character of the Indians was (if I may be allowed the expression) uncontaminated. Their fidelity was perfect, and became proverbial. They were strictly honest; they despised deception and falsehood; and chastity was held in high 'veneration, and a violation of it was considered sacrilege. They were temperate in their desires, moderate in their passions, and candid and honorable in the expression of their sentiments, on every subject of importance.<br /><br />Thus, at peace among themselves and with the neighboring whites -though there were none at that time very near- our Indians lived quietly and peaceably at home, till a little before the breaking out of the Revolutionary War...<br /><br />Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, my Indian brother, Kau-jises-tau-ge-au, (which being interpreted signifies Black Coals,) offered me my liberty, and told me that if it was my choice I might go to my friends.<br /><br />My son Thomas was anxious that I should go; and offered to go with me, and assist me on the journey, by taking care of the younger children, and providing food as we traveled through the wilderness. But the chiefs of our tribe, suspecting, from his appearance, actions, and a few warlike exploits, that Thomas would be a great warrior, or a good counselor, refused to let him leave them on any account whatever.<br /><br />To go myself, and leave him, was more than I felt able to do; for he had been kind to me, and was one on whom I placed great dependence. The chiefs refusing to let him go was one reason for my resolving to stay; but another, more powerful if possible, was, that I had got a large family of Indian children that I must take with me; and that, if I should be so fortunate as to find my relatives, they would despise them, if not myself, and treat us as enemies, or, at least, with a degree of cold indifference, which I thought I could not endure.<br /><br />Accordingly, after I had duly considered the matter, I told my brother that it was my choice to stay and spend the remainder of my days with my Indian friends, and live with my family as I hitherto had done. He appeared well pleased with my resolution, and informed me that, as that was my choice, I should have a piece of land that I could call my own, where I could live unmolested, and have something at my decease to leave for the benefit of my children.</i></b></span><br />
<strong><span>See: James E. Seaver, The Life of Mary Jemison: The White Woman of the Genesee. 1824. New York.</span></strong></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-91429714615510550102021-07-11T04:00:00.001-04:002021-10-21T08:52:40.293-04:00Sarah Osborn's Revolutionay War Service<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDaG2lXw1Q8YQUJ8eL2IzfBsAn5WxI_AV8nIqMoORwd2v3aiu8QSgppwLvwus9zGuxz2rk8ef1xjZ-Mvi2e-Uqc_Q-8-vWTQLMKvLOESJmWtOlwljvfpjyCvSUysoO8GFzRsBXqa5Byp8/s668/sar+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="560" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDaG2lXw1Q8YQUJ8eL2IzfBsAn5WxI_AV8nIqMoORwd2v3aiu8QSgppwLvwus9zGuxz2rk8ef1xjZ-Mvi2e-Uqc_Q-8-vWTQLMKvLOESJmWtOlwljvfpjyCvSUysoO8GFzRsBXqa5Byp8/w536-h640/sar+.jpg" width="536" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sarah Osborn (c 1754-1854) of Albany, New York, married blacksmith Aaron Osborn in 1780. He re-enlisted in the Third New York Regiment of the Continental forces as a commissary sergeant & asked Sarah to come with him. She worked as a washerwoman & cook for the troops. She spent about 3 years in the military, during which time she had 2 children, Phoebe & Aaron, Jr.<br />
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She was in New Windsor on February 20th, 1783, when the army was disbanded. Her husband Aaron left her at New Windsor. Without benefit of divorce, he married Polly Sloat. Sarah confirmed the remarriage of her husband and returned to her home in Blooming Grove, Orange County, New York, where she married John Benjamin.<br />
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After John Benjamin's death, in November 1837, at the age of 81, she was awarded a pension as Osborn's widow. She received a pension of $88 a year & remained on the pension rolls for 27 years<br />
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<strong><em>...after deponent had married said [Aaron] Osborn, he informed her that he was returned during the war, and that he desired deponent to go with him. Deponent declined until she was informed by Captain Gregg that her husband should be put on the commissary guard, and that she should have the means of conveyance either in a wagon or on horseback. That deponent then in the same winter season in sleighs accompanied her husband and the forces under command of Captain Gregg on the east side of the Hudson river to Fishkill, then crossed the river and went down to West Point. There remained till the river opened in the spring, when they returned to Albany. Captain Gregg’s company was along, and she thinks Captain Parsons, Lieutenant Forman, and Colonel Van Schaick, but is not positive.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent, accompanied by her said husband and the same forces, returned during the same season to West Point. Deponent recollects no other females in company but the wife of Lieutenant Forman and of Sergeant Lamberson...</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent further says that she and her husband remained at West Point till the departure of the army for the South, a term of perhaps one year and a half, but she cannot be positive as to the length of time. While at West Point, deponent lived at Lieutenant Foot’s, who kept a boardinghouse. Deponent was employed in washing and sewing for the soldiers. Her said husband was employed about the camp...</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>When the army were about to leave West Point and go south, they crossed over the river to Robinson’s Farms and remained there for a length of time to induce the belief, as deponent understood, that they were going to take up quarters there, whereas they recrossed the river in the nighttime into the Jerseys and traveled all night in a direct course for Philadelphia. Deponent was part of the time on horseback and part of the time in a wagon. Deponent’s said husband was still serving as one of the commissary’s guard...</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>They continued their march to Philadelphia, deponent on horseback through the streets, and arrived at a place towards the Schuylkill where the British had burnt some houses, where they encamped for the afternoon and night. Being out of bread, deponent was employed in baking the afternoon and evening. Deponent recollects no females but Sergeant Lamberson’s and Lieutenant Forman’s wives and a colored woman by the name of Letta. The Quaker ladies who came round urged deponent to stay, but her said husband said, “No, he could not leave her behind.” Accordingly, next day they continued their march from day to day till they arrived at Baltimore, where deponent and her said husband and the forces under command of General Clinton, Captain Gregg, and several other officers, all of whom she does not recollect, embarked on board a vessel and sailed down the Chesapeake...</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>They continued sail until they had got up the St. James River as far as the tide would carry them, about twelve miles from the mouth, and then landed, and the tide being spent, they had a fine time catching sea lobsters, which they ate.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>They, however, marched immediately for a place called Williamsburg, as she thinks, deponent alternately on horseback and on foot. There arrived, they remained two days till the army all came in by land and then marched for Yorktown, or Little York as it was then called. The York troops were posted at the right, the Connecticut troops next, and the French to the left. In about one day or less than a day, they reached the place of encampment about one mile from Yorktown. Deponent was on foot and the other females above named and her said husband still on the commissary’s guard...</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent took her stand just back of the American tents, say about a mile from the town, and busied herself washing, mending, and cooking for the soldiers, in which she was assisted by the other females; some men washed their own clothing. She heard the roar of the artillery for a number of days, and the last night the Americans threw up entrenchments, it was a misty, foggy night, rather wet but not rainy. Every soldier threw up for himself, as she understood, and she afterwards saw and went into the entrenchments. Deponent’s said husband was there throwing up entrenchments, and deponent cooked and carried in beef, and bread, and coffee to the soldiers in the entrenchment.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>On one occasion when deponent was thus employed carrying in provisions, she met General Washington, who asked her if she “was not afraid of the cannonballs?”</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>She replied, “No, the bullets would not cheat the gallows,” that “It would not do for the men to fight and starve too.”</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>They dug entrenchments nearer and nearer to Yorktown every night or two till the last. While digging that, the enemy fired very heavy till about nine o’clock next morning, then stopped, and the drums from the enemy beat excessively. Deponent was a little way off in Colonel Van Schaick’s or the officers' marquee and a number of officers were present, among whom was Captain Gregg, who, on account of infirmities, did not go out much to do duty.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>The drums continued beating, and all at once the officers hurrahed and swung their hats, and deponent asked them, “What is the matter now?”</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>One of them replied, “Are not you soldier enough to know what it means?”</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent replied, “No.”</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>They then replied, “The British have surrendered.”</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent, having provisions ready, carried the same down to the entrenchments that morning, and four of the soldiers whom she was in the habit of cooking for ate their breakfasts.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent stood on one side of the road and the American officers upon the other side when the British officers came out of the town and rode up to the American officers and delivered up [their swords, which the deponent] thinks were returned again, and the British officers rode right on before the army, who marched out beating and playing a melancholy tune, their drums covered with black handkerchiefs and their fifes with black ribbands tied around them, into an old field and there grounded their arms and then returned into town again to await their destiny. </em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent recollects seeing a great many American officers, some on horseback and some on foot, but cannot call them all by name. Washington, Lafayette, and Clinton were among the number. The British general at the head of the army was a large, portly man, full face, and the tears rolled down his cheeks as he passed along. She does not recollect his name, but it was not Cornwallis. She saw the latter afterwards and noticed his being a man of diminutive appearance and having cross eyes...</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>After two or three days, deponent and her husband, Captain Gregg, and others who were sick or complaining embarked on board a vessel from Yorktown, not the same they came down in, and set sail up the Chesapeake Bay and continued to the Head of Elk, where they landed. The main body of the army remained behind but came on soon afterwards. Deponent and her husband proceeded with the commissary’s teams from the Head of Elk, leaving Philadelphia to the right, and continued day after day till they arrived at Pompton Plains in New Jersey. Deponent does not recollect the county. They were joined by the main body of the army under General Clinton’s command, and they set down for winter quarters. Deponent and her husband lived a part of the time in a tent made of logs but covered with cloth, and a part of the time at a Mr. Manuel’s near Pompton Meetinghouse. She busied herself during the winter in cooking and sewing as usual. Her said husband was on duty among the rest of the army and held the station of corporal from the time he left West Point.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>In the opening of spring, they marched to West Point and remained there during the summer, her said husband still with her. In the fall they came up a little back of New-burgh to a place called New Windsor and put up huts on Ellis’s lands and again sat down for winter quarters, her said husband still along and on duty. The York troops and Connecticut troops were there. In the following spring or autumn they were all discharged. Deponent and her said husband remained in New Windsor in a log house built by the army until the spring following. Some of the soldiers boarded at their house and worked round among the farmers, as did her said husband also.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent and her said husband spent certainly more than three years in the service, for she recollects a part of one winter at West Point and the whole of another winter there, another winter at Pompton Plains, and another at New Windsor. And her husband was the whole time under the command of Captain Gregg as an enlisted soldier holding the station of corporal to the best of her knowledge.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>In the winter before the army were disbanded at New Windsor, on the twentieth of February, deponent had a child by the name of Phebe Osborn, of whom the said Aaron Osborn was the father. A year and five months afterwards, on the ninth day of August at the same place, she had another child by the name of Aaron Osborn, Jr., of whom the said husband was the father...</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>About three months after the birth of her last child, Aaron Osborn, Jr., she last saw her said husband, who then left her at New Windsor and never returned. He had been absent at intervals before this from deponent, and at one time deponent understood he was married again to a girl by the name of Polly Sloat above Newburgh about fifteen or sixteen miles. </em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Deponent got a horse and rode up to inquire into the truth of the story. She arrived at the girl’s father’s and there found her said husband, and Polly Sloat, and her parents. Deponent was kindly treated by the inmates of the house but ascertained for a truth that her husband was married to said girl. After remaining overnight, deponent determined to return home and abandon her said husband forever, as she found he had conducted in such a way as to leave no hope of reclaiming him. About two weeks afterwards, her said husband came to see deponent in New Windsor and offered to take deponent and her children to the northward, but deponent declined going, under a firm belief that he would conduct no better, and her said husband the same night absconded with two others, crossed the river at Newburgh, and she never saw him afterwards. This was about a year and a half after his discharge...</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>After deponent was thus left by Osborn, she removed from New Windsor to Blooming Grove, Orange County, New York, about fifty years ago, where she had been born and brought up, and, having married Mr. Benjamin...she continued to reside there perhaps thirty-five years, when she and her husband Benjamin removed to Pleasant Mount, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, and there she has resided to this day. Her said husband, John Benjamin, died there ten years ago last April, from which time she has continued to be and is now a widow.</em></strong><br />
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Source: <strong>Sarah Osborn’s 1837 application for Revolutionary War pension</strong>, Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans Administration, National Archives, Washington, D.C.<br />
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For more information on army camp followers see:<br />
<strong><span>Walter Hart Blumenthal, Women Camp Followers of the American Revolution (New York, 1974)<br /><br />Barton C. Hacker, “Women and Military Institutions in Early Modern Europe: A Reconnaissance,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 6, no. 4 (Summer 1981), 643-671.<br /><br />Paul E. Kopperman, “Medical Services in the British Army, 1742-1783,” Journal of the History of Medicine (October 1979), 428-455.<br /><br />Charlotte Brown, “The Journal of Charlotte Brown, Matron of the General Hospital, with the English Forces in America, 1754-1756,” in Isabel M. Calder, Colonial Captivities, Marches and Journeys (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, Inc., 1935).<br /><br />Mary M. Crawford, ed., “Mrs. Lydia B. Bacon’s Journal, 1811-1812,” Indiana Magazine of History, vol. 40 (Dec. 1944).<br /><br />Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1990)</span></strong>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-45087212195564374242021-07-09T04:00:00.061-04:002021-10-21T08:29:10.392-04:00Quaker Women Preachers in 1753 North Carolina<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_Vl7XiPAwJSjXuK4Eu9c4rzQU-TAlAV57C8QvVSRCGjX9NUokq1tK4YllNxajmiwBqaG-AnwsA4pd1VdGJnjgnmenrG0Dp7VQgSnkY5ppLFCcefljWaXDhNmTWgUSW9XDxZ9qSdHMzA/s597/quak+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="597" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_Vl7XiPAwJSjXuK4Eu9c4rzQU-TAlAV57C8QvVSRCGjX9NUokq1tK4YllNxajmiwBqaG-AnwsA4pd1VdGJnjgnmenrG0Dp7VQgSnkY5ppLFCcefljWaXDhNmTWgUSW9XDxZ9qSdHMzA/w640-h468/quak+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://davidcecelski.com/2018/08/11/the-lawfulness-of-women-preaching-mary-peisleys-journals-letters/" style="text-align: left;">“The Lawfulness of Women Preaching”—Mary Peisley’s Journals & Letters </a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://davidcecelski.com/2018/08/11/the-lawfulness-of-women-preaching-mary-peisleys-journals-letters/" style="text-align: left;">by David Cecelski, August 11, 1018</a></p><p>Mary Peisley was a Quaker missionary from Ireland, who visited North Carolina's remote back roads & Indian paths in 1753-54 with her compnion Catherine Phillips. Together the two women explored the Carolina backcountry, followed the Cape Fear River to Wilmington & traveled north to the old Quaker meetings above the Albemarle Sound.</p><p>Mary Peisley wrote about the trials of traveling in the colony. <b><i>“We rode two days & an half, & lay two nights in the woods, without being under the roof of a house,”</i></b> she wrote at one point.</p><p>Elsewhere she recalled that they experienced<b><i> “abundant hardships & sufferings of body”</i></b> & often found <b><i>“lodging in the woods in cold frosty weather, on damp grounds with bad firing.”</i></b></p><p>Yet, in a letter to an uncle, she also described the tranquility that she sometimes found in those hard circumstances. <b><i>“I have sat down by a brook in the woods, eat my Indian-corn bread, & drank water out of a calabash, with more content & peace of mind than many who were served in plate, & at night have slept contentedly in my riding clothes, on a bed hard enough to make my bones ache, & the house so open on every side as to admit plenty of light & air.“</i></b></p><p>She wrote to her uncle, <b><i>“I have compared my passage through these woods, to my pilgrimage through the world, & indeed in some things it bears a just resemblance; the path we rode through was exceeding narrow, & sometimes so closed as not to see a footstep before me, caught by boughs on one hand & bushes on the other, obliged to stoop very low, lest my head should be hurt or eyes pulled out: this I compare to the entangling things of the present world, which are ready to catch the affections on every side & blind the eyes of the soul.”</i></b></p><p>In that letter to her uncle, Peisley talked of astonishment at the degree of sickness & illness in the Carolina backcountry. <b><i>“I do not remember that we have been in a house or family since we left Charleston, but one or more were ill of a fever or ague, so that it seems like an universal contagion which has overspread the inhabitants of this quarter.“</i></b></p><p>Often times the local religious meetings disappointed Peisley, but she & Phillips also preached at gatherings that lifted her spirits above the cold & illness around her.</p><p>After a meeting by the Neuse River, for instance, she wrote, <b><i>“we had a large & comfortable meeting, in which I thought it might be truly said the Lord’s power was over all, & that even devilish spirits were made subject to that power, by which we were assisted to speak.”</i></b></p><p>As they rode from one Quaker meeting to the next, Mary Peisley remembered, they <b><i>“were often kindly entertained, according to their ability, at the houses of these not of our society.” </i></b>In her letters & journals, she expressed gratitude to those non-Quakers who gave them supper or took them in for a night’s lodging.</p><p><b><i>“Sometimes,” </i></b>though, she wrote, <b><i>“at our first entrance they would look strangely at us, because they understood not the lawfulness of women’s preaching, having never heard any.”</i></b></p><p>They stood out as women ministers, but they also were out of the ordinary, of course, because they were unmarried women & not traveling in the company of a husband, father, brother or son. <b><i>“Thus did we pass for a sign & wonder,” </i></b>Peisley wrote.</p><p>Though unaccustomed to women ministers, the local people had grown used to seeing other kinds of women traveling in the colony on their own.</p><p>In Some Account of the Life, Peisley recalled: <b><i>“Some would say, when invited to a Quaker meeting, that we were women who ran from our own country for some ill act.”</i></b> But the roadside inhabitants of colonial North Carolina took the women into their homes anyway.</p><p>She knew that they were unfamiliar with the role of women in early Quakerism. She also understood that they were <b><i>“not … acquainted with the supernatural power of love, which had influenced our hearts, nor the rules & discipline of friends.“</i></b></p><p>According to Peisley, many of those who greeted them so warily eventually even proved willing to listen to their Quaker teachings.<b><i> “Through divine favour,”</i></b> she wrote, <b><i>“I have not heard of any of them who went away dissatisfied…”</i></b></p><p>See: Mary Peisley Neale's <b><i>Some Account of the Life & Religious Exercises of Mary Neale, formerly Mary Peisley </i></b>(Dublin, 1795) gives a view of their journey. Also from her journals & letters, her widowed husband, Samuel Neale, published the volume in Dublin in 1795.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-67700948019150768412021-07-07T04:00:00.000-04:002021-10-21T08:12:06.924-04:00Elizabeth Ashbridge (1713–1755) Sails to America & Becomes a Quaker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2IMLeSH76MJnSkiAVtLrxna7IpztBqxibO458tcj4bhyphenhyphenM8qZ4wPO9lPz30Dsl7Gd5rm0ww4Z7j0-DXEaSU7IiKNEiZZLo064p9vbp5e06rDtxgQDhW-dFN7KshA7PRHobenoXY74KzY/s489/quaker+%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="489" height="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2IMLeSH76MJnSkiAVtLrxna7IpztBqxibO458tcj4bhyphenhyphenM8qZ4wPO9lPz30Dsl7Gd5rm0ww4Z7j0-DXEaSU7IiKNEiZZLo064p9vbp5e06rDtxgQDhW-dFN7KshA7PRHobenoXY74KzY/w640-h608/quaker+%25282%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">English-born Elizabeth Ashbridge (1713–1755) eloped at age 14 & was a widow 5 months later. Rejected by her family, she sailed for New York in 1732.</div>
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Forced to sign an indenture to pay for her passage, she worked as a house servant in conditions that <strong><em>"would make the most strong heart pity the Misfortunes of a young creature as I was."</em></strong> After 3 years she bought out the remainder of her contract supporting herself as a seamstress.<br />
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In New York, she married a man who was frequently violently drunk & who despised the Quaker religion. From New York, Elizabeth traveled to Philadelphia to visit relatives, and her husband followed.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><strong><em>When I came to Trent-town Ferry, I felt no small mortification on hearing that my relations were all Quakers, and, what was worst of all, that my aunt was a preacher. I was exceedingly prejudiced against this people, and often wondered how they could call themselves Christians.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>I repented my coming, and was almost inclined to turn back; yet, as I was so far on my journey, I proceeded, though I expected but little comfort from my visit, How little was I aware it would bring me to the knowledge of the truth!</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>I went from Trent-town to Philadelphia by water, and from thence to my uncle’s on horseback. My uncle was dead, and my aunt married again; yet, both she and her husband received me in the kindest manner. I had scarcely been three hours in the house, before my opinion of these people began to alter.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>I perceived a book lying upon the table, and, being fond of reading, took it up; my aunt observed me, and said, “Cousin, that is a Quaker’s book.” She saw I was not a Quaker, and supposed I would not like it. I made her no answer, but queried with myself, what can these people write about? I have heard that they deny the scriptures, and have no other bible than George Fox’s Journal,— denying, also, all the holy ordinances.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>But, before I had read two pages, my heart burned within me, and, for fear I should be seen, I went into the garden. 1 sat down, and, as the piece was short, read it before I returned, though I was often obliged to stop to give vent to my tears. The fulness of my heart produced the involuntary exclamation of,</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>“My God, must I, if ever I come to the knowledge of thy truth, be of this man’s opinion, who has sought thee as I have done; and must I join this people, to whom, a few hours ago, I preferred the papists. O, thou God of my salvation, and of my life; who hath abundantly manifested thy long suffering and tender mercy, in redeeming me as from the lowest hell, I beseech thee to direct use in the right way, and keep me from error; so will I perform my covenant, and think nothing too near to part with for thy name’s sake. O, happy peoples thus beloved of God!”</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Alter having collected myself, I washed my face, that it might not be perceived I had been weeping. In the night I got but little sleep; the enemy of mankind haunted me with his insinuations, by suggesting that I was one of those that wavered, and not steadfast in faith; and advancing several texts of scripture against me, as that, in the latter days, there should be those who would deceive the very elect; that of such were the people I was among, and that I was in danger of being deluded.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>Warned in this manner, (from the right source as I thought,) I resolved to be aware of those deceivers, and for some weeks did not touch one of their books. The next day, being the first of the week, I was desirous of going to church, which was distant about four miles; but being a stranger, and having no one to go with me, I gave up all thoughts of that and, as most of the family were going to meeting, I went there with them.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>As we sat in silence, I looked over the meeting, and said to myself, “How like fools these people sit; how much better would it be to stay at home, and read the Bible, or some good book, than come here and go to sleep.” As for me I was very drowsy; and, while asleep, had nearly fallen down. This was the last time I ever fell asleep in a meeting. I now began to be lifted up with spiritual pride, and to think myself better than they; but this disposition of mind did not last long.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>It may seem strange that, after living so long with one of this society at Dublin, I should yet be so much a stranger to them. In answer, let it be considered that, while I was there, I never read any of their books nor went to one meeting; besides, I had heard such accounts of them, as made me think that, of all societies, they were the worst. But he who knows the sincerity of the heart, looked on my weakness with pity; I was permitted to see my error, and shown that these were the people I ought to join.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>A few weeks afterwards, there was an afternoon meeting at my uncle’s, at which a minister named William Hammans was present. I was highly prejudiced against him when he stood up, but I was soon humbled; for he preached the gospel with such power that I was obliged to confess it was the truth. But, though he was the instrument of assisting me out of many doubts, my mind was not wholly freed from them.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>The morning before this meeting I had been disputing with my uncle about baptisms which was the subject handled by this minister, who removed all my scruples beyond objection, and yet I seemed loath to believe that the sermon I had heard proceeded from divine revelation. I accused my aunt and uncle of having spoken of me to the friend; but they cleared themselves, by telling me, that they had not seen him, since my coming, until he came into the meeting.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>I then viewed him as the messenger of God to me, and, laying aside my prejudices, opened; the beauty of which was shown to me, with the glory of those who continued faithful to it. I had also revealed to me the emptiness of all shadows and types, which, though proper in their day, were now, by the coming of the Son of God, at an end, and everlasting righteousness, which is a work in the heart, was to be established in the room thereof, I was permitted to see that all I had gone through was to prepare me for this day; and that the time was near, when it would be required of me, to go and declare to others what the God of mercy had done for my soul; at which I was surprised, and desired to be excused lest I should bring dishonour, to the truth, and cause his holy name to be evil spoken of.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Of these things I let no one know. I feared discovery and did not even appear like a friend.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>I now hired to keep school, and, hearing of a place for my husband, I wrote, and desired him to come, though I did not let him know how it was with me.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>I loved to go to meetings, but did not love to be seen going on weekdays, and therefore went to them. from my school, through the woods. Notwithstanding all my care, the neighbours, (who were not friends,) soon began to revile me with the name of Quaker; adding, that they supposed I intended to be a fool, and turn preacher.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Thus did I receive the same censure, which, about a year before, I had passed on one of the handmaids of the Lord in Boston. I was so weak, that I could not bear the reproach. In order to change their opinion, I went into greater excess of apparel than I had freedom to do, even before I became acquainted with friends. In this condition I continued till my husband came, and then began the trial of my faith.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Before he reached me, he heard I was turned Quaker; at which he stamped, and said, “I had rather have heard she was dead, Well as I love her; for, if it be so, all my comfort is gone.” He then came to me; it was after an absence of four months; I got up and said to him, “My dear, I am glad to see thee.”</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>At this, he flew into a great rage, exclaiming, “The devil thee, thee, thee, don’t thee me.” I endeavoured, by every mild means, to pacify him; and, at length, got him fit to speak to my relations. As soon after this as we were alone, he said to me, “And so I see your Quaker relations have made you one” I replied, that they had not, (which was true,) I never told them how it was with me.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>He said he would not stay amongst them; and, having found a place to his mind, hired, and came directly back to fetch me, walking in one afternoon, thirty miles to keep me from meeting the next day, which was first day. He took me, after resting this day, to the place where he had hired, and to lodgings he had engaged: at the house of a churchwarden. This man was a bitter enemy of Friends, and did all he could to irritate my husband against them.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Though I did not appear like a Friend, they all believed me to be one. When my husband and he used to be making their diversions and reviling, I sat in silence, though now and then an involuntary sigh broke from me; at which he would say, “There, did not I tell you your wife was a Quaker, and she will become a preacher.”</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>On such an occasion as this, my husband once came up to me, in a great rage, and shaking his hand over me, said, “You had better be hanged in that day.” I was seized with horror, and again plunged into despair, which continued nearly three months. I was afraid that, by denying the Lord, the heavens would be shut against me.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>I walked much alone in the woods, and there, where no eye saw, or ear heard me, lamented my miserable condition. Often have I wandered, from morning till night, without food, I was brought so low that my life became a burden to me; and the devil seemed to vaunt that, though the sins of my youth were forgiven me, yet now I had committed an unpardonable sin, and hell would inevitably be my portion, and my torments would be greater than if I had hanged myself at first.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>In the night, when, under this painful distress of mind, I could not sleep, if my husband perceived me weeping, he would revile me for it. At length, when he and his friend thought themselves too weak to overset me, he went to the priest at Chester, to inquire what he could do with me.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>This man knew I was a member of the Church, for I had shown him my certificate. His advice was, to take me out of Pennsylvania, and settle in some place where there were no Quakers. My husband replied, he did not care where we went, if he could but restore me to my natural liveliness of temper.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>As for me, I had no resolution to oppose their proposals nor much cared where I went. I seemed to have nothing to hope for. I daily expected to be made a victim of divine wrath, and was possessed with the idea that this would be by thunder.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>When the time of removal came, I was not permitted to bid my relations farewell; and, as my husband was poor, and kept no horse, I was obliged to travel on foot.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>We came to Wilmington, fifteen miles, and from thence to Philadelphia by water. Here we stopt at a tavern, where I became the spectacle and discourse of the company. My husband told them his wife had become a Quaker; and he designed, if possible, to find out a place where there was none: (thought I,) I was once in a condition to deserve that name, but now it is over with me. O that I might, from a true hope, once more have an opportunity to confess the truth; though I was sure of all manner of cruelties, I would not regard them.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Such were my concerns, while he was entertaining the company with my story, in which he told them that I had been a good dancer, but now he could get me neither to dance or sing. One of the company then started up and said, “I’ll fetch a fiddle, and we’ll have a good dance;” a proposal with which my husband was pleased.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>When the fiddle was brought, my husband came and said to me, “My dear, shake off that gloom, and let us have a civil dance; you would, now and then, when you were a good churchwoman, and that’s better than a stiff Quaker,”</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>I had taken up the resolution not to comply with his request, whatever might be the consequence; this I let him know, though I durst say little, for fear of his choleric temper. He pulled me round the room, till the tears fell from my eyes, at the sight of which the musician stopt, and said “I’ll play no more; let your wife alone...”</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Finding that all the means he had yet used could not alter my resolutions, he several times struck me with severe blows. I endeavoured to bear all with patience, believing that the time would come when he would see I was in the right.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Once he came up to me, took out his penknife, and said, “If you offer to go to meeting to-morrow, with this knife I’ll cripple you; for you shall not be a Quaker.” I made hint no answer. In the morning, I set out as usual; he did not attempt to harm me.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Having despaired of recovering me himself, he fled, for help, to the priest, whom he told, that I had been a very religious woman, in the way of the Church of England, of which I was a member, and had a good certificate from Long Island; that I was now bewitched, and had turned Quaker, which almost broke his heart; and, therefore, he desired that, as he was one who had the cure of souls, he would come and pay me a visit, and use his endeavours to reclaim me, which he hoped, by the blessing of God, would be done.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>The priest consented, and fixed the time for his coming, which was that day two weeks, as he said he could not come sooner. My husband came home extremely pleased, and told me of it. I replied, with a smile, I trusted I should be enabled to give a reason for the hope within me; yet I believed, at the same time, that the priest would never trouble himself about me, which proved to be the case.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Before the day he appointed came, it was required of me, in a more public manner, to confess to the world what I was. I felt myself called to give up to prayer in meeting. I trembled, and would freely have given up my life to be excused. What rendered the required service harder on me was, that I was not yet taken under the care of friends; and was kept from requesting to be so, for fear I should bring a scandal on the society. I begged to be excused till I had joined, and then I would give up freely.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>The answer was, “I am a covenant-keeping God, and the word that I spake to thee, when I found thee in distress, even that I would never forsake thee, if thou wouldst be obedient to what I should make known unto thee, I will assuredly make good. If thou refusest, my spirit shall not always strive. Fear not, I will make way for thee through all thy difficulties, which shall be many, for my name’s sake; but, be faithful, and I will give thee a crown of life.” To this language I answered “Thy will, O God, be done; I am in thy hand, do with me according to thy word;” and I then prayed.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>This day, as usual, I had gone to meeting on foot. While my husband (as he afterwards told me) was lying on the bed, these words crossed his mind “Lord, where shall I fly to shun thee,” &c. upon which he arose, and, seeing it rain, got the horse and set off to fetch me, arriving just as the meeting broke up.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>I got on horseback as quickly as possible, lest he should hear I had been speaking; he did hear of it nevertheless, and, as soon as we were in the woods, began with saying, “Why do you mean thus to make my life unhappy? What, could you not be a Quaker, without turning fool in this manner?”</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>I answered in tears, “My dear, look on me with pity, if thou hast any; canst thou think that I, in the bloom of my days, would bear all that thou knowest of, and much that thou knowest not of, if I did not feel it my duty.” These words touched him, and he said, “Well, I’ll e’en give you up; I see it wont avail to strive; if it be of God I cannot overthrow it; and, if of yourself, it will soon fall.” I saw the tears stand in his eyes, at which I was overcome with joy, and began already to reap the fruits of my obedience. But my trials were not yet over...</em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>One night in a drunken stupor her husband enlisted himself in the army and was soon called to serve, which he refused claiming his Quaker religion as the reason why. This resulted in a horrific beating that hospitalized & killed him within a year.</em></strong><br />
<br />
Five years later Elizabeth married a third husband, his name Aaron Ashbridge. Aaron was a well-known & respected member within the Quaker community in Chester County, Pennsylvania.<br />
<br />
<strong>Source: Elizabeth Ashbridge, Some Account of the Early Part of the Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge (Philadelphia: H. and T. Kite, 1807).</strong></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-12079515489811611352021-07-05T04:00:00.000-04:002021-10-19T22:38:54.235-04:001636 Harvard University - Women Students?<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4suTTohXYAPuu5rTQ31F_IjSrtLELg4bGa7E8siIWmW859ymbBWeL_o5gzeYFlQcqaCVmABrMp4TT_VCWrvfsnUhPsBK8eKrWKJF1moh4co_IK_1HLE6e5o67HNKCF8XDG6UTXLjcfU/s531/Art-1726-Burgis-1200x630+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="531" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4suTTohXYAPuu5rTQ31F_IjSrtLELg4bGa7E8siIWmW859ymbBWeL_o5gzeYFlQcqaCVmABrMp4TT_VCWrvfsnUhPsBK8eKrWKJF1moh4co_IK_1HLE6e5o67HNKCF8XDG6UTXLjcfU/w640-h348/Art-1726-Burgis-1200x630+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Harvard University </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Harvard University Established in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Harvard was the first official college in the United States. It was named after John Harvard, who donated a large sum of money and a massive library of books to the school. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 1893, an alumni proposal reached the Divinity School, requesting that women be allowed to enroll. It took 60 years for the proposal to be granted by the Harvard Corporation, and in 1955, eight women joined the Harvard ranks.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-34872462206877415592021-07-03T04:00:00.001-04:002023-12-24T16:03:37.019-05:00Women, Tea Parties, & the American Revolution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgErP7Kbod4Qq9lVUuVxNexRlj-ZRUu_HXU2mhV_PMrKE9mPRjBk2vNnGU2r7zTs7UqNtR_fdInJB-TLr4VJvVYgmVXoc6VACCSZDmxKl_9zPef-TJuGAQG0rf0f0l4NFSZ6eJlSqMTJ_A/s874/1+1+1+Unknown-artist-eighteenth-century-A-Family-Being-Served-with-Tea-ca.-1745-Yale-Center-for-British-Art-Paul-Mellon-Collection+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="874" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgErP7Kbod4Qq9lVUuVxNexRlj-ZRUu_HXU2mhV_PMrKE9mPRjBk2vNnGU2r7zTs7UqNtR_fdInJB-TLr4VJvVYgmVXoc6VACCSZDmxKl_9zPef-TJuGAQG0rf0f0l4NFSZ6eJlSqMTJ_A/w640-h554/1+1+1+Unknown-artist-eighteenth-century-A-Family-Being-Served-with-Tea-ca.-1745-Yale-Center-for-British-Art-Paul-Mellon-Collection+%25283%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Detail Philip Dawes, A Society of Patriotic Ladies at Edenton in North Carolina. Published in London in 1775.</strong></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<strong><br /></strong>
The Boston tea party occurred in December 1773, when angry gentlemen of Boston, some costumed as Native Americans, destroyed property of the East India Tea Company on ships in the Boston harbor in protest of British taxation & trade policies. There were other 18C colonial patriotic tea parties as well.<br />
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The livid English Parliament quickly passed a set of laws to punish the upstart colonials in Massachusetts, closing the Boston port & limiting all British American colonial rights to self-government. Many American colonists up & down the Atlantic called these the <strong>“<em>Intolerable Acts”</em></strong> — the final proof that Great Britain intended to destroy their liberty.</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUOe-OqEDGyPig70nIafsUEIFqbp81xCjFfjpRIDc094nBTSTPDFYpO6ytYS9IAwQWrtc3K0Ts2AKYppwPKKSmg_VZ6uBNoEfAiARVe6hLFckXdpc6KH_75fbnTfnO_3Xyoulo0bmbkxs/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzBoston+Tea+Party+of+Dec.+16%252C+1773.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUOe-OqEDGyPig70nIafsUEIFqbp81xCjFfjpRIDc094nBTSTPDFYpO6ytYS9IAwQWrtc3K0Ts2AKYppwPKKSmg_VZ6uBNoEfAiARVe6hLFckXdpc6KH_75fbnTfnO_3Xyoulo0bmbkxs/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzBoston+Tea+Party+of+Dec.+16%252C+1773.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
W. D. Cooper.<em>Boston Tea Party, </em>The History of North America. London E. Newberry, 1789.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
After the Boston tea party, gentlemen began meeting in local groups throughout the colonies to lend their support to the rising talk of revolution. (Mostly men were meeting, because women did not vote or hold office in the 18C Britain or her colonies.)<br />
<br />
In July 1774, gentlemen of the Cape Fear region, led by transplanted Boston attorney William Hooper (1742-1790), met at Wilmington, North Carolina, calling for a provincial congress & for a congress of all the colonies to respond to Britain. One of the resolutions passed at this meeting stated, <strong><em>"That we will not use nor suffer East India Tea to be used in our Families after the tenth day of September next, and that we will consider all persons in this province not complying with this resolve to be enemies to their Country."</em></strong><br />
<br />
The Edenton Tea Party first became known throughout colonial British America from a London newspaper article reporting the event, which appeared in the <strong><i>Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser</i></strong> in January of 1775. The newspaper reported that in North Carolina on October 25, 1774, 51 prominent women from the Edenton area gathered at the home of Elizabeth King, with Penelope Barker (1728-1796) presiding, to sign a petition supporting the American cause. It was extremely rare, if not unheard of, for British women, especially colonial women, who had no legal powers, to petition for political change.<br />
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At the meeting, Barker reportedly said, <strong><em>“Maybe it has only been men who have protested the king up to now. That only means we women have taken too long to let our voices be heard. We are signing our names to a document, not hiding ourselves behind costumes like the men in Boston did at their tea party. The British will know who we are.”</em></strong><br />
<br />
The Edenton petition doesn’t actually mention tea, but it supports the July Wilmington <strong>“resolves”</strong> against importing British products such as clothing & tea. Many angry colonists participated in the resistance to Britain through nonimportation, simply refusing to buy goods imported from Britain. Colonials did not have to pay taxes on goods they did not purchase, and the loss of income might persuade British merchants & shippers to support the colonial cause.<br />
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The text of the petition by the women gathered in Edenton, North Carolina, on October 25, 1774, reads: <strong><em>As we cannot be indifferent on any occasion that appears nearly to affect the peace and happiness of our country, </em></strong><strong><em>and as it has been thought necessary, for the public good, to enter into several political resolves by a meeting of Members deputed from the whole Province,<br />it is a duty which we owe, not only to our near and dear connections who have concurred in them, but to ourselves who are essentially interested in their welfare, to do every thing as far as lies in our power to testify our sincere adherence to the same; and we do therefore accordingly subscribe this paper, as a witness of our fixed intention and solemn determination to do so.</em></strong><br />Signed: <strong>Abagail Charlton, Mary Blount, F. Johnstone, Elizabeth Creacy, Margaret Cathcart, Elizabeth Patterson, Anne Johnstone, Jane Wellwood, Margaret Pearson, Mary Woolard, Penelope Dawson, Sarah Beasley, Jean Blair, Susannah Vail, Grace Clayton, Elizabeth Vail, Frances Hall, Elizabeth Vail, Mary Jones, Mary Creacy, Anne Hall, Mary Creacy, Rebecca Bondfield, Ruth Benbury, Sarah Littlejohn, Sarah Howcott, Penelope Barker, Sarah Hoskins, Elizabeth P. Ormond, Mary Littledle, M. Payne, Sarah Valentine, Elizabeth Johnston, Elizabeth Cricket, Mary Bonner, Elizabeth Green, Lydia Bonner, Mary Ramsay, Sarah Howe, Anne Horniblow, Lydia Bennet, Mary Hunter, Marion Wells, Tresia Cunningham, Anne Anderson, Elizabeth Roberts, Sarah Mathews, Elizabeth Roberts, Anne Haughton, Elizabeth Roberts, Elizabeth Beasly.</strong><br />
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From England, in January 1775, 16 year-old Arthur Iredell wrote to his older brother who was a judge based in Edenton, James Iredell (1751-1799), describing the British reaction to the Edenton Tea Party. According to Arthur Iredell, the incident was not taken seriously in England, because it was led by women.<br />
<br />
British journalists & cartoonists depicted the women in a negative light, as bad mothers & loose women. In a satirical cartoon published in London in March of 1775, the North Carolina ladies were drawn as female versions of the much maligned macaroni characters of the period. <br />
<br />
Arthur Iredell sarcastically wrote to his brother James, who would later become one of the first associates of the United States Supreme Court, back in North Carolina, <strong><em>I see by the newspapers the Edenton ladies have signalized themselves by their protest against tea-drinking. The name of Johnston [the maiden name of Mrs. James Iredell] I see among others; are any of my sisters relations patriotic heroines? </em><em>Is there a female congress at Edenton, too? I hope not, for we Englishmen are afraid of the male congress, but if the ladies, who have ever since the Amazonian era been esteemed the most formidable enemies: if they, I say, should attack us, the most fatal consequence is to be dreaded. So dextrous in the handling of a dart, each wound they give is mortal: whilst we, so unhappily formed by nature, the more we strive to conquer them, the more we are conquered.The Edenton ladies, conscious, I suppose, of this superiority on their side, by a former experience, are willing, I imagine, to crush us into atoms by their omnipotency: the only security on our side to prevent the impending ruin, that I can perceive, is the probability that there are but few places in America which possess so much female artillery as Edenton.</em></strong><br />
<br />
Perhaps because of her husband James Iredell's official position, Hannah Johnston Iredell refrained from signing resolutions supporting the First North Carolina Provincial Congress, which voted to boycott certain British products. However, Hannah's sisters & her sisters-in-law signed the petition.<br />
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Not about to be outdone by their neighbors & not at all deterred by the sarcastic English press, the patriotic ladies of Wilmington, North Carolina, held their own <i><strong>“party”</strong> </i>in the spring of 1775, actually burning their tea.<br />
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Janet Schaw, a visitor from Scotland who had no sympathy for the colonial rebellion, reported the event in her journals, noting that not everyone in Wilmington approved of the protest: <strong><em>The Ladies have burnt their tea in a solemn procession, but they had delayed however till the sacrifice was not very considerable, as I do not think any one offered above a quarter of a pound. The people in town live decently, and tho’ their houses are not spacious, they are in general very commodious and well furnished. All the Merchants of any note are British and Irish,and many of them very genteel people. They all disapprove of the present proceedings. Many of them intend quitting the country as fast as their affairs will permit them, but are yet uncertain what steps to take.</em></strong><br />
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But the women patriots had just begun to fight. Purdie's <strong><i>Virginia Gazette</i></strong> reported on May 3, 1775, that women were giving their jewelery to support the Continental Congress like <strong><em>“Roman Females”</em></strong> before them and will <strong><em>“fearless take the field against the ememy”</em></strong> for their glorious cause if their services are needed.<br />
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Women began to write letters about the revolutionary cause to their local newspapers. One anonymous women wrote a letter urging her fellow women to sacrifice for the war in Dixon's <strong><i>Virginia Gazette</i> </strong>of January 13, 1776. Anne Terrel of Bedford County, Virginia also wrote in the same newspaper to support of the Revolutionary War on September 21, 1776.<br />
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During the Revolution more than 20,000 women became army camp followers--cooking, laundering, mending, and acting as nurses for the soldiers. Camp followers received half the food ration, when there was food at all, and minimal compensation. When the British occupied a town, they sometimes brutalized colonial women & their children. Hundreds of women took up arms to serve as soldiers & others served as spies for the colonial army.<br />
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Even those women left at home to raise the family & manage the business or the farm helped as they could. One woman passing an evacuated house in Woodbridge, New Jersey, looked in the window & saw a drunken Hessian soldier. She went home, got an old firelock, returned to take the Hessian’s firearms & then walked him about a mile to the patrol guard of the New Jersey regiment to delivered her prisoner. The incident was reported in Dixon's <strong><i>Virginia Gazette</i> </strong>on April 18, 1777.<br />
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As the war progressed, women began collecting & contributing funds to equip local troops, where their kinfolk & neighbors were serving. The light horsemen of General Nelson of the Virginia Cavalry received just such donations according to Purdie's <i><strong>Virginia Gazette</strong> </i>of June 12, 1778.<br />
<br />
After the successful war, most male landowners could vote in the new republic. <i>Women were granted the right to vote in the United States of America in 1920.</i></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-73876319751033914412021-07-01T04:00:00.001-04:002021-10-19T22:40:25.707-04:001693 The College of William & Mary - Women Students?<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQnIQXX4i3Xz7pU3-1Q7wl7j0NbZYz7Ewg5860nVgyYjqBc7d2Ld6KVYrfadoK0IwvIhPSgyqp7xaL8oZi1Z_4Qm1DZo1eVmkcZkM3D_pb4T7jTaSvcNr0uU4oXznITCtcK82q8LgtHY/s588/600px-Collegewilliammary+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="588" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQnIQXX4i3Xz7pU3-1Q7wl7j0NbZYz7Ewg5860nVgyYjqBc7d2Ld6KVYrfadoK0IwvIhPSgyqp7xaL8oZi1Z_4Qm1DZo1eVmkcZkM3D_pb4T7jTaSvcNr0uU4oXznITCtcK82q8LgtHY/w640-h350/600px-Collegewilliammary+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">The College of William & Mary</span></p><p>Established in 1693 in Williamsburg, Virginia</p><p>The second oldest college in America, the original plans for W&M can be traced all the way back to 1618—they never went through because of an <b><i>"Indian uprising." </i></b>In 1693, King William III and Queen Mary II of England signed the charter for the school, which went on to become William & Mary. In February, 1918, the Virginia General Assembly authorized William & Mary to admit women students, effective in the fall of 1918. </p><p>In the fall of 1918, 24 women were admitted as undergraduate students at William & Mary. The men of the Class of 1918 lamented that they would be <b><i>"the last class to graduate from the old college before it is defiled by coeducation."</i></b> The <b><i>Virginia Gazette</i></b> editorialized that the admission of women had come <b><i>"at the price of the womanhood Virginia had cherished as a sacred thing."</i></b> The women of 1918 began at once to change the university. Excluded at first from participating in most existing activities, the women initiated intramural athletic competitions and organized a Women's Student Government. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-11893345602916757642021-06-29T04:00:00.003-04:002021-10-20T19:35:54.936-04:00Homespun, Politics, & the American Revolution<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfU3F0GJCDUT3HnKtCIGDpSUlNej-ySeawqisj9PtiFN3kq562ijza2BpzqAbNvCMAnBHkWSzfsXtQP-zqfkRoEDxUrGoy0IhmFvG3D4oYqCYyxD_EtonehVNlbRECVT11WYwAbbOrf8/s502/New-England+Kitchen+at+the+Brooklyn+Sanitary+Detail+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="502" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfU3F0GJCDUT3HnKtCIGDpSUlNej-ySeawqisj9PtiFN3kq562ijza2BpzqAbNvCMAnBHkWSzfsXtQP-zqfkRoEDxUrGoy0IhmFvG3D4oYqCYyxD_EtonehVNlbRECVT11WYwAbbOrf8/w640-h422/New-England+Kitchen+at+the+Brooklyn+Sanitary+Detail+%25283%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">New-England Kitchen at the Brooklyn Sanitary Detail</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">England considered her American colonies a source of raw materials—wood, hemp, wheat, fish, pitch—and a ready market for finished goods. </span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">During the British American colonial period, colonists did import most of their manufactured goods. Laws prohibiting manufacturing & limiting imports & exports were established starting in the mid 1600s. These Navigation Acts confined colonial trade to England. Imports were to come only through a British port, on a British ship, with at least a 2/3rds British crew in order to prevent the colonies from trading with other countries. One piece of legislature stated that <b><i>“Americans had no right to manufacture even a nail or a horseshoe,” </i></b>which prompted a colonial wag to remark that soon they would be sending their horses to England to be shod.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">In 1698, some Americans manufactured & exported wool to France in exchange for silk textiles. The hint of growth of a woolen industry in the colonies was regarded with jealous eyes since wool was the economic backbone of England. The Crown, aided by the governors of the colonies, sought to maintain England's monopoly by regulating wool production in America through the Wool Act of 1699 & subsequent further restrictions. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">A 1705 edict of Lord Canbury, governor of New York, written in a letter to the British Board of Trade, stated: <b><i>No wool, woolfells, shortlings, morlings, wool flocks, worsted, Bay or Woolen yarn, cloth serge, Bays, Kerseys, Says, Frizes, Druggests, Cloath Serges, Shallons or any other Drapery, stuffs or woolen manufactures whatsoever, made or mixed with wool or wool flocks, being the product or manufacture of any English plantation in America shall be laden on any ship or vessel.</i></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">British laws specifically stated that wool products could not legally be transported across any body of water including the smallest creek & trade between colonies was restricted. Improved breeds of sheep or any wool producing equipment were not to be imported. If someone was caught & found guilty by a jury of his peers the result was forfeiture & a 500 pound fine.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">In 1767, the British government passed laws that required American colonists to pay taxes on imported goods from England. Many colonists responded by forming non-importation agreements, refusing to buy imported goods & urging other colonists to do the same. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Cloth manufacturing acquired political meaning, when the 1760s Stamp Act resulted in a self-imposed boycott of British goods by the colonists.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Colonial cloth production was stepped up, but there was a shortage of raw materials, skill, & labor. </span><span style="background-color: white;">American homespun relied on both flax & hemp. In the British American colonies gardens & farms grew both flax & hemp. Hemp, another bast fiber like flax, was used when more durability was required such as for rope & Conestoga wagon covers, & as well as for a linen-like fabric. It was a taller plant & had a longer fiber. In color, it was more reddish yellow, but it was difficult to distinguish from linen in its final form. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">There were some attempts to grow silk in the colonies but most were unsuccessful. Both silk & cotton were imported & silk more so than cotton. Cotton was never a big player in the colonial homespun industries. Records show that it was grown as an ornamental. Indian cottons—they had cheap enough labor to pick the fiber off the seeds—were banned in Britain in attempts to protect the British textile industry but small amounts of cotton fabric made it to America. The situation with cotton changed dramatically in 1793, with the invention of the cotton gin.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b><i>For women, who could not vote or hold office, non-importation campaigns were a way to participate in colonial politics.</i></b> Many of them publicly gave up drinking tea & began spinning their own yarn, to avoid buying cloth imported from Britain. Some spelling changes & edits have been made to improve clarity.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">From Massachusetts to the Carolinas, the women of the colonies banded together in patriotic societies usually called the Daughters of Liberty, agreeing to wear only garments of homespun manufacture & to drink no tea. Spinning frolics, social gatherings where the women spun & held spinning competitions, were common in many towns. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">It is said that n</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">o American-made textiles matched the quality of European linens in fineness and the number of threads per inch. The best from America was probably 40 threads per inch. In Ireland, it was 90 threads per inch.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b><i>New-York Journal</i></b>, 24 August 1769, reported that </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">On the 12 of July...<b><i>true Daughters of Liberty & Industry, stimulated by their fair Sisters, met at the House of Rev. Mr. Forbes, to the number of Fifty-five, with Thirty four Wheels; & from 5 o'Clock in the Morning, to 7 in the Evening picked, carded, & spun [a large amount] of Cotton Wool...and of Flax...The next Day, & for several succeeding Days; others as well affected [by]...the Cause of Liberty & Industry, but who could not leave their Families to join their Sisters on the Said Day, sent in their yarn spun out of their own Materials. </i></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">July 16. --- <b><i>Newport. July 10. We can assure the Public, that Spinning is so much encouraged among us, that a Lady in Town, who is in very affluent Circumstances, & who is between 70 & 80 years of Age, has within about three Weeks become a very good Spinner, though she never spun a Thread in her Life before. Thus has the Love of Liberty & dread of Tyranny, kindled in the Breast of old & young, a glorious Flame, which will eminently distinguish the fair Sex of the present Time through far distant Ages.</i></b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">When the war started, the shortage of textiles became a serious problem. Keeping Washington's troops supplied with blankets & clothing was problematic throughout the war & limited the army's efforts. The people at home didn't have much either but sent what they could spare to support the war effort. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">British General Howe knew that <b><i>“linen & woolen goods were much wanted by the Rebels.” </i></b>Hence, when his army prepared to evacuate Boston he ordered all such goods to be carried away with them. Thes action encouraged smuggling to remain an important way for European goods & supplies to reach the colonies during the war.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span>See: </span></span><span face=""PT Sans Narrow", "Arial Narrow", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><b><i>New York Journal</i></b>, <a href="https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1650">“Colonial Women Spin for Liberty,” </a></span><a href="https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1650"><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SHEC: Resources for Teachers</em><span face=""PT Sans Narrow", "Arial Narrow", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">, accessed October 19, 2021, </span><span class="citation-url" face=""PT Sans Narrow", "Arial Narrow", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1650</span><span face=""PT Sans Narrow", "Arial Narrow", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">.</span></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">See: <a href="https://tehistory.org/hqda/html/v43/v43n2p062.html"><b><i>Quarterly Archives</i></b> : Volume 43 of the Tredyffrin Easttown (Pennsylvania) Historical Society <i>Real Colonial Women Don't Weave Cloth</i> by Kathy King Source: Spring 2006 Volume 43 Number 2, Pages 62–70 </a> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-91788846505343616952021-06-25T04:00:00.002-04:002021-10-19T21:59:31.176-04:00From the Fields - Flax & Hemp to Homespun - Revolutionary Resistance through Homespun<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxPgMdQlEDAQeCps6wAsylHyW6R5eiDYvram87qhGbtN3H2bQVHGb7EN3ZCSup9cHiZW3xvez4P-ZzSzbReDVtPzkw1lhikM1HMUwqMajMIudK0OmLh2QHQc9yMvsSRq9fBFFBUd_LSzX/s523/spinning+%2526+weaving.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="523" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxPgMdQlEDAQeCps6wAsylHyW6R5eiDYvram87qhGbtN3H2bQVHGb7EN3ZCSup9cHiZW3xvez4P-ZzSzbReDVtPzkw1lhikM1HMUwqMajMIudK0OmLh2QHQc9yMvsSRq9fBFFBUd_LSzX/w640-h348/spinning+%2526+weaving.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Spinning Bees, local gatherings to spin yarn, became political meetings as colonial anger about "taxation without representation" grew. The amount of thread & yarn spun at spinning bees was often published in the local papers, as towns & church congregations established homespun production rivalries. Wearing homespun became a political statement. At the 1st commencement of Rhode Island College (later Brown University) in the 1760s, the president proudly wore homespun clothing while conducting the ceremony. At Harvard, the faculty & students regularly wore homespun clothing.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/trend-tradition-magazine/spring-2018/made-american/">Made in America: Revolutionary Resistance through Homespun & the Rise of American Textile Manufacturing</a></p><p>By Neal T. Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s Associate Curator for Costume & Textiles, March 17, 2020</p><p><b><i>As tensions rose between the American Colonies & Great Britain in the late 1760s, some Virginians displayed their defiance to the Crown in their choice of garments fashioned from locally made fabrics. Homespun — or locally produced textiles — announced the political leanings of the wearer. These homespun textiles also became a necessity once trade with England ended in 1774 & Virginia & other Colonies were faced with meeting the textile demand through local production.</i></b></p><p><b><i>As early as the 17th century, Colonists began to process & weave their own fabrics, & “homespun” came to define any textiles produced domestically in a nonindustrial setting. Raw materials such as linen, cotton, wool, hemp & even silk were transformed into fabrics in North America for local consumption. Most of these homespun textiles would be used as household linens, bed curtains &, on occasion, even for clothing.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Textiles made up the single largest import from England during the 17th & 18th centuries. In theory, the American Colonies produced raw materials & exported them to England. In return, they received finished goods. A series of Navigation Acts — English laws dictating that the Colonies could receive European goods only from England — helped to codify this system.</i></b></p><p><b><i>From the fine & fancy to the plain & everyday, the English goods were better quality & could be purchased at competitive or cheaper prices. Most Colonists bought imported English textiles & used them not only within their homes but also for their clothing.</i></b></p><p><b><i>In the spring of 1769, political debates over taxation raged throughout Virginia. The recently repealed Stamp Act, which had imposed a tax on every piece of paper the Colonists used, remained fresh in many minds. The newly passed Townshend Acts placed a set of taxes on imported glass, lead, paints, paper & tea. In May of that year, Virginia’s House of Burgesses passed a resolution that directly challenged Parliament’s right to tax Virginians. In retaliation, Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, who had been appointed Virginia’s royal governor only a few months before, formally dissolved the governing body.</i></b></p><p><b><i>A day later, the burgesses met at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg & formed the Virginia Association, which called on Virginians to “promote & encourage industry & frugality, & discourage all manner of luxury & extravagance.” Starting Sept. 1, 1769, those who signed the agreement would no longer import listed goods from England, including many textiles such as linens, wools, cottons & silks above a certain price. It even suggested that sheep should not be slaughtered & instead should be kept for their wool. As other Colonies adopted associations, they shared Virginia’s logic that nonimportation & increasing domestic production would put pressure on the English economy & that British merchants & producers would beg Parliament to repeal all of the taxes on the American Colonies.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Men & women throughout Virginia worked steadily to increase domestic production & took pride in wearing homespun. Martha Jacquelin in York County, Virginia, wrote to her London agent in August 1769, “You’ll see by my invoice that I am an Associator … But believe me, our poor country never stood in more need of an Effort to save her from ruin than now, not more from taxes & want of Trayd (sic) than from our own extravagances … I expect to be dressed in Virginia cloth very soon.” Virginia cloth, another term for domestically made textiles, became a fashionable way to show frugality & prove that Virginians did not need to rely upon English imported fabrics.</i></b></p><p><b><i>In December 1769, the House of Burgesses decided to host Lord Botetourt at a ball in the Capitol, only six months after he dismissed the governing body. The day after the event, The Virginia Gazette reported that the “same patriotic spirit which gave rise to the associations of the Gentlemen … was most agreeably manifested in the dress of the ladies.” More than 100 women appeared at the Capitol wearing homespun gowns. The quality of the fabric & where they acquired the quantity needed for the gowns remains unknown. The Gazette wished “that all assemblies of American Ladies would exhibit a like example of public virtue & private economy, so amiably united.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>In the remaining years leading up to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, more associations were signed or strengthened to keep economic pressure on the English. The Eastern Seaboard continued to produce textiles at a rapid rate. The Derby Mercury in Ireland, which was a center of the linen trade, reported in 1770 that the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, maintained no less than 50 looms & 7,000 spinning wheels, producing more than 30,000 yards of linens & woolens a year.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Homespun fabric even became a political statement for Americans visiting England. Edmund Jenings, a Virginia-born lawyer who lived in London, wrote a letter to Richard Henry Lee informing him of his new clothing. He wrote, “Your brother has given me cloth made in your family I wear it on all occasions to show the politicians of this country that the sheep of America have not hair on their backs. — They can hardly believe their eyes.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>On Dec. 1, 1774, the final nonimportation agreement took effect when signed by the first Continental Congress. The Colonies would not import any goods, including textiles, from Great Britain. Virginians along with the other 12 American Colonies would need to produce all the textiles for their households & apparel, a nearly impossible task.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The outbreak of war in April 1775 would create an even larger problem: clothing & equipping an infant army & navy.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The military needed enormous amounts of textiles for clothing, tents, knapsacks, haversacks & blankets. Initially, tens of thousands of yards of fabric arrived in storehouses across the Colonies, including both pieces bought before the nonimportation agreements & homespun woven in homes, farms & plantations. These materials were quickly depleted, & more were immediately needed. With no imports coming from Great Britain & domestic production not meeting the demand, the American army faced major supply shortages.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The Continental Congress sought help to get materials, especially textiles, for its newly established military force. Emissaries traveled to Spain & Holland & gained some initial support. Dressed in a very plain manner with a pine marten fur cap, Benjamin Franklin visited the court of France. The French Court admired Franklin & his unique American dress, which they may have believed was homespun. Franklin secured the Treaty of Alliance between the newly formed United States of America & the French that allowed much needed supplies to flow into the United States.</i></b></p><p><b><i>With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 & the end of the American Revolution, American merchants quickly resumed trading with England. Once again it was cheaper to import high-quality textiles than to establish the industry in the new republic. Still, Americans continued to produce homespun fabrics to supplement the imported textiles they purchased from England. The textile industry began to slowly establish itself, especially in the New England states.</i></b></p><p><b><i>When George Washington was unanimously elected president, he began to carefully craft what he would wear at his inauguration. After seeing an advertisement in a New York newspaper for American-made broadcloths (a heavily fulled or napped wool), he contacted his friend, Gen. Henry Knox. On Jan. 29, 1789, Washington wrote, “I have ventured to trouble you with the Commission of purchasing enough [broadcloth] to make me a suit of Cloaths. As to the colour, I shall leave it altogether to your taste; only observing, that, if the dye should not appear to be well fixed, & clear, or if the cloth should not really be very fine, then (in my Judgment) some colour mixed in grain might be preferable to an indifferent [stained] dye. I shall have occasion to trouble you for nothing but the cloth & twist to make the button holes.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>On April 30, 1789, Washington became the first president of the United States. He wore a brown broadcloth three-piece suit made from fabric woven at the Hartford Woolen Manufactory, a newly established business in Connecticut. In October of that same year, Washington visited the factory & wrote in his diary, “I viewed the Woolen Manufactury at this place which seems to be going on with Spirit. There (sic) Broadcloths are not of the first quality, as yet, but they are good; as are their Coatings, Cassimers, Serges & everlastings. Of the first that is broad-cloth I ordered a suit to be sent to me at New York & of the latter a whole piece to make breeches for my servants.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>By choosing an American-produced broadcloth for his first inaugural suit, Washington supported the economic growth & industrial establishment within the newly established United States. In the 19th century, an American textile industry would blossom.</i></b></p><p><a href="https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/trend-tradition-magazine/spring-2018/made-american/">See Colonial Williamsburg here</a>. Neal Hurst is the Foundation’s associate curator for costume and textiles. He also spent 7 years in the Historic Area earning his journeyman status as a tailor.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-35464136993346743012021-06-21T04:00:00.003-04:002021-10-19T21:58:51.762-04:00Pre-Revolutionary Woes involving Taxes, Profits, & Spinning<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TMfKAwS9zl6bonFUQ5Hp3TLJZPrbdYC3haZK2-Pe2Q7kz2CrympzWsyx6OsTjK4zTEz6t9zQRosLP4sAJvYB2dSKYxml3IR7ymuzdqxsKaAdUeBe4VwVW5n5UfgLEcPWC8qcTjdcQwc/s455/George+Walker%252C+The+Costume+of+Yorkshire+%25281814%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="455" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TMfKAwS9zl6bonFUQ5Hp3TLJZPrbdYC3haZK2-Pe2Q7kz2CrympzWsyx6OsTjK4zTEz6t9zQRosLP4sAJvYB2dSKYxml3IR7ymuzdqxsKaAdUeBe4VwVW5n5UfgLEcPWC8qcTjdcQwc/s16000/George+Walker%252C+The+Costume+of+Yorkshire+%25281814%2529.jpg" /></a><br />George Walker, The Costume of Yorkshire</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Loom, the Comb, the Spinning Wheel, </span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Would much promote this Country's Weal </span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">If we could wear more our own Woollen:</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">We should have kept our Coin and Bullion.</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">For sending of the Coin away,</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Has made all Sorts of Trade decay;</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">How shall poor Tenants pay their Rent?</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now all the Coin away is sent.</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">How shall Folks live and Taxes pay,</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">When all the Money's sent away;</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let Merchants then join Hand in Hand, </span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">To bring in Money to our Land.</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">But if this Counsel they dispise,</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">And their own Interest only prize</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">They will bring Ruin on this Land;</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">As quickly all will understand.</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">For now the Money is so gone,</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">That there is little to be done.</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">And more and more trade will decay,</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">As all will feel from Day to Day.</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">O that a way they would find out,</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">To make this Trade to face about;</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">And bring the Money here again!</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">But I'm afraid I speak in vain.</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Therefore I now conclude and say,</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pray let 'em send no more away;</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">But keep in that which does come in,</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">And never send it out again.</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Boston Gazette, or Weekly Journal</span></i></b></p><p><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">April 3, 1750</span></i></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-59495208670900349932021-06-19T04:00:00.007-04:002021-10-17T15:08:26.237-04:00Weaving Flax from the Fields - Not Women's Work in the British American Colonies<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsVkWo_ZfIusDiMK3GE5y4RCLoXPFxzDz4Ru4yyPCjcZAVJs6oZMZzFrxN4KCS3mlmD9KVmf_dLE43uQC5J33rfYmREpIkx_xPPGYUtM-afRR04D3aWrsotIDmOyNQjfKCzVNUXUeCXA/s550/weaving+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="550" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsVkWo_ZfIusDiMK3GE5y4RCLoXPFxzDz4Ru4yyPCjcZAVJs6oZMZzFrxN4KCS3mlmD9KVmf_dLE43uQC5J33rfYmREpIkx_xPPGYUtM-afRR04D3aWrsotIDmOyNQjfKCzVNUXUeCXA/w640-h490/weaving+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><span face=""Gill Sans", "Gill Sans MT", "Myriad Pro", "DejaVu Sans Condensed", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Detail 1749 English Engraving Colonial Williamsburg</span></div><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><span style="text-align: left;">Kathy King tells us in her 2006 article in the Quarterly Archives of theTredyffrin Easttown (Pennsylvania) Historical Society that the colonists who sailed from England to </span><b style="text-align: left;"><i>"America left a sophisticated manufacturing economy where men, not women, did the weaving. This wasn't always the case. Through the early Middle Ages, women did all phases of textile manufacture. In fact, the word “wife” seems to be etymologically related to the word “weave.” But with the commercial expansion of the late 14C & early 15C, weaving became solely a male occupation. It had a lot to do with the rising strength of guilds. The guilds had strict requirements about who could join & who could weave. Guild regulations & municipal statutes forbade weavers from employing females. Also, the conditions under which an apprentice lived & worked weren't suitable for women, & an apprenticeship was required.</i></b><p><b><i>Craft guilds guarded the long-standing craft traditions & carefully governed the entry of workers into their organizations in an effort to sustain reasonable wages & a good standard of work. The women had always participated in spinning & continued to do all the spinning. The formal exclusion of females from the cloth-making & finishing sectors of textile manufacture was an important stricture, with the only exception being that the widow of a weaver could officially take over her husband's work & tools as long as she did not remarry. Laws restricting women from weaving persisted until about 1825.</i></b></p><p><b><i>"There was quite an organized division of labor. Subdividing the work increased productivity by reducing “every man's business to one simple operation.” So, if you purchased a piece of broadcloth 12 yards x 1¾ yards, 15 people probably had a hand in making it, with 5 or 6 people spinning & carding to produce enough to supply the weaver...</i></b></p><p><b><i>"Tradition held in the colonies. Men did the weaving & women did the spinning, with one big difference. There was no organized industry here. Typically, there was a single weaver, with maybe an apprentice or son, working in a small workshop or shed by his house. People in the area would spin their yarn & take it to him to have it woven according to their needs. It was called “bespoke” weaving. Likewise with shoemakers; you brought them your own leather. Unlike urban weavers who might specialize, rural weavers made a variety of linen & woolen goods. Some of the household goods they wove were sheets, towels, blankets, grain bags, & wagon covers."</i></b></p><p>See: <a href="https://tehistory.org/hqda/html/v43/v43n2p062.html">Quarterly Archives : Volume 43 of the Tredyffrin Easttown (Pennsylvania) Historical Society <i>Real Colonial Women Don't Weave Cloth</i> by Kathy King Source: Spring 2006 Volume 43 Number 2, Pages 62–70 </a> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-13253591556406720812021-06-17T04:00:00.006-04:002021-10-17T10:44:11.754-04:001746 Princeton University - Women Students?<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKdakyZcGHL3uZz3jX8G4GxAkfoQtgzXod0ieDktgiqB3-uOcf8h4vTGPwLVAONufhSO0wtXjYhPJe-riVvVPPz93iesk0kSfvfWWN2z6x8TDEEWkRNvRO5rvoxlsuNUq-X7LFIFlm0_s/s552/princeton-college-1764-granger+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="552" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKdakyZcGHL3uZz3jX8G4GxAkfoQtgzXod0ieDktgiqB3-uOcf8h4vTGPwLVAONufhSO0wtXjYhPJe-riVvVPPz93iesk0kSfvfWWN2z6x8TDEEWkRNvRO5rvoxlsuNUq-X7LFIFlm0_s/w640-h290/princeton-college-1764-granger+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;">Early Princeton College</div><p></p><p>In 1746, Princeton was founded as the College of New Jersey. In 1756, the college was moved to Princeton, New Jersey, which is when the name was changed. Like many other colonial era colleges, it was first opened to train ministers.</p><p>Princeton enrolled its first female graduate student, Sabra Follett Meservey, as a PhD candidate in Turkish history in 1961. A handful of undergraduate women had studied at Princeton from 1963 on, spending their junior year there to study "critical languages" in which Princeton's offerings surpassed those of their home institutions. They were considered regular students for their year on campus, but were not candidates for a Princeton degree.</p><p>In 1967 Princeton University president Robert F. Goheen announced in <b><i>The Daily Princetonian </i></b>that <b><i>"It is inevitable that, at some point in the future, Princeton is going to move into the education of women."</i></b> Women were first accepted in 1969: 40 members of the class of 1973 and 90 transfer students.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-50630278400376533792021-06-15T04:00:00.001-04:002021-10-01T22:00:16.718-04:00Tea & Gossip - Satire<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ffI09ENFvTy3FGkCsWhwV-CEb6ATa8pqAFUYo1_Qoam3L5A9pxf3rZhYZWxtvF3i9KLlloX-6fVz19ajJvf3us_XHJVwbvD5DWTA-R69i7ZWrrbvRX2pznTdzTVvWvfHLL6u4t2-27D7/s1600/AN00369584_001_l+(2).jpg" style="color: #249fa3; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ffI09ENFvTy3FGkCsWhwV-CEb6ATa8pqAFUYo1_Qoam3L5A9pxf3rZhYZWxtvF3i9KLlloX-6fVz19ajJvf3us_XHJVwbvD5DWTA-R69i7ZWrrbvRX2pznTdzTVvWvfHLL6u4t2-27D7/s1600/AN00369584_001_l+(2).jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" /></span></a></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;">John Bowles, a British publisher & printer, produced this satire on gossiping women at the Tea Table in the early 18C. Here five fashionable ladies drink tea at a table placed on a carpet in an affluent interior. On the table, as well as the tea service, are a closed fan, a muff and an open book lettered, "Chit Chat." A devil lurks beneath the table and Envy drives Justice and Truth out of a door at upper left; two gentlemen eavesdrop at an open window on the right. On the back wall, left to right: an alcove with shelves displaying porcelain, a fireplace above which is a painting showing a monk carrying a woman on his back towards a church or monastery, and a mirror in an elaborate frame. Three columns of etched verse describe the slanderous conversation taking place.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;">Etching and engraving</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;">The inscription below the title with 69 lines of verse in 3 columns tells the tale...</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>"How see we Scandal (for our Sex too base) </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Seat its dread Empire in the Female Race, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>'Mong Beaus & Women, Fans & Mechlin Lace. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Chief Seat of Slander! Ever there we see, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Thick Scandal circulate with right Bohea. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>There Source of blakning Falshoods Mint of Lies </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Each Dame th' Improvment of her Talent tries, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>And at each Sip a Lady's Honour Dies </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Truth rare as Silence; or a Negro Swan, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Appears among those Daughters of the Fan. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Coumnta has the Chair, and deals the Tea, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>In Scandal none more eloquent than she. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Great President! how just Precedence claim, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Thy great Demerits, and thy greater Fame! </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>In Female War the Dame's profoundly Skill'd; </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Her Tongue [The Magazine of Lies] is Steel'd </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>With Rancour; & her Eyes, tho' form'd for none </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>But the Destruction of our Sex alone, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Can at Superior Worth take artfull Aim, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>And blast the Growth of Virtuous Cffilia's Fame, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Destructive Malice Triumphs in her Smiles, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Stabs home as Death and Sure as Would kills</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Livia—for Sly Invention next to none,</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>By blaming other's Fictions rents her own:</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>By feigning to oppose she forms a Lie,</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>And hides her Malice in Hypocrisy.</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Late at a Ball, where Livia constant is,</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Her Charms Successfull, young Amanda tries;</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Fairer than Blossoms of the Month of May,</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Less fresh the Rose, nor Phillis self so Gay.</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Steps so engaging, moves with Such a Grace;</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Such cheerfull Sweetness Smiling in her Face,</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>With Wonder & Delight she fills the Plaee.</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Each Youth with warm Desire, devours her Charms,</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>And thinks her clasp'd already in his Arms,</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Each Eye with Greediness the Fair Surveys,</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Nor ought is heard but in Amanda's Praise.</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>This Livia saw, and heard with Envy Straight, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>She, turning speaks her well disembl'd Spite, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Yes (Livia cries) the Damsel Dances well, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Her Mein is gracefull, and her Air Genteel: </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>And is (I dare say) Chast; tho' comon Fame </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>(Which seldom utters Truth delights in Blame) </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Censures her Intimacy with my Lord</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Yon vicious powder'd Beau, with Ribbond Sword </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Enough, she gains her Point; thro' all the Throng </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>The Scandal Spreads, improves on ev'ry Tongue, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Who is the charming Fair, if any ask, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>'Tis answer'd Straight, a Sister of the Mask. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Such are the Rest, and thus the Dames agree </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>To load each absent Fair with Lifamy. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Each Virtuous She, that dares these Belles outshine </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Falls a Sure Victim to their Goddess Spleen. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Nor Hope, Thomasia, Justice from the Fair </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>One Word in Virtue's Praise, is Treason there, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>'Tis so like Truth; nor blame, dear injur'd Maid, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Of Spite or Calumny, the needfull Trade. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>The ninth Comand [were Moses Law in force] </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Would Stop their Breaths, or Murder their Discourse, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Wits' Stocks would fall, Spoil many a pretty Tale, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>And hated Dumbness on the Sex entail, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>And wer't not pity Maura should be mute? </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Or Amia's pretty prating Mouth be shut? </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>What nothing but the Truth? What then's become </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Of Gratia? she must Lie or else be Dumb. </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Be Dumb! she'll ne'er consent, she'll sooner Die, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Or wear her Painted Callicoe awry, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>Than with that ninth Old-Fashiond Law comply, </i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><b><i>And loose her dear lov'd Volubility." </i></b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-90168168227378139642021-06-13T04:00:00.044-04:002023-12-24T16:08:20.670-05:00A Brief Tea Timeline From China to Boston 12/16/1773 & 1776<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <b><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 21.4667px;">Tea Time Line</span></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Beatrice</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> Hohenegger</span><i style="text-align: left;"> tells us about tea in her</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"> 2007 book</span><b style="text-align: left;"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> Liquid Jade, The Story of Tea from East To West</span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.4px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWS8EKxJVt0SytdRyvygM9HTg4QTPlMekW3nup1zTaFDvbFmQWffYDTWQJJ1rJH6669yfjXW0EVbE8BUKRBvy7P_VpioOFBNynW01LPj9-9AwA_g3eFQK3DMrEB_9kftk2wK2EsVDMrc/s542/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="525" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWS8EKxJVt0SytdRyvygM9HTg4QTPlMekW3nup1zTaFDvbFmQWffYDTWQJJ1rJH6669yfjXW0EVbE8BUKRBvy7P_VpioOFBNynW01LPj9-9AwA_g3eFQK3DMrEB_9kftk2wK2EsVDMrc/w620-h640/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25283%2529.jpg" width="620" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>BC </span><span>2732</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Shen Nung, the second of China’s mythical emperors is said to have encountered the tea plant and to have discovered the use of tea.</span><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkFXZuSzlEr1NPzpOAyQqc2FEwj7ZsuhQEoqVQOn1CUmubW6akhddwvb75lDw_HBIQZvkqc_GwWSm0NiTG_N_00Ed-rKgWKJbrnK5ezOjVfp2E8lQUrLo5TYBrs4o0yxARRR_Cy8zrDE/s727/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25284%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="462" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkFXZuSzlEr1NPzpOAyQqc2FEwj7ZsuhQEoqVQOn1CUmubW6akhddwvb75lDw_HBIQZvkqc_GwWSm0NiTG_N_00Ed-rKgWKJbrnK5ezOjVfp2E8lQUrLo5TYBrs4o0yxARRR_Cy8zrDE/w406-h640/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25284%2529.jpg" width="406" /></span></a></div></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>AD </span><span>520 Bodhidarma, a Buddhist priest from India, is said to have visited the Emperor of China.</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Credited as China’s patriarch of Buddhism, Bodhidarma’s life is clad with legend, particularly related to long periods of meditation.</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Portrayed without eyelids, he is said to have cut them out and cast them to the ground, at which point a tea bush appeared.</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>The story commemorates the importance of tea in wakefulness, and images of an unblinking Bodhidarma tie tea and zen together.</span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1JA1CLWN4WtLJbgoebzvstHeNcgFrvbDU6qCMkz2Iho1PFM260LIGziIv2XPVWQcYseQw047uFE9gS-CuYropkwn6ZruJFmyXxslpfg1dUVkQC2WGx2Kb55dTZ4YeeieYtvhMM6H2Xk/s641/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25285%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="532" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1JA1CLWN4WtLJbgoebzvstHeNcgFrvbDU6qCMkz2Iho1PFM260LIGziIv2XPVWQcYseQw047uFE9gS-CuYropkwn6ZruJFmyXxslpfg1dUVkQC2WGx2Kb55dTZ4YeeieYtvhMM6H2Xk/w532-h640/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25285%2529.jpg" width="532" /></span></a></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>780 Lu Yu, the Tea Sage, authored</span><span> </span><i>Ch’a-ching</i><span> </span><span>(</span><i>The Classic of Tea</i><span>), thought to be the first significant treatment on tea.</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Born in 733, Hupeh Province, China, Lu Yu is said to have grown up in the Dragon Cloud Monastery.</span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXkWYq4fRHSrNjzQkEiKSSkTIYT-ZdQPNQxGrxKXoo-mL2AlziKJfGsHieTkBROQ27dzHkJg0HOjCNo2e-WmeWunA-NRxXQ7udb5YPaxM5F1MXvPBNI68IM61d2wlB9Gv03mukpRgIvU/s503/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25286%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="503" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXkWYq4fRHSrNjzQkEiKSSkTIYT-ZdQPNQxGrxKXoo-mL2AlziKJfGsHieTkBROQ27dzHkJg0HOjCNo2e-WmeWunA-NRxXQ7udb5YPaxM5F1MXvPBNI68IM61d2wlB9Gv03mukpRgIvU/w640-h564/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25286%2529.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>1502 Death of Murata Shuko (c 1422-1502), who shaped the Japanese tea ceremony as essentially Buddhist, as the way of tea (chado).</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>With this evolution, Japanese tea moved to simple surroundings and the use of more rustic objects.</span><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTatreu6p8X8Q-_8UPC0EHp3Q0w7vrTpAzJEUMBmbsVm_kYwLD_hOO0VnIZHk0PCZ_JrPgy6WWvN7TV7seBBE0dXBJKjUWPckisUaAT4_XrDzqqch3prrdarwsPPLQydcKn-UWKHk6N3w/s605/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25287%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="521" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTatreu6p8X8Q-_8UPC0EHp3Q0w7vrTpAzJEUMBmbsVm_kYwLD_hOO0VnIZHk0PCZ_JrPgy6WWvN7TV7seBBE0dXBJKjUWPckisUaAT4_XrDzqqch3prrdarwsPPLQydcKn-UWKHk6N3w/w345-h400/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25287%2529.jpg" width="345" /></span></a></div></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>1559</b> Perhaps the first mention of tea in western literature, by Italian geographer & author Giambattista Ramusio (1485-1557), in</span><span> </span><i>Navigazioni et viaggi</i><span>.</span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>1582</b> Rikyu (1522 -1591) consolidated the way of tea with construction of the Taian hut for Japan’s ruler, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598).</span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UxORURP9eSs3_uiInBOISgy4PA_IJ80wkkrBXnxh9CI3Nnr5HTeLVKU2MyLzuPJCUBN9lyEbPmUItzZYmDm8pGkcC9OxkjjjleHuHV9pAlq0qPUl0cWA65oc_iwhQoux9mzAYPvUX6s/s615/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25289%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="538" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UxORURP9eSs3_uiInBOISgy4PA_IJ80wkkrBXnxh9CI3Nnr5HTeLVKU2MyLzuPJCUBN9lyEbPmUItzZYmDm8pGkcC9OxkjjjleHuHV9pAlq0qPUl0cWA65oc_iwhQoux9mzAYPvUX6s/w560-h640/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25289%2529.jpg" width="560" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b> </b></span><span><b>1587</b> In early October, Rikyu hosted the great Kitano tea meeting (Kitano dai chakai) through patronage of Hideyoshi.</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Followers of tea converged in the Kitano pine grove, where they constructed hundreds of tea huts for temporary use.</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>In succeeding years, Rikyu’s heirs would come to establish three main schools of tea (Urasenke, Omotesenke, and Mushanokojisenke), each based on principles of</span><span> </span><i>wa</i><span> </span><span>(harmony),</span><span> </span><i>kei</i><span> </span><span>(reverence),</span><span> </span><i>sei</i><span> </span><span>(purity), and</span><span> </span><i>jaku</i><span> </span><span>(tranquility).</span><span> </span></span></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>1610</b> First apparent importation of tea to Europe.</span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>1648</b> French doctor Guy Patin (1601-1672) was critical of a thesis on tea, stating:<b><i> “One of our doctors who is more celebrated than able, named Morissot, wanting to bestow favor upon that impertinent novelty of the century… has had presented here a thesis on tea.</i></b></span><b><i><span> </span><span> </span><span>Everyone disapproved, some of our doctors burned it….”</span><span> </span><span> </span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1660 </b>Diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1673) records on 25 September his first taste of tea, ordered at one of the many coffeehouses of London where tea was first served to the English. Coffeehouses were still new, the first one having just opened ten years prior, and served coffee, tea, and chocolate. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b> </b></span><span><b>1660</b> Under Charles II, (1630-1685) England established an excise tax of 8 pence on each gallon of tea that was sold.</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>The tax would eventually be levied on tea leaf, as it was too easy for merchants to manipulate the numbers.</span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b> 1</b></span><span><b>665</b> Simon Paulli (1603-1680), a German physician, claimed:<b><i> “As to the virtues they attribute to it (tea), it may be admitted that it does possess them in the Orient, but it loses them in our climate, where it becomes, on the contrary, very dangerous to use.</i></b></span><b><i><span> </span><span> </span><span>It hastens the death of those who use it…”</span><span> </span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>1667</b> The English East India Company, having begun importing tea in 1664, gained a monopoly when the English government declared Dutch imports illegal.</span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>1670 </b>Thomas Garaway </span>(1632-1704).<span> opened a shop where tea was served until its closing two hundred years later.</span><span> </span><span> </span><span>Garaway had actively advertised and promoted tea for a decade, stating <b><i>“that the Vertues and Excellencies of this Leaf and Drink are many and great is evident and manifest by the high esteem and use of it … among the Physitians and knowing men in France, Italy, Holland and other parts of Christendom.”</i></b></span><b><i><span> </span><span> </span></i></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>1683</b> Dutchman, Cornelius Decker (aka Dr. Bontekoe) (</span>(1648-1685)<span> commented: <b><i>“It must be a considerable and obstinate fever that cannot be cured by drinking every day forty to fifty cups of tea..”</i></b></span><span> </span><span> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8bMCHvkNldShKTELrilvLsfZHJECfgduGx4lBnCfimmThODW0hHaqx74W1j-_R1edV1Ku7fdrUqX1INI9mWdy_TFgMJkfrdfWA2qfoBNmeMHy2CbwJRXNO_vOUvsSPGH5tL_cEnqHpI/s608/zzzzzzzz+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="476" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8bMCHvkNldShKTELrilvLsfZHJECfgduGx4lBnCfimmThODW0hHaqx74W1j-_R1edV1Ku7fdrUqX1INI9mWdy_TFgMJkfrdfWA2qfoBNmeMHy2CbwJRXNO_vOUvsSPGH5tL_cEnqHpI/w502-h640/zzzzzzzz+%25282%2529.jpg" width="502" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1717</b> Having opened Tom’s Coffee house in 1706, Thomas Twining (1675-1741) followed that success in opening the Golden Lyon, the first real English tea shop. Women were welcome at Golden Lyon, and by 1725 Quaker Mary Tuke became the first woman licensed to merchandise tea. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDTUylRkiRJxIX5ugrcIot7u_5IoPGvuU-HxOZd364SQ28_ewaDRHllrFTt54Jvjl67AiZLhZy-Ily-FNCrYATDo5gA2O7lSUSX9TRi65My2L_yCQlbipmZTkQZVEDGerWWQRQlPv6Vk/s550/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25289%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="550" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdDTUylRkiRJxIX5ugrcIot7u_5IoPGvuU-HxOZd364SQ28_ewaDRHllrFTt54Jvjl67AiZLhZy-Ily-FNCrYATDo5gA2O7lSUSX9TRi65My2L_yCQlbipmZTkQZVEDGerWWQRQlPv6Vk/w640-h230/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%25289%2529.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>1773</b> On the evening of 16 December, American colonists boarded the ships</span><span> </span><i>Dartmouth</i><span>,</span><span> </span><i>Eleanor</i><span>, and</span><span> </span><i>Beaver</i><span>, which were docked at the harbor in Boston, and threw 120,000 lbs of tea into the bay.</span><span> </span><span> </span></span></div></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKWsp4jnmPvaOlUbGH3Mozmmi6LMn1c39hzxtmHT7UsCoq2U-3M8wsu5e9qrFQFxbLP_oJpnUXR91Z909i2qgLnsCVUIqmaftVdBrZ8MHHHvZ2fT_rmbHCoIeOD2dAWSRpsMMbzcO3hg/s604/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%252810%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="604" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKWsp4jnmPvaOlUbGH3Mozmmi6LMn1c39hzxtmHT7UsCoq2U-3M8wsu5e9qrFQFxbLP_oJpnUXR91Z909i2qgLnsCVUIqmaftVdBrZ8MHHHvZ2fT_rmbHCoIeOD2dAWSRpsMMbzcO3hg/w640-h410/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+%252810%2529.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">January 1774</span> London learns of the destruction of the tea, and of other American protests</span></p><div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">March 1774</span> Parliament passes the first of the so-called Coerciver Acts, the Boston Port Act, which closes the port of Boston until the town makes restitution for the tea</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">May 1774</span> Parliament passes two more laws for restoring order in Massachusetts. These laws limit town meetings, put the provincial council under royal appointments, and allow British civil officers accused of capital crimes to move their trials to other jurisdictions</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">1 June 1774</span> The Boston Port Act takes effect, and Governor Thomas Hutchinson departs for England, never to return. His replacement is General Thomas Gage, a military commander</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">Summer 1774</span> Massachusetts protesters resist the Coercive Acts by disrupting local courts and forcing councillors to resign their seats</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">September to October 1774</span> The First Continental Congress meets, declares opposition to the Coercive Acts, and calls for boycotts of British goods and an embargo on exports to Great Britain</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">February 1775</span> Parliament declares Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. Governor Gage will later receive orders to enforce the Coercive Acts and suppress the uprising</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">19 April 1775</span> British regular troops and Massachusetts militiamen exchange fire at Lexington and Concord. In response, armed New Englanders surround the British fortifications at Boston</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">March 1776</span> American forces take Dorchester Heights and the British evacuate Boston</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.75rem; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-margin-top: 100px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 600; scroll-margin-top: 100px;">July 1776</span> The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence of the United States</span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-91493300004272755392021-06-11T04:00:00.009-04:002021-09-03T08:32:11.727-04:00On British American Women, Tilt-Top Tea Tables, & the Evolving 18C Consumerism<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPZSbrK5JUMrcty2ZeF_8tMh_vXS8Njn8a-PeqZffZw7VkhC4D5BphYQBEJET9ikvKUuXQOIUFNzO-QvWadd9Qu-APwdm2CAK_huPFxIEeSko_rX_83wxOH2aLzkGBbdECq6S4mzCuLQ/s550/1733+Thomas+Smith+%25281700%25E2%2580%25931744%2529%252C+his+Family+and+an+Attendant+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="550" height="501" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPZSbrK5JUMrcty2ZeF_8tMh_vXS8Njn8a-PeqZffZw7VkhC4D5BphYQBEJET9ikvKUuXQOIUFNzO-QvWadd9Qu-APwdm2CAK_huPFxIEeSko_rX_83wxOH2aLzkGBbdECq6S4mzCuLQ/w640-h501/1733+Thomas+Smith+%25281700%25E2%2580%25931744%2529%252C+his+Family+and+an+Attendant+%25283%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>1733 Thomas Smith (1700–1744), his Family & an Attendant<p></p><p style="text-align: center;">Written by Curator Sarah Neale Fayen for The Chipstone Foundation</p><h1 style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 30px; padding-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.chipstone.org/article.php/275/American-Furniture-2003/Tilt-Top-Tables-and-Eighteenth-Century-Consumerism">Tilt-Top Tables and Eighteenth-Century Consumerism</a></span></span></h1><p>This excellent 2003 article is from The Chipstone Foundation, a Wisconsin-based foundation dedicated to promoting American decorative arts scholarship. Originating from the private collection of Stanley & Polly Stone, the foundation uses its objects & resources to support decorative arts projects & publications at other institutions, seeking to find "newer ways to look at old things." Please use the link above to see the entire article & its superb scholarship notes.</p><p><b><i>Few American furniture forms are more iconic than the tilt-top tea table...Circular tops with carved edges—usually called “scallop’d” in the 18C —acquired the name “piecrust,” & the mechanism that allowed the tops of some tables to tilt up into a vertical position, rotate, & be removed entirely—referred to as a “box” by many colonial tradesmen—became known as a “birdcage.” These & other stylistic & structural features attracted some collectors, while large tops made of highly figured mahogany or tables with histories of ownership in prominent colonial families captivated others. Today, tilt-top tea tables are in virtually every major collection of 18C American furniture, & they remain in great demand. </i></b></p><p><b><i>Despite this long-standing admiration of tilt-top tea tables, their initial development in the 18C, their subsequent rise to popularity, & their importance as cultural texts remains largely unexplored. Documentary sources & surviving tables suggest that the arrival & proliferation of this new form were inextricably linked to changes in the economy, increased Atlantic trade, & accelerating consumerism that emerged among the middle ranks of English society. By the mid-1730s, middle-market tilt-top tables like those made in London & the outlying provinces began appearing in well-to-do American homes. Associated from the start with genteel social interactions—especially tea drinking—tilt-top tables became indispensable components of fashionable parlors & symbols of status & refinement for politicians & planters as well as artisans & laborers. Furniture historians have traditionally studied tilt-top tea tables as landmarks of 18C cabinetmaking. In contrast, this article will address the tilt-top tea table in cultural context by investigating the circumstances that propelled it to the forefront of fashion & exploring the effects of its arrival on consumer behavior & social life.</i></b></p><p><b><i>From the outset, tilt-top tables looked very different from conventional tables. Dining tables, dressing tables, & rectangular tea tables have joined frames, fixed tops, & four or more legs, whereas tilt-top tables typically feature a single pillar supported by three legs. Although people generally invent new types of furniture to accommodate changing needs, this novel table form gained popularity more for its appearance than its utility. Undeniably, tilt-top tables were versatile & useful. Their tops tilted up & down on battens, & many had castors making them easier to move & store. Also, tables with box mechanisms could be oriented so the tripod feet either fit into the corner of a room or along a wall. Tables that changed shape to save space, however, were by no means a new invention. For centuries Europeans had been making tables with falling leaves, foldable frames, & removable tops. A tripod table with a tilting top did not offer considerably more convenience. It was simply a new solution to the old problem of spatial efficiency. Why did English colonists in the 1730s want a new type of table? What social, psychological, economic, or aesthetic needs did tables with central pillars, tripod legs, & tilting tops fulfill? How did their success change the way people interacted or experienced life inside their houses?</i></b></p><p><b><i>To answer these types of questions, scholars from several fields have demonstrated the benefits of studying both production & consumption. Consumption has been a popular topic of inquiry since 1982 when social historians Neil McKendrick, John Brewer, & J. H. Plumb used the phrase “consumer revolution” to describe the increased demand for a growing variety of goods among 18C residents of the British Atlantic world. Starting in 1675, ownership of domestic goods increased dramatically in England. Scholars have shown that middling artisans & farmers owned goods that their grandparents would have considered luxuries: forks, table knives, linens, mirrors, books, & of course, tea cups & tea tables. Many factors contributed to this increase, including cheaper production due to technological advances, improved transportation, & less hierarchical political climates. As historian Gloria Main has written, “a major change did take place during the 18C [among] ordinary people—in their style of life as well as their standard of living.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>Objects experts & material culture scholars who traditionally focus on modes of production have also emphasized in recent years the need for studying consumption. Social historian Cary Carson’s memorable mantra, “Demand came first!” has inspired innovative rethinking about the hand-in-hand development of consumer desire & new production. Other scholars have emphasized the importance of studying all the parties who create an object & assign it cultural meaning. In these studies, exploring human motivation rather than quantifying artifactual evidence becomes the intellectual goal,</i></b></p><p><b><i>The tea table occupied a potent position in the imagination of 18C consumers. The social ritual of tea drinking, made popular by the English elite beginning in the 1680s, was increasingly affordable & widespread in the colonies after the turn of the century. It became a venue for a new genteel code of conduct that spread throughout the middling social ranks over the course of the 18C. This set of polite manners emphasized physical cleanliness, graceful deportment, & pleasant conversation. It was a model of how people should treat one another that allowed individuals from different social backgrounds to comfortably interact according to a shared set of rules. In the common imagination, the ritual of tea drinking was frequently identified by the tea table itself. For instance, a Philadelphia advertisement for “so very neat” pewter tea wares began “To all Lovers of Decency, Neatness & Tea-Table decorum.” Here, “tea table” functioned as a metonym that succinctly denoted politeness. Rather than using the words “refined” or “fashionable,” this retailer & many others used the tea table to associate their products with the genteel lifestyle.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Other advertisements further demonstrate the centrality of the tea table in the imaginations of refined consumers. Retailers selling imported stoneware & porcelain teawares suggested that customers purchase “blue & white tea table setts” or “a genteel tea table sett.” Rather than being identified as “tea sets” or “tea drinking vessels,” the ceramic wares were described as being of the table. The tea table, more than the teapot or the tea cup that rested on its surface, was the object by which the ritual gained recognition & acceptance. In other words, the piece of furniture around which people gathered to entertain each other with wit & flirtation became the signifier of that particular mode of interaction. The tea table was as much an idea as a particular piece of furniture. As luxurious dining equipage previously restricted to the wealthy & powerful became increasingly affordable, all the excitement of fashionable social gatherings became bound up in one item—the tea table.</i></b></p><p><b><i>In addition to being a primary signifier of gentility, the tea table also connoted a “new female gentility,". As historian David S. Shields has demonstrated, women brought social tea drinking into the home in the first decades of the 18C. Originally, tea drinking & its associated rituals of visits & lively conversation provided the wives of socially prominent husbands an entré into the public sphere. The “brash honesty” that characterized tea table discussions constituted a sort of circumspection that effectively policed the actions of the powerful & elite by threatening to expose scandal & subject any wrong-doers to ridicule. Critics of the ladies’ new power used the tea table much like advertisers to succinctly identify a mode of interaction—in this case, frivolous gossip between women. “Tea table chat” was frequently disparaged in newspapers, books, & private accounts by men whose authority felt threatened.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Open criticism of gossip did not hinder the widespread embrace of tea table interactions by either gender. Through the 18C, more & more people learned the ins & outs of the tea drinking ritual, which existed in countless variations in different towns & cities. The tilt-top tea table probably contributed to tea’s popularity because it facilitated lively interactions among guests while maximizing opportunities to display refinement. A circular table—effectively the social stage—provided spatial parity to all players. No one dominated from the head of the table & no one “sat below the salt.” In addition, a table with a central pillar rather than traditionally joined legs created open spaces for ladies to display their silk brocaded skirts, & for men to elegantly cross their legs & show off their stockinged calves. No vertical table legs obscured a person’s clothing or posture, both primary means for display in the 18C.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Of course, early Americans owned several different kinds of tea tables. In addition to the circular tilt-top tables there were joined rectangular examples with molded tops. Both versions were frequently called “tea tables” in documents, making their relative popularity & use difficult to decipher. Rodris Roth suggested that the circular tea tables enjoyed greater popularity than rectangular versions. Roth based her statement on the frequent appearance of tilt-top tables in prints & paintings from the era. An equally subjective piece of evidence is the much greater number of circular tea tables that survive in comparison to rectangular versions. Though impossible to pin-point, the popularity of the tilt-top table probably stemmed in part from its unusual form that departed dramatically from traditional table construction. This novelty makes it an informative cultural text carrying significant meaning for the historian.</i></b></p><p><b><i>During the 1680s, European joiners began mounting tea trays imported from the Far East on joined frames. This probably led to the production of rectangular tea tables, the earliest of which had turned or scrolled legs. London joiners probably began making examples with cabriole legs by the late 1710s, but the earliest American examples appear to date from the 1720s. Tilt-top tables probably developed as a hybrid of different forms. Candle stands with central pillars & fixed tops were popular in Europe during the 17C. Elaborate versions with carved & gilded surfaces were often made in pairs. In court or other elite settings, they typically flanked a central table & mirror in the French-inspired ensemble sometimes called the “triad.” The inventory of James Brydges, first Duke of Chandos, listed a “large Tea Table cover’d with silver” with a pair of stands to match valued at £750. British craftsmen may have modified their stand designs by adding round, table-sized tops during the early 18C. Dutch artisans began producing tables with central pillars & relatively large, oval tilting tops somewhat earlier. These distinctive forms were conceptual forerunners of the British tilt-top tea table. Given the considerable amount of travel & stylistic exchange between Holland & England during the late 17C & early 18C, it is conceivable that British artisans borrowed the idea of a tilting top from Netherlandish sources & adapted it to their own stand or table forms.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Most English appraisers, merchants, & tradesmen used the term “pillar & claw” to describe tilt-top tea tables (the word “claw” designated the three legs). Other common nomenclature included “claw table” & “snap table,” an onomatopoetic name inspired by the catch that held the top in a horizontal position. One of the earliest American references to this form is in the probate inventory of Captain George Uriell (d. 1739) of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. His household possessions included “two Mohogany Claw Tables” worth £3.3. Documentary references increased during the following decades. The inventory of a Charleston man taken in 1740 listed “one round mahogany claw foot table.” Five years later, Philadelphia cabinetmakers Joseph Hall & Henry Rigby advertised a “Pillar & Claw table” & an “old Pillar & Claw Mahogy Table.” The qualifier “old” implies that the table was made well before 1745.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Some colonists struggled to describe this new furniture form. In 1749 appraisers for the estate of John Calder of Wethersfield, Connecticut, referred to his tilt-top tea table as a “stand” with a “fashion swivel leaf.” In this context “fashion” probably meant “modish” or “stylish.” “Stand table” was used throughout the colonies, most consistently in Wethersfield & Rhode Island. Many appraisers alluded to the kinetic action of the top in describing these tables. The 1757 estate inventory of Boston merchant Peter Minot, for example, listed a “Mahogany Turn up Table.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>“Tea table” with no qualifier was the most common name for the tilt-top variety in British North America. References to “tea tables” occur in advertisements & inventories from the first quarter of the 18C, but they probably denoted rectangular forms. During the 1730s, the term became more ambiguous as it was increasingly applied to circular as well as rectangular tea tables. This shift is evident in merchant advertisements that offer iron & brass “tea table ketches.” Occasionally appraisers, merchants, & artisans differentiated between circular & rectangular tea tables. An inventory taken in Savannah, Georgia, in 1768 lists “1 Mahogany Tea Table Round” valued at one pound. Some regions adopted consistent habits of nomenclature. People in Philadelphia tended to call rectangular tea tables “square.” A lack of descriptive language generally implied a tilt-top form in that city. The fact that Americans consistently used “tea table” rather than “pillar & claw table” or other English terms may suggest a more common association among colonists between tilt-top tables & tea drinking.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The earliest surviving American tilt-top tea table was made in the Philadelphia vicinity & probably dates from the 1720s. Its pillar turnings, faceted base block, & flat-sided cabriole legs appear to be just one step removed from the baroque stand.. Moreover, the use of a wrought iron catch rather than an imported brass one suggests that the latter hardware was not readily available when the table was made. Another tea table with a faceted base block survives, but it was probably made a decade later. Its rounded legs, pad feet, & columnar pillar illustrate the transition in Philadelphia from baroque Netherlandish designs toward the tilt-top table form that became popular among English consumers. By the early 1740s, at least one Philadelphia shop was producing relatively uniform tilt-top tables. Examples in this group typically have complex tops with up to twelve repeats, inverted balusters, & battens with short cross pieces that fit snugly around the top board of the box.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The production of tilt-top tea tables increased during the following decades throughout the colonies. Some colonial cabinetmakers made examples that rivaled those of their London counterparts. Williamsburg, Virginia, cabinetmaker Peter Scott began producing highly sophisticated tilt-top tables about 1745. An elaborate example that descended in the Lee family of Stratford Hall may have served as a model for tables that he made for other prominent Virginia families. A walnut tilt-top tea table labeled by Philadelphia cabinetmaker William Savery is roughly contemporary with Scott’s but has no carving on the top or pillar. This pair illustrates that elaborately carved & relatively plain tilt-top tables were being made simultaneously in the 1740s.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The patterns of production & distribution of tilt-top tables within the colonies indicate that they were being built inexpensively for a mid-level market. Making a tilt-top table required turning skills & the ability to perform simple joinery. In addition to the pillar, the turned components on a tilt-top table could include colonettes or miniature balusters if the object had a box & the top if it had a scalloped or molded edge. Because such tops were too large to be turned over the bed of the lathe, they were typically mounted on an arbor & cross. Some tables represent the work of a single artisan whereas others are the products of several tradesmen.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Growing demand in this era encouraged specialization & collaboration between artisans. In the 17C, English craftsmen & traders challenged Dutch dominance of the Atlantic market by espousing mercantilism, a system of commercial trade that took advantage of English holdings in America & the Caribbean. The success of this carrying trade convinced English tradesmen as well as the Crown that making & marketing goods efficiently & selling them inexpensively to middle range consumers could yield substantial profits. Glenn Adamson has demonstrated that caned chairs made first in London & later in Boston between 1700 & 1730 pioneered a mercantilist production strategy in America. Caned chair makers imitated the carved crests & front stretchers that were fashionable among the late seventeenth-century elite. They could sell them inexpensively, however, by buying the stretchers & stiles in large number from specialist turners who made them quickly & efficiently. Merchants then sold the caned chairs throughout the Atlantic rim to consumers hoping to ally themselves with their fashionable counterparts in London.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Artisans on both sides of the Atlantic recognized that focusing production & cooperating with other specialists made all of their jobs easier, reduced their costs, & raised their profits. Tilt-top tables, whose parts required distinct sets of skills & tools, lent themselves to collaborative production. Documentary records indicate that turners sold & traded tilt-top table pillars & tops on the open market much like caned chair makers had traded stiles & stretchers in previous decades. In the May 30, 1751, issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette, Joseph Pattison, “Turner from London,” directed his advertisement for “tea table tops, & tea boards, pillars, balusters” to other artisans. In 1754 Joshua Delaplaine, a New York carpenter, joiner, & merchant, bought three “pillers of Mahogany” from John Paston & sold “a mahogany round tea table” to Samuel Nottingham, Jr. The account book of Charleston cabinetmaker Thomas Elfe documents a similar business relationship with turner William Wayne. In September 1771 Elfe paid Wayne £1.10 for “2 tea table pillars & turning.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>Some craftsmen traded tilt-top table parts over considerable distances. Beginning in 1766 Samuel Williams repeatedly advertised “mahogany & walnut tea table columns” & “mahogany tea table tops” for local use or for “exportation.” This suggests that he sold components to merchants engaged in the venture cargo trade. On June 10, 1784, Solomon Lathrop, a joiner in Springfield, Massachusetts, recorded “carrying 8 tea table pillars to Windsor,” about fifteen miles away. By the second half of the 18C, the demand for tilt-top tea tables & other furniture forms had become sufficient to sustain specialization & collaboration in rural areas.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Most artisans who routinely produced tilt-top tables probably kept parts on hand to be assembled on short notice. Large cabinet shops in Britain often stockpiled sizable quantities of standard components. The 1763 inventory of London carver, cabinetmaker, & upholsterer William Linnell listed “38 setts of claws for pillar & claw tables” & “4 setts of carved table claws Do.” Similarly, Philadelphia joiner Joshua Moore had “13 tea table pillars” & “1 Tea Table top” at his death in 1778.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Some turners sustained their businesses by making pillars for uses other than tilt-top tables. At least two baluster-shaped tilt-top table pillars have been connected to craftsmen involved in architectural construction. In 1787 Thomas Hayden of Windsor, Connecticut, rendered a cross-section drawing of a baluster-and-ring pillar for a tilt-top table on the same page as plans for architectural cornice moldings. William Hosley & Philip Zea have attributed one table with an identical pillar to Hayden & suggest that he may have made the drawing as a guide to local craftsmen producing similar tables. Patricia E. Kane & Wallace Gusler have established more tangible links between furniture & architectural turnings. Kane has shown that the pillar on one Newport tilt-top table matches the balusters on the second floor of Touro Synagogue (built 1763), & Gusler has demonstrated that the pendant on the Peter Scott table illustrated in is similar to those in the George Wythe & Galt houses in Williamsburg, Virginia.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Some artisans who produced tilt-top table parts began their careers in the chair making trade. William Savery apprenticed with Solomon Fussell, a Philadelphia chair maker who maintained a large shop that produced seating in competition with Boston exports. Fussell made both joined & turned chairs & bought seat lists & slats from specialists outside his shop. By the time Savery completed his apprenticeship in 1741, he would have known how to assemble chairs using parts obtained from other craftsmen. Even though he continued to work at the “Sign of the Chair,” Savery broadened his repertoire by making tables & case furniture. Tilt-top tables may have been one of the first new forms he produced since they could be made quickly & easily using piecework, possibly pillars & tops furnished by the same turners who sold him & his master chair components. The requisite hardware was readily available from Fussel who advertised “brass tea table catches” in 1755.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Carved tables required additional collaboration. Some large cabinet shops had workforces that included cabinetmakers, turners, carvers, & other specialists. Regrettably, cabinetmakers’ account books rarely specify whether a tradesman was a shop employee or an independent contractor. For instance, Thomas Elfe paid Thomas Burton seven pounds “for Carving a Pillar & Claws” in 1771, but the nature of their business relationship remains unclear. Evidence suggests, however, that cabinetmakers making tables & other furniture for wealthy customers went to great lengths to secure skilled carvers. In the May 31, 1762, issue of the New York Mercury, immigrant “Cabinet & Chair-Maker” John Brinner reported that he had “brought over from London six Artificers” & offered: "all sorts of Architectural, Gothic, & Chinese, Chimney Pieces, Glass & Picture Frames, Slab Frames, Gerondoles, Chandaliers, & all kinds of Mouldings & Frontispieces, &c. &c. Desk & Book-Cases, Library Book-Cases, Writing & Reading Tables, Commode & Bureau Dressing Tables, Study Tables, China Shelves & Cases, Commode & Plain Chest of Drawers, Gothic & Chinese Chairs; all Sorts of plain or ornamental Chairs, Sofa Beds, Sofa Settees, Couch & easy Chair Frames, all Kinds of Field Bedsteads."</i></b></p><p><b><i>Philadelphia cabinetmaker Benjamin Randolph also imported labor from England. His principal carvers—John Pollard & Hercules Courtenay—trained in major London shops, signed indentures to pay for their passage to the colonies, & established their own businesses after their terms had expired. It is unlikely that either Randolph or Brinner required much outside labor when their shops were fully staffed.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Luke Beckerdite has identified a group of four New York tilt-top tables that were made in one large cabinet shop but carved by four different artisans. Two of the tables were clearly carved in the same shop because the tradesmen who decorated each of them collaborated on a chimneypiece in Van Cortlandt Manor. Although Beckerdite theorized that all four tables may have been produced & carved under the same roof, it is also possible that they are the products of a single cabinet shop & three independent carving firms, one of which employed two hands.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Even the largest cabinet shops occasionally required piecework or services from specialists. Randolph’s competitor Thomas Affleck commissioned carving from independent artisans, particularly James Reynolds & the firm Bernard & Jugiez. A tea table which has carving attributed to Bernard & Jugiez, & its pillar has details that relate to those on firescreens that Affleck made for Philadelphia merchant John Cadwalader.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Between 1740 & 1790 tilt-top tea tables became nearly ubiquitous fixtures in American parlors & drawing rooms. Their increased production coincided with a substantial escalation of travel & trade throughout the British Empire in the 1740s & economic prosperity in the Americas. Historians John J. McCusker & Russel R. Menard have argued that the colonial economy grew in two spurts. The first spurt directly followed initial settlement in the 17C. The second spurt, which began in the 1740s & continued until the Revolutionary War, coincides with the spreading popularity of tilt-top tea tables. After almost a century of “stagnation,” the colonial economy began offering people more opportunity for financial gain than the English economy. More people in the colonies became involved in harvesting, transporting, & selling foodstuffs & raw materials from America to Europe. As their assets grew, these colonists developed a desire for fashionable household goods including new forms like the tilt-top table.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The economic boom lured not only merchants but also ambitious craftsmen prepared to profit from increased demand. Among these were cabinetmakers, joiners, turners, & carvers trained in British urban centers & in the provinces. Immigrant artisans arrived with distinctive stylistic vocabularies & work habits. This led to the dispersal of leg profiles, pillar shapes, & construction details characteristic of many British shop, town, city, & regional furniture making traditions. For example, pillars with spiral-fluted urns occur on tables made in eastern Massachusetts, Newport, Rhode Island, & eastern Virginia. This motif crossed the ocean with English furniture makers who frequently turned spiral-fluted urns on pillars for tilt-top tables as well as bedposts & other forms. Newport absorbed large numbers of English immigrants after the Seven Years’ War ended in 1763, & Norfolk was a much larger city where the majority of craftsmen either had trained in England or with an English master. It is equally plausible that British tilt-top tables themselves inspired the design for spiral-fluted urns, particularly in the Boston-Salem area where imported furniture had a strong influence on local production.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Similarly, tilt-top tea tables with plain columnar pillars & baluster shaped pillars survive from nearly every port city in America. Both of these ubiquitous turnings have clear British precedents but, like the spiral-fluted urn pattern, they display considerable variety in shape, proportion, & molded detail.</i></b></p><p><b><i>As a result of furniture importation & immigration, many generic tilt-top tables made in the North American colonies looked more alike than different. Not only did similar turned pillars appear hundreds of miles from each other, but tables made throughout the colonies also shared the same basic top & leg designs. Tables with plain tops, turned tops, & scalloped tops were made from New England to Charleston. Most artisans who produced tilt-top tea tables used dovetails to attach the legs to the pillar rather than to a base block. Although the legs on tilt-top tea tables display considerable variation in shape, arch, & splay, most fall into two basic categories: those with strong cyma shapes & high arched knees, & those with weaker cyma shapes & relatively flat knees.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Of course, variations from shop to shop & region to region do exist. Some Charleston tables resemble English examples more closely than those from other American cities, whereas many Connecticut tables combine designs commonly found in Philadelphia , New York, & Boston. A small group of Newport tables even deviates from the standard pillar & claw design by incorporating multiple pillars or a cabinet with drawers. Despite these decorative differences, tilt-top tables of the same basic type were available to those who could afford them in all the American cities in the mid-18C</i></b></p><p><b><i>The suggestion that similar tilt-top tables were made throughout the colonies challenges the regional differences traditionally catalogued by furniture historians. In “Regionalism in Early American Tea Tables,” furniture scholar Albert Sack suggested that artisans in each colony made pillar forms specific to their location. To some degree, Sack is correct. Tables similar to the ones he illustrated certainly do survive from the regions he indicated; however, more specific information is usually needed to pinpoint a table’s place of origin. More importantly, the pillars, tops, & legs, point out that reality often defies regional categorization. An approach focused on the people who made & used tilt-top tables—rather than the tables themselves—yields a more complex story of trans-Atlantic migration & trade.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Like chairs, which could be produced quickly & economically using specialized labor & piecework, tilt-top tables were perfectly suited for the furniture export trade. Following the model established by Boston tradesmen, merchants, & ship captains during the 1720s, sea-faring entrepreneurs increasingly carried raw materials & finished goods between ports in England, North America, & the West Indies. A Rhode Island tea table that descended in the family of Wilmington, North Carolina, Judge Joshua Grainger Wright may have been exported by a Newport Quaker merchant who maintained business ties with Friends communities in North Carolina. A similar Newport table was probably carried to Berwick, Maine, around mid-century & sold to the father or grandfather of Ichabod Goodwin.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The Wright & Goodwin tables resemble examples with plain columnar pillars from England, Newport, Norfolk, & elsewhere. Patricia E. Kane has argued that some Newport furniture makers developed standardized models exclusively for the export market. Some Newport tradesmen referred to tilt-top tea tables as “fly tables.” In 1758 Job Townsend, Jr., charged Isaac Elizer forty-five pounds for “a Mohogony Fly Table with a Turned Top.” Over the next two years Elizer bought two additional fly tables & four tea boards, which suggests that he may have acquired them for export. “Fly tables” appear frequently in other Newport records, especially in the early 1760s when merchant activity was at its height in that city.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Historians have demonstrated that Newport artisans such as John Cahoone & John Townsend made plain furniture—primarily desks, chests of drawers, & tables—to ship with merchants trading along the Atlantic coast & with the West Indies. The tilt-top tables that Kane identified as “standard models” fit in with this genre of work. Like the desk, they were sturdy forms that could be assembled quickly & inexpensively through the use of piecework, patterns, & collaborative arrangements. The frequent appearance of tilt-top tables in venture cargo shipments also attests to the form’s popularity with mid-level consumers throughout the colonies.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The correlation between increased production of tilt-top tables & economic growth in the colonies after 1740 may explain why tilt-top tables from Massachusetts survive in much lower numbers than those from more southerly areas. New England never took full advantage of the “burgeoning Atlantic economy” in part because the markets for their products grew much slower than the region’s rapidly increasing population. Agricultural land was becoming scarce, towns more crowded, & people in northern New England lived under constant threat of attack from the French & Native Americans who launched violent assaults on British settlements during King George’s War (1739–1748) & the Seven Years’ War (1756– 1763). These factors may have discouraged artisans from immigrating to the region & impeded the importation & local production of certain luxury goods including tilt-top tea tables.</i></b></p><p><b><i>By the last quarter of the 18C, artisans in rural areas & in non-English communities made tilt-top tables that mimicked mainstream urban versions. Were it not for the chip carved ring & unusually deep cove at the top of its pillar, a table with the label of Windham, Connecticut, furniture maker Theodosius Parsons could be attributed to almost any city or town . By contrast, the artisan responsible for the unusual form illustrated in made an Anglo-American tilt-top table using Pennsylvania German construction & design sensibilities. The top is inlaid in traditional Pennsylvania German fashion with the owners’ initials & the date in lightwood stringing. The top tilts on hinged iron straps that are screwed to a large wooden cube at the top of the plain turned pillar, a creative interpretation of the conventional block or box. The tilt-top table had become sufficiently widespread among the rural populace that it crossed cultural boundaries.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Timothy H. Breen has argued that the “challenge of the 18C world of goods was its unprecedented size & fluidity, its openness, its myriad opportunities for individual choice, that subverted traditional assumptions & problematized customary social relations.” As part of this world of goods, the novelty of the tilt-top table form & the choices it offered consumers suggest shifting needs, tastes, & buying habits.</i></b></p><p><b><i>At its inception, the tilt-top table was a new aesthetic choice. When covered with a cloth, the tops of tilt-top tables almost seemed to float in space. Other domestic objects from the second & third quarters of the 18C reflected similar aesthetic sensibilities. Delicate arms & feet supported the center sections & cups of silver epergnes, & wineglasses & goblets rested on thin stems with double-helix twists.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The tilt-top table form might be viewed as a quintessential anglo-American interpretation of the rococo, defined by Jonathan Prown & Richard Miller as a combination of “rational thought” & the “public articulation of unorthodox, hedonistic, & erotic forms of expression.” In some ways, the tilt-top tea table was symmetrical & ordered. Even when the top was tilted up, the table’s façade was visually balanced. On the other hand, the form communicated a degree of precariousness. A heavy item placed too close to the edge of the top could topple the whole structure to the floor. Judging from the number of tables with broken tops, pentil blocks, & boxes, this happened with considerable frequency. The tilt-top table’s simultaneous embodiment of order & unpredictability & its strong association with women potentially locate it in “rococo culture.” Certainly less expensive & more widely owned than the pedimented & carved high chests studied by Prown & Miller, the tilt-top table probably contributed to the spreading enthusiasm for a mainstream expression of imaginative forms.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The tilt-top table retained its imaginative form through the 18C, but consumer preferences in decoration shifted. The tastes of some early American consumers were similar to those of their English counterparts. Many upper-class British patrons commissioned relatively simple tilt-top tea tables. Robert West’s painting of Thomas Smith & his family depicts a tea table of the same basic design as the Savery one. Both objects have circular tops that are about as wide as the tables are high, boxes, simple columnar pillars, & graceful cabriole legs. Neither exhibit carving or any other significant decoration.</i></b></p><p><b><i>In the 1750s more wealthy American patrons commissioned elaborately carved tilt-top tables. An example that descended in the Wharton family of Philadelphia is one of the earliest with carved ornament. The shells & husks on its knees are associated with Samuel Harding, a prominent tradesman whose shop furnished much of the architectural carving in the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall). Although Harding’s birthplace is unknown, many of the carvers whose work is represented on existing tilt-top tea tables immigrated to the colonies during the third quarter of the eighteenth century. A large percentage arrived during the 1760s, attracted by the growth in America’s economy after the Seven Years’ War.</i></b></p><p><b><i>English design books, including William Ince & John Mayhew’s The Universal System of Household Furniture (1759) & the Society of Upholsterers’ Genteel Household Furniture in the Present Taste (1760), illustrated “Claw Tables,” but the engravings bear little resemblance to American work. The bases of the English tables are extremely sculptural & organic, whereas those on most American examples simply have carved details overlaid on an otherwise conventional form. Some of the most elaborate English tables may have been constructed & decorated by carvers. American tables, in contrast, were usually made by cabinetmakers & carved by professionals working in the same shop or independently.</i></b></p><p><b><i>A tilt-top tea table that descended in the Eyre family of Philadelphia is one of the most refined examples made in the colonies. It has well-drawn & finely executed cabochons & leaves on the knees, a flower-and-ribbon motif on the astragal at the base of the pillar, & expressive foliage on the compressed ball above. Although the carving contributed greatly to the rich appearance of the table, it did not challenge the basic design formula. The shape of the legs, their attachment to the pillar, & the pillar design—a compressed ball surmounted by a slightly tapering column—have precise parallels in uncarved tea tables from the Philadelphia area. The same relationship between carved & uncarved forms can be observed on Philadelphia case furniture from the 1730s through the 1780s.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The makers & sellers of tilt-top tables offered consumers several options, all of which affected price. The 1756 & 1757 price agreements from Providence, Rhode Island, listed “stand tables” in three woods. Mahogany tilt-top tables cost one & a quarter times more than walnut, which cost one & a quarter times more than maple. A similar ratio appears in the Philadelphia cabinetmaker’s price list of 1772.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Size also influenced price. The Providence agreements indicated that “stand tables” were more expensive than “candlestands.” Similarly, the “tea table” section of the Philadelphia price list included a lower priced “folding stand,” which had a top less than twenty-two inches in diameter & could be made with or without a box. Thomas Elfe offered tops in five sizes priced from ten pounds to fourteen pounds at increments of one pound. He generally referred to the most expensive tilt-top examples as “large tea tables.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>The idea that some craftsmen conceived of turned tops in incremental sizes with incremental prices is supported by entries in the account book of Job Townsend, Jr. He sold tea boards ranging from six to twenty inches in diameter, priced from £1.15 to twenty pounds. Townsend’s customers paid from ten shillings to several pounds extra for each additional inch. Although he did not sell turned tops individually, he owned a lathe & undoubtedly made them for the tilt-top tables he sold.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Repetitive production & demand allowed furniture makers to establish standard prices for generic ornamental details such as “Leaves on the Knees” & “Claw feet.” Even elaborate carving like that on Peter Scott’s tea tables & kettle stands could be offered as an option with a set price. This was especially true of objects constructed & carved in the same shop or made & decorated by tradesmen who collaborated regularly. In many instances, cabinetmakers simply added on charges for the carver’s labor. Thomas Affleck’s bill to John Cadwalader for eighteen major pieces of furniture made between October 13, 1770, & January 14, 1771, included references “To Mr. Reynolds Bill for Carving the Above £37” & “To Bernard & Jugiex for Ditto £24.”</i></b></p><p><b><i>A tea table that reputedly belonged to Michael & Miriam Gratz of Philadelphia has legs with enormous C-scrolls & carving attributed to Bernard & Jugiez. The maker had to saw the legs from unusually thick stock to accommodate the scroll volutes, & the carver had to decorate the sides of the legs rather than just the top. This extra material & labor would have increased the price of this table significantly. In contrast, the C-scrolls on the legs of the South Carolina table may have been a standard option since they required minimal work.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The fact that tilt-top tables were sold at different price levels locates them among other commodities that revolutionized the way people of middling wealth acquired stylish goods. Textiles were the first luxury household goods that came within reach of the non-elite. Over the course of the 17C, laborers, artisans, & tradesmen who formerly could afford only woolens suddenly found themselves choosing between a bewildering array of weaves, colors, & decorative combinations. After textiles, other fashionable commodities began to follow this pattern. Stylish but relatively inexpensive leather chairs & caned chairs became available to members of the middle class, tin-glazed earthenware & refined stoneware emerged as alternatives to porcelain, & importers began selling green tea at cheaper prices to compete with Bohea tea in the 1710s. Although not widely popular in the colonies before the 1740s, the tilt-top table may have been the furniture form most successfully marketed to the middle class.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Because of its distinct role as a consumer commodity affiliated with female gentility, the tilt-top table might be considered in the category of teaware rather than furniture. When choosing a tea table, consumers probably considered how it would complement their teapot, salver, spoons, & ceramics rather than other furniture they owned. Few tilt-top tables were made en suite with other furniture forms, with the possible exception of the Philadelphia examples that descended in the Stevenson family. Tilt-top tea tables, however, often have details that relate to those on teawares. Consumers may have purchased tables with scalloped tops that complemented the edge treatment of salvers & tea boards or vice versa. Even the more modest dished tops had visual cognates in silver & brass trays & tazza.</i></b></p><p><b><i>It is difficult to generalize at which point in their acquisition of requisite tea-related objects consumers chose to buy tea tables. Historians & archaeologists examining several geographic areas have suggested that colonists bought refined artifacts little by little as their funds allowed. Fittingly, it seems that middling consumers tended first to acquire the equipment required for brewing & consuming tea. Owning a few tea cups or a tea pot, however, did not necessarily indicate a full shift toward the genteel lifestyle. </i></b></p><p><b><i>In contrast, buying a tea table—whose very name signified refinement—may have been a more meaningful choice. By all accounts, tilt-top tea tables cost more than ceramic tea wares. On the other hand, they tended to cost much less than silver teapots, kettles, & salvers. Many consumers were willing to spend more for their teawares than their tablewares. Evidence from the Chesapeake region suggests that some consumers bought porcelain teawares but could only afford creamware for their tables. By extension, middling families who may not have been able to afford a set of carved chairs or a looking glass may have purchased a tea table.</i></b></p><p><b><i>The popularity of tilt-top tea tables may have helped spread the consumerist impulse that made possible later increases in stylish goods, most notably Wedgwood’s successful creamware. Creamware introduced a much less expensive type of polite ware to the ceramic market & also offered different types of decoration at varied prices. Consuming fashionable goods in considerable number was a new activity for the British middling ranks in the 18C. It required a change in attitude & often a change in the patterns of daily life. </i></b></p><p><b><i>When creamware appeared on the market in the late 1760s, the appetites of middle-class consumers were already whetted for tea-related objects that signified status but fell within their financial reaches. Within a decade, wealthy Americans as well as those with less financial wherewithal had replaced their old tea & table wares with the new type. The attitudes & infrastructure necessary for this rapid & total change in ceramic consumption patterns had been generated over the previous decades by a wide range of fashionable goods—calicos, forks, mirrors, & many others. Among these goods was the tilt-top tea table.</i></b></p><p><b><i>Ironically, the success of creamware probably contributed to the eventual demise of the tilt-top tea table’s status. Craftsmen continued to make tripod tables through the Federal era (often with attenuated, neo-classical style legs & pillars) but they did not carry the same connotations. The tables that often signified wealth & status in the early 19Cwere long segmented dining tables that filled large dining rooms & entertaining halls. </i></b></p><p><b><i>Tilt-top tables may have lost their ability to communicate status when tea drinking & ownership of teawares—particularly creamware—became nearly ubiquitous after 1770. In the stores of Chesapeake retailers, creamware plates represented 73.3 percent of all plates sold in the 1770s, & 96.2 percent in the 1780s.</i></b></p><p><b><i>In 1774 several colonial newspapers published rhymes titled “A Ladies’ Adieu to her Tea Table.” The poems all differed somewhat, but shared the patriotic fervor that led men & women throughout the colonies to boycott tea in protest of England’s high taxes. The abandonment of tea seemed to accompany a heavy heart, not for want of the drink but rather for the tea table accoutrements. “Farewell the Tea Board, with its gaudy Equipage, / Of Cups & Saucers, Cream Bucket, Sugar Tongs, / The pretty Tea Chest also, lately stor / With Hyson, Congo & best Double Fine.” </i></b></p><p><b><i>By making these tea-related goods more widely available, the consumer revolution had engendered a desire for material objects among middling people faster than ever before. The tilt-top tea table was the product of its particular historical moment. Its production relied on the commercial trade networks that characterize the mid-18C & its function & appearance not only facilitated but came to symbolize the fashionable modes of social interaction that changed daily life for so many. With changes in society & taste after the American Revolution, the tilt-top table lost its potency in the imaginations of American consumers.</i></b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-48193193867752152452021-06-09T04:00:00.003-04:002021-08-27T06:38:20.747-04:00American Botanist Frances Montresor Buchanan Allen Penniman (1760-1834) <p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDXjMgQPKpl78psi9A1I5uzEElYm_j_NIwvmqlCOrcPujISZG6p4WR-189uI53dCb4S2ZQ8z5W_oNs2UaKYClwC02YCYnvwWXrK7O3i7KxKFUxptTsnHaZqCuXv9lOCdrAG22aqB7UHk/s640/1+1+1+download+%25286%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDXjMgQPKpl78psi9A1I5uzEElYm_j_NIwvmqlCOrcPujISZG6p4WR-189uI53dCb4S2ZQ8z5W_oNs2UaKYClwC02YCYnvwWXrK7O3i7KxKFUxptTsnHaZqCuXv9lOCdrAG22aqB7UHk/s16000/1+1+1+download+%25286%2529.jpg" /></a></p><p></p><p>Frances “Fanny” Montresor Allen </p><p>Frances “Fanny” Montresor Allen (1760-1834) is believed to be the illegitimate daughter of British officer John Montresor & Anna Schoolcraft, Fanny was born in 1760. Fanny’s mother died while she was still young, & was then adopted by Anna’s sister, Margaret Schoolcraft Brush. In 1784, at the age of 24, Fanny married Ethan Allen, who was then almost twice her age. Fanny Allen went on to become a notable botanist in the state of Vermont, many specimens of which are preserved at the University of Vermont.</p><p>Penniman was famous for her skill in gardening & her garden was stocked with a rare variety of plants & shrubs. And it was here that two herbaria were made by Mrs. Penniman & her youngest daughter Adelia, who was born in 1800. The region around the High Bridge was discovered by a Massachusetts botanist, who botanized the west side of the state in 1829, to be<b> "a remarkable region, rich in rare & interesting plants." </b></p><p>A part of this "remarkable region" was comprised in the Penniman farm, & here, in 1814, the mother/daughter botanists found & preserved their specimens. They doubtless followed the windings of the river in both directions & are known to have gone often through the woods then on the site of the Fort in their search for wild flowers. Not satisfied with the pressed flowers in the herbarium, they carried home the plants from their native haunts & cultivated & improved them in the home garden. Botany was said to be Mrs. Penniman's "favorite amusement." </p><p>It may be that the specimens in these small herbaria were the oldest in the state, for the oldest in the herbaria of the University of Vermont are dated 1819. There were 80 or 90 specimens in each herbarium, although quite a number of cultivated plants are included. Many of the botanical names have long since been changed, & one at least, the ground or moss pink, had not been listed in the Vermont Flora, though reported as a recent "find" from Wallingford & also from Colchester.</p><p>These two women were studying the natural sciences at an early period in the young nation. One can appreciate it by considering the state of "female education" at that time. Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1782, had voted "Not to be at any expense for schooling girls," & as late as 1790, in Gloucester, the town decided that <b>"Females are a tender & interesting branch of the community but have been much neglected in the public schools of this town."</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5809530216052619206.post-86264719924990182522021-06-07T04:00:00.001-04:002021-08-23T01:12:19.638-04:00Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks(1752-1837) Virginia Planter & Herbal Doctor <p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRNMqrIIgPLZknSEjcmcP9CgZPY-r6DoBbQscSbGMz0ZiLEdtNHSqlHpvuFdvw-FrEbOT7bYuwYhN2nPDzEoKBouz82P1_bTlzjBnzXE4QVDo_R4Cs60M_ezB_m74aVGxDeTofZs1_kEs/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+Lucy+Meriwether+Lewis+Marks++University+of+Virginia+Art+Museum.++Painted+by+John+Toole%252C+1815-1860.a++%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="860" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRNMqrIIgPLZknSEjcmcP9CgZPY-r6DoBbQscSbGMz0ZiLEdtNHSqlHpvuFdvw-FrEbOT7bYuwYhN2nPDzEoKBouz82P1_bTlzjBnzXE4QVDo_R4Cs60M_ezB_m74aVGxDeTofZs1_kEs/w316-h400/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz+Lucy+Meriwether+Lewis+Marks++University+of+Virginia+Art+Museum.++Painted+by+John+Toole%252C+1815-1860.a++%25282%2529.jpg" width="316" /></a></p><p>Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks(1752-1837) Virginia Planter &amp; Herbal Doctor 1752 - 1837 Collection of the University of Virginia Art Museum. Painted by John Toole, 1815-1860.<br /><br />While she’s often overlooked, Lucy Meriwether Lewis Marks made an indirect but important contribution to the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s outcome. Meriwether Lewis’s mother was a talented and resourceful woman who effectively shaped her son to become an outstanding man capable of leading a group of soldiers across the continent. According to family history, “Lucy was a devoted Christian and full of sympathy for all sickness and trouble.” Her extensive knowledge of herbs, wild plants and their medicinal properties led her to be renowned for her herbal doctoring. And she passed what she knew along to her son. She encouraged young Meriwether’s interest in plants and wildlife and she insisted the young man return to Virginia to receive a more formal education.<br /><br />Lucy Thornton Meriwether was born in Albemarle County on February 4, 1752. She was the daughter of Col. Thomas and Elizabeth Thornton Meriwether. Thomas Meriwether's (1714-1756) home was at “Clover Fields." Thomas continued to purchase land to add to the land gifted to him by his grandfather, until his total land holdings were 9,000 acres spread over several estates. He married Elizabeth Thornton in 1735 and that same year, “he had 11 slaves, 2 horses, a plow and farm implements, 18 head of cattle and over 100 hogs, sows and pigs on his Totier Creek property. His wife, Elizabeth Thornton (1717-1794). Together, they had 11 children. Following her husband’s death, Elizabeth married Robert Lewis of “Belvoir” who later became Lucy’s father-in-law as well as her step-father.<br /><br />In 1768 or 1769, when Lucy was either 16 or 17, she married her step-brother and first cousin-once-removed 35 year old William Lewis. William Lewis (1735 - 1779) had grown up in great prosperity as his father owned 21,600 acres in the Albemarle County area as well as an interest in 100,000 acres in Greenbrier County (now West Virginia. Upon his father’s death in 1765, William Lewis inherited “Locust Hill” and 1,896 acres on Ivy Creek (600 of which he later sold) and the slaves to work it. He probably built the house during the 3 years between his inheritance and his marriage.William Lewis was a lieutenant in the Virginia militia and served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.* Thus, like many of the men in Lucy’s family, he was away from home for long periods, leaving Lucy to manage his plantation of over 1,600 acres. William Lewis died in the autumn of 1779. On his way home from army duty, he crossed the Rivanna River when it was in flood and his horse was swept away and drowned. He swam ashore and managed to get to “Clover Fields”, the Meriwether family home, but as a result of the ordeal, he came down with a bad chill and died of pneumonia. He was buried at “Clover Fields.”<br /><br />Within six months after her husband’s death, Lucy Meriwether Lewis married Capt. John Marks (1740 – 1791) on May 13, 1780. A number of planters from Albemarle County, including John Marks, Francis Meriwether, Benjamin Taliaferro and Thomas Gilmer immigrated to land along the Broad River in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1784. In 1791, John Marks died of causes unknown, and Lucy became a widow for the 2nd time. She was 39 years old decided to return to “Locust Hill.”<br /><br />Lucy was locally famous as a “yarb” or herb doctor. Lucy’s type of doctoring was called “Empiric” and based on practical experience. She was folk practitioner – a job often filled by women. She traveled throughout Albemarle County by horseback caring for the sick well into her early eighties. Perhaps she learned medicine from her father, also known as a healer, and her brother Francis, who was a “Regular” or formally-trained doctor. Lucy may have grown medicinal plants in her garden at “Locust Hill” and collected them in the wild as well. </p><p>Her famous son, Meriwether Lewis, relied on the skills he had learned from his mother when he treated himself and others on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Her son John attended medical school. Some accounts also refer to her son Reuben as a doctor, though it is likely that he was “yarb” doctor like Lucy rather than a “regular” doctor like his brother John. Lucy remained active in her doctoring into her eighties, according to family accounts, even in old age, she continued to ride on horseback around the countryside visiting the sick, both slave and free.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com