Marrying in 1750 Pennsylvania & a glimpse at unmarried persons "merry-making"

From Gottlieb Mittelberger's Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750 and Return to Germany in the Year 1754 (Philadelphia, 1898).

Gottlieb Mittelberger traveled to Pennsylvania from Germany in 1750, on a ship primarily filled with poorer immigrants who would become indentured servants upon arriving in Philadelphia. Mittelberger was not a servant, and worked as a school master and organist for 3 years before returning to Germany in 1754.

If a man in Pennsylvania is betrothed to a woman, and does not care to be married by an ordained preacher, he may be married by any Justice, wherever he will, without having the banns published, on payment of 6 florins. It is a very common custom among the newly married, when the priest has blessed them, to kiss each other in presence of the whole church assemblage, or wherever the marriage ceremony takes place. Again, when a couple have been published from the pulpit, even if this has done for the second or third time, they are still at liberty to give each other up without the least cost. Even when such a couple have come to the church with their wedding guests, nay, when they already stand before the altar, and one party repents the engagement, he or she may yet walk away. This has frequently been done; but it occurs oftener that a bride leaves her bridegroom together with the wedding guests in the church, which causes a cruel laughter among said wedding guests; these may then freely partake of the meal that has been prepared.

If a couple in this province want to marry each other, and the parents and relatives on one or both sides will not permit it, especially when a woman will not renounce her lover, they ride off and away together on one horse. And because women have greater privileges than men, the man must sit on the horse behind his beloved. In this position they ride to a justice, and say they had stolen each other, and request him to marry them for their money. When this is done, no one, neither parents nor friends, can afterward separate them. . . .

If any one has lost a wife or husband in Germany, and if such loss was not caused by the death of either of them, he or she can find such lost treasure, if the same be still alive, in America, for Pennsylvania is the gathering place of all runaways and good-for- nothings. Many women and men are there who have deserted their spouses and their children, and have married again, but in doing so have generally made a worse bargain than before. . . .

On the first and second days of the month of May there is general merry-making in Pennsylvania, in which the unmarried persons of both sexes chiefly take part. All amuse themselves with playing, dancing, shooting, hunting, and the like. Such unmarried persons as are born in the country adorn their heads with a piece of the fur of some wild animal, together with any painted animal they may choose. With these the young men walk about the city, crying, " Hurrah! Hurrah!" But no one may put such a token in his hat except those born in the country, and these are called Indians.

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1764 Benjamin West 1738-1820 Mary Hopkinson Smithsonian

Benjamin Franklin's 1745 Advice on chosing a partner "Prefer old Women to young ones"

Robert Feke (American artist, 1707-1752) Young Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) c. 1746

June 25, 1745

My dear Friend,
I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Your Reasons against entering into it at present, appear to me not well-founded. The circumstantial Advantages you have in View by postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with that of the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that make the compleat human Being. Separate, she wants his Force of Body and Strength of Reason; he, her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are more likely to succeed in the World. A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. If you get a prudent healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.

But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. You call this a Paradox, and demand my Reasons. They are these:

i. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable.

2. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.

3. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produc'd may be attended with much Inconvenience.

4. Because thro' more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin'd to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.

5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding2 only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.

6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy.

7. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy.

8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!!

Thus much for my Paradox. But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend..

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1764 Lawrence Kilburn 1720-1775 Lady Met

The Role of Male & Female Slaves in the 18C & 19C American economy

African peoples were captured & transported to the Western Hemisphere to work.  Most European colonial economies in the Americas from the 16th - 19th century were dependent on enslaved African labor for their survival.  The rationale of European colonial officials was that the abundant land they had "discovered" in the Americas was useless without sufficient labor to exploit it.  Only some 450,000 of the nearly 10 million Africans who survived the Middle Passage across the Atlantic to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade settled in the continental United States. Nevertheless, these 450,000 had grown to more than 4 million people of African descent by 1860, the dawn of the Civil War.

South Carolina

Many of the Dutch & English colonists in the upper colonies of colonial British America preferred to get their slaves from other New World colonies rather than directly from Africa. From the beginning of the African slave trade in the Western Hemisphere, Europe's "New World," in the 16C to its conclusion in the 19C, slave merchants brought the vast majority of enslaved Africans to the Caribbean & Brazil. Of the more than 10 million enslaved Africans to eventually reach the Western Hemisphere, just 388,747—less than 4 percent of the total—came directly to North America. This was dwarfed by the 1.3 million brought to Spanish Central America, the 4 million brought to British, French, Dutch, & Danish holdings in the Caribbean, & the 4.8 million brought to Brazil.

In the Northern & Middle colonies, direct imports of slaves from Africa were considered by some too dangerous & difficult. Instead, the Northern & Middle colonies often sought their African slaves from Dutch Curacao & later from British Jamaica & Barbados. These slaves were familiar with Western customs & habits of work, qualities highly prized in a region where masters & slaves worked & lived in close proximity. Having survived one climate change already, they also adjusted better to Northern winters, which incapacitated or killed some of those kidnapped directly from Africa. Both causes contributed to the adjective often used to advertise West Indies slaves being sold in the North as "seasoned."

1755 Shipping Hogsheads of Tobacco from Frye-Jefferson map of Virginia

Slavery was not limited to the Western Hemisphere.  The trans-Saharan slave trade had long supplied enslaved African labor to work on sugar plantations in the Mediterranean alongside white slaves from Russia & the Balkans. This same trade also sent as many as 10,000 slaves a year to serve owners in North Africa, the Middle East, & the Iberian Peninsula.

Of the millions of immigrants who survived the crossing of the Atlantic & settled in the Western Hemisphere between 1492 -1776, only about 1 million were Europeans. The remaining were African. An average of 80 % of these enslaved Africans—men, women, & children—were employed, mostly as field-workers. Women as well as children worked in some capacity.

More than half of the enslaved African captives in the Americas were employed on sugar plantations. Sugar developed into the leading slave-produced commodity in the Americas.  During the 16th & 17th centuries, Brazil dominated the production of sugarcane. One of the earliest large-scale manufacturing industries was established to convert the juice from the sugarcane into sugar, molasses, & eventually rum, the alcoholic beverage of choice of the triangular trade.  The profits made from the sale of these goods in Europe, as well as the trade in these commodities in Africa, were used to purchase more slaves.

Tobacco Advertisement Card, Newman’s Best Virginia, 1700s

By 1750, both free & enslaved black people in the British American colonies, despite the hardships of their lives, manifested a deepening attachment to America. The majority of blacks by now had been born in America, rather than in Africa. While a collective cultural memory of Africa was maintained, personal & direct memories had waned. Slave parents began to give their children biblical rather than African names.

Tobacco Label, Ford’s Virginia

During the British American colonial period in the United States, tobacco was the dominant slave-produced commodity.  During the colonial era, 61% of all American slaves -- nearly 145,000 -- lived in Virginia & Maryland, working the tobacco fields in small to medium-sized gangs. Planters who owned hundreds of slaves often divided them among several plantations. In the North & the Upper South, masters & bondpeople lived close to each other.  Rice & indigo plantations in South Carolina also employed enslaved African labor.  The South Carolina & Georgia coastal rice belt had a slave population of 40,000. Because rice requires precise irrigation & a large, coordinated labor force, enslaved people lived & worked in larger groups. Plantation owners lived in towns like Charleston or Savannah & employed white overseers to manage their far-flung estates. Overseers assigned a task in the morning, & slaves tended to their own needs, when the assigned work was completed. The region was atypical, because of its more flexible work schedules and more isolated and independent slave culture.

Indigo Production South Carolina. William DeBrahm, A Map of South Carolina and a Part of Georgia  London, published by Thomas Jeffreys, 1757.

Exhausted land caused a decline in tobacco production, & the American Revolution cost Virginia & Maryland their principal European tobacco markets, & for a brief period of time after the Revolution. The future of slavery in the United States was in jeopardy. Most of the northern states abolished it, & even Virginia debated abolition in the Virginia Assembly.

Slave Auction. New York Illustrated News; January 26, 1861

The invention of the cotton gin in 1793, gave slavery a new life in the United States. Between 1800 -  1860, slave-produced cotton expanded from South Carolina & Georgia to newly colonized lands west of the Mississippi. This shift of the slave economy from the upper South (Virginia & Maryland) to the lower South was accompanied by a comparable shift of the enslaved African population to the lower South & West.

Hauling Cotton US South. Harper's New Monthly Magazine (1853-54)

After the abolition of the slave trade in 1808, the principal source of the expansion of slavery into the lower South was the domestic slave trade from the upper South.  By 1850, 1.8 million of the 2.5 million enslaved Africans employed in agriculture in the United States were working on cotton plantations.

Picking Cotton. Ballou's Pictorial (Boston, Jan. 23, 1858)

The vast majority of enslaved Africans employed in plantation agriculture were field hands. Some coastal owners used slaves as fishermen.  Even on plantations, however, they worked in many other capacities. Some were domestics & worked as butlers, waiters, maids, seamstresses, & launderers. Others were assigned as carriage drivers, hostlers, & stable boys. Artisans—carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, millers, coopers, spinners, & weavers—were also employed as part of plantation labor forces.

Slave Auction. The Illustrated London News; February 16, 1861

Enslaved Africans also worked in urban areas. Upward of 10% of the enslaved African population in the United States lived in cities. Charleston, Richmond, Savannah, Mobile, New York, Philadelphia, & New Orleans all had sizable slave populations. In the southern cities, they totaled approximately a third of the population.

Edwin Forbes (1839-1895) Stacking Wheat in Culpepper, Virginia 1863

The range of slave occupations in cities was vast. Domestic servants dominated, but there were carpenters, fishermen, coopers, draymen, sailors, masons, bricklayers, blacksmiths, bakers, tailors, peddlers, painters, & porters. Although most worked directly for their owners, others were hired out to work as skilled laborers on plantations, on public works projects, & in industrial enterprises. A small percentage hired themselves out & paid their owners a percentage of their earnings.

Picking Cotton US South Harper's New Monthly Magazine (1853-54)

Each plantation economy was part of a larger national & international political economy. The cotton plantation economy, for instance, is generally seen as part of the regional economy of the American South. By the 1830s, "cotton was king" indeed in the South. It was also king in the United States, which was competing for economic leadership in the global political economy. Plantation-grown cotton was the foundation of the antebellum southern economy.

 Ginning Cotton US South Harper's New Monthly Magazine (1853-54)

The American financial & shipping industries were also dependent on slave-produced cotton, as was the British textile industry. Cotton was not shipped directly to Europe from the South. Rather, it was shipped to New York & then transshipped to England & other centers of cotton manufacturing in the United States & Europe.  As the cotton plantation economy expanded throughout the southern region, banks & financial houses in New York supplied the loan capital &/or investment capital to purchase land & slaves.

Harvesting Sugar Cane, Louisiana Harper's New Monthly Magazine (1853)

As an inexpensive source of labor, enslaved Africans in the United States also became important economic & political capital in the American political economy. Enslaved Africans were legally a form of property—a commodity. Individually & collectively, they were frequently used as collateral in all kinds of business transactions. They were also traded for other kinds of goods & services.

Slave Market. Harper's Weekly, January 24, 1863

The value of the investments slaveholders held in their slaves was often used to secure loans to purchase additional land or slaves. Slaves were also used to pay off outstanding debts. When calculating the value of estates, the estimated value of each slave was included. This became the source of tax revenue for local & state governments. Taxes were also levied on slave transactions.

Planting Rice US South. Harper's Monthly Magazine (1859)

Politically, the U.S. Constitution incorporated a feature that made enslaved Africans political capital—to the benefit of southern states. The so-called three-fifths compromise allowed the southern states to count their slaves as three-fifths of a person for purposes of calculating states' representation in the U.S. Congress. Thus the balance of power between slaveholding & non-slaveholding states turned, in part, on the three-fifths presence of enslaved Africans in the census.  Slaveholders were taxed on the same three-fifths principle, & no taxes paid on slaves supported the national treasury. In sum, the slavery system in the United States was a national system that touched the very core of its economic & political life.

See: 
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. 

Jubilee: The Emergence of African-American Culture, ed. Howard Dodson. Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society.  2003.

www.slaveryimages.org, compiled by Jerome Handler and Michael Tuite, and sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia Library. 

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1763 John Singleton Copley 1738-1815 Elizabeth Byles Mrs. Gawen Brown  MFA Houston

Mrs. Gawen Brown (Elizabeth Byles, 1737-1763) was the daughter of the minister Mather Byles and Anna Noyes and the wife of Gawen Brown (1719-1801), an esteemed Boston clockmaker. Something of a poet, she penned the following lines "on her Infant Son,” Mather Brown (1761-1831), who eventually would become a portraitist: “When with a Parents partial Eye / My Babe within my Arms I spy, / I form a thousand airy Schemes / And paint his future Life in Dreams. / But ah! how different may it be / From what a mother hopes to see / The lovely Infant ne’er may know / A joyous Moment here below: / Yet oh that Heaven would hear my Prayer, / And pour its Blessings on my Heir. / Grant him those Graces from above, / Of Faith, Humility and Love / Let him thy Loving Favor find, / As years increase enlarge his Mind. . . .” The sitter, however, did not live long after voicing her dreams, wishes, and prayers for her son; she died the same year Copley produced this portrait.  See: Warren, David B., Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.

About slave Jenny, the good spinster...

Robert Carter, Letter to Clement Brooke of the Baltimore Iron Works. 11 November 1776.
Description: Item is a letter and an invoice. Of interest is reference made to Jenny. The "Negroe Woman" is on board the sloop Atwell along with a host of other goods. The abstract below is from notations in the invoice and letter.

220 bushels of Indian Corn and one Negroe Woman named Jenny are no on board the Sloop Atwell the cargo mentioned abov to be delivered to you for the use of the Baltimoe [sic] Comp[any]--Pray send me a Copy of the Proceedings of the B-C[ompany] when they resolve that there Shall be an Addition of five negroe Women, to their Stock--  It is customary for me to engage my Negroes from new years day to the 31st of December following--however Geo. Wilkerson, Wool Comber, has relinquished Jenny, who is a good Spinster--Jenny is young & Stout, She has fits, accasionally, [sic] I say Accasionally, becuase her fits never happen but upon her being reprimanded for neglects; nor do those Fits leave behind any visible Effects If Jenny Should prove not to be sound, I will at a future date Send a negroe woman in her Stead--...

 From the Robert Carter Papers (Vol. III). (Virginia) Special Collections Library, Duke University.

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1763 John Singleton Copley 1738-1815 Mrs. Nathaniel Allen (Sarah Sargnet) Minneapolis Inst of Arts

Nathaniel Allen was a member of the new wealthy class in the mercantile and shipping business in Boston, and his wife, Sarah, was 34 at the time this work was painted. When commissioning portraits, successful American colonists wished to be portrayed in the manner of European aristocrats. This was accomplished by copying contemporary English portraits of ladies and gentlemen of fashion. Here, Copley adapted his composition from a mezzotint after William Hogarth's painting of Frances, Lady Byron.

Newspaper - Runaway Slaves - Carders, Spinners, Weavers, & Knitters

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Virginia Gazette (Hunter), Williamsburg, November 7, 1754.
RAN away...a Mulatto Wench, named Molly, about 26 Years of Age, of a middle Stature, long Visage, and freckled, has a drawling Speech, a down Look, and has been chiefly brought up to Carding and Spinning.

Virginia Gazette (Dixon & Hunter),Williamsburg, March 11, 1775.
RUN away... a very bright Mulatto Man named STEPHEN, 5 Feet 6 or 7 Inches high, about 22 Years of Age...His Wife PHEBE went away with him, a remarkable white Indian Woman, about the same Age, and was with Child; she has long black Hair, which is generally clubbed, and carried off with her a blue Negro Cotton Waistcoat and Petticoat, a Virginia Cloth Waistcoat and Petticoat, and a Virginia Cloth Bonnet. She can spin well...

Virginia Gazette or American Advertiser (Hayes), Richmond, February 2, 1782.
A black fellow by the name of PETER, frequently called PETER WOOD, about 37 or 38 years of age, 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, has a smiling countenance...Also a very likely black girl, wife to the above fellow and taken off by him, about 18 or 19 years old, middle size, by the name of AMIA...She is a fine spinner and Weaver, has never had a child, and I am informed has holes in her ears for rings.

Virginia Gazette or Weekly Advertiser (Nicolson & Prentis), Richmond, May 11, 1782.
VIOLET, went off about eight weeks ago, and is now harboured in Williamsburg, about twenty two years old, very likely, genteel made, and knits very well.
Virginia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser (Nicolson & Prentis), Richmond, November 22, 1783.
RUN away...a negro girl named PHILLIS, but for some time passed by the name BETTY. She is about sixteen years of age, an excellent spinner, and very likely...She has for some time been harboured about Rocket's, and is very intimate and supposed lives with one Free Harry.

Virginia Gazette or American Advertiser (Hayes), Richmond, October 16, 1784.
RAN AWAY...a likely Mulatto woman named CHARITY, who carried with her three children, two boys and a girl...She is a likely wench, has an uncommon good voice, is a good house servant, and can spin and knit very well.

Virginia Gazette or American Advertiser (Hayes), Richmond, December 31, 1785
....my negro woman TABB. She is of a middle stature, rather of a yellowish cast, and thin visage, straight made, walks and talks quick...When she went off, she was clothed as Negroes generally are, which she will certainly change, being very fond of dress, and looks tolerable genteel. She is remarkable handy and industrious, can card and spin cotton and wool, equal in quantity and quality with any woman in the State; a tolerable good weaver, which she followed when she runaway before, and changed her name to Nancy Jones.

Virginia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser (Nicolson), Richmond, April 17, 1788.
RUN away...a stout well made Virginia born negro woman, named DINAH, but has changed her name to NANCY, her complexion is rather of the tawny kind, she has a scar on her forehead, and keeps her eyes rather closed when speaking, she chews tobacco, and smoaks...She last hired herself to Mrs. Jones, at Spring Garden, in Hanover, for a spinner and weaver, and had one of the house servants for her husband...

Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser (Davis), Richmond, January 18, 1792.
Run away...a likely negro woman, named URSULA, of a yellowish complexion, with some black moles on her face, 30 years of age, 5 feet three or 4 inches high, had on, when she went away, such cloathing as negroes generally wear in the summer, and carried with her a white linen coat and jacket. She is a vile creature, and for her many crimes I punsihed her with an iron collar, but supposed she soon got that off. She is very artful, has a smooth tongue, and is a good weaver, and as she has for some time imposed on the Baptist church by her pretensions to religion, she may probably attempt to pass for a free woman, and do the same again.

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1763 John Singleton Copley 1738-1815 Mrs. Daniel Sargent (Mary Turner Sargent) San Fran Fine Arts

The de Young Museum in San Francisco tells us that according to her son, Mrs. Daniel Sargent sat for this portrait on 15 different occasions, sometimes remaining still for up to 6 hours. During one sitting, while the artist briefly left the room, Sargent glanced at the painting and was astonished to find that Copley had erased the portion of the canvas that depicted her head. This anecdote provides just one of many examples of Copley’s painstaking perfectionism; he was known to often rework areas of the canvas until a precise likeness was achieved. Commissioned to paint Sargent shortly after her marriage, Copley incorporated into the portrait symbols of love and fertility. For example, in her right hand she holds a scallop shell, a reference to Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. Likewise, the waterfall cascading from the stone wall signifies virtue, fertility, and life.

Former slave Catherine Ferguson 1774-1854 devotes her life to neglected children in NYC

When former slave Catherine Ferguson, a New York City woman devoted to Christian education & the care of orphans, died in 1854, her death prompted this obituary written by Lewis Tappan, an eminent evangelical antislavery activist.  He tells of a child born a slave, whose mother was sold away by their New York master.   When she is finally freed, she devotes her long life to serving the Lord and to caring for neglected children. Tappan also claimed, that she was the first person to have founded a Sunday school in New York City.

Catherine Ferguson from Benson J. Lossing, Our Countrymen, Or Brief Memoirs of Eminent Americans (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1855), 405.

New York Daily Tribune, July 20, 1854, p. 6

"Died, on Tuesday, 11th instant, at her house, 74 Thompson street, Widow Catharine Ferguson, after a brief illness, aged about 80 years.

"The departure of this remarkable woman should be commemorated by an obituary notice worthy of such a mother in Israel, and such an active, life-long, Christian philanthropist. It is hoped that a memoir will be presented to the public. Thousands in this community have heard of or known Katy Ferguson, the aged colored woman, who, in more vigorous life was the celebrated cake-maker for weddings and other social parties. But many who have eaten her unrivalled cake, and been edified by her sensible chat or pious discourse, may be ignorant of the eminent virtues and extraordinary good deeds which crowned her life. It is due, therefore, to the cause of Christ, of philanthropy, and the people of color especially, that her distinguished services should be recorded. The facts contained in this notice were taken down from Mrs. Ferguson’s own lips, March 25, 1850.

"Katy was born a slave. Her mother gave birth to her on her passage from Virginia to this city. Katy Williams—for that was her name—was “owned” by R. B., who lived on Water street, and was an elder in one of the New-York City Presbyterian Churches. “R. B.,” said Katy, “sold my mother away, but I remember that before we were torn asunder, she knelt down, laid her hand on my head, and gave me to God.”

"Katy never saw her mother again. Her mistress told her that if she was as good as her mother, she would do well. Katy felt keenly the loss of her mother. The recollection of her own anguish when separated from her, made her, she said, feel compassion for children. When ten years old, she told her master, R. B., that if he would give her her liberty, she would serve the Lord for ever. But he did not do it.

"Katy was never taught to read. “My mistress,” she said, “would not let me learn; and once she said to me, ‘You know more now than my daughters.’” One of her mistress’ sons asked Katy to teach him geography, etc. She exclaimed, “I can’t!” He replied, “Yes, you can; if I don’t read right in the Bible, or if I don’t say my catechism right, you tell quick enough.”

"At fourteen years of age she was converted to God. When under conviction of sin she determined to go and see the Rev. John M. Mason, whose church she then attended. She was afraid to go, was unwilling it should be known in the family that she went, and tremblingly apprehensive that she could not get access to Dr. Mason, or that he would not pay attention to her. She, however, summoned resolution enough to go. “While I stood at the door ringing the bell,” said she, “I can not describe my feelings; and when the door opened, and Dr. Mason himself stood before me, I trembled from head to foot. If he had spoken harshly to me, or had repulsed me, I should almost died of grief, and perhaps have lost my soul.” But the good man did not speak harshly to her, nor repulse her. Stern and apparently haughty as he was on some occasions, yet he possessed kind and tender feelings, as the writer well remembers. He united two qualities that are never found united, except in truly great men, high intellectual power and strong emotional feelings. Without waiting for the little trembling colored girl to say any thing, Dr. Mason said, “Have you come here to talk to me about your soul?” This greatly encouraged her. She went in and disclosed to the venerable man the secrets of her heart.

"When Katy was sixteen or seventeen years old, a lady in the city purchased her freedom for $200, giving her six years to reimburse her; but she afterwards agreed to allow her one half of the sum for eleven months’ work, and the late excellent Divie Bethune raised the other hundred dollars.

"At eighteen she was married. She had two children, but lost them both. “They are dead,” said Katy, “and I have no relations now, and most of my old friends are gone.”

"During her life, she had taken forty-eight children—twenty of them white children—some from the alms-house and others from their parents, and brought them up, or kept them till she could find places for them. She expended much money on their behalf and followed them with affectionate interest with her prayers. To my inquiry, “Have you laid up any property?” she quickly replied, “How could I, when I gave away all I earned?”

"When she lived at 51 Warren street, (the house has since been taken down,) she regularly collected the children in the neighborhood, who were accustomed to run in the street on the Lord’s day, into her house, and got suitable persons to come and hear them say their catechism, etc.

"The sainted Isabella Graham used to invite Katy’s scholars to her house, to say their catechism, and receive religious instruction. This was about the time Dr. Mason’s Church in Murray street was built. The doctor heard of her school, and one Sunday visited it. “What are you about here, Katy,” said he; “keeping school on the Sabbath? We must not leave you to do all this.” So he spoke to his elders, had the lecture-room opened, and the children transferred to it. This was the origin of the Sunday-school in the Murray street church, and it is believed that Katy Ferguson’s was the first Sunday-school in the city.

"For more than forty years, up to the last of life, she has had a prayer-meeting at her house every Friday evening, and for some five years past another every Sabbath afternoon, into which she gathered the poor neglected children of the neighborhood, and those adults who did not attend church anywhere. She always secured the aid of some good man to conduct these meetings. The results of these efforts were most happy. Tract distributors, city missionaries and others remarked that where Katy lived, the whole aspect of the neighborhood was changed. So much for the exertions of a poor colored woman, who could not read! “The liberal heart deviseth liberal things.”

"The secret of Katy’s usefulness was her fervent, uniform, and consistent piety. No one could be with her, even for a little while, without feeling its influence. The love of God was shed abroad in her heart, and it found expression in acts of benevolence to his children.

"The cause of missions was very dear to her. Three years and a half ago a company of missionaries were about to embark for West-Africa, under the direction of the American Missionary Association. One of the missionaries was invited to attend the little meetings held at Katy’s house, and did so once or twice before leaving the country. Katy’s sympathies were at once strongly enlisted in behalf of this young missionary and all his associates. A few months since, the writer met her in the street, and she eagerly inquired about the Mendi Mission. “For these three years,” said she, “I have never missed a day but I have prayed for those dear missionaries.”

"Katy mourned over the condition of the poor people in the city, who were suffering on account of their vices as well as their poverty. She said: “The ruination of both white and colored people, in this city, is gambling. I told one of them, that I would never do it; that I had rather live on bread and water.”

"On Tuesday morning, having been for several days somewhat indisposed, she went out to see a physician. She soon returned to her house and lay down, but grew rapidly worse. In a few hours, it became apparent that her disease was cholera, and she was sensible that the hour of dissolution was at hand. Notwithstanding the suddenness of the summons, she was ready. Her mind was calm and clear. “Oh!” said she to a friend who stood near, “what a good thing it is to have a hope in Jesus!” Her last words were: “All is well.” Yes, sainted spirit, “all is well.”

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1763 William Johnston 1732-1772 Mrs Samuel Gardiner (1724-1777) Met

The Met tells us that it was especially popular during the 1760s in America to depict ladies standing next to their gardens. Mrs. Samuel Gardiner (Abigail) Gardiner's (1724–1775) garden, with iris and hollyhocks, identifies her as a .woman of refinement and taste.

1770 Georgia - A little clothing for the slaves...

John Channing letter 26 June 1770 to William Gibbons, Jr. 

Description: Letter Channing writes to Gibbons. Gibbons will be looking after Channing's slaves while Channing is away.

"I am going out of Town for a fortnight or more and am Apprehensive Cap[tain] W...son may sail before my return have givien him directions for 5 pieces of Negro Cloth to be shiped on board him which I believe will be more than wanted, one piece is coarser the the rest which I intend for the Children. Amey, I believe can cut them out without any difficulty, indeed most of the Country born and some of the others have always chose to have the Cloth given them and their Wives and Sisters to cut it out and make them up for them and as they are better satisfyed and a matter of indifference you'll please still indluge as many as desire it the same."

 William Gibbons, Jr. Papers. (Georgia) Special Collections Library, Duke University.

Portrait of 18C American Woman

1763 Joseph Badger (1708-1765). Mary Croswell Gowen. Minneapolis Institute of Art

Mary Gowen (born Croswell), 1730 - 1771was born in Massachusetts, to Thomas Crosswell and Mary Pierce Crosswell (born Pitts). Thomas was born on February 13 1707, in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Mary was born on June 6 1706, in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA. Mary married Hammond Gowen on month day 1748, at age 17 in Massachusetts. Hammond was born on January 9 1727, in Charlestown, Middlesex, Massachusetts. His occupation was Sea captain. They had 8 children.  Mary passed away in 1771, at age 40 in Massachusetts.

Newspaper - Virginia Runaway Slave Seamstresses

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An unusual number of the slave seamstresses and house slaves appearing in Virginia runaway notices, were mulatto. The seamstresses had a variety of skills; while all were seamstresses, some were also described as being able to spin, weave, wash, and iron. Slaves, who were children of the master or his male relatives, were often raised to work in the house, closer to the family. Perhaps they were more likely to run away, because there was at least a chance that they could pass as white.

Below are slave notices for runaway seamstresses from a survey of most 18th century Virginia newspapers.

Virginia Gazette (Hunter), Williamsburg, October 27, 1752.
RAN away...a fair Mulatto Woman Slave, named Moll, about 22 Years of Age, and 5 Feet high, with brown Hair, grey Eyes, very large Breasts and Limbs two of her upper fore Teeth are rotten and broken off...she is a very sly subtle Wench and a great Lyar; she is very handy about waiting and tending in a House, and can wash, iron and sew coarse Work. It's likely she may change her Name, pass for a free Woman and hire herself...

Virginia Gazette (Purdie & Dixon), Williamsburg, September 8, 1768.
RUN away...a bright mulatto wench called LUCY... She sews and irons well, is about 35 years old, has two moles on one side of her nose, three of her fingers on one hand contracted by a burn when young, and a large scar on one of her elbows...

Virginia Gazette (Purdie & Dixon), Williamsburg, October 20, 1768.
RUN away...a bright mulatto wench named JUDE, about 30 years old, is very remarkable, has lost one eye, but which I have forgot, has long black hair, a large scar on one of her elbows, and several other scars in her face...I have great reason to think she will pass for a free woman, and endeavour to make into South Carolina. She is very knowing about house business, can spin, weave, sew, and iron, well...

Virginia Gazette (Purdie & Dixon), Williamsburg, May 6, 1773.
RUN away...a Country born Negro Woman named SARAH, a very lusty stout made Wench, about two and twenty Years of age, very artful, and, though not a Mulatto, may attempt to pass for a free Woman...She has been chiefly a House Servant, is a fine Sempstress, Knitter, Washer, and Ironer...

Virginia Gazette (Purdie), Williamsburg, February 21, 1777

...reward for taking up and delivering PATTY, a lightish coloured negro woman, pitted with the small pox, about 30 years of age, walks well, and generally fast, is rather above the middle size, well shaped, a good sempstress...

Virginia Gazette (Purdie), Williamsburg, August 8, 1777.
RUN away...a mulatto girl named KATE, or Catharine, about 5 feet high, has been brought up in the house from her infancy, and can work well with a needle. She is 19 or 20 years of age, has a smiling countenance when spoke to, and at some times is rather impertinent...

Virginia Journal and Alexandria Advertiser (Richards), Alexandria, October 21, 1784.
RAN away...CATE, a light Mulatto, about 22 years of age, about 5 feet high, full faced, expressive eyes, of a pleasant countenance, an high forehead, fine teeth, bushy long hair, is well set, and broad shouldered...She is very handy, spins well, and has been used to both house and plantation work. SINAH, about 20 years of age, rather of a darker complexion than Cate, has a sunken bumpy face, a very unbidding look, has a decay and holes in two of her upper foreteeth, a sulky illnatured countenance, well shaped, of the middle size, low forehead, and very bushy long hair...She has been brought up in the house, is a good seamstress, and spins well...

Virginia Journal and Alexandria Advertiser (Richards), Alexandria, September 29, 1785.
RAN AWAY...a MULATTO WOMAN, named MOLLY; of a middle size...As she can read, and is handy at her needle, it is probable she will endeavour to pass for a free woman. She is very artful, and capable of inventing a falsehood...

Virginia Independent Chronicle (Davis), Richmond, July 9, 1788.
RUN-AWAY ...a likely MULATTO WOMAN, called RACHEL; about 25 years of age, 5 feet 2 or 3 inches high, thin visage, long black hair, stoops in the shoulders, and has a scar (not very visible) on her chin, occasioned by the kick of a horse when a child. She is an excellent sempstress, and it is probable will pass (from being uncommonly white) for a free woman, unless closely observed...

Virginia Independent Chronicle (Davis), Richmond, March 13, 1790
.... a low, black, well set wench for a wife, the property of a Mr. James Toolers of Charles City, the wench is a decent house servant, can sew and wash very well

Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser (Davis), Richmond, January 26, 1791
....She is about 40 years of age, and rather above the common stature, has a scar upon the back of her neck, and is a pretty good sempstress...

Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser (Davis), Richmond, January 18, 1792.
Committed to the jail of this county...a runaway negro wench who calls herself JAMIMAH, and says she belongs to a Mr. Robert Thompson of Louisa county. She appears to be about twenty years of age, very likely in person, above the middle size, strong, straight, of a very healthy and vigorous carriage, and remarkably handy in a family. She can sew plain work very well, is of a kind, obliging, obedient, soft disposition, with many marks on her back of having been severely and cruelly whipped indeed.

Norfolk Herald (Willett and O'Connor), Norfolk, May 13, 1797
....SLAVES left my residence...JAMES, A Mullato Man, about 30 years of age, ...The other slave is a dark mulatto woman called KESIAH, Wife to the above described man. She is a thin delicately formed woman, rather small, has short hair, with several grey bunches just appearing from under her cap on the from part of her head---her teeth before are decayed---She is much addicted to smoking tobacco, and is a great drunkard---She is between 30 and 40 years of age...Both these people have been bred to domestic capacities; the man is a house servant and to wait on a gentleman when travelling; the woman a lady's maid, and an excellent sempstress...

Alexandria Advertiser and Commercial Intelligencer (S. Snowden & Co.), Alexandria, May 7, 1802
....Ran Away...Patty, a likely Negro wench, about twenty years of age: she has been brought up in the house, is a good seamstress, & very capable...

Norfolk Herald (Willett and O'Connor), Norfolk, June 28, 1803
...eloped from me in August last. LUCY is about 40 years of age; rather spare made, has large eyes, and of a dark tawney complexion; I am told she can read, and perhaps write a little. She is an excellent seamstress, nurse &c...