Reliving History Spring 2019

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Vol II Issue I Spring 2019

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Reliving History EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

From the Desk of the

ABBIE SAMSON

EDITOR MATT GRILLS DESIGNER

CASEY SAMSON

Editor

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Dear Readers,

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This issue marks the start of a brand-new year and volume number two of Reliving History. There is still so much more we can learn about extraordinary people and things from the time period we are all so passionate about.

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We cannot tout enough the contribution from our growing family of writers.

Each one brings a new specialty to the publication and this issue is no exception. The comic history surrounding the cork rump is great for a laugh. One of the most brilliant and unrecognized minds of their time is introduced in the “Rittenhouse Orrery.”

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Last issue we introduced a section including an excerpt of The Fearless Benjamin Lay as a suggestion for your bookshelf. I really enjoy this segment in the publication. We have decided to include a different book excerpt for your consideration this issue from The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn. In my opinion, this work is most accurately described as compelling in the way Robert Watson tackles the horror of these ships.

You will notice a change to the back of the publication. As we have grown in the number of articles each issue, the source page had become very difficult to read. We will be posting the sources for each publication on our website to make them easier to follow if you are interested. We encourage you to find further reading through the sources.

We are not done growing yet. We have lofty goals set for both quality and readership this coming year and as always, your support is appreciated. If you see us out at an event, please introduce yourself and give us your honest thoughts and opinions. I look forward to meeting you.

Yours truly,

Abbie Samson

Editor in Chief

Spring 2019 Contents A Story Well Told The Knitting Revolution Brick by Brick The Curious Case of the Rittenhouse Orrery The Rise of Wheeled Transportation Truths and Myths about the “Widow-Maker” The Curious Case of The Cork Rump Female Camp Followers Artisan Highlight Printing Religious Pamphlets Ghost Ships of Brooklyn 18th Century Walking Sticks Dolls in Colonial America Keeping Warm Silent Sentinels of the Continental Soldiers Measuring the Length of His Eye-Strings

6 14 24 32 40 46 52 56 66 72 78 82 88 96 100 102

14

Knitting and fiber production touches every aspect of daily life, the very reason it is misconstrued as mundane and as a result, this seemingly simple, everyday task connected each and every member of the colony, no matter their gender, race, or class.

24

The craft of brickmaking and bricklaying in colonial America predates the founding of the United States.

J. Leander Bishop says the first bricks made in the colonies were made in Virginia, “as early as 1612”.

On The Cover

“Salad Girl” - Bryant White This painting depicts a young lady of the lower middle class, endeavoring to sell greens on the street. Many cottage industries existed in this fashion, one person or a household all trying to make their way in life selling what they produced or acquired.

Prints are available at www.whitehistoricart.com White Historic Art 4

Reliving History | Spring 2019

56

Like all the armies that preceded it the Continental Army was not just a community of men. Numbers of women and their accompanying children followed the troops throughout the war, performing tasks that contributed to the soldiers’ welfare.

82

A classic image of the 18th-century lady or gentleman brings to mind luxurious fabrics, detailed garments, buckles on shoes, padded hips, sensational hats and, of course, walking sticks.

52

The satirical print titled ‘The Bum Shop’ gives us a good framework for pinning down what a woman could have had at her derriere’s disposal during the late 1770s and 1780s. Attributed to R. Rushworth, this 1785 image depicts a gaggle of fashionable women in all shapes and sizes shopping for skirt supports.

102

During the 18th century, English boxing, sometimes referred to as pugilism, “underwent a process of specialization and professionalization from which it emerged as one of the most popular sports in England” Spring 2019 | Reliving History

5

Time Capsules in Print: Almanacs in Colonial America

by Kathryn Morgan

6

Reliving History | Spring 2019

Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley, c. 1778

A S tory W ell T old :

R ediscovering C opley ’ s W atson and the S hark

by Renee Worthen

n 1749, B r o o k I Wa t s o n , a 14-yearold newly minted crew member of a merchant ship owned by his uncle, decided to go for a swim off the cost of Havana, where the ship was docked for a business transaction.

Watson loved to swim; he thought nothing of taking a dive into the waters, but on this occasion, the swim would turn into a traumatic and defining event. According to an account published in the London Advertiser some thirty years after the experience, Watson was about a hundred yards from the merchant ship when “the men in the boat, who were waiting for the Captain to go on shore, were struck with horror on perceiving a shark making towards him as

his devoted prey. The monster was already too near him for the youth to be timely apprized of his danger; and the sailors had the afflicted sight of seeing him seized and precipitated down the flood with his voracious assailant, before they could put off to attempt his deliverance.”

The shark attack was swift and brutal.

The first attack ripped the skin off Watson’s right calf and pulled him under. To the dismay of his crewmates, they lost sight of him for two minutes. They frantically looked around the harbor and spotted Watson about a hundred yards further away from the ship. His crewmates began to make preparations to rescue the unfortunate boy but “ere they could reach him, he was a second time seized by the shark and again sunk from their sight.” On this second attack, the shark bit off Watson’s right foot, dragged him underwater and circled back, ready to attack again.

Spring 2019 | Reliving History

7

His fellow crewmates arranged a small contingent founded on a fact which happened in the harbor of to rescue him from the sea creature. A man was the Havannah but called Watson and the Shark for placed at the bow of the boat, harpoon at the ready; short, was completed in the tradition of the history another stood tall, painting, much in holding a life-line the style of fellow while two other American Benjamin men steadied the West’s The boat and another Death of General set tried to pull Wolfe, but unlike Watson out of the West’s portrayal water. By the time of a well-known Watson’s head historical moment, broke the surface Copley took a again, with the rather obscure “monster still in moment and eager pursuit of gave it historical him,” the rescue significance. crew was on the According to move, and just medical historian before the monster Gordon Bendersky, could deliver a the painting third strike, the is the earliest shark was “struck authenticated with the boat record of a shark John Singleton Copley (1738 – September 9, 1815) hook, and driven attack in the was an Anglo-American painter, active in both from his prey.”

Americas. colonial America and England. He was probably

Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard Mary Singleton Copley, both Anglo-Irish.

born in

Watson was dragged on board and rushed to a doctor where his leg was amputated below the knee.

He was fitted for a wooden peg, but he lived to tell the tale. He survived his encounter with a leviathan from the deep.

and

It cemented Copley as a formidable artist of both portraiture and history painting, and it added to the already notable yet obscure legacy of Brook Watson. Moreover, beyond the fame and notoriety garnered because of the painting, the lives of these two figures intersected at a pivotal moment in There are only two known records of the attack to history: the fight over the sovereignty of America. exist: one is from the letter Watson submitted to the London press on the day that the second record Watson began his life in Plymouth, Devon, England, of the attack was displayed in the Royal Academy, the son of John and Sarah Watson. At the age of a large oil painting completed by American artist, six, he was orphaned and sent to live with his aunt Jonathan Singleton Copley. The larger than life and uncle in Boston. While there, he would begin painting, originally titled A boy attacked by a to work for his uncle, a merchant named Leven, shark, and rescued by some seamen in a boat, and by the time Watson was fourteen, his Uncle 8

Reliving History | Spring 2019

allowed him to join one of his merchant ships as a crew member. Crew-work allowed Watson to frequent the seas and grow familiar with all aspects of trade, something that would serve him well later in his career.

One of those trips included Watson’s faithful encounter with the shark off the cost of Cuba.

After his recuperation, Watson returned to Boston only to find that he was abandoned by his uncle, who had gone bankrupt and fled from the colony to escape his debts.

John Singleton Copley had a much less eventful life. He was the son of Irish immigrants, born and raised in Boston, and he began his professional painting career at the age of 15. As a self-taught artist, he became the primary caretaker for his widowed mother and younger half brother, artist Henry Pelham. By the time he was in his early twenties, he was well regarded as an artist of portraiture. His work was commissioned from people all over Boston and as far as Nova Scotia and Quebec.

His dedication to his art was the primary focus Watson would work odd jobs for a spell before he of his life. In one of his correspondences to artist met the captain of a schooner and sailed with him Benjamin West, he said of his art, “I can hardly to Nova Scotia. There he worked as a commissary, live without it.” famously known as the ‘wood-legged commissary,’ and by 1759, he would make his way back to London Enamored with the art coming out of Europe, where he would establish a successful vocation as a Copley would dream of one day studying and merchant and politician. painting on the continent, but he felt that his family obligations would prohibit such a move. He would He would return to America on numerous occasions submit his famous The Boy with the Squirrel or during the course of his business and political Henry Pelham for exhibition in England in 1765. career. On one occasion, while the colony was The work would gain him favored recognition, and on the brink of war, Watson was sent to spy on he began a prosperous and life-long correspondence American forces. One of his communications was with fellow American artist, Benjamin West, who intercepted, abruptly ending his tenure as a spy, was living in London at the time. and he had to hastily make way for England. On the other occasions, in his capacity as a merchant Unlike Watson who was firmly entrenched in politics, and exporter, he met with the East Indian Company Copley believed that it was the artist’s job to remain consignees to make arrangements for the export of neutral, writing that he was “desirous of avoiding tea from London, the same tea that would float in every imputation of party spir[it] Political contests the Boston harbor. Finally, he returned for the last being neither pleasing to an artist or advantageous time during the latter half of the Revolutionary war to the Art itself.” Much later, during the height to make sure loyalists were safely transported out of the American Revolution, Copley would declare, of America.

“I avoid engaging in politics, as I wish to preserve an undisturbed mind and a tranquility inconsistent Watson was a staunch loyalist, dedicated to with political dispute.” preserving the British colony. His loyalty would be rewarded: he was elected the mayor of London and It was a sound policy. As an artist of portraiture, the director of the Bank of England. He would also he risked alienating his clients by taking a side. hold the title of Baronet, an honor that ranks above As such, he painted portraits for loyalists such knighthood in the British order of precedence. as Thomas Gage, John Wentworth, and Thomas Spring 2019 | Reliving History

9

Flucker and patriots like Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock. Despite his wishes, his economic ties made him appear more loyalist and political than he would have liked.

Shortly after, a group of demonstrators surrounded Copley’s house, suspecting him of lodging a British official. This, along with what Copley believed was America’s indifference to good art, led Copley to make his way to Europe in early 1774.

In the late 1760s, Copley married Susanna Clarke, daughter of Richard Clarke. The Clarke family Copley’s time in Europe was well-served, and by was resolutely loyalist, and Clarke along with his the time he settled in London, he was adding to son Jonathan, ran a company that was awarded a his reputation as a brilliant portraiture artist by contract to distribute and sell British tea. Two painting history paintings including The Ascension other consignees were owned by cousins of the and Priam Beseeching Achilles for the Body of Clarkes, and one Hector, both in in particular, 1775. Despite Medical historian Gordon Bendresky calls The Winslow his reticent company ran by this painting proof of the “first Jaws attack.” a l i g n m e n t Joshua Winslow, with Tory served as the sympathies, he arm of Brook Watson’s exporting company. While still had some concern for what was happening in it is not clear whether or not Copley and Watson Boston. Shorty after the city fell to the patriots, he were close acquaintances, it is fair to say that they wrote a letter to his wife predicting a bloody, yet were at least familiar with each other. successful outcome for the Americans: When Watson arrived in Boston to arrange for a shipment of his tea, tensions were on the rise.

Demonstrations were being held on the property of Richard Clarke. Protesters demanded that he send the tea back to England. The Clarke and Copley family had twice been attacked by mobs, and Richard Clarke was on the receiving end of frequent death threats. The night before the fateful tea-dump Copley, desperate to maintain peace and avoid violence, would row “back and forth across the Boston Harbor, carrying messages between the two parties in a desperate attempt to avoid the conflagration.”

Whoever thinks the Americans can be easily subdued is greatly mistaken. You know, years ago, I was right in my opinion that this would be the result of the attempt to tax the colony; it is now my settled conviction that all the power of Great Britain will not reduce them to obedience. Unhappy and miserable people, once the happiest, now the most wretched! How warmly I expostulated with some of the violent “Sons of Liberty” against their proceedings they must remember; and with how little judgement, in their opinion, did I then seem to speak! But all this is past; the day of tribulation is com, and years of sorrow will not dry the orphan’s tears not stop the widow’s lamentations; the ground The patriots wanted the tea returned to England. will be deluged with blood of its inhabitants before The merchants rejected that idea and wanted to peace will assume its domain in the country. store the tea until tensions settled. To this last, the patriots rejected and, on December 16, 1773, Despite his sympathies with America, Copley about 100 patriots boarded the merchant ships and would move the rest of his family to London and dumped the tea, Watson’s tea, into the harbor. settle there for the rest of his life. This period of time in Copley’s life is called his English period 10

Reliving History | Spring 2019

by art historians. When Watson commissioned the painting, Copley was beginning to explore history painting, a genre of art that depicts a specific moment in a narrative rather than an isolated event.

subject of the painting. Watson’s life and reputation as a British merchant, loyalist, and spy was not one that was well-respected on this side of the Atlantic.

In fact, for some Americans, Copley’s association with Watson marked him as a traitor. William The painting displays a turbulent moment: composed Dunlap, historian, playwright, and the father of using a triadic or triangular design, with a setting in American theater, had this to say about Copley’s the seascape, Copley successfully captured the terror work with Watson: of the attack. The tallest point in the immediate center of the painting is a Black man holding the “[Copley] was no longer an American painter life line, which was highly irregular in paintings in feeling; and his choice of subjects for of the era. To his left was a man steadying the historical composition, was decided by the harpoon, ready to spear the monster. To his right circumstances of the time, or by employers… are a group of men attempting to steady the vessel [Watson] as arrayed with our enemies in and grab Watson as the turbulence from the attack opposition to our independence, and with roiled the boat. At the bottom of the triangle, the enemies of God and man in opposition young Watson and the monstrous looking shark, a to the abolitionists of the slave trade in leviathan from the deep, ground us in the wretched English house of commons. Before he terror of the experience. avowedly joined the standard of Britain, the traitor ingratiated himself with many leading Copley captures Watson just as the shark moves Americans, obtained as much information of in for its third attack, but the savagery of the two their designs as he could and transmitted it previous attacks is hidden beneath the water. What to his chosen masters. In the character of is visible is Watson’s terror, which is so great that legislator, his argument in support of the his shockingly white figure sharply contrasts with trade in human flesh was that it would injure the deep colors of the chaos around him. It’s as the market for the refuse-fish of the English if the horror of the attack drained him of color. fisheries being purchased by the West India In the background is the Cuban landscape which, planters for their slaves. To immortalize such according to scholars, is impressive considering a man was the pencil of Copley employed.” that Copley had never visited Cuba, and his only knowledge of the landscape was through a study of other pictures, maps, and writings. Medical Other American comments on the painting were historian Gordon Bendresky calls this painting equally antagonistic to the work with one critic proof of the “first Jaws attack.” saying, “there are those whose sympathy lies with the shark.”

The painting was warmly accepted by the artistic community in London and highly praised by art Watson would die with a distinguished career as critics across the European continent. One review merchant and politician in England, and upon called Copley’s effort an exemplification of a his death he bequeathed the painting to Christ’s “story well told.” American commentary on the Hospital in London. was not so friendly. Largely ignored by many, the few criticisms leveled at the work were primarily Copley’s fame as a painter would never abate in focused on Brook Watson, the commissioner and his lifetime nor after his death. His work and Spring 2019 | Reliving History

11

technique are taught in art programs across the world, and Copley completed two other versions of the paintings that are mostly similar. One of the paintings is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and the other is housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Academics and commentators swirl around the painting, interpreting various meanings. Some suggest that the painting is a religious representation of God’s mercy, in the spirit of Job. Others point to the context in which the painting emerges, suggesting that the work is rich with political connotations. Some scholars have even suggested that the painting was one of many sources of inspiration for Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. One thing that holds true of all the interpretations, because of the context-rich painting, the work is a story well told that displays more great stories. It is just as much a story about America and Britain as it is Copley and Watson. The figures rise from the pages of history in the same way the painting rises from the Canvass. The way the lives of the artist and subject come together makes the world inside and around the painting a story well told, indeed. `

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Front view of a knitting machine; illustration to Deering's 'History of Nottingham'. 1751 14

Reliving History | Spring 2019

The Knitting Revolution

7

by Hope Longe

ow did a task as simple as knitting have such a dramatic effect on colonial life H and the Revolutionary War? Knitting and fiber production touches every aspect of daily life, the very reason it is misconstrued as mundane and as a result, this seemingly simple, everyday task connected each and every member of the colony, no matter their gender, race, or class.

Knitting, a day-to-day task in which every family participated created a colonial economy, empowered political activism amongst women, and reinforced the growing slave trade in the American economic system.

Knitting inspired technological advancements, entrepreneurship, and artistic skills. As a result of the need for fabric products in growing population centers, various knitting frames were created to speed up production; entrepreneurs created businesses built upon the rapid production and desire for such goods; and artisans created elegant stockings with various silk and embroidered designs rivaling the great artists of the era. Knitted stockings were products that everyone needed, but with the introduction of new technology and artisan designs, some people saw stockings as an opportunity to demonstrate their wealth.

In John Gay’s 1731 Epistle to the Right Honourable William Pulteney, esq., in his “Poems on Several Occasions” compilation, he demonstrates the luxury of artisanal stockings, writing: This next the spoils of fifty lovers wears, Rich Dandin’s brilliant favours grace her ears; The necklace Florio’s gen’rous flame bestow’d, Clitander’s sparkling gems her finger load; But now, her charms grown cheap by constant use, She sins for scarfs, clock’d stockings, knots, and shoes.

Through his poem, John Gay depicts the life of a woman in constant pursuit of luxury, even to the detriment of her character. Gay points out that the woman in the poem will go out of her way to acquire finer things, such as clocked stockings, a type of knit stocking with fine embroidery along the side. Knit materials signified class and status, played a part in the developing gender roles of the 18th century, and influenced ideas on race. The need for these goods added a spark to the industrial revolution in Europe and dramatically transformed the British Empire.

Spring 2019 | Reliving History

15

T he I ndustrial R evolution

E urope

and London to 1,500 in the kingdom. Despite King Charles II’s export embargo, more than 400 frames Similar to the colonists traveling to North America, were shipped to various countries on the continent. knitting was popularized and transformed into As a result, England became a powerhouse in knit a profitable economic sector in Europe. Prior to goods production during the 17th century. the 16th century, the main method The knitting frame for producing silk was revolutionary stockings or other in fiber technology, fiber goods was and James Lee was through knitting, not the only man and this created to recognize the numerous jobs to importance of his support the British brother’s innovation. economy; in fact, All across Europe, Queen Elizabeth I the knitting frame refused a patent to William Lee at the turn of the was revolutionizing the industry. For example, in century (1600). It is rumored that Queen Elizabeth France, Jean Hindret, the industrial spy, stole his refused Lee’s patent because the introduction of his sparks from the introduction of knitting frames, thus knitting frame would outperform hand knitting, thus resulting in the first royal silk hosiery mill opening putting too many people out of work and crippling in 1667. Following the widespread success of the the economy of her growing empire. Lee, disappointed knitting frame in France, Johann Esche observed in the patent refusal, found support in France and the success of the frame and reproduced them on established his knitting frame in Rouen in 1612. The his own. The subsequent mill would later be known French kingdom may have been interested in this for instigating a successful hosiery mill market in innovative technology because of its longstanding the Erz Mountains. While production increased in rivalry with the British, and this could be a way the Erz mountain hosiery mills, the development to innovate and produce war time goods quickly or of the printing press helped artisans create elegant used to boost the French economy. artwork on their stockings through the new method After Lee’s death, his brother, James, returned to of applying colorful patterns on the fiber using the England with the frame and knitters and spent printing press technology. the next decade working on improving upon his brother’s technology. Thanks to James’ innovations, Possibly threatened or inspired by the developments the Lee knitting frame now only needed one knitter in continental Europe, English entrepreneurs Jedediah as opposed to two for it to function. From 1641 Strutt and William Woollatt received a patent in to 1695, the number of knitting frames in England 1758 for their updates to the Lee frame that helped grew from just a few frames found in Nottingham with the mass production of quality ribbed stockings.

Again, this innovation would increase production and England, and it helped the British maintain K nitting technology was so their status as the leading exporter of knit stockings. influential that thievery of knitted Such innovations would carry on to inspire other products , especially stockings , was inventors to create technology allowing for the seen as a fairly serious offense . speedy production of other knitted products such as in

Queen Elizabeth refused Lee’s patent because the introduction of his knitting frame would outperform hand knitting, thus putting too many people out of work.

16

Reliving History | Spring 2019

Ribbed Cotton Stocking - Private Collection gloves, and tweed.

Knitting technology was so influential that thievery of knitted products, especially stockings, was seen as a fairly serious offense. One would think that stealing something as simple as stockings would be considered a mere annoyance with the amount of quality pieces these frames could produce. However, it was the time and effort acquiring these stockings, paired with the unique embroidery, often done in silk, that would theft such a serious crime. Artisanal designs along stockings, called clocked stockings, were often hand-embroidered, using exotic colors and fine silk to create the unique patterns and shapes to the “clocks” of the stockings.

In one such criminal case, Rebecca Bidwell was indicted at the Old Bailey, London’s central criminal court from the 17th century up until World War I, for “feloniously stealing, on the 9th of December, six pair of ribbed cotton stockings, valued [at] 21s. (from) the property of William Saunders.” Once

Saunders, the hosier accusing Bidwell of stealing from his shop, was sworn in, he testified that he was missing “six pair of fine cotton ribbed” stockings.

His associate, George Holland, testified, stating, “I am servant to Mr. Saunders, on Tuesday night about the nine o’clock the prisoner and another woman came into my master’s shop in Broad-street, Bloomsbury, and asked for some, worsted stockings; I went backwards to get some, and while I was, the prisoner took a paper of cotton stockings with six pairs in it, my back was turned to her, I did not see her take them they were six pair of superfine ribbed cotton.”

The court proceeded to question Holland on the value of each stocking and the sales lost through this theft, again demonstrating the value that knitted stockings held in England during the economic boom in this industry. One could argue that to steal such stockings would be considered theft from the British Empire itself, seeing as they prided themselves on being the major world producer of such materials.

The courtroom testimonies continued, with Holland saying he thought women took the stockings and that he called Officer George Meecham to assist him in locating the women and stockings. “I then went with Mr. Meecham to a public house, next to Justice Walker’s in High-street, and there I saw the stockings,” he said. Meecham then corroborated Holland’s claim, stating, About half after nine o’clock on Tuesday morning last, I met one Mary Wright, and I suspected her, knowing her to be a shop lifter, she ran up Bow-street; and I met the prisoner in Hyde-street, and I suspected she had something, I saw something of a bundle stick under her cloak, I pulled her cloak on one side, and said, what have you here, she said, nothing, immediately from under her arm I took this bundle of stockings, there are the pairs, they have been in my possession ever since she said, she found them in an alley.

Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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This short account is a brief glimpse into the life of a London thief, but the outcome largely remains the same: Rebecca Bidwell was found guilty of stealing the ribbed stockings after the testimonies described above, and she was later sentenced to death for the crime. Bidwell was not the first nor the last person to steal such valued products during this period of economic growth in the fiber industry.

The Old Bailey saw several accounts regarding individuals stealing stockings for their families to stay warm or to resell on the black market in London. Because of the value knit stockings held, to steal them was unacceptable to the courts, and usually resulted in criminal charges. Industrialization brought opportunities for economic growth on both the local and imperial scale, making Britain one of the wealthiest empires in Western history. As a result, Britain introduced the aforementioned 1699 Wool Act to increase and maintain the productivity fueling its ever-expanding empire.

J ourney

to the

C olonies

As people journeyed from England to settle in the North American colonies, these stockings became even more precious and valuable because of the lack of mass-produced goods in the colonies. Upon arriving in the British North American territory, colonists set out to establish cities and towns while also combining the best parts of their previous lifestyle in Britain with the adaptations required by the new challenges of colonial living. In the 18th century, colonists quickly learned that the new colonial lifestyle would be met with challenges, such as the difficulty in communicating with family members back in Europe, taxation from the crown government for basic needs, and the necessity to manufacture and produce common household items.

While citizens in the United Kingdom welcomed the introduction of technological advancements in the realm of production, colonists had to make do with the materials at hand and that were easily transported 18

Reliving History | Spring 2019

This pair of knitted stockings are made of silk. The floral designs are embroidered around the gusset. They are either English or French in origin ca. 1750 - 1770

Atisanal

designs along stockings, called clocked stockings, were often hand-embroidered, using exotic colors and fine silk to create the unique patterns and shapes to the “clocks� of the stockings.

In the 18th century, the colonies lacked the knitting frame technology that was being developed in Europe.

It was not feasible to transport an assembled knitting frame across the Atlantic because of its bulky shape, and because the amount of space a frame would take up on a ship could be occupied by necessary supplies for the overseas journey. Once colonists settled down and established small cities and towns, they got to work creating a society that reflected not only their former home in England, but the new challenges of the colonial life as well.

K nitting & E arly C olonial T echnology Despite the lack of new knitting frames in colonial America, women demonstrated their value in the colonial economy through their ability to knit stockings at a fast pace and high quality. Also, even though the colony lacked knitting frames for most of the 18th century, they did introduce weaving and fiber producing technology. These new innovations, such as the weaving shuttle and the spinning wheel, helped speed up the production of knitting materials.

As a result, women were able to spend less time creating fiber supplies for knitting and put that time to use in creating finished goods for their families.

to create cloth materials, and because of the strong market support for this industry, weavers were able to establish “manufactories” like the Williamsburg Manufactory on Queens Creek. According to Colonial Williamsburg historians, records suggest Williamsburg Manufactory “employed a manager, weavers, spinners, and apprentices.” These manufactories helped the colonial economy by providing jobs and finished supplies. Weavers and spinners used different techniques to produce certain materials. For example, workers used a walking wheel for spinning cotton and a Saxony wheel for spinning flax, hemp, and wool, a cantilever loom for weaving, and four-post box loom for weaving as well.

There is a debate about when the American colonies started mechanically manufacturing knit products similar to England and Germany, with some arguing as early as 1771 and others as late as 1818. In a 1771 ad in the Virginia Gazette, a company claimed it had a “newly invented instrument for knitted, knotted, double looped work, to make stockings, breeches pieces, or silk gloves, cotton or worsted.”

However, historians argue that in 1818 plans for a knitting frame were smuggled over to the colonies from England to spark the creation of a strong knitting industry like those in London and the Erz mountains. As a result, Europeans had more access to ready made goods, whereas women in the colonies were expected to produce these goods entirely by hand. For example, in Virginia and Massachusetts, women were given quotas for producing handmade stockings each household, and the quota per household was calculated based on the amount of people per household. To match the strict demands of knitting quotas, it was critical that fibers were made using this technology to avoid falling behind.

While colonists were unable or reluctant to use machinery to automate the knitting process, they did, however, use machinery to automate the production of the goods necessary for the knitting process. This transition from handmade fibers to the introduction of more efficient spinning wheels and other technology helped instigate the industrial revolution in Britain. Not only did this make production more efficient, but it freed up time for knitting and the actual creation of fiber wares. With this increased productivity with fiber based products, such as woolen stockings, the local economy was R evolutionary R evelations able to grow with the exchange of fibers and time.

With the abandonment of hand producing fibers, An alternative to the tedious work of hand-knitting colonists were able to create a strong fiber industry every pair of stocking their families needed, was based on handmade knit products. Weaving was used to purchase goods imported from England. At one Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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point during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the colonies were purchasing so many goods from England that it became the main contributing factor for the crown to create the Wool Act of 1699. The Wool Act of 1699 was passed by Parliament to restrict the trading of wool products by prohibiting the export of wool from the colonies, and it forced colonists to import woolen goods from England that were heavily taxed.

Initially, the passing of this legislation did not upset as many people in the colony as one would think; the majority of the people purchasing said goods were the wealthy members of colonial society. This act was passed mainly because of tensions between the crown and Irish peoples, and this legislation was meant to put a strain on the limited Irish economy.

However, this would not be the first legislation passed

by England that was meant to place colonies in vulnerable positions that enforced dependency on the empire. While this did not have much of an effect on the everyday life of American colonists, this feeling shifted drastically at the outset of the 1765 Stamp Act. With the implementation of the 1765 Stamp Act, American colonists became outraged at the heavy taxation and difficulties that came with it. As a result, the social view of knitting shifted a civic duty or an 20

Reliving History | Spring 2019

economic necessity, but an act of patriotism against the British. Similar to the victory gardens during World War II, knitting was seen as an opportunity to be productive in the domestic sphere and contribute to the war effort without funding the crown. During the 18th century, it was uncommon for women to participate in front row politics. However, the women were determined to contribute any way they could, even if this meant breaking traditional gender norms. Women set to work on producing high quality handmade goods but at a rapid rate; with this productivity, women were able to ignore the temptations of machine-made products coming to the colony from England.

Also, the 1699 Wool Act, previously viewed as a docile and fairly low-impact piece of parliamentary legislation, now had greater significance in the narrative of “taxation without representation� put forth by colonists.

Soon after the Stamp Act outrage gained momentum, colonial women took to forming sewing bees; what was once a colonial social gathering became an outright act of opposition to the crown government and their actions. Women were now using this seemingly small task to demonstrate their support of the revolutionary effort by visiting town after town to raise money and gather much needed supplies for the war effort. Despite the significance of the women’s fundraising, colonial men were shocked by their efforts to join the political realm, and the men supporting the revolutionary

effort were divided in opinions regarding women’s involvement in the process of war. Some of the men believed that war required the involvement of each member of the colony, regardless of their gender.

However, a portion of the revolutionary men believed it was inappropriate for the women to become so active and outspoken for the revolutionary effort. Instead, they transcend the norms of the time to demonstrate encouraged the women to use the funds to make the supplies the soldiers would otherwise go their dedication to their families and country. and purchase from another woman. Not only did this undermine the political outreach and support P roductivity and R ace from the women organizers, but it also placed them back in the domestic sphere.

During the 18th century, the British empire established the triangle trade system between its colonies in Women quickly adapted to their new position in the the Atlantic. Through this, merchants traded British war effort, and rapidly organized, creating community made goods, sugar, and slaves. While the plantation leaders with a subsequent organizational hierarchy put system was not as prolific during the early part in place to encourage efficiency. Women all across the of the century as it was in the latter years, this colonies organized into war effort groups, with one triangle trade system brought thousands of slaves to of the most notable forming in Philadelphia: George colonial plantations, including the Thomas Jefferson Washington’s Sewing Circle. Named after the very plantation. In colonial America, slaves were used General Washington leading the revolutionary effort on plantations to produce knitted materials, usually and inspired by his wife, Martha, the sewing circle working to create clothing for themselves and other worked to raise funds for the war effort. Its members slaves. Not only were they producing knit materials travelled from town to town and successfully raised for the slave community, but they were pushed to enough money to contribute two dollars per soldier knit materials to meet various quotas introduced fighting in the revolutionary militia. The sewing circle in colonial territory. For example, Massachusetts was so dedicated that the women put all their time introduced a quota requiring knit products, such as to use for the war effort, so when traveling between stockings, to be created for each family member.

As a result, wealthier landowning, plantation-holding fundraising engagements they would knit and families had slaves knit these stockings for each produce supplies for the militia. The sewing circle family member and slave on the plantation so as not raised so much money that it was able to fund to be fined by the colonial government for failing to the creation of military uniforms for the militia, produce the accurate amount. an idea decided upon by the women’s organization leader, Sarah Franklin Bache, Benjamin Franklin’s Knitting stockings and producing fiber goods was wife. These women are the unsung supporters of not only essential to the success of the colony the revolution; they not only created and funded and one’s own family, but it was seen as an act part of the war, but they helped keep up the of patriotism, as previously mentioned. To shirk morale of the soldiers. These actions would set a one’s responsibilities in this cause was not only precedent for wars to come, when women would detrimental to the family, but it was detrimental

Massachusetts introduced a quota requiring knit products, such as stockings, to be created for each family member.

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Mid 18th century Stockings with "clocks" - Bata Shoe Museum Toronto

K nitting

Knitting had a dramatic effect on life during the 18th century, and not just on the day-to-day lifestyles of colonists. It kickstarted the Industrial Revolution, transformed gender norms, and reinforced the detrimental triangle trade system. Despite the current controversy about the introduction of the knitting frame in the America, whether it was 1771 or 1818, there is no denying that the advancements in knitting and fiber goods did more than just speed up the production of stockings. Rather, it touched the lives of every single person in the empire, not just the communities in Europe.

to the colony as well. In the northeastern colonies, such as Massachusetts or Pennsylvania, artisans and skilled workers encouraged the use of machinery to spin wool or produce other fibers necessary for the knitting process. However, in the southern colonies, such as Virginia, planters had slaves that were primarily used for making cloth and other fiber products. This process allowed the plantations to stay busy during off seasons or foul weather, and it provided self-sufficiency to the plantation during a tumultuous period for the colonies. Unfortunately, some of the slave knitters became so skilled that their products could be identified by the unique designs or complex patterns used in the products they created for their fellow slaves on the plantation.

This helped planters identify and find escaped slaves based off of the knit products they were wearing.

The use of slaves to further the revolution and the planter economy led to the rapid increase in the slave trade in later years as well as tensions and conflict in the 19th century.

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and its I mpact

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Knitting stockings, a practice that every colonist was made to learn, connected everyone in the colonial economy, yet this everyday task inspired a revolution. This industry didn’t just supply militia soldiers fighting in the revolution, it changed women’s perception of their role in this war; women felt they needed to contribute, and knitting or fiber goods was a major avenue for participation in the war effort. Knitting continued to affect the economy as well as the Industrial Revolution in the years to come, thus dramatically changing America as the colonists knew it. The newly founded United States of America had a tough road ahead deciding how the government should run and who could participate, but one constant was the need and production of knit stockings and other fiber products.

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PAGE 20: This pair of knitted stockings are made of silk. The floral designs are embroidered around the gusset. They are either English or French in origin ca. 1750 - 1770

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nglish colonization of North America began a period of E change in infrastructure on the continent, bringing European architecture and building techniques to the New World.

Although adobe had been used by indigenous populations in ancient America long before first contact, the act of burning or baking brick to increase durability was a European innovation dating to the Romans and early Greeks. In 1685, William Penn wrote that

Peter Waddell for the White House Historical Association Š 2007 White House Historical Association

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Reliving History | Spring 2019

Brick

by

Brick:

Colonial Brickmaking and its Role in Settling the New World

by Tavis Taylor

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The top of the plate represents masons diversely employed: some, A, hauling up dressed stones; others, B, on scaffolding in the process of plastering a wall; others, C, in constructing a piece of masonry. One sees in D, and in E, two stone cutters; in F, those who prepare lime; in G, a stone sawyer; in H, I, K, the day workers occupied in helping with building construction.

Figure 1. Lattice masonry which Vitruvius calls reticulatum.

Figure 2. and 3. Bonded masonry called insertum by Vitruvius.

Figure 4. 5. and 6. Masonry of rough stone: 'L'isodomun', [and] 'le psedisodomun', and the Greek 'emplecton'. A, coursed rubble work. B, the beds of mortar. C, the plaster rendering.

D, the infill.

Figure 7. Bonded and cramped masonry or the 'revinctum' of the ancients. E, the cramped stones. F, the cramp irons. G, the infill.

Figure 8. Stones in masonry, thinned down or more hollow towards the centure than at the sides.

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most colonists traveling to North America at the time were “French, Dutch, German, Swedes, Danes, Finns, Scotch, Irish, and English.” All came from countries where brick was well known and commonly used, so it is no surprise that the first settlers used brick to build permanent homes, especially in areas abundant with clay. Brick is a strong material, and binding rectangle counterparts with mortar as an adhesive allowed for taller, stable structures that were better able to withstand natural forces and the passage of time.

The craft of brickmaking and bricklaying in colonial America predates the founding of the United States.

In his book “History of American Manufacturers,” J. Leander Bishop says the first bricks made in the colonies were made in Virginia, “as early as 1612, during the administration of Sir. Thomas Gates.” At the time, clay used for creating bricks was ideally found close to settlements, minimizing the carrying of heavy loads over long distances. In “Some Early Brickmakers of Philadelphia,” Harrold Guillingham writes that even though bricks could be transported, it was very unlikely that most brick in a particular area came from elsewhere; largewheeled vehicles were rare in 17th and early 18thcentury America, let alone roads. The closest thing were narrow winding paths that could accommodate little more than a horse and its rider. All of this makes the idea of brick transportation in large quantities even more unlikely and underscores the importance of finding clay for brick creation near the site of construction.

There is proof that colonists holding the profession of brickmaking were among passengers on ships that crossed the Atlantic beginning in the late 17th century, and that some of tradesmen brought with them means of constructing kilns as well.

Guillingham writes, “In 1690, John Goodson wrote to his friends, John & S. Drew that ‘‘They Build all with Stone and Brick now, except the very meanest Sort of People, which Build framed Houses with

Timber.’”

In the same letter, Goodson adds, ‘We have now * * * Four Brickmakers, with Brick-kills.’”

Not only were professional brickmakers some of the earliest craftsmen to assist in colonizing America, but they brought tools for their work, too.

According to Bishop, the first known brick kiln was created in 1629. An account by the Salem Minister mentions “good clay to make Bricke and Tyles and Earthen pots ... At this instant we are setting a brick kiln on worke to make Brickes and Tyles for the building of our houses.” Early brick kilns were small, for easy transportation and also due to the small size in population of people they served during the 17th and early 18th centuries.

Though there were many professional brickmakers by trade, the craft did not require a tremendous amount of skill in itself. Well into the 18th century, brickmakers were known to move from construction site to construction site without a crew. Thomas Jefferson employed brickmaker John Brewer to work on Monticello. Brewer moved there with his wife, and like many other workers in his trade, he moved there without a group of laborers. Other brickmakers worked the same way, with laborers offered by clients or hired from the surrounding population just before construction.

Men, women, and

children alike could assist in the creation of bricks as it was considered unskilled labor.

Bricklaying and masonry, however, were quite the opposite.

Bricklaying was learned through apprenticeships, with skills developed through experience. For one, bricklayers needed to possess endurance for carefully laying bricks for extended periods of time. Their trade also required that they have an eye for design, skill in construction, and knowledge of architecture.

Jefferson’s primary home at Monticello and his secondary getaway at Poplar Forest offer insight to the processes of brickmaking and laying in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Jefferson himself designed, contracted, and owned these two structures, which were constructed with the knowledge that brick would long outlast the scores of wooden homes in Virginia. He even advocated for the construction of brick over wood in his internationally published book “Notes on the State of Virginia.” The construction of his estate at Poplar Forest relied on clay and water close to the construction site; the only material that needed transported was sand.

Even the brickyard, found through a discovery in excavation, was found only 300 yards directly south of the house. The number of bricks made in the first batch of the first season at Poplar Forest was never recorded. However, estimations from

Men, women, and children alike could assist in the creation of bricks as it was considered unskilled labor.

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Jefferson’s earlier works such as Monticello suggest was noted to have admired the Dutch structure in the number would have been between 60,000 and Philadelphia, only two of which were known to be 100,000 bricks. Jefferson even noted in his garden left in the city. In the mid-19th century, famous book in 1778 that 103,000 bricks would render English geologist Sir Charles Lyell looked upon about 90,000 well-shaped and usable bricks. the same structures with similar interest.

He was known to be extremely particular about bricklaying, and it is said that he was so displeased Another crucial element to brickmaking was the with his bricklayer, Chisolm, that he refused to adhesive that kept the bricks together. Unlike visit the estate for two years. brick, mortar was never shipped from Europe to the

colonies, nor were the materials used to make it.

Although many bricks were made on American soil, The New World provided an abundance of materials especially by English colonists, a small portion were for creating mortar, and there was not a comparable made and shipped from Europe. A characteristic of level of it found in Europe at the time. In fact, Dutch and Swedish brickmaking is the yellowish bricklayers in the colonies differed from their color found in many of their settlements along European counterparts in the amount of mortar they the eastern seaboard and the Delaware River. Most applied between bricks. Colonist bricklayers applied date to the first half of the 17th century, and the a much thicker yellow bricks are taken into account layer, most by many of these settlements’ ship likely due to inventories and recorded as a ship’s expendable ballast, or heavyweight material resources in used to stabilize a ship on its America. voyage across the ocean. There is

evidence that brick was also shipped The mortar from England in the 18th century to used in the tion uc tr ns co e e Hous colonists living in towns and small colonies was g the Whit 3-1797 durin 9 17 e al K remiah cities along the seaboard, though made with lime. The Made by Je it does not indicate the shipments were most desirable form came from stone-lime, substantial, especially not so in facilitating major but when that was in short quantity (usually the construction. Instead, many shipments were minor case) oyster shells were used instead. Before the and most likely contained ornamental brick used lime was ready to be used for brick, the lime or for installation in fireplaces. This cargo was almost oyster shells must be crushed sufficiently. Then it definitely not shipped commercially, but ordered was mixed with a sufficient amount of water and the and shipped privately. lumps of began to break apart. Heat was added to the mixture until it took on a completely different By the 18th century, many of these yellow brick form with the consistency of a thick paste to use as structures had been replaced due to growing English plaster between stacked bricks. This method was so influence and population in the colonies. However, effective in creating durable mortar for masons that some of the architecture could still be found in the plaster between bricks of houses built before the alleys of growing towns in Massachusetts and 1750 shows so little degradation that one can see large older cities like Philadelphia, and they were trowel marks left by the original builders. enjoyed and looked upon fondly by Englishmen and Americans alike. American writer Washington Irving Not only was Virginia the location of the oldest 28

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brickmaking and laying in early America, but the most varying styles of brickwork as well. This may be because masons had more freedom to express themselves through their work, and although statutes existed in England through the guild system, no restrictions have been found concerning Virginians and their craft of brickmaking. As a result, colonial masons in Virginia maintained a high level of craftsmanship, seen in their precise gauging in structures such as arches.

Unlike Virginia, other colonies put specific rules and standards in place after brickmaking became a major trade throughout the region. Burlington, New Jersey, with its vast clay deposits, had so much production and so many brickmakers by the 1680s that it appointed two head brick inspectors to ensure uniformity in production.

Though brickmaking grew in prominence with as the colonies bloomed, there is evidence that early brick construction was still reserved for important structures throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries, especially in smaller towns. Importance of structural integrity was most often found in government or religious construction. The two most monumental structures in Maryland were the State House and the Catholic Chapel. Other brick structures were inhabited by prominent public figures, such as the private residence of Chancellor Philip Calvert, one of the few brick structures found in St. Mary’s City, the capital of Maryland at the end of the 17th century.

Many of the towns surrounding the capital in the Chesapeake area lacked brick structures as well. If brick construction was found outside of structures belonging to institutions or prominent figures, they usually were limited to chimneys and hearths in common houses constructed mostly of wood.

As colonial brick production increased, brickyards became more prominent in 18th-century towns. New

Bern, a long-time capital in North Carolina and one of the most centralized port towns in the colony, had a brickyard and kiln as early as the 1760s.

It provided the material to construct Governor William Tryon’s palace. Even with the established brickyard, though, New Bern still imported bricks.

Although imported bricks oftentimes were presumed to come from England, New Bern in fact imported them from Philadelphia for the construction of a prison in the early 19th century.

By the end of the 18th century, brick makers were experimenting with brick color, more precise edges, and greater density allowing for less degradation over time. Different methods were attempted in different areas within the colonies to produce bricks with these enhanced qualities. Virginia in particular saw the development of a new process to create brick called “oil-brick” or “oiled-brick,” which still called for the bricks to be handmade but rendered the textile to be of higher quality and up to the standards at which they were attempting to produce. This was true especially in comparison to the more commonly used and conventional sand or slop-molded bricks. Up until the innovation of oil-brick, wooden brick molds were prepared for clay through either of these two methods. The wood would either be dusted with a coat of sand or dipped in water to provide a wet coat. Both methods prevented the clay from sticking to the sides of the mold, although not always successfully.

The appeal of oil-brick was because neither sand or slop-molded bricks produced near-perfect form.

In either case fold-layers, or layers created from pushing clay together into a lump for the mold, were apparent, and granular surfaces on the brick were unavoidable when using sand in brick production.

Because clay used in handmade brick production was often very damp, the clay was more prone to shrinking while being fired, rendering many bricks of different sizes. Thus, mortar joints in brick laying often had to be adjusted and widened to Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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compensate for different-sized bricks.

The process of oil-brick involved different materials, both in the structure of the mold and the material used to prevent clay from sticking. The mold now had a copper lining, which made working with stiffer clay much easier; the stiffer clay allowed for a higher outcome of desired shape in the brick.

The molds were also wiped with linseed or tree oil to allow easier removal from the mold without changing the brick’s shape. This proved more effective than the previous methods of using sand or water on wooden molds. Coloring depended on different variables during and after a brick’s creation. Oftentimes the coloring varied depending on differing compositions within the clay and the amount of time the brick was burnt. However, controlling a desired color less successful than producing quality shape.

Certain areas of colonial America resorted to brick due a lack in stone materials. Even with timber as an accessible resource, wood was prone to rot, catch fire, and attract termites, preventing longterm infrastructure. Williamsburg Virginia, for instance, was forced to shift construction materials from stone and wood to that of brick; as a result, brickmaking and bricklaying are some of Virginia’s oldest trades.

Like farming, brickmaking was a seasonal endeavor that ran through spring, summer, and fall. It was not attempted as much during long cold winters.

Although they did not work as much in this season, they occasionally shifted their labor towards digging clay. During warmer seasons, they mixed the clay with water to bring the clay to an optimal consistency before putting it into the mold. There were many different types of bricks that colonists

Flemish Bond 30

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would make and lay. One was a coping brick, or half-circle or curved bricks, to ward off and divert water. They were also used to cap off other brick structures. Other bricks included water-table bricks, used where a foundation meets the floor. Compass bricks were curved bricks that were wedge-shaped on one end for creating a circle. Square paving bricks were used for roads and town squares, though there were few roads that used brick in the early 18th century.

Because bricks are relatively small and light in comparison to the structures in which they were used, they were stacked in particular patterns, enhancing their strength and cohesion. Some of the most common 18th-century patterns were the Flemish bond and the English bond. The variation lies in how the headers, or bricks laid with their smaller side exposed to the outsides of the wall, and the stretchers, or bricks laid longways, are stacked.

English bond requires that each row of brick consist entirely of stretchers or headers, alternating each row. In Flemish bond, each row has alternating headers and stretchers, and they alternate above and below as well so that the mortar joints are never flush with each other.

The styles of clay brickmaking and laying came from Europe, though North America was not without its own style of architecture. It involved the stacking of objects composed of minerals, particularly in areas with less European influence. Stone stacking was prevalent throughout the entire continent, particularly in what is today the southwest United States, where native populations created impressive architecture three to four stories high. The Anasazi, ancestors of the Pueblo, are known for spectacular stone structures. The stone of their large complexes was quarried and transported to building sites, after

English Bond

which the people shaped the stone for stacking to is now California and the southwestern United build their structures.

States. Without resources and manpower to create baked clay brick out west, they had to resort to a Similarly, their descendants built structures by form of construction used by natives. stacking as well. However, the Pueblos used a different material similar to the modern form of Regardless of culture or continent, some form of the brick. They used minerals and water from brickmaking has permeated cultures across the world. surrounding areas to create bricks from a material Brickmaking techniques brought to the colonies known as adobe. Adobe is a mixture of clay, sand, from Europe helped colonists establish themselves and silt that is left out to dry in the sun to early on. In a new world abundant with resources, give it rigidity for building. Although less durable colonists were able to consistently produce brick than brick or stone, it still allowed for long-term for their towns, cities, and estates. Even after 250 structural integrity in the construction of basic years, many of the houses and structures they built buildings. are still standing, a testament to the durability and power of brickmaking and brick-laying throughout Natives weren’t the only groups known to use history. adobe-style construction on the North American continent. Catholic missionaries created adobe-style bricks for their outposts and places of worship in the 18th century. Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries built religious edifices out of adobe brick in what

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Apple Cart Creations Hand Knit & Woven Creations Now Selling Children’s Clothing! www.AppleCartCreations.com Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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The Curious Case of the Rittenhouse Orrery: Power, Progress, & Providence in the Age of Enlightenment

by Thomas Apel

A Philosopher giving a Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun - Joseph Wright of Derby, 1766 Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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Portraite of David Rittenhouse - Charles Wilson Peale, 1796

n 1948, in the basement of McCosh Hall at Princeton University, carpenters I discovered a dusty old shipping crate containing a curious and largely forgotten machine. Unsure of what it was, much less how it worked, the university took the tangled mass of gears, shafts, and springs to astronomy professor Newton Pierce. Recognizing the object, Pierce declared that it was the once-famous orrery made by astronomer David Rittenhouse in 1770, then purchased for the college for a handsome sum in 1771, only to be lost after it was exhibited at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893.

arduous task of refurbishing the orrery, they must have wondered how a machine that had once been the school’s prized possession, perhaps the most celebrated American machine of the 18th century, ended up in a basement.

Orreries are mechanical models of the universe with moving parts that depict the motions of the heavenly bodies. The more complex orreries were made like clocks, from intricate arrangements of interlocking gears, and like most clocks they were powered by a crank that stored energy in the apparatus.

Once wound, the machine slowly unwound, moving the gears and the miniature planetary bodies that As Pierce and fellow colleagues set about the were attached. The more precisely made, the more 34

Reliving History | Spring 2019

accurately the orreries depicted the motions of orrery was like no other. Four foot square with a heavenly bodies as people of the time understood face made of painted sheet-brass, the orrery was them. fitted with two large dials. The first centers on the sun, around which travel the known planets Hugely popular in the 18th century, the orrery Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, takes its name from English instrument maker each with their known satellites. The second dial -John Rowley, who in 1712 made a model of the by far the most “astonishing” -- is interlocked with earth and moon orbiting the sun and named it the first and equipped with hands that can be set to an “Orrery” after his patron Charles Boyle, the specific hours, days, months, and years. Remarkably, fourth Earl of Orrery. The first specimen dates Rittenhouse’s machine could be adjusted to show to the late 17th century and is credited to the the positions of the planetary bodies at any given Dutch polymath Christiaan Huygens, a pioneer of moment down to the hour in a 5,000-year period. mechanical philosophy and inventor of the pendulum clock. While they are still made today, popular In 1771, Rittenhouse sold the orrery to John appreciation for orreries diminished after the turn Witherspoon, the new president of the College of New of the 19th century.

Jersey (renamed Princeton in 1896), despite having While common in promised the instrument Europe, orreries were to his friend, William almost unheard of in Smith, provost of the the American colonies College of Philadelphia before the work of David (later University of Rittenhouse. Born in Pennsylvania).

The 1732 in Germantown, decision was roundly Pennsylvania, Rittenhouse spent the greater part criticized by intellectuals in Philadelphia, who of his young life in Norriton Township outside argued that the breathtaking scientific instrument of Philadelphia. Though he received little formal ought not to be sent to a “mere village.” Rittenhouse education, he took an early interest in mathematics later made amends, building a second orrery on and astronomy, and showed an early aptitude the same model and giving it to the University of for mechanical pursuits. He read the English Pennsylvania. translation of Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis, and built instruments Rittenhouse and his orrery instantly became such as clocks, model paper mills, and eventually important parts of an emerging mythology about an observatory. Through his sister’s marriage American genius and invention. In his Notes on to Thomas Barton (father of the future botanist Virginia (1781),Thomas Jefferson used Rittenhouse’s William Smith Barton), he was also introduced to creation to contradict the Comte de Buffon and to philosophical circles beyond Norriton. prove that America produced greatness: “We have supposed Mr. Rittenhouse second to no astronomer Professing his desire to “astonish the skilful and living: that in genius he must be the first, because curious examiner,” Rittenhouse began constructing he is self-taught.” Jefferson’s praise focused on the his orrery sometime in 1767. The machine is first orrery: “As an artist he has exhibited as great a mentioned in the Transactions of the American proof of mechanical genius as the world has ever Philosophical Society of Philadelphia in 1769 produced. He has not indeed made a world; but under the title “A description of a new ORRERY, he has by imitation approached nearer its Maker planned, and now nearly finished, by DAVID than any man who has lived from the creation to RITTENHOUSE.” this day.”

“We have supposed Mr. Rittenhouse second to no astronomer living that in genius he must be the first, because he is self-taught.” Jefferson

Completed the following year, the Rittenhouse In The American Geography (1789), Jedidiah Morse Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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similarly listed Rittenhouse’s orrery first in a long (1687), Newton’s laws reduced the intricacies of list of American inventions, putting it before the matter, motion, and force to a set of simple rules. steam engines developed by James Rumsay and John As the poet Alexander Pope wrote: Fitch. And Joel Barlow too presented Rittenhouse’s creation in mythic terms in his epic nationalistic Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night: poem, The Columbiad (1807): God said, “Let Newton be!” and all was light.

Perhaps most importantly Newton explained gravity See the sage RITTENHOUSE, with ardent eye, and showed that the heavenly bodies were orderly Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky; and lawlike in their behaviors -- the universe was the Clear in his view the circling systems roll, ultimate machine made by the ultimate craftsman.

And broader splendours-gild the central pole.

Indeed those who celebrated Newton did so with He marks what laws th’eccentric wand’rers bind, a mixture of scientific admiration and religious Copies Creation in his forming mind, awe, for by laying bare the laws of nature, Newton And bids, beneath his hand, in-semblance rise, had done more than anyone to understand God’s With mimic orbs, the labours of the skies. design, and thus God itself.

There wond’ring crouds with raptur’d eye behold The spangled Heav’ns their mystic maze unfold; Given the huge importance accorded to Newton, it While each glad sage his splendid Hall shall grace, was important to have didactic tools available to With all the spheres that cleave th’ethereal space. convey his ideas. For that the Principia Mathematica simply would not do. At three volumes of Latin text All this begs the question: if the Rittenhouse was (an English translation was offered in 1729), it is a so much beloved and so widely appreciated in its dense read, full of abstruse mathematical equations, own time, then why was it left in a basement for and far beyond the ken of novice readers. As more than half a century? What meaning did this Voltaire joked, though the English talked endlessly instrument have to people in the 18th century and of Newton, none had actually read him. why was it too lost?

Although the marked expansion of print literature in When Immanuel Kant asked the question “what is the 18th century efficiently disseminated knowledge Enlightenment,” he answered with the statement about science, nothing so ably communicated the sapere aude, or “dare to know.” The motto captures enthusiasm for science as demonstrations. Presented the spirit of a time when an increasing number of at private parties and public events, science people in Europe and America conceived sweeping demonstrations were common and well-attended and ambitious projects for the advancement of events, where, for example, showmen scientists knowledge. Contrary to their hopes, the 18th revealed the awe-inspiring and sometimes explosive century would not be remembered as an epoch of effects of chemical mixtures, and electricians great scientific discoveries, but it did witness a exhibited the wonders of electricity, even letting marked expansion of enthusiasm for science, and audience members themselves experience electricity not just among the well-to-do male social elites who (common idioms about “electrifying audiences” disproportionately practiced science, but among quite literally descend from these events). The those such as women and children who were not spectacle of the scientific demonstration educated normally welcomed among the ranks of knowledge- and enchanted, imparting to viewers a visceral sense makers. of the powers and mysteries of the natural world.

In this Age of Enlightenment, nothing quite so captivated audiences, particularly in the Anglophone world, as the revelations of Isaac Newton.

Presented in meticulous and painstaking detail in the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica 36

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Enter the orrery. For people who learned through demonstration, the orrery was the perfect instrument.

With its moving parts, the orrery actually showed the movement of the planets and their moons, and it allowed viewers to participate. Besides teaching

developing astronomers and college students, the orrery could be used to educate and amaze those who were not pursuing advanced education. As Richard Steele wrote of the device, “It administers the Pleasure of Science to any one …. All Persons, never so remotely employed from a learned Way, might come into the Interest of Knowledge, and taste the Pleasure of it.”

In 18th-century writing and art, the orrery figures prominently as an educational device, often for woman, children and young students. In one such tract, Astronomical Dialogues between a Gentleman and a Lady (1719), the Englishman John Harris used an imagined conversation between a “lady” and an astronomer as they studied the orrery to highlight the edifying and empowering nature of the orrery:

In a well-known painting called A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery (1765), Joseph Wright of Derby offered an even richer portrait of the scene surrounding the orrery. The tableau centers on the machine itself, which gives off a bright light. In the middle of the scene is the philosopher. Following common tropes of the era, he is a stern-faced, older man who hovers over the apparatus. Below him, a pair of children laugh, their faces illuminated by the machine. To his side is a student eagerly taking notes, and to his right and left, respectively, are a young man and woman, whose serious expressions suggest sober contemplation of the wonders they are beholding.

Works like those of Harris and Wright of make it clear that the orrery taught much more than the Newtonian laws of motion.

A symbol of rationality and order, as much as it was a didactic Well, said she, I have instrument, the no words to express the orrery’s lessons were Pleasure and Satisfaction I both physical and moral. receive from this most Curious Just as Newton’s revelations, Engine, nor the Amazement the rightly considered, exalted the wonderful Contrivance of it gives me. divine architect, so did the orrery, Were my Fortune but half as great as my rightly used, promote a deeper appreciation Curiosity, I would have one of these Instruments for creation and for the divine providence that as soon as possibly I could get it, and then without oversaw it. being beholding to any of you He-things, I would turn it about myself, till I made it do all I had When John Witherspoon purchased the Rittenhouse a mind to. And I wish now, that I could see the orrery in 1771 for the then-considerable sum of Inside of it I, and understand what Numbers of £220, he was making a powerful statement about Teeth and Pinions he hath made use of, to produce the direction of the College of New Jersey and these various motions. his aspirations for new knowledge. During his Rittenhouse Orrery - Courtesy of Christopher Storb

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tenure as president, Witherspoon transformed the curriculum of the college, once a nursery for the clergy, introducing courses of study in both moral philosophy, based on the teachings of Francis Hutcheson, and the physical sciences, based on Newtonian models. The orrery had a role in both.

of Princeton during the Revolutionary War, lasted until his death in 1794. Though his successor as president, Samuel Stanhope Smith, carried on his vision in the succeeding years, the goals of Princeton and most other American universities changed considerably in the 19th century.

Born in Scotland in 1723, Witherspoon was an evangelical Presbyterian minister and theologian.

Like many of his generation, he admired Newton’s natural but he was primarily interested in moral philosophy, or moral “science.” Moral philosophy doesn’t have a direct modern corollary, although it is the precursor of all the modern social sciences. It was the study of people and their behaviors, and it was dominated by the question of the source of human morality. Like Hutcheson, Witherspoon believed in an innate moral sense -- an inborn capacity that told people right from wrong.

By 1893, when Rittenhouse’s orrery was left to rot in a basement, much had changed in the landscape of science. While Newtonian physics proved a durable paradigm, the Newtonian universe depicted by the orreries had expanded considerably.

For Newton as for Rittenhouse, the universe was composed of six planets, the moon, and a few satellites around Jupiter and Saturn, all set against a canvas of fixed stars. By 1893, astronomers had discovered new planets and moons, and come increasingly to understand that universe was vastly bigger than people a century before realized. And while Newton’s physics still held sway (although even here Einstein was only a decade away), he was no longer revered in the same way, for the 19th century had produced its own heroes of scientific progress in fields such as electromagnetism, thermodynamics, bacteriology, and more.

John Witherspoon purchased the Rittenhouse orrery in 1771 for the then-considerable sum of £220.

This was a controversial notion for two reasons.

First, if people by their very natures were moral, then they did not need God or religion to be moral. Second, if the moral sense was a sense, then it was possible to construct a moral science. The argument went something like this: if knowledge of natural laws rests on our experience of nature gained through the physical senses, it is possible to build knowledge of moral laws based on our experience of morality gained through our moral sense. Witherspoon ambitiously expected this moral science to be placed on as firm a foundation as Newton had put the physical sciences.

Finally, by the end of the 19th century, industrial revolutions had forever altered the nature of craft and production. As steel, steam, and electricity enabled creation on unprecedented scales, some of the finer appreciation for items made with an artisan’s skill and patience was forgotten.

As for the Rittenhouse orrery, after Pierce and his colleagues rebuilt it in the mid-20th century, the university moved it to Peyton Hall, home of the Astrophysical Sciences Department, where it still resides, a quaint object from a bygone era.

But for a time it was much more than that. An instrument for understanding the cosmos and the In the end, Witherspoon’s hope of becoming the deity that governed it, the orrery was a potent Newton of the moral sciences was never fulfilled. symbol of power, progress, and providence in the His presidency, interrupted by the British occupation Age of Enlightenment.

For Witherspoon, then, the orrery had a dual meaning. It was at once an instrument for teaching the physical model of the universe, and a powerful symbol of how God’s lawlike design penetrated beyond inert matter, into the human soul itself.

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The Rise of Wheeled Transportation

by Tavis Taylor

he need for quick means of travel is not new.

Although the people of colonial America T walked for the most part, a more efficient mode of transportation for oneself and goods became necessary as society underwent rapid growth and development. Innovative forms of travel were imperative for the trade of goods, visiting family, or simply traveling for pleasure. For those who didn’t have access to the east coast or any of the rivers and tributaries, travel by boat wasn’t an option. Thus, one particular mode of transportation became prominent for travel by land: the wagon. This wheeled vehicle took on different forms throughout the 40

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18th century as travel by wagon and carriage evolved from mainly existing in the world of trade and aristocracy to use by the common people. Along the way, the wagon took on other special roles in colonial American culture due to its versatility as mobile infrastructure.

When thinking about early American wagons, most people picture the Conestoga -- a long horse- or ox-drawn wagon with canvas stretched over the top. One of the most common wheeled vehicles at the time, it originated in the Conestoga region of Lancaster County. Originally crafted by the Dutch in the Pennsylvania colony, this vehicle was

Another vehicle of the time was the stage wagon, or stagecoach. This wagon carried both passengers and cargo.

Some of the first models did not include any springs and had backless benches on the inside with wooden sides and a canvas top. The stage wagon was improved upon later, with curtains, seat backs and springs to support the seats. They were used for transportation in poor conditions because they offered a bit more protection from inclement weather. Although they did have their slight differences, both stagecoach and stage wagon were often synonymous with one another; they were both used on routes between major cities called stage lines, in which transportation was completed in multiple stages throughout the route so as to not overwork the horses.

The first stage coach in the colonies was owned by Jonathan Wardwell of Boston, who traveled from Boston to Providence on May 13, 1718. Not long after, stagecoach travel become more common, but long-distance travel wasn’t popular until after America’s independence. The man who popularized long-distance travel was Levi Pease of New England, who traveled from Boston through the cities Worcester, Springfield, and Hartford, until he finally reached his destination in New York.

designed for the first half of the cross-country trip across the Appalachian Mountains. It transported manufactured goods west and raw goods back east such as flour, whiskey, and tobacco. These wagons frequently rode newly constructed highways between Baltimore and Wheeling or Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Not to be confused with the smaller prairie schooner, a 19th-century wagon commonly used on the Oregon Trail, the Conestoga was the largest vehicle on the road during its day, measuring 18 feet long and 21 feet tall, with the capability of carrying five tons.

Smithsonian curator Roger White calls the Conestoga “the king of the road.”

The lives of stagecoach horses were hard, yet their care throughout the colonies was evident. Stagecoach horses in America were known to long outlive horses used in England. This may have been due to how stagecoach driving was set up commercially, but it may have been culturally how horses were treated as well. Stagecoach lines included many stages, ensuring horses were never overworked and were switched out frequently. Horses were also treated very well by their drivers and owners. Despite the frequent tending of driving horses, that did not prevent them from being exposed to road hazards. One of the factors that may have contributed to their longevity was the lack of paved roads outside of developed areas. This also contributed to many stagecoach accidents; these were recorded as far back as the early 1700s, including broken wheels, failing brakes, and horses losing control. Occasionally, poorly built bridges broke from the weight on top of them or moved and overturned a passing stagecoach. Occasionally Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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Carriages were another form of wheeled transportation similar to wagons. As the American Revolution approached, carriages grew in popularity and fashion, especially for the more affluent. This was also the trend in cities that saw exponential booms and became more metropolitan.

Toward the end of the 18th century, Philadelphia was one of the most powerful and expansive cities in the colonies, with much of its society controlled by the aristocracy.

Despite its Quaker origins, much of the city’s aristocratic culture modeled itself after England, including taste in transportation fashion and custom. One of the major trappings that wealthy Philadelphians modeled after their English brethren was the carriage and its symbol of arrival.

Not only was it important to announce one’s presence but also to demonstrate status. Carriage ownership was such a display of societal notability that it wasn’t difficult to identify those who owned them. Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere, a Swiss-American philosopher, patriot and painter originally born in Geneva, made an effort to record every Philadelphian private carriage owner in 1772. He noted that there were 84 carriage owners in Philadelphia that year in a population of more than 20,000.

It is unknown whether Du Simitiere documented carriage ownership due to his interest in collecting information on Philadelphia society or whether he was looking for prospective patronage for his paintings.

However, his recordings were so detailed that he placed each carriage into three different types based on prestige. The most expensive and esteemed model was a “coach,” and of the 84 people who owned carriages, only 10 owned one in this class. One of the notable characters owning a coach was Governor Richard Penn. The second-tiered carriage included 42

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the “chariot” and “post-chaise.” The chariot was a closed carriage that seated three people. It also included a coach box for a driver. the post-chaise was similar, although it did not include a coach box and required the driver to sit on the horse drawing it.

Du Simitiere called this last and least expensive group of carriages a “coach-wagon.” Although this term was not commonly used for this type of carriage, it is synonymous with the term “phaeton,” which is best described as an open, four-wheeled, door less carriage. It also had an open or falling top, and was almost always driven by the passengers rather than a separate employee or servant. The majority who owned this type of chariot were Quakers.

However, this shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of wealth within the Quaker community, for it may have been a reflection of their religious values rooted in the avoidance of displaying any form of opulence.

Private carriage ownership may have been exclusive to particular individuals throughout the 18th century, but it didn’t mean that they were the only ones using wheeled vehicles within cities. Wagons and other vehicles, such as carts, were heavily used in the transportation and selling of goods at the market. In Philadelphia, the market was on the main commercial road, Market Street, where owners came from long distances to sell their goods on the

Late 18th century phaeton - Christies

passengers suffered injuries, but there are surprisingly few attributed fatalities. Horses, however, were often not as lucky and were at higher risk of fatal injury when accidents occurred.

thoroughfare.

Pennsylvania as a colony needed roads in particular due to its prominence in agricultural production and commerce.

Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere noted that there were 84 carriage owners in Philadelphia that year in a population of more than 20,000.

The surrounding hinterland of Philadelphia was becoming more settled with high levels of production but lacked navigable waters; it was heavily dependent on wagons to move food and produce to the city center. William Penn emphasized the importance of straight and well-kept roads during this period, and their protection as well, for occasionally some planters overstepped their liberties with their methods in planting and extend into the necessary infrastructure of highways.

Highways and roads cut through not only the land of large farms, but through urban property owners’ land in and just outside of towns. Sometimes acquiring land from these planters and property owners was necessary to create roads for wagons, and the land was not always easily attained. The issue of taking land for highways from property owners was usually a sensitive one, especially in New England, where most of the population lived in compact towns and villages and land was distributed to households in acreage that could be divided into multiple locations. With wheat and other goods becoming a large part of trade throughout the northeast, it became imperative that some land needed to be set aside for the construction of roads and highways. This sometimes affected the relationships between inhabitants of the same town, for someone would lose land while another kept theirs. To help ease tensions, New York instituted a compensation requirement in 1721. Though putting this into legislation would add to highway administration costs and levying taxes would add to the anxieties of officeholders and delegates, it seemed a necessary action to ameliorate stress on town folk’s relations, which would otherwise inhibit highway construction in the long run.

Throughout the evolution of transportation, manufacturers developed new methods that made their products more durable. One of the most common methods developed was the implementation of applying a copal or oil varnish

to the wood of the horse-drawn carriage. It is believed that copal originally came from Mexico, for the word is derived from the Aztec word for resin. By the 18th century, copal referred to a durable plantbased resin with a high melting point.

Copal varnishes had different purposes in their use on wheeled vehicles. A thick water-resistant coat could be used as protection for the wood, but it could also be used for ornamentation and creation of solid lacquers.

Ornamentation included various types of imagery, including crests, mythical figures, hunting scenes, and even faux woodgrain. Resins were only considered copal and accepted for use in varnishing vehicles if only a small fraction of the substance was soluble in alcohol or turpentine.

This process would ensure the substance’s longevity. An interesting characteristic of these resins is that they are partially fossilized. However, they are much more recent and immature in the process of fossilization compared to amber. Copal varnish in the colonies during the 18th century came from at least 10 different trees in North and South America and some Caribbean islands. The display of grandeur on one’s vehicle was not only reserved for those with status and affluence within aristocratic society. Often, even trade wagons would be ornate to attract customers to their wares. Different processes of administering the substance rendered different colors and styles. One contributor to the mid-19th century edition of Scientific American wrote of one process, “Persons wishing to paint their carriages black should put on one coat of lead color, when dry, sand paper well, and finish with copal varnish and a little lamp-black.”

Wagons were also important in warfare throughout the 18th century. At the beginning of the French and Indian War, the wheeled vehicles proved useful. General Braddock utilized them on his expedition in 1755 to capture Fort Duquesne from the French. Along his lines that extended a procession of one mile, wagons carried supplies and people.

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and wagons, Washington’s unit ended up falling behind but was able to catch up to troops after a couple of days. The expedition finally ended at the Battle of the Monongahela, where Braddock and the British forces were defeated. Mortally wounded, Braddock died during the British retreat.

Wagons were an economic mechanism as the frontier grew.

As populations headed, roads and paths were widened to accommodate wheeled vehicles. This led more people to be involved in the rapidly growing markets. Entrepreneurial real estate developers had a hand in the development of roads to help expedite the process of the growing market.

proved inefficient though, for the institutions were already well past capacity.

Even with law enforcement, authorities sought a different method for addressing local crime. Louisiana seemed a viable option. Common opinion began to support the theory that people who were viewed as parasitic in the homeland could become productive in the new land.

Ministers were certain that the absence of hospitals and alms-houses would inspire them to work. Eventually financial conditions required that trading companies and France implement a way to 15 January 1781 Hand-Coloured Mezzotint with Etching speed up colonialization in Louisiana to spur commerce.

This led to the transport of thousands of the lower class in French hospitals and prisons to the colony.

The English colonies were not the only ones to make good use of wheeled vehicles. The French used them extensively for To transport the prisoners and homeless to company their North American colonies as well. In some cases they ships, France implemented the use of wagons. Often the served particular purposes, like their role in the colonization male prisoners walked chained together, and the females of Louisiana. To many of the French authorities stationed were transported in the wheeled vehicles. Wagons were in France, the colony of Louisiana seemed fertile with also used in a “mass marriage” of the prisoners. On reasonable climate to expand in agriculture. The only thing September 18, 1719, 184 male and female prisoners and it lacked was enough colonists and a workforce to reach its prospective colonists were forced to marry each other at the productive potential. Many of the same authorities saw that Saint-Martin-de-Champs church in Paris. The women were a solution to this would also be a solution to a domestic allowed to choose which among the men they would marry. issue facing the country. France had an increasing rate of After their swift matrimony, couples were chained together urban proletariat throughout the country. With this came and marched to La Rochelle, followed by carts and wagons criminal activity that included smugglers, petty criminals, carrying their provisions and clothes to be put on a ship unemployed vagrants, and vagabonds. Hospitals were also and transported to France’s colony in the west. Sometimes filled with unemployed servants, journeymen, abandoned even larger numbers of prisoners were sent by caravans. On women, and urchins. From time to time, police officers October 8, 1719, an estimated 30 wagons of girls with an attempted to combat this national issue by rounding them equal amount of boys on foot were paraded through Paris up and putting them in prison, galleys, and hangings. This before being shipped to the New World and new lives.

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Increased legislation proved necessary as the colonies grew throughout the century. As a new nation, the United States had its work cut out in creating new legislation at the turn of the 18th century. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson, with the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, spearheaded the implementation of a Board of Health in Washington with a competent authority to enforce regulations. This was necessary to prevent introduction of new contagious diseases and to fortify the preservation of health in the city. This legislation was also directly related to the regulation of wagons and wheeled vehicles.

This included licensing, taxing, and regulating auctions of hackney carriages, wagons, carts, and drays.

Other forms of legislation involving carts and wagons were instituted in other colonies. Sometimes they weren’t for reasons as noble as the general health of the public. Before the formation of the United States, the colony of New York set up forms of legislation on wagons and carts for reasons of segregation. Initially the legislation installed was to prevent blacks from vending and extra work that would allow them to obtain unknown sums of cash. Towards the end of the 17th century, other cities like Albany set up companion restrictions to vending restrictions in the form of curfews. These curfews prohibited African Americans from the driving and operating carts and wagons, with the exception of beer wagons. The exception was due to the heavy economic reliance of allowing slaves to drive, for they were most often the ones working in that daily operation. This regulation required that anyone caught owning a wheeled vehicle and defying the ordinance pay three shillings every day that they were in violation of the law. This legislation stayed in place and was enforced for the rest of the colonial period.

In other places throughout the colonies, African Americans were given more autonomy involving the operation of wheeled vehicles. One of these places was Charleston, South Carolina. Throughout the colonial period, Charleston served as a strong oceanic trade town and was North America’s primary port for transatlantic slave trade.

Not only did the southern colony have a large influx of the people due to their surrounding plantations and established

slave market, but they also heavily relied on their labor, which was vital in the everyday production and growth of the soon-to-be independent country. Often times, the city of Charleston offered much less laborious work than that of the plantations out in the country and slaves would become aware of this and try to climb the ranks of the plantation slave hierarchy for mobility jobs such as the wagon driving to transport crops to and from the city.

In fact, slaves were almost always the ones operating the vehicles that drove goods to and from the countryside as well as throughout the town. This included wagons, carts, riverboats, and ferries.

Wagons also played a strong role in the meat trade of Charleston just after the formation of the United States.

Before 1783, it was common that smaller animals such as hogs, calves, goats, and sheep were slaughtered in Charleston’s beef market. Cattle was also slaughtered here; however, it was less common. After 1783, when the slaughter of cattle was prohibited in this area, meats were then brought from a peripheral location. Such methods were required by legislation to have meats placed in and transported by covered wagon.

Wheeled transportation evolved right along with society in the colonies throughout the 18th century. As every aspect of trade, war, leisure, and exploration grew, so did the use of wagons and carriages. Highway construction grew further west as towns developed and expanded more, and the development of more land led to more transportation of goods on wheeled vehicles. Throughout the 18th and well into the 19th century, wagons were a driving force in expansion and commerce.

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by Rachel Basinger veryone has heard the praises of the American longrifle, more colloquially known as the Kentucky or Pennsylvania rifle: the British called it a “widow-maker,” deadly accurate out to half a mile, and a firearm that could turn any soldier into a sharpshooter. Unfortunately, these statements are not completely accurate, thus skewing the average American’s view of the American longrifle. The longrifle was a distinctively American firearm, and while it may be a little less fabled than the legends suggest, the American longrifle is still the iconic weapon that represents American freedom.

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Whether one considers that one of the first acts of the Continental Congress in 1775 was to call for companies of “expert riflemen”—many militia units predominantly consisted of riflemen—and that these companies were the first step to developing the Continental Army or the distinctive image of an American rifleman (frontiersman) with a round hat and a hunting shirt and a rifle in his left hand and a Bible in his 46

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right, the American longrifle has embodied the American way of life: rugged, independent, and free. The American longrifle may have been less of a widow-maker than we might like to believe as Americans, but the fact remains that the longrifle transformed American life.

Prior to the introduction of the longrifle, many firearms found in North America were smooth-bored muskets with short barrels. They were challenging to reload and inaccurate. The American longrifle changed that and became an extremely effective weapon in early colonial history for both hunting and fighting.

It is traditionally believed that the American longrifle was a variation of the German Jaeger, which literally means “hunter,” rifle. As the name implies, the Jaeger was a large caliber flintlock rifle designed for hunting in the forest and fields. Almost exclusively used by the wealthy, the Jaeger was short and stocky, making it light and easy to handle. The Jaeger used barrel

rifling, which is thought to have been invented in Augsburg, Germany, in the late 1400s. In fact, the German word riffeln from which we derive the word “rifle” indicates exactly what European gunsmiths did to the barrel: to cut grooves. Rifling the barrel exerted torque and imparted a spin to the bullet as it exited the barrel, thus greatly improving accuracy.

Many believe that Martin Meylin, credited as being the first great American gunmaker, was the inventor of the American longrifle, bringing his knowledge of the Jaeger rifle to America when he left his home in Zurich, Switzerland. According to this traditional opinion, Meylin and other Americans made several changes to the Jaeger rifle to transform it into a distinctly American weapon. First, they abandoned the oversized bullet of the Jaeger that had to be hammered into the barrel with an iron ramrod. Next, they normally did not include sling swivels on American longrifles unlike most of the Jaeger rifles. Most Americans, including native Americans, who used the longrifle preferred to carry his rifle in his hand. Many American longrifles also had the addition of a brass patch box, which was viewed as more practical that the traditional storage compartment in the butt of the gun with sliding wood covers that could be easily lost. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Americans elongated the barrel of the Jaeger rifle and reduced the caliber in order to account for the needs of American hunters.

New evidence may suggest, however, that the English trade gun may have also played a substantial role in influencing the development of the American longrifle as the Jaeger did. Based on George Shumway’s research, Peter Alexander posited in his 2002 book The Gunsmith of Grenville County: Building the American Longrifle that there were many longrifles before the Americans owned or built them. That can only mean that the native Americans did. Thus, according to Alexander, the Indians had grown accustomed to the long barreled English trade guns and desired rifles in a similar style. The German gunsmiths therefore only supplied what the native Americans wanted. As a result, the hunting lifestyles of American frontiersmen may have nothing to do with the longer barrel of the American longrifle; it may have been the native Americans involved in the fur trade originally.

No matter what the origin, however, of the increased length and decreased caliber size, the American longrifle as we know it today emerged by around 1720. By the 1750s, the longrifle was the firearm of the colonies, as it was the only gun made in substantial numbers in America in the 1700s. The American longrifle would reach its golden age during the American Revolution until the turn of the 19th century. The longrifle became more streamlined, as many rifles weighed between nine and ten pounds, lighter than a musket and significantly lighter than a fifteen- to sixteen-pound sniper rifle, as Navy SEAL Chris Kyle observed.

Nevertheless, the longrifle was still an extremely personal firearm, as it was unique for each individual. As gunsmith Wallace Gusler who worked at Colonial Williamsburg noted, “During its time, [the longrifle] was the highest expression of the gun maker’s art in this country”.

A 1973 article in the American Heritage magazine stated it even more bluntly: “A first-class rifle was as important to a frontiersman as a first-class wife, and often was loved, honored, and cherished with equal if not greater devotion” (“The Kentucky Rifle as Art”). Calibers could vary from .25 to .62, but the most popular were around 50-caliber. Similarly, the longrifle could vary in length from roughly 54 inches to over 70 inches. Finally, one of the most obvious areas of variation was in the inlays. Many frontiersmen chose to include a patriotic inlay like an eagle, but a very rare few included a long forgotten Revolutionary era symbol: the rattlesnake.

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Dickert and George Schreyer chose to include a e Rifl a i rattlesnake on their rifles to illustrate n ylva that they were defending themselves with s n en n P deadly force but only because their freedoms had o ture a n been trod on (“The First Truly American Firearm”).

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Like the American colonists, rattlesnakes do not attack unprovoked, but will defend themselves with lethal power if incited. Similarly, the rattles separately are not much to be feared but together—like the united colonies—can alarm even the strongest man.

Brown Bess, a smooth bore musket with an effective range of 50 to 100 yards. Similarly, the most common weapon of the regular American Continental Army was the French Charleville 1763 smooth bore musket. But George Washington was delighted when he found over 1,000 recruits with long rifles who could hit an 8-by-10-inch sheet of paper at over 400 yards (Nillson 2012).

Newspapers abounded with stories of the longrifle’s accuracy.

Quoting a story written by two Philadelphia printers, the loyalist Bradford brothers, the London Chronicle on August 17, 1775 recorded: “This province has raised 1,000 riflemen, the worst of whom will put a ball into a man’s head at a distance of 150 or 200 yards, therefore advise your officers who shall hereafter come out to America to settle their affairs in England before their departure” (Flatnes 2013). Similarly, the Virginia Gazette reported on September 9, 1775 that riflemen bound for Boston demonstrated their prowess with the longrifle. One man held a small 5” by 7” board with a bull’s eye the size of a dollar. Even without a rest, a rifleman at 60 yards fired eight successive bullets through the bull’s eye (Wright 1924). One German officer reckoned that the best American riflemen could hit a man’s head at 200 yards and his body at 300 yards if there were good light and no wind (Wright 1924).

Almost unknown to New Englanders, longrifles tended to be most prominent in Pennsylvania and the southern colonies.

Originally used along the frontier, longrifles sometimes became known as the Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee rifles for the frontiersmen who used them in those areas. However, more commonly it was called the Pennsylvania rifle for the Pennsylvania gunsmiths, many who were centered in Lancaster and Reading and who made many longrifles due to their German and Swiss heritage, or the Kentucky rifle since everything west was called Kentucky back then. Kentucky rifle may also have stuck due to the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 where a group of men from Kentucky armed with Kentucky rifles may have almost single-handily defeated the British force.

At least, that’s what the fifth verse of Samuel Woodworth’s 1822 poem “The Hunters of Kentucky,” which Andrew Jackson later used as a campaign song in 1824 and 1828, said: “But Jackson he was wide awake, and wasn’t scared at trifles, For well he knew what aim we take with our Kentucky rifles” (Lamb 1891).

Some rifle companies in particular became the topic of legends and lore. Daniel Morgan’s iconic elite light infantry unit, What started off originally as hunting rifles for frontiersmen— known as Morgan’s Riflemen, Morgan’s Rifles, or Morgan’s the oft-cited fact that Daniel Boone carried a longrifle through Sharpshooters, was known for eliciting terror in the hearts of the Cumberland Gap—soon became deadly weapons of war. the British. Predominantly consistently of backwoodsmen of the After America declared her independence from Great Britain Shenandoah Valley, Morgan’s riflemen all “brought their own in 1776, the American longrifle would take a new identity: the long rifles with which they kept the savages from their clearings “widow-maker.” Many of the British troops used the iconic or knocked over a fat buck in full career” (Drake 1899).

Both of the rifles in the detail shots were made by Geroge Schreyer, Sr. who was active in Pennsylvania. They were both contsructed between 1795 - 1797. The dimensions on the rifle above are as follows: L. 60 ¼ in. (153); barrel L. 44 3/8 in. (115.3 cm); Cal. .50 in. (12.7 mm); L. of trigger pull 13 ½ in. (34.3 cm) Images are courtesy of The MET. 48

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As Samuel Adams Drake noted, “It is not to be wondered at that men who in boyhood had been punished by their fathers for shooting their game anywhere except in the head should soon become the terror of their foes” (1899).

As is clear from Drake’s description, the riflemen were deadly because they had grown up with a gun in their hand, and it was second-nature to operate one, zeroing in the target. Similarly, there definitely was a certain pride in using one’s personal weapon as a rifleman. Thus, the backwoodsmen and frontiersmen that filled the rifle companies had a lot to prove.

Just after Drake mentions the boyhood of the riflemen, he launches into what is perhaps the most well-known statement made about American longrifles and the riflemen who operated them. In the British camp, they would curse the “shirt-tail men, with their cursed twisted guns, the most fatal widow-and-orphan makers in the world” (Drake 1899).

Perhaps what the British found most terrifying about the “widow-maker,” though, was its uncertainty and surprise. As Captain Henry Beaufoy, a British veteran of several wars, observed, ““It has been readily confessed … by old soldiers, that when they understood they were opposed by riflemen, they felt a degree of terror never inspired by general action, from the idea that a rifleman always singled out an individual, who was almost certain of being killed or wounded” (McGrath 2010).

What made the longrifle so compelling? Certainly, its unexpectedness was one. The longrifle gave the American colonists a significant tactical advantage over the British in that it could pick off generals and leaders. Just due to the set-up of the British army during the Revolutionary War, the soldiers were not good without their leaders. This boon was especially realized in the Battle of Saratoga and the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780. In this way, the longrifle became what we would call today a sniper rifle. Used by highly skilled frontiersmen, the longrifle had deadly accuracy. Because it had both front and rear sights unlike the Brown Bess, it allowed the individual to zero in on their target hundreds of yards away—the average was probably around 200 to 250 yards, which was drastically different than the traditional musket volley which operated a little bit like a shotgun shell: shoot a spray of BBs and hope that something hits. The longrifle was an engineering feat for the revolutionary

era and impacted the future development of firearms by making a rifled and longer barrel much more prominent.

The Brown Bess, though, had its advantages as well. It could be loaded easily and quickly and did not require custom-made bullets. It could even function as a shotgun, and perhaps the most significant advantage is that you did not have to be a good shot to use one. Even the Secretary of the Board of War recognized the clear advantage of muskets for the average soldier in an October 26, 1776 letter to the Committee of Public Safety of Maryland discussing raising a rifle company: “Were it in the power of the Congress to supply muskets, they would speedily reduce the number of rifles, and replace them with the former, as they are more easily kept in order, can be fired oftener, and have the advantage of bayonets” (Wright 1924). For the average soldier, whether British or American, the Brown Bess musket and the French Charleville musket were the clear choices.

It is for reasons like these that the American longrifle despite its intrinsic cool factor did not overtake the muskets like the Brown Bess and the French Charleville. First, although popular lore says that the longrifle could turn anyone into a sharpshooter, the reality is quite different. The American longrifle was only deadly accurate in the hands of an expert marksman, and that was usually someone who had grown up hunting and lived on the frontier. Someone who operated a musket did not really have to aim; he would just fire in the general direction.

But a rifleman required training in sighting and firing. He had to know how to line up the sights properly, how to squeeze the trigger, and how to compensate for the wind. In fact, the phrase used by American riflemen and even British Redcoats was “Kentucky windage,” meaning an adjustment that a rifleman uses to correct for wind by aiming at a point horizontal to the target’s position (i.e., aiming to the right or the left of the Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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target) rather without any physical or mechanical adjustments on the weapon. For this reason, the average infantryman could not successfully operate an American longrifle, as he had not had training in sighting in a weapon. He simply placed his front sight on the enemy line and fired. No additional training was needed.

Similarly, the American longrifle never could have been used for the average infantryman because it took too long to load.

Even the most expert frontiersman could only load and fire his weapon two times in a minute whereas a musket could be loaded and fired four times in a minute. Traditionally, the rate was about three to one, as reloading normally took up to one minute (Wright 1924). The time that it took to reload a longrifle mattered less for hunting, but it was much more important in fighting. Infantrymen needed to be able to reload quickly. The longrifle also required more cleaning. Black powder burned dirty, and the rifled grooves would quickly be coated with a residue after only a few shots. As a result, it was impossible to load another bullet until the barrel was cleaned with a damp swab. In a line of infantrymen, this timely cleaning and reloading could have cost many lives.

Likewise, infantrymen needed to be able to fix a bayonet to their weapon. The muskets that the American Continental Army used had a bead front sight that doubled as a lug for a bayonet, but the longrifle was not fitted for a bayonet. It had been designed for accuracy in hunting where a bayonet would not be necessary. If longrifles were just used by what today we would consider snipers, the lack of a bayonet was less important.

However, it did present a danger in at least one prominent instance at the Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn, in 1776. The Hessian infantry chased away some American riflemen and even pinned some of them 50

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to trees because those riflemen could not engage in close quarter combat without bayonets.

Finally, while the American longrifle was an incredibly specialized and unique weapon, it was much more complicated than other firearms at the time and therefore would be too costly to manufacture, especially given that it lacked too many features that would be essential if it were to become the standard infantry weapon. Thus, for all these reasons, even though the accuracy of the Kentucky rifle was legendary, it never became a standardized weapon for the American Continental Army.

Rather, it was replaced.

American gunsmiths may not have been able to adapt the longrifle for the average American soldier, but they could design an expanding bullet that would improve the accuracy of muskets. First developed by French Claude Etienne Minie in Algeria and later American James Henry Burton

would develop his own, the expanding bullet—even Burton’s version—became known as the minie ball. It would be used in a new invention: the rifled musket, which would become the prominent weapon of the American Civil War. Under the watchful eyes of Burton as chief engineer, the Royal Arms Factory in Enfield, England began producing a .577-caliber rifled musket in 1852. While the American longrifle would long remain in American legend, its golden age had faded, and the Enfield musket had now taken center stage.

whether one was firing the musket or using the bayonet. But the longrifle’s target was an individual, normally an officer. It could not be used in the line of battle because the smoke from the incessant firing of the muskets would have eliminated the advantage of the rifleman: taking out a particular target. Thus, by not replacing the musket, the longrifle allowed American units two different strategies.

In fact, some American colonial military leaders like the Secretary of the Board of War even believed that “there is a superabundance of riflemen in the army” and that riflemen needed to be supported by musket men (Wright 1924). Even the famed rifleman Daniel Morgan was reported as saying to General Graham of North Carolina, referring to the 1777 campaign in New York: “My riflemen would have been of little service if they had not always had a line of Musquet and Bayonette men to support us; it is this that gives them confidence. They know, if the enemy charges them they have a place to retreat to and are not beat clear off” (Graham 1904). In order to be successful, riflemen had to be well trained—it could not be your average soldiers—and able to fire in open country so that they could escape if unaided by a line of musket men. While the American longrifle—the dreaded “widow-maker”—was epic when it met its target, it could just as easily become an absolute dud, even danger, in the wrong location at the wrong time.

Even so, the American longrifle had invented an American way of war, if you will. It was not quite European, but also not quite native American. Rather, it was a sort of unique blend made possible by the longrifle. By the time the American colonists were fighting the British in the War for Independence, they had learned how to be a little sneakier like how the native Americans fought. Europeans tended to fight as an army versus another army with soldiers fighting in lines and groups in a “volley” sort of fashion. This way of fighting had few surprises, and the English and other Europeans used it because they worried a lot about honor and tradition. The Americans, however, had learned that this was not always the most effective way to wage war—while at the same time realizing that war also was not won by sneakiness and that the European way had to be incorporated sometimes as well. In this way, the American longrifle allowed Americans to blend the cunningness of the native Americans with the traditional European ways of war.

In fact, some people believe that without the longrifle, the Even though the American longrifle was no longer the most American colonists may never have been able to win the War accurate or advanced firearm available, it still remained for Independence. significant for its historical value. Many people believe that Annie Oakley’s first gun, which she is thought to have received While the longrifle was essential in developing the American around eight years old, may have been an old Kentucky rifle. way of war, it is important to note that said warfare required And today there are a variety of American longrifle assocations both the musket and the rifle. As one American military writer and organizations dedicated to perpetuating the tradition of in the 1800s noted, “The superiority of the rifle undoubtedly this distinctly American firearm. The longrifle may not be consists in firing at a distance, and where the common musket a “widow-maker” anymore, but it has certainly transformed will do little or no execution” (Hoyt 1811). Yet, unlike the American life. longrifle, the musket, which was fitted for a bayonet, was the ideal weapon for the line of battle. The target was another line,

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The Curious Case of The Cork Rump

by Brittany Frederick and Hayley Havener

y the third quarter of the 18th century, skirt B supports like pocket hoops or panniers were already a fairly well known undergarment.

For some two hundred years prior women had been experimenting with ways to deny gravity its right to their petticoats, and the Georgians took this obsession to new heights, literally and figuratively, with their exaggerated posteriors. The girth of these prosthetics not only made the waist seem quite small by comparison, but also highlighted the intricate pleats and seams ubiquitous to 18th century gowns.

vast majority of Georgian society. Keeping the integrity of a length of fabric not only preserved the value of that investment, but also allowed for future remakes of the gown--keeping the gown always fashionable regardless of the economic status of the consumer. This paradigm gave birth to two iconic styles of gown: the Robe a la’ Francaise and the Robe a l’Anglaise. Both gowns relied heavily on a pattern of pleats at the back to shape the gown around the torso. On the Robe a la’ Francaise we see a series of wide Watteau pleats that start at the shoulders and drape down gracefully into a full flowing gown from top to bottom. When worn properly over Prior to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of factory pocket hoops, the yards of heavily adorned fabric are produced goods, fabric was a costly investment for the displayed for all to see.

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The Bum Shop - R. Rushworth, 1785 Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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The Robe a l’Anglaise, or English gown, requires less fabric or so she believed. The first debut of her cork rump at and relies on gently curved knife pleats to create a fitted the regatta was met with excessive compliments directed back using only one width of fabric. Since significantly less at her new, delightfully rounded figure. So much so, that textile was used in the a l’Anglaise construction, she took to wearing her cork rump everywhere. small kidney shaped supports or thinly The legend concludes with the secret of rolled pads called bum rolls could her bodacious behind being revealed be used to enhance the hips in on one such outing where she place of the pocket hoops. hastily dressed and did not Over the course of the next secure her beloved cork rump decade, the fashionable as well as was advised. She silhouette undergoes some accidentally dropped it right major changes, and we see in the center of a crowd. a shift from the desired Men were astonished, and shape being excessive women were enchanted by width just at the hips, to this carved, cork cushion. the womanly figure now It is said that within a having its desired fullness week, nearly all of the at both the hips and the women in the fashionable rear with an overall soft, crowd were seen wearing feminine roundness. Why, this new contraption. all of a sudden, do we see this dramatic change in So what exactly is a cork silhouette? rump and how were they worn?

What other types of false rumps According to Town and Country were commonly worn? When Magazine, December 1776 edition, turning to museums in search of extant we can attribute this change, in part to examples, we’re sadly left wanting. A set Henrietta Vernon and her superstitions. Henrietta of crescent shaped hip rolls made from glazed had her fortune read shortly before attending the June cotton, stuffed with wood shavings, residing at the MFA 1775 regatta, the most elegant entertainment on the water Boston are some of the only tangible evidence we have. consisting of boat races, lavish suppers, and all night Realistically, most of what we know about cork rumps dancing, and was advised by that particular diviner to stay and billowy bottoms has been based on a handful of away from the waters. Never one to miss such important, satirical prints, written evidence, and good ol’ experimental fashionable amusement as the regatta, she consulted with archaeology. the Society for Recovering Drowned Persons in hopes of learning how to prevent a drowning. As that particular The satirical print titled ‘The Bum Shop’ gives us a society was in the business of recovering and not so much good framework for pinning down what a woman could preventing, it fell to Henrietta to take her fate into her have had at her derriere’s disposal during the late 1770s own hands. She supposedly dreamt up a jacket made of and 1780s. Attributed to R. Rushworth, this 1785 image cork, but was unsatisfied with the unfashionable turn it depicts a gaggle of fashionable women in all shapes and would give her figure. She finally settled on a cork rump. sizes shopping for skirt supports. A wide selection of Cork is quite buoyant, so any ill fated accident would not bums and rumps are seen displayed on the back wall. A end in a eulogy, but rather, a leisurely drift to the shores, rolled pad, harkening back to the earlier Elizabethan styles, 54

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hangs with a couple of quilted rumps and a few larger offerings comprised of stuffed pockets hanging on a half petticoat. Determining how these rump shapes were worn and what kind of silhouette they could achieve is quite a feat considering the limited, and sometimes exaggerated examples we possess. Kendra Van Cleave of Demode Couture has compiled a significant body of research by experimenting with these very silhouettes. Her piece titled, “Late 18th Century Skirt Supports: Bum, Rumps, & Culs”, which is available online, effectively recreates the various rump styles seen in popular prints. Once paired with petticoats, the resulting silhouettes are compared to those seen in period fashion plates and art.

One of the more difficult to answer questions regarding false rumps is, “Who wore them?” We can assume that anyone who wanted to be seen as fashionable would have worn them with the latest styles, but did this support garment only exist in the realms of the Ton and the upper middle class? A reasonable case can be made that women of the middle class would have worn moderate skirt supports when out in public, especially for ‘best dress’ occasions. Much of society relied on appearances

and respectability to receive credit, and credit was what drove the young colonies. A woman would want to look as fashionable as her social class would have allowed, provided she maintained good taste and avoided ‘putting on airs’. A simple worsted wool or cotton print gown with a modest bum and fine white linen accessories was a simple way for a woman to elevate her appearance in an appropriate manner. Would a working woman have worn a cork rump? Most likely not, and genre art from the period seems to confirm this. Their unnecessary expense most likely made them a luxury, or at least a frivolous fashion accessory to the working class.

Alas, cork rumps were a fad that was relatively short lived, dying out almost completely by the end of the 1780’s and giving way to the pigeon breasted, ‘Bumless Beauties’ of the 1790’s. Nonetheless, they have become associated with some of the most iconic fashions of the 18th century, and have left us with some interesting anecdotes such as this story which comes from the Norfolk Chronicle, July 4th 1778, “On Sunday evening a very ludicrous accident happened at Henley upon Thames. A large party from town went after tea to enjoy the coolness of the evening on the banks of the river. Youth and spirits hurried them into such sallies of vivacity, that in running with too much precipitation, a lady’s foot tripped and she fell into the Thames. The consternation was general; but somehow everyone was surprised to see her swim like a fishing float, half immersed, and half above the water. It seems that the lady had been furnished with an immoderate sized cork rump, which buoyed her up so completely that she looked like Venus rising from the water. She was towed to shore by a gentleman’s cane without the least injury but wet petticoats.”

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The Curious Case of The Cork Rump FRONT:The Bum Shop - R. Rushworth, 1785 LEFT: Henrietta Vernon, Lady Grosvenor - Thomas Gainsborough, 1766 RIGHT: Chloes Cushion or the Cork Rump - Matthew Darly, 1777 Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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“The proportion of Women which ought to be allowed...”

An Overview of Continental Army Female Camp Followers

Encampment in Green Park - Edward Eyre, 1780

by John U. Rees ike all the armies that preceded it the L Continental Army was not just a community of men. Numbers of women and their accompanying children followed the troops throughout the war, performing tasks that contributed to the soldiers’ welfare.

From the war’s beginning women’s numbers fluctuated greatly 56

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between regiments, and from company to company within each regiment. In December 1777 a return for the main army at Valley Forge showed a total of 400 women present, or one woman for each forty-four enlisted men (though it is possible there were more women with the army during the previous summer).

In January 1783, a return for the army at New Windsor gave an average of one woman for every twenty-six enlisted men.

During the intervening years the average ratio may have been within the range of one-to-thirty and one-to-thirty-five, or approximately three percent of the total number of troops. From available information, it seems that early in the war it was not at all remarkable for an individual company to contain no women.

This situation had changed by 1783 when the average was two women

for each company in the main army.

And, as a rule, some organizations, such as Washington’s Life Guard, the Corps of Sappers and Miners, artillery units, and regiments or companies from occupied areas of New York, had greater than average proportions of women.1 Variation in follower numbers among different organizations is illustrated by a series of five “Weekly return[s] of provisions and Stores Issued to the Grand Army under the Immediate Command of ... General Washington Including the Park of Artillery at Pluckemin.” These documents cover the period 21 April to 28 May 1779 and are unique in showing numbers of women with eight brigades of the main army under Washington at the end of the Middlebrook, New Jersey winter camp, and just prior to the summer campaign.

Middlebrook unit proportions are as shown to the right.

Information we have concerning American female followers is particularly interesting when compared to numbers accompanying Crown forces’ regiments.

In February 1783, Robert Morris referred to “the british Prisoners of War who have Herds of Women with them.” This comment is borne out by returns of British camp followers throughout the war. In May 1777 the ratio of women with British forces in New York was about one for every eight men, while German units contained approximately one woman for every thirty men. In August 1781 the troops in New York and its outposts were shown to have a ratio of one woman to every four and one-half British troops, and one to fifteen for the Germans.

Regardless of numbers, the

1779 Middlebrook Return: Average Number of Women Per Company

(Nine companies per regiment, unless otherwise noted) 1st Pennsylvania Brigade

Four regiments 28 women perregiment

3 women per company 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade

Four regiments 27 women perregiment

3 women per company 1st Maryland Brigade

Four regiments 21 women perregiment

2 women per company 2nd Maryland Brigade

Four regiments 22 women perregiment

2 women per company Muhlenberg’s Virginia Brigade 21-28 April

Four regiments 11 women per regiment (eight companies)

1 woman percompany 22-28 May

Five regiments 15 women perregiment

1 woman per company Woodford’s Virginia Brigade 21-28 April

Five regiments 10 women per regiment (eight companies)

1 woman percompany 22-28 May

Four regiments 26 women perregiment

3 women per company Scott’s Virginia Brigade

21-28 April

Five regiments 17 women per regiment (eight companies)

2 women percompany Knox’s Artillery

Twenty-two companies

3 women per company women who followed the Continental Army were important in various ways. Unlike some of their British counterparts, most could not support themselves unless the army sustained them. In their own words they “could

earn their Rations, but the Soldier, nay the Officer, for whom they Wash has naught to pay them.” They did, however, perform duties such as washing, and sometimes cooking, for those men to whom they were related Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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or otherwise associated with. As the war progressed these dual duties (most particularly laundering) were increasingly required of them in return for their continued presence with the army. Importantly, besides performing practical tasks, they provided some semblance of home life for the men.

This seemingly minor service was extremely important considering that the War for Independence continued for eight years and soldiers fought tedium more often than they did the enemy.

“Rations... Without Whiskey”: Women’s Food Allowance

In May 1776 British General William Howe’s forces in Halifax, Nova Scotia, boarded ship en route to New York. He stipulated on 2 May, “Six Women p[e]r Comp[an]y will be allowed to embark with each Reg[imen] t … Provisions will be allowed at the rate of half a Ration for each Woman, & a Quarter for each Child that is left behind.” Based solely on Howe’s orders it has often been assumed that Continental Army followers were given a reduced ration. Admitting that the fledgling American army mirrored prewar British usage, research shows that actual British army practice in both conflicts was a full portion to women on campaign or performing other army-approved services.

Documentary evidence supports that quantity for Continental Army women. A series of “Returns

of the daily Issues of Provisions to the Troops at the Post of Wyoming, from May 9th. to the [27th]” 1779, shows that women were allowed the same ration as common soldiers (i.e., one full ration per day) and that food issued during this period was typical for the war. From the 10th to the 20th of May rations consisted of one pound of flour, and either one pound of pork or one and one quarter pounds of fish.

Beginning on 21 May, pork disappeared from the ration and the issue of fish decreased, eventually to be replaced entirely by one and one quarter pounds of beef. In 1781 returns for Colonel Joseph Vose’s Light Battalion indicate two rations for each officer and one ration for each common soldier and woman. And a “Return of the number of Women and Children... that drew Rations under the late Regulations” lists the specific number of rations allowed prior to January 1783. Under the “late Regulations,” each woman was given one full ration and each child a halfration, similar to the British dependent allowance in the French and Indian

a pound of pork or one pound of fish, per day. One pound of bread or flour per day. Three pints of peas or beans per week, or vegetables equivalent, at one dollar per bushel for peas or beans.

One pint of milk per man per day.

One half-pint of rice, or one pint of Indian meal per man per week. One quart of spruce beer, or cider, per man per day, or nine gallons of mollasses per company of one hundred men per week. Three pounds of candles to one hundred men per week, for guards.

Twenty pounds of soft, or eight pounds of hard, soap for one hundred men per week.” Eventually, a small amount of rum or other alcohol was also included.

In 1782, returns of women and children in Colonel Henry Jackson’s Regiment stipulated they be given “Rations...

Without Whiskey.”

Necessity and nutrition required that some method be found by which this basic ration could be supplemented.

This was especially important since items such as milk, cider, vegetables and soap proved to be difficult, and often impossible, to obtain. In July 1777, it was stipulated that “As nothing can be more comfortable and wholesome to the army than vegetables, every encouragement is to be given to the Country people, to bring them in [to market] … The General recommends temporary ovens to each brigade, which, by men who understand it, can be erected in a few hours. Bread baked in these, will be much wholesomer than the sodden

Any females who chose to follow the army were allotted provisions; in return they were expected to perform some sort of service to benefit the troops.

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War, which consisted of either a full or two-thirds of a ration of food.

The food ration issued to Continental troops and their followers was based on a standard originally set in 1776: “One pound of beef, or 3/4 of

While painted some ten years before the American War for Independence, this rare realistic period portrayal of a British Army female follower nicely personifies the many women who served. Edward Penny, R.A. (17141791), “An Officer Giving Alms to a Sick Soldier” (circa 1765, oil on canvas). The painting depicts an officer of the 3rd Irish Horse (now the Scots Dragoons Guards) extending charity to an infantryman and his family. It is a variant of the Marquis of Granby relieving a sick soldier, which was exhibited by Penny at the Society of Artists in 1765 and which was presented to the Bodleian by the artist in 1787. The 3rd Irish Horse fought under Granby at the battle of Warburg in 1760 during the Seven Years War, and it is probable that this painting may have been commissioned from the artist at the same date. cakes [firecakes] which are but too commonly used.” Besides the occasional issue of extraordinary edibles by the army, additional foodstuff was bought, bartered for, or stolen by soldiers and their followers throughout the war.

To add to the problem of feeding the army, the system of supplying the troops sometimes failed due to bad weather, crop failure, economic conditions or ineptitude in the quartermaster or commissary department. At Valley Forge in the winter of 1778, it was necessary to temporarily adjust the daily ration. General orders of February 8th noted, “that instead of the ration heretofore Issued there should be Issued a pound and a half of flouer, one lb of Beef or 3/4 Salt pork and a certain Quantity of Spirits...” It had been previously ordered on 29 January that “The Commissaries in future to Issue [a] quart of Salt to every 100 lb fresh Beef.” This was to prove more or

less the common ration during winter or loose by Desertion, perhaps to the cantonments.

Enemy, some of the oldest and best Soldiers In the Service.”

“Some men washed their Any females who chose own clothing.” to follow the army were allotted Women’s Duties and Shelter provisions; in return they were expected to perform some sort of service to

In August 1777, General George benefit the troops. Their primary role Washington wrote, “the multitude of was that of “Wash Women,” a task women in particular, especially those various documents describe followers who are pregnant, or have children, performing from 1776 through 1783. are a clog upon every movement. During the 1776 campaign in New The Commander in Chief therefore York’s Mohawk Valley, one company of earnestly recommends it to the officers the 3rd New Jersey Regiment contained commanding brigades and corps, to use seventy- one enlisted men and three every reasonable method in their power “Washer-Women,” giving a ratio of to get rid of all such as are not absolutely one woman to twenty-four soldiers. In necessary...” He was, however, to find it sharp contrast to these numbers was impossible to rid the army entirely of the proportion found in Colonel John these persistent females who performed Lamb’s artillery regiment in September any number of “necessary” tasks. As of 1780: “one Woman to Wash for Washington admitted later in the war, ten.” The number of “Wash Women” he “was obliged to give Provisions to in the 9th Massachusetts Regiment over the extra Women in these Regiments, a period of three and a half months Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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during the summer of 1782 is also documented. The approximate average for those months was one laundress for every thirty-five enlisted men.

Due to the small number of women with the army, especially early in the war, many men would have done their own washing. It is evident that while some women washed primarily for enlisted men, others performed the same service solely for officers.

During the Yorktown Siege, follower Sarah Osborn “took her stand just back of the American tents, 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 [emphasis added].”

First New York Regiment fifer’s wife Maria Cronkite stated that she “accompanyed her husband... in the service... and continued in said service in the capacity of washerwoman for the officers untill the close of the war where her husband was duly discharged. That she had while in said service several children...”

Cooking was usually performed by the soldiers in messes of six, the same number of men usually assigned to a tent. There were occasions when the soldiers’ duties made it necessary to have followers prepare meals. At Yorktown in 1781, Sarah Osborn mentioned that she “cooked and carried in beef, and bread, and coffee (In a gallon pot) to the soldiers in the entrenchment.” As to the day of Cornwallis’s surrender, she stated that “having provisions ready, [she] carried the same down to the entrenchments that morning, and four of the soldiers 60

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whom she was in the habit of cooking for ate their breakfasts.” Atthe Battle of Brandywine, Jacob Nagle served with Proctor’s artillery. He described the situation at the action’s onset: The provision waggons being sent a way, we ware three day without provisions excepting what the farmers brought in to sell in their waggons and what the soldiers could plunder from the farmers. I went to my father [lieutenant colonel, 9th Pennsylvania], his rigment being on our right, and received a neats tounge from him… Mr. Hosner bought some potatoes and butter the evening before the Brittish arrived, and we concluded to have a glorious mess for breakfast. Mr. Hosner gave it to one of the soldiers wives that remained with the army to cook for us in the morning. Early in the morning, she had the camp kittle on a small fier about 100 yards in the rear of the Grand Artilery, with all our delicious meal, which we expected to enjoy. The Brittish at this time hoisted the red flag on the top of the farm house on the rige of the hill a breast of us, and their artilery advancing towards us down the ploughed field, we then begin a cannonading... Unfortunately one of the enemies shot dismounted the poor camp kettle with the fier and all its contents away with it. The woman informed Mr. Folkner. He replied, ‘Never mind, we have no time to eat now.’ Therefore we made another fast day.

were accorded the same treatment as common soldiers. As previously noted they were given the same food ration as enlisted men (excepting alcohol).

It seems this parity was also extended when it came to shelter. General John Sullivan’s 17 August 1777 division orders stipulated that six enlisted men occupy a tent, and also allotted one tent for every six “Waggoners [or] weomen.” Regimental orders for the Pennsylvania State Regiment, while stationed at Fort Mercer, stated, “May 24th 1777 ... Regular Division of Tents to be made according to ye number of men in each Company one tent for six men or 5 men and one woman ...” And a roster of Capt.

John Ross’s Company, 3rd New Jersey Regiment, in June 1777 emphasizes the inclusion of women in mess groups. In this listing of eight messes, seven had five or six people, the same number assigned to a tent. Two of the mess squads included women, one of whom was Margaret Johnson, wife of Sergeant Samuel Johnson, the other being Elizabeth Evans, Private Emanuel Evans’ wife. It is probable that, due to the exigencies of army life, the women in these two mess squads shared tents with the men.

“Coming

into the

line of fire.”

Women

on the

or on

March

Campaign

Army followers occasionally were exposed to battlefield dangers, though such was the exception rather than the rule. Women were already present with In many respects regimental women the troops in 1775, though numbers

Followers of Capt. Jacob Bowers’ company, 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, during a halt on a march.

Welbourne Picquet Post tactical, October 2012.

were much less than in the later war years. At least two Pennsylvania rifle companies had female followers on their march through the Maine wilderness with Col. Benedict Arnold in 1775. John Joseph Henry leaves the only account of these women; curiously, his narrative is one of the few providing some insight into the characters of individual followers.

This morning, the first of November [1775], breakfasting on our bleary, we took up the line of march through a flat and boggy ground. About ten o’clock A. M. we arrived, by a narrow neck of land at a marsh which was appalling. It was three fourths of a mile over, and covered by a coat of ice, half an inch thick. Here Simpson concluded to halt a short time for the stragglers or maimed of [Capt.

William] Hendrick’s and [Capt.

Matthew] Smith’s companies to come up. There were two women attached to those companies, who arrived before we commenced the march. One was the wife of Serjeant Grier, a large, virtuous and respectable woman. The other was [Jemima Warner] the wife of a private of our company, a man who lagged upon every occasion. These women being arrived, it was presumed that all our party were up. We were on the point of entering the marsh, when some one cried out “Warner is not here.” Another said he had “sat down sick under a tree, a few miles back.”

His wife begging us to wait a short time, with tears of affection in her eyes, ran back to her husband. We tarried an hour. They came not. Entering the pond, (Simpson foremost,) and breaking the ice here and there with the huts of

our guns and feet, as occasion required, we were soon waist deep in the mud and water. As is generally the case with youths, it came to my mind, that a better path might be found than that of the more elderly guide. Attempting this, in a trice the water cooling my armpits, made me gladly return into the file. Now Mrs. Grier had got before me. My mind was humbled, yet astonished, at the exertions of this good woman. Her clothes more than waist high, she waded before me to the firm ground. No one so long as she was known to us, dared intimate a disrespectful idea of her. Her husband, who was an excellent soldier, was on duty in Hendricks’ boat, which had proceeded to the discharge of the lake with lieutenant M`Cleland.

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of

Orders Concerning Women in the Summer of 1777 Delaware Regiment Maj. Gen. John Sullivan’s Division

“Flemington [New Jersey] 18th June 1777 The Genl orders that all the troops be immedietly furnished with 3 days Provision to have it Cook’d Dirictly & that no Soldier make any plea after the 3 Days is expired, that he has no provisions As the Genl is Determined None Shall be Drawn till that time is Expired, the troops to hold themselves in Readiness to march at A Moments Warning with their Knapsacks, Blankets & provisions.

Proper guards to be left with tents & Baggage Composed of those persons who are least able to undergo a March the Weomen who are left at the other Side of Corrells ferry & the men who are left to guard the Baggage to be Brought forwards immedietly to this Camp ...” The baggage was left at Flemington when the troops marched on the19th.”

Stay behind the Division ... No Women to go out with the Division, they are to stay with the Baggage & none of them allowed to go on the Waggons except such Weomen, as the Capt may judge is realy Sick.”

“Head Qrtrs Hannover 17th August 1777 Division Orders ... Those Regts which are yet of tents to make returns to the QrM.Genl to morrow morning by 8 OClock The Brigade Major to Call on the QrMasters for A Return of all the tents & Marquees that are publick property & upon the Adjts for a Return of all the men & Weomen in their Respective Regts. from which they are to make A Genl Return of each Brigade in the following manner Viz. In one Collum the number of Feild officers 2ndly the Serjts 4thly Privates including Drums, Fifes as also Waggoners & Weomen, then they are to State the number of tents in their Respective Brigades, & Set forth the number wanting upon the following Calculations, Viz A tent to each Feild officer, one to two Commissioned & Staff officers, one to 4 Serjts & one to 6 Privates including Corporals, as Well as Waggoners weomen &c”

“Lincoln Mountain July 1st 1777 Regimental Orders ... That the Weomen belonging to the Regt be paraded tomorrow morning & to undergo an Examination from the Serjeon of the Regt at his tent, except those that are married, & the husbands of those to undergo said examination in their Stead, all those that do not attend to be immedietly Drum’d out of the Regt.” “[Washington’s army] After Orders Sepr 13th 1777 The following proportion of tents is Allowed the Army “Head Quarters Kings ferry 26th July 1777 … His upon its next march Viz. 1 Soldiers tent for the Field Excellency Genl Washington has ordered, that a Sufficient officers 1 Do. for 4 other Commissioned officers 1 Do. for number of Waggons be ordered to Carry the tents, no 8 Serjeants, Drummer or fifers 1 Do. for every 8 Privates. other Baggage to be put into them, and they must not be The Brigadiers to have Returns made out And the above heavy loaded, that nothing might hinder us of Arriving in proportion of tents taken for their Brigades & one Waggon time where we are to go; the Commissary will Strive all for every 50 tents & no more, no weomen on any pretence means to get hard Bread for the use of the Division on whatsoever to go with the army but to follow the Baggage, the Road. The Waggon M.Genl to order two Waggons to the Soldiers to carry their Camp kettles, which if the army be ready to march in the Rear of each Brigade, to take in Should Come to Action are to be put in the waggons with the Sick & the lame. The remainder of the Baggage will the tents ...”

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Henry wrote more in an afterward to his narrative: The fate of James Warner, among others, was really lamentable. He was young, handsome in appearance, not more than twenty-five years of age; he was athletic and seemed to surpass in bodily strength. Yet withal, he was a dolt. His wife was beautiful, though coarse in manners. The husband on the other hand, was a poor devil, constantly out of view, or in the back ground of the picture.

We heard nothing of them after entering the marsh, and until a month had elapsed at Quebec. In December, the wife or widow of poor James Warner, came to our quarters on the Low-grounds, bearing her husband’s rifle, his powder-horn and pouch. She appeared fresh and rosy as ever. This arose from the religious and gratuitous spirit of the Canadians.

The story Mrs. Jemima Warner told, was extremely affecting, and may be worth remembering, as it is something like a sample of the whole of our distresses and intolerable disasters.

The husband was a great eater His stores of provisions, after the partition, at the head of the Chaudiere, were in a little time consumed. The consummate wife ran back from the marsh, and found her beloved husband sitting at the foot of a tree, where he said he was determined to die.

The tender-hearted woman, attended her ill-fated husband several days, urging his march forward ; he again sat down. Finding all her solicitations could not induce him to rise, she left him, having placed all the bread in her possession, between his legs

with a canteen of water. She bore his arms and ammunition to Quebec, where she recounted the story. The nephews of Natanis, afterwards at Quebec, confirmed the relation of this good woman. For when going up, and returning down the river with our inestimable friend M`Cleland, she urged them, suffused in tears to take her husband on board. They were necessarily deaf to her entreaties.

Stated practice in the Continental Army through most of the war was for women to travel with the army’s baggage when on campaign. There were occasions when women and children were purposely

orders were issued on the 24th that only those women “as may be applied to the use of the Hospital, or may be deem’d necessary to keep the Soldier’s clean at their Return” were to remain at the new post, called Fort Sullivan. The rest were sent back to Wyoming, Pennsylvania, where orders were given “to the Commissary... to Issue Rations to those [returned] Women & Children.”

Similarly, on 1 August 1780, as Washington’s army was preparing to move into New Jersey to provision the army, the commander in chief ordered division and brigade commanders “to exert themselves to get in readiness as

The inclusion of women in this command is implied by the 10 July 1777 general order that all “Women [are]... to march with the baggage.” left behind when troops were sent with a short- term detachment or on a special mission. During Major General John Sullivan’s 1779 expedition against the Indians of Pennsylvania and New York, women and children accompanied the troops only as far as Tioga in northern Pennsylvania. In late August the commanding general decided that for the advance into New York, “the Troops should Move as light as possible, the Officers are requested to leave at the Garrison all the Baggage they can possibly spare.

All the Women & Children to be left at this place ...” Consequently,

fast as possible... Convalescents and such men as are otherwise absolutely unfit to march yet capable of doing duty in a fixed post are to be left at Verplanks and Stoney points... All the Women and Children of the Army are also to be left at these Posts for a few days where the commanding officers will see that they are furnished with rations as usual.” And when a detachment of troops under the Marquis de Lafayette was sent south in February 1781, the soldiers’ wives were left behind, it being thought that the “service will be but a temporary one.” It was later discovered by both Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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the soldiers and their women that Lafayette’s force would be absent longer than had been expected. As a result, between May and July, four women made their way south to join Vose’s Massachusetts Light Battalion.

Presumably, other females also were able to rejoin the men of Lafayette’s contingent in Virginia.

Later in 1781, when a portion of the army was readying itself for the southward march to Yorktown, General Washington directed that “as the Detachment under... Major General Lincoln are to consider themselves as Light-troops who are always supposed to be fit for action and free from every incumbrance [the commander in chief] cannot help advising them to take the present opportunity of depositing at West Point such of their Women as are not able to undergo the fatigue of frequent marches and also every article of Baggage which they can in any wise dispence with...”While numbers of women did accompany Washington’s troops to Yorktown, exactly how many is not known. Based on a conservative and historically based estimate placing female followers at 3 percent of unit rank and file strength, and allowing for campaign limitations, roughly fifty women marched south with Washington’s 2,525 enlisted men.

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under orders to march with the baggage wagons. The first such order was issued in July 1777, and similar directives appeared at least once each subsequent year until 1781. In 1780, one order stipulated that the officer commanding the baggage escort “is to allow no women to ride in the waggons unless their peculiar circumstances require it.” Sarah Osborn, the wife of a commissary sergeant, in the company of three other females, traveled with the baggage of Washington’s army

during the march to Yorktown in the late summer of 1781. She was one of the lucky ones, being allowed the use of a horse for at least part of the trip southward, though at other times she walked or rode in a wagon.

It is doubtful that many other female camp followers were likewise afforded use of a horse. If army women elected

(and were permitted) to stay with the soldiers, they would have had to rely primarily on their own two feet.

An example of followers’ occasional disregard for standing orders is found in the cases of several women present at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. One account, previously cited, describes a woman from an unknown regiment trying to cook while under fire (see Jacob Nagle’s account above). Another narrative records women of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment who took “the empty canteens of their husbands and friends and returned with them filled with water... during the hottest part of the engagement [on Birmingham Hill], although frequently cautioned as to the danger of coming into the line of fire.”

The day before the action, a directive had been given that “No baggage is to be kept [with the army]... that can be dispensed with...”

The inclusion of women in this command is implied by the 10 July 1777 general order that all “Women [are]... to march with the baggage.” Additionally, army orders for 13 September attempted to rein in any recalcitrant camp followers by ordering that “No woman under any pretence whatsoever to go with the army, but to follow the baggage.”

This last order indicates that female followers’ disobedience was an ongoing problem. Other women known to have marched among the

troops or to have been present on the field of battle include Mrs. Grier and Mrs. Warner marching with Benedict Arnold’s troops to Quebec in 1775, Margaret Corbin, severely wounded at Fort Washington in 1776, Anna Maria Lane, badly wounded at the Battle of Germantown, and Mary Hays, present at the 1778 Monmouth battle.

Two accounts tell of anonymous American camp followers killed in the fighting near Saratoga, New York during autumn 1777. Ensign Thomas Anburey, 24th Regiment of Foot, wrote in a 10 November 1777 letter, “I was convinced how much the Americans were pushed in our late action, on the 19th of September [first battle of Saratoga, known as Freeman’s Farm], for I met with several dead bodies belonging to the enemy, and amongst them were laying close to each other, two men and a woman, the latter of whom had her arms extended, and her hands grasping cartridges.” In

recalling the campaign many years later, Ambrose Collins, of Colonel Thaddeus Cook’s Connecticut militia regiment, told an interviewer, “the American women followed close after the American soldiers, as they were advancing [during the second Saratoga battle, 7 October 1777], and even exposed themselves where the shot were flying, to strip the dead. These were doubtless the basest of their sex …I saw one woman while thus employed, struck by a cannon ball and literally dashed to pieces. I also saw the women attempting to strip a wounded Hessian officer. One woman was attempting to get his watch. He was able to speak and although they could not understand what he said he made so much resistance that they left him…”

Thomas Anburey also related the story of a woman attached to General John Burgoyne’s army giving birth on the march to Cambridge,

Massachusetts after the surrender at Saratoga: We were two days in crossing the Green Mountains … the roads … were almost impassable, and to add to the difficulty when we had got half over, there came on a heavy fall of snow … in the midst of the heavy snow-storm, upon a baggage cart, and nothing to shelter her from the inclemency of the weather but a bit of an old oil- cloth, a [British] soldier’s wife was delivered of a child, she and the infant are both well … It may be said, that women who follow a camp are of such a masculine nature, they are able to bear all hardships; this woman was quite the reverse, being small, and of a very delicate constitution.

Compelling testimony to the indomitable spirit and hardiness of women with both armies.

X

ABOVE: “A Military Encampment in Hyde Park” - James Malton, 1785 LEFT: “The Market Girl” (1776-1777), Henry Walton Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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Artisan Highlight

Jay Henderson & Tracy Garland

T

racy Garland and Jay Henderson of J. Henderson Artifacts are known for their handcrafted stoneware. For the last twenty years the husband and wife team have molded their lives around creating these pieces. Both are accomplished artisans in their own right, though Tracy considers Jay to be the more artistic of the two, while she takes a more scientific approach. The salt fired pieces they create are arguably the most historically accurate pieces on the market as far as style, method, and material. The temperament of the

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wood kiln makes each one unique. Jay and Tracy welcome custom orders and frequently make items off of photos or images per request.

All of the stoneware is hand-made at thier home in Williams, Indiana. Some of the pieces are exact reproductions, others are based on historical styles. The glazes are modern simulations of the wide variety of salt-glazes and slips commonly seen. J. Henderson Artifacts is offering a limited supply of traditionally saltglazed stoneware, fired in a wood-burning kiln.

How did you get started with historic pottery?

Well, Jay and I met when we were about 30 and we were both reenactors. He was working for another potter by the name of Dave Huebner at Dakota Stoneware and when it became obvious that we were going to get married, I had for a long time as a reenactor wanted to be a merchant. I didn’t have a whole lot of marketable stuff. I mean I made stuff here and there but Jay was working in pottery and I immediately saw this as something I could do for a business. We were just going to start our own business. But it became evident that there wasn’t the money to do that.

I had a good job. I was working up in the accounting department at a chain of grocery stores in the St. Paul area and reenacting on the weekends. Jay was going to move to St. Paul and I was going to keep my job. Well, you know, we got the business going and we couldn’t find any place we could afford to be able to do the stuff that we wanted to do. So 3 weeks before he was due to move, we just decided that I was just going to move out to South Dakota with him. I quit this job that I had and moved from living in St. Paul where I’d been in for decades and went to rural South Dakota and became an apprentice of this other Potter along with Jay.

You guys have been full into the pottery ever since then?

Yeah. I kind of believe that the only way to do this is to give it everything you have and to jump in. If you worry about “is this going to work,” it isn’t going to work. You just have to take the risk.

What is your favorite thing to make?

I really like working in the pottery. I don’t throw, but I do just about everything else. So I just really like working out there with Jay. The way he works, he’s first and foremost an artist.

He calls himself a tinker. He likes tinkering with things but he goes from project to project.

We both we really love firing the wood kiln. We only do it about four times a year. Most of our Pottery is made in an electric kiln. The wood firing kiln is where we make the salt glaze stuff and the most historically accurate pottery.

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Can you tell me more about the salt kiln and the differences in the process?

If I was going to make an electric fired pot, we’d go through the whole process, get it made, and I would glaze it. Then I would put it in the electric kiln and fire it. For the wood kiln, we do the same thing except it is not glazed. It is decorated and everything. Then we put it in the wood kiln and you bring it up to about 2300 degrees and throw salt in the kiln. The salt chemically splits into sodium and chloride, and it’s the sodium that is glazing the pot. We throw it in through the vent.

It is a magnificent process. It takes about 24 hours. Right at the end we add the salt. Most of the day we work at stoking the kiln because you have to bring it up to temperature. There are about two cords of wood that have to be cut for it.

You have to tend this thing all day and then you get late into the night and you’re finally up to temperature and you’re throwing the salt in. It is just a hot, living and breathing thing. It is shooting out bouts of flame like it’s alive. It’s really thrilling.

You do a lot of reproduction style pottery.

How do you find what you want to create?

We look at a lot of pictures. Some of our pieces are exact reproductions we’ve seen in a museum.

Another thing, Jay knows what shapes and how to make them. So you look at a thousand pictures.

You see a lot of mugs in a certain shape. So we make mugs in that shape. Pottery is very specific to time and place and like with anything else, reenactors need to do their research. We can steer people in the right direction and can give them a good generic mug for a period, or sometimes we can get very specific. We do a lot of commissions where people send us pictures. A museum will send us a picture and say “we have this piece,” and we can recreate it for them.

Do you think that your ability or Jays ability as an artist to look at something and see how it works has been a key benefit?

Oh, that’s our whole business, the fact that that Jay can do that. His research is totally in the physical world. He learns the whole process with anything he does. For him, It’s figuring out how to do it physically. I’ve got a good head for business so he can see how to make it and I can kind of see what we should make.

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Salt Glazed Wood Fired Experiments in stoneware production began in England during the second part of the 17th century. The earliest evidence has been dated 1650–1700 at the site of a kiln at Woolwich Ferry, London. The similarity of the ware to German products of a similar era has led it to be attributed to immigrant potters. left: A Salt Gale mug

by J Henderson Artifacts

So you guys take on the two halves of what you need?

Yes, although, I have learned over the last 20 years and I am an extremely confident ceramist as well. I don’t like to say I’m the artist because I’m not the artist the way Jay is the artist. Out of a hundred people throwing pottery, 99 of them are not going to do it as well as Jay. He’s got a really magic touch with forms.

If you look at his pots, they flow. They’re like beautiful sexy things. That’s his superpower as far as pottery.

Is your favorite part of the process when you get to use the salt kiln?

That is the most exciting part. I find my work so very satisfying. I mean, I love to go out there and put on tunes and glaze pots. The whole process is just so organic. At some points I’m just going about my day, and I make a loop out through the studio and all I might be doing is turning 50 pots a quarter turn.

So what would be your least favorite part of the process?

Cleaning out clay buckets. I didn’t even have to think about that one. If something doesn’t work or it’s scrap, you throw it in these buckets and cover it with water. Eventually it is soft again and we can work it back into shape. When we have to scoop out these buckets, it is just slimy because it’s actually molding.

It’s good for the clay, but it is just gross. There are 5 gallon buckets full of the slimy clay and you have to take it out and put it in these vats so it can dry.

That’s the first thing I had to do as an apprentice and I’m still doing it today, 20 years later.

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Do you guys have any kind of up-and-coming products or projects?

We’ve got a show at the end of February, then we’ve got a few months off before Fort Frederick. So we’re going to try to fire the salt kiln twice. We’re hoping, since it worked so well last time, to duplicate those results. If that happens it will be very exciting because the salt glazed stuff is so appreciated. If anyone wants to come out here and help us that that would be good.

Tell me a little bit about your workshop.

I worked for Dave Huebner, then after two years we transitioned into just having our own business. It was awesome because he taught us both and gave us a cheap place to live and did everything possible to get us started. After about six years it became evident that we could not live in South Dakota. It’s just too far from everything. So we moved to Indiana. We live at the edge of this little town in rural, southern Indiana and it has a bunch of outbuildings. Our shop used to be a potting shed off the back of our house. It’s literally just feet away from our house. It’s nice because our first shop in South Dakota was actually in the house and pottery is really a dusty dirty thing. I guess it was so nice to have it outside. It’s a tidy little shop. It is a lifestyle.

Check Out J Henderson Artifacts Facebook & their website

All Photos Provided By: Asha Brogan

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Catergory Relgious - H. DeLea Sayers 72

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Printing Relgious Pamphlets

by Daniel Geyer

hen one discusses W colonial era printing or printing presses, an image that is conjured up is a portly gentleman, smartly attired, bifocals, balding with spindly long grey hair laboring over a wooden tray moving around and pressing white pages against a black inked typeset, creating masterful literary, government and religious documents, and while that image is engrained in the American psyche, it is far from the truth.

Colonial era print media and printing presses varied greatly, ranging from religious pamphlets to broadsides to commissioned books and other scientific pamphlets.

The age of the American printing was born in New England when the first printing press arrived in Massachusetts in 1638. The press was installed in Cambridge for use at Harvard College. In no time it was printing out pamphlets for catechisms, sermons, schoolbooks for the college, legal documents for the colony of Massachusetts and various texts which were translated into the Algonquian language.

However, the English language Bible was not printed at the Harvard Printing Press because, according to law, publication of English-language Bibles was restricted and only one printer, Christopher Barker of London, was granted a license. In 1589, Barker’s son Robert, printed the first King James version in 1611. Three other licenses were granted in the 1620’s, one in Edinburgh and one in each Oxford and Cambridge.

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and other smaller pamphlets was astounding. Stephen Day, publisher of the Bay Psalm Book, stated that the cost, not including the paper was £33 in 1639, which is almost incalculable in todays dollars, but would probably exceed $20,000. “A pound went a great deal farther then than it goes now, but it is not easy to believe that £33 would meet even at that time the necessary cash expenditures for a year of a family of five adults and three servants.” However, this met not only their needs, but also their cost of printing for the year. The cost of printing was enormous, and the equipment, until the late seventeenth century, was all imported, to include, the type, the press, the ink and the paper.

William Bradford, the first printer in Pennsylvania, also set up a papermill on the banks of the Wissahickon River outside of Philadelphia, in what is now Fairmount Park, was the only papermill in the colonies for decades into the eighteenth century. Bradford became the official printer of New York, under the governorship of Fletcher, who at the time was both governor of New York, and Pennsylvania (to include Jersey). He printed the works “at the Sign of the Bible” in Philadelphia in 1695. He was the three colonies’ official printer, as well as Philadelphia’s Williams to print several pamphlets in Algonquian and in for nearly 50 years, retiring in 1744 and in 1752 passing 1663 the first Bible was printed in the native language. away at the age of ninety-two years.

They continued to print in the native language hoping to win the natives to Christ.

While American printers were never granted a license to print the Bible in English, printers such as John Eliot, The expense of producing quality prints was huge. There Thomas and Experience Mayhew, and Roger Williams were only four font types allowed by English law, and were some of the first to translate various tracts for the they were essential for business. The English printer was Christianization of the native tribesman.

By act of unable, or even unwilling to secure new fonts of letters “and Parliament in 1649 the Society for the Propagation of later, when the Caslon, The Wilson, the Martin, and other the Gospel in New England was established to advance foundries were turning out excellent type in quantity, the Christianity and civilization among the Natives throughout cost of the fonts and of their transportation was a serious North America, and through the financial contributions, item in the calculations.” A single bill from Caslon to the society was able to support those such as Eliot and Benjamin Franklin was an astounding, £57 17s. 6d for a font of brevier for newspaper, which would equate to nearly Pamphlets became one of the primary ways for evangelizing to a people $15,800 today. This was an who rarely saw a member of clergy or other missionaries, especially on exorbitant amount of money the frontiers and in Native lands. for the average American 74

LEFT: Plate made in 1891 off of a portrait miniature “First licensed printer in Pennsylvania and paper mill owner” RIGHT: Portrait of Jonathan Mayhew - Richard Jennys, 1766 Reliving History | Spring 2019

printer to absorb per annum just to continue printing a newspaper weekly. Most printers survived on subscriptions, rarely focusing on larger books, which was nearly always supported by commission, of which a benefactor would commission a book, with the guarantee that they would be granted a biography or at the least a dedication.

Rarely was anything more than the English alphabet used in American printers, however, at Cambridge, they owned a small amount of both Greek and Hebrew type letters, which was used for their Bay Psalm Book. In Maryland in 1764 the Maryland Gazette attempted to publish Jonas Green’s transliterated Greek words but placed a note stating that “Greek, but we have no Greek types.” Boston printers, J. Green & J. Russell, printed several stanzas in Greek type of the Pietas et Greatulatio Collegii Cantabrigiensis. Type Founders never matured in the American colonies until after the Revolutionary War, and most printers never grew without first having the business to support it. Neither in Mexico

or in English America did the demand for print material move beyond the influence of the larger metropolitan areas.

In the Massachusetts Gazette printed on September 7, 1769, it had announced that Abel Buell of Killingsworth had begun the operation of foundering of font, with a mastery of the type for printing. However, there were other type founders, such as David Mitchelson of Boston, Mein & Fleming of Boston, and others.

Religious pamphlets printed in colonial America were sermons, hymns or portions of the Bible such as Psalms which provided an inexpensive selection of reading material and religiously based. These pamphlets became one of the primary ways for evangelizing to a people who rarely saw a member of clergy or other missionaries, especially on the frontiers and in Native lands. The Puritans’ goal in printing religious pamphlets was to create a uniformity, or ecumenism in the colony, and attempt to spread it throughout settled America. Cotton Mather organized various religiously themed pamphlets because he saw print media as a means to reaching a wider audience than any Church audience, however, many of his readers complained of his messages. Other tracts were merely imported from London to be distributed then sold around New England.

Very few exclusive booksellers existed in pre-revolutionary America, few colonials had means to have more than a few books in their possession. American books did not grow into maturity until after the Revolutionary War. The American printer was dissuaded from accepting a commission of the long volume for various reasons. First the type set was extremely rare, in England there were only four foundries authorized to create type. Second, it was extremely difficult, with the limited amount of type, to have more than a few pages of type standing. Instead the heart of the American printer was small jobs, preferably legal or advertising brochures. One of the largest books, which took fifteen men nearly three years to create, was the radical and most extraordinary books of the colonial era, Der Blutige Schau-Platz ober Märtyrer Spiegel der Tauffs Gesinnten ober Wehrlosen-Christen known colloquially as the Martyrs Mirror.

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The Ephrata Cloister (located in present day Ephrata, Pennsylvania) manned the presses to print the Martyrs Mirror, and had four men on the press, four men setting type and six men making the paper, supervised by Johann Peter Miller, producing an unheard of 1300 copies of the book with over 1500 folio pages (a folio was a 12 inch by 19 inch page folded where there was two pages of text on each side, the reader would then have to trim or cut the pages open in order to read them). There were also men who did the bookbinding and who created the ink.

Making ink by hand was much more efficient and cost effective however, you needed the equipment to do so, and required a great deal of carbon. Previous to the Cloister’s endeavor, Christopher Saur of Germantown, Pennsylvania printed the first type specimen in the new world. He had imported the Fraktur fonts which he had purchased from the Egenolff-Berner-Luthersche type foundry in Frankfurt.

However, within 30 years, Germantown printers would be casting their own fonts, which created books using the German style fonts with an American made typeset.

that it would be dangerous for her to be out of danger…

(1719), designed as the scourge of the high-church party.”

Another, subtitled, “a Denfence of Primitive Christianity, and of Our Ecclesiastical Establishment, Against the Exorbitant Claims and Encroachments of Fanatical and Disaffected Clergymen.” Their fifty-three essays reeled against the extravagances of the Church and how it had made a mockery of Christianity (the Anglican Church) and how it had made themselves to be Popish, and of Popery as well as their establishment of Priestcraft. They also went on to publish other works, pointing to the “HighChurch Jacobite Clergy of England’ as the greatest threat to liberty.”

It was not until 1750 that the first print shop was set up in Virginia in Williamsburg. William Nuthead and William Parks established the first printing office in Williamsburg publishing the Virginia Gazette. A previous William Nuthead, attempted to establish a press in Jamestown in 1682 but was forced to Anne Arundel County Maryland then subsequently passed, leaving his estate and press to his wife Dinah, who became the first documented licensed female printer owner and operator in the colonies. She then moved to Annapolis and is attributed to be the first official printer for Maryland. Other printers moved in, securing titles such as The Power of the Gospel in the Conversion of Sinner in Annapolis, Maryland preached

by George Keith, printed by Thomas Reading, and The Necessity of an Early Religion Being a Sermon, preached

by Thomas Brat of Annapolis.

The Cloister also produced a number of hymnals at the print shop. The Turtle Dove, or in German the TurtelTaube and probably some of the first to be produced in America. Many of the hymns were written by the founder of the cloister, Conrad Beissel. Other works included Birth Certificates, Baptismal Certificates, and other work considered masterworks for their calligraphy and pen-and-ink infill drawings. Other books from the Cloister include, but are not limited to, the Christliches Gemuths – Gesprach the Christian Spiritual Conversation, Creutz-Schule the School of the Cross and other spiritual books produced Colonists turned to many different forms of publications for the Mennonite congregation outside the Cloister. for their daily worship. In Virginia, where Anglicanism was practiced openly, but privately other forms were practiced, Print religious media was not always so kosher when it a varying degree of books were used for prayer, devotions came to religious doctrine or nonresistance and passive and the like. The Bible was of course the first method of obedience. Some, including Thomas Gordan of Scotland, religious reading and published work, however the second and John Trenchard, a seasoned pamphleteer, began to was most likely the Book of Common Prayer. Other publish pamphlets on radical polemics. The publication, books found in colonial Virginia were; “The Practice of under the name Independent Whig, published satirical Piety, by the Puritan bishop Lewis Bayly, and The Whole pamphlets during the Bangorian Controversy. “The first Duty of Man, likely written by Richard Allestree a royalist entitled, An Apology for the Danger of the Church, proving minister; A Weeks Preparation Towards a Worthy Receiving that the Church I and ought to be always in danger, and of the Lords Supper; Jeremy Taylor’s Holy Living and Holy 76

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Dying; the sermons of Archbishop John Tillotson; and the Church Catechism, by the Whiggish English minister John Lewis, were all widely available in Virginia.”

Lewis’s volume of Church Catechism was published by the printer William Parks out of Williamsburg, who was then printing the Virginia Gazette, where he advertised the book.

was established, and lastly a Church was established, but by that time new migrants had moved further west, making it extremely difficult to establish any formal Church presence, this is where the tracts and pamphlets came into play.

However vibrant the religious institutions were in colonies, they were never able to fully influence the populous let alone the Native population. Various means were attempted to Christianize the Native Americans, and to various degrees, however, both sides of the frontier, the Native American struggled with both Christian ideals and Native ways.

“Natives on both sides of the frontier reaffirmed, re-crafted, or rejected their faiths alongside other core elements of their cultures and lifestyles to cope with the arresting changes brought by the European presence. By the mid-eighteenth century, those pressures gave rise to nothing less than an Indian Great Awakening in which religious reformers such as the Delaware Neolin typically called their people back to their ancient ways while also incorporating elements of Christian teaching.” The same society, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, attempted to preach and hand out pamphlets to the Blacks and Native populations found in the frontier in the mid-eighteenth century from the frontier of North Carolina to the backwoods of Pennsylvania and New York.

Throughout Colonial Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Maryland, lay ministers would travel from settlement to settlement in the back country, serving people regardless of their proclaimed faith. Many records indicate that a few Catholic priests traveled through the Shenandoah Valley baptizing, marrying and performing funerals for those in the back country. Many of these ministers would advertise in both London’s newspaper as well as the larger colonial news print requesting prayer books and other pamphlets for those who could not afford them or unable to purchase them. These individuals would then travel hundreds of miles distributing these papers, preaching and spreading the gospel to everyone they would meet. Reverend John Talbot, in 1703 wrote to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, “requesting prayer books ‘new and old’, of all sorts & sizes, ‘explaining that if he received these volumes, he would ‘carry them 100 miles about and disperse them abroad to all that desired ‘em…’tis a comfort to the People in the Wilderness to see that some body takes care of them.”

Colonial printers created a kaleidoscopic, ephemeral and sometimes novel and shifting degree of printed newsprint, Both the Anglican and Quaker publishers attempted to pamphlets, books and broadsides. The greatest majority denounce the others religious beliefs by publishing tracts of printed material were both newsprint and broadsides, to convince the other of the formers misguided ideologies. as the font type allowed, however, the varying degree of The anti-Quaker tract called, The Snake in the Grass, was religious material that was pressed out of the American circulated in Virginia’s wilderness, and then the Quakers print media was astounding. From Boston to Williamsburg, published their own, called A Switch for the Snake to from Philadelphia to Annapolis, Print media served to combat the Anglican message. In the backcountry of evangelize, educate and even criticize religious beliefs and Cumberland, in Lunenburg County, Virginia Reverend tolerances. Print media had become, as one contemporary James Craig found that many people “which by Reason printer observed, “the means of conveying, to every class of their Distance from any place of Divine Worship, had in society, innumerable scraps of knowledge, which have never or seldom, been at Church, since they were baptized” at once increased the public intelligence, and extended the and often were “ignorant of the very first Principles of taste for perusing periodical publications.”

Christianity.” This was not abnormal, but rather the normal course of migration. First the pioneers would establish the settlement, then trade would ensue, then the legal system

X

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Books to Buy

Suggested Reads

6 Average & Extraordinary

about the

by ROBERT P WATSON here were now far more people in New York City than available housing, especially after the destructive fire that swept through parts of the city. The region had only two proper jails— New Bridewell Jail and the New Jail, which was popularly known as “the Provost.” The British were disinterested in devoting precious resources and personnel to building prisons, and after the decisive victories in and around New York City, it appeared the war would soon be over. Thus the decision was made by British officials to confiscate large buildings for use as temporary detention facilities for prisoners. This included the cavernous “sugar houses” of the region, such as Livingston’s Sugar House on Liberty Street (formerly Crown Street), Van Cortland’s Sugar House near Trinity Church, and the Rhinelander Sugar House on Duane Street. Unfortunately, many of these warehouses were demolished in the 1840s and 1850s, but descriptions of the deplorable conditions remain.

Even with the reallocation of the two jails and sugar houses there were still far too many prisoners without housing. The British were so in need of space

T

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that they even used King’s College and City Hall on Wall Street as prisons. Of course, none of the buildings were designed in a way that was conducive to housing a prison population, from the perspective of either security or adequate lodging for the inmates. But the situation was desperate; additional facilities were needed.

The first buildings in the city to be used as prisons were the Presbyterian Church on Cedar and Wall Streets and the Dutch Reformed churches in the city, including the Middle Dutch Church on Nassau Street and the Old North Dutch Church on William Street. The latter church was forced to accommodate eight hundred prisoners even though it was designed for a fraction of that amount of parishioners. Pews were removed to make room for the swelling prison population and were later used as firewood that winter. But there was still inadequate space for the prisoners. Additional churches were commandeered, including the French Church on Pine and Nassau Streets, the Quaker Meeting House, the venerable Trinity Church, the Scotch Church on Cedar Street, and one known as the “Brick Church” on Park. Prisoners were crammed into these houses of

worship with little regard for the well-being of either the churches or the prisoners.

It was war, and the British had been shocked by the determined opposition at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill in 1775. For instance, on the march back to Boston after the fighting at Concord on April 19, the long line of British troops came under constant assault

by American farmers and townsfolk, who fired at them from behind trees and out of barn doors as they passed by. Therefore, contrary to images in popular culture of British forces conducting the war by genteel means, they now intended to inflict massive hardships on the upstart Americans. This included prisoners in New York City.

The temporary detention facilities would not simply house but punish colonials considered to be disloyal to the Crown.

The British had long since run out of patience and were now playing for keeps. Case in point: Admiral Samuel Graves, the Royal Navy officer commanding forces in Boston, advocated “burning and laying waste the whole country!” Graves attacked civilians and, in October 1775, destroyed the town of Falmouth, Maine.

British commanders did not consider the Americans to be honorable foes. Therefore, the men suffering in squalor in old sugar houses and cramped churches were not classified as prisoners of war; they were seen as “rebels.”

The same bitter feelings were present in England, where public sentiment soured on their brethren in America. The result was twofold: as stated by a British officer who captured Americans at Brooklyn, “Rebels taken in arms forfeit their lives by the laws of all Countries. The keeping of all the Rebel prisoners taken in arms, without any immediate hope of release, and in a state of uncertainty with respect to their fate, would certainly strike great terror into their army.” Indeed, the British began to see imprisonment as a psychological weapon of terror, and as the war dragged on and on, the brutal treatment of prisoners worsened, especially on an old, rotting prison ship.

When the prisoners were first processed at the sugar houses, churches, and other makeshift prisons, they were stripped of their clothing and possessions and given old garments to wear. One such instance

involved Alexander Graydon, who described the Hessians stealing his belongings and those of his comrades. He also recalled the taunts, complaining, “The term rebel, with the epithet damned before it, was the mildest we received.” They were also threatened with hangings and subjected to beatings. Graydon expected to die.

A Pennsylvanian named Isaac van Horne shared a similar story: “[Our] side arms, watches, shoe-buckles, and even the clothes on our backs were wrestled from us.”

A fellow Keystone Stater, Lieutenant Samuel Lindsay, had been shot in the leg during the defense of Brooklyn but, despite his injury, was brutally beaten by the Hessians with blows to the head from the “butt end of a musket.”

He was nearly blinded and almost died.

With little planning and less concern, the British incarcerated soldiers by the hundreds in these cramped spaces. The American prisoners had no room to sleep, little food, and brackish water. The result was that they were soon afflicted by disease and the facilities overrun by pests. Prisoners started dying in alarming numbers. One eyewitness referred to the makeshift prisons as “dreadful.”

A British report admitted as much: “A number of people . . . crowded together in so small a compass almost like herrings in a barrel, most of them very dirty and not a small number sick of some disease, the Itch, Pox, Fever, or Flux.” It went on to note that everywhere could be found “a complication of stinks enough to drive a person whose sense of smelling was very delicate and his lungs of the finest contexture, into a consumption in the space of twenty-four hours.” Indeed, every horror plagued the prisoners—putrid food, polluted water, disease, lice, no hygiene or fresh air, and no proper burial.

The worst was the starvation. With food and supplies inadequate for His Majesty’s army, American prisoners at the beginning of the war received rations only twice a week, consisting of one-half pound of biscuit, one-half pound of pork, one-half pint of peas, one-half cup of rice, and half an ounce of butter. Under such conditions, some prisoners resorted to eating old shoes. A prisoner named Samuel Young, captured at the beginning of the fighting in New York, remembered being incarcerated in a large stable in the city with five hundred other men. He described having food literally Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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thrown at them, “in a confused manner, as if to so many hogs.” The food consisted of “a quantity of old biscuit, broken, and in crumbs, mostly molded, and some of it crawling with maggots, which they were obliged to scramble for.” They had no choice but to eat the rotten food if they wanted to live and, Young recalled, “they were obliged to eat [it] raw.”

The allowance of water was such that it was barely enough to keep a man alive, and the prisoners were not provided with soap for bathing. The prisoners were also subjected to public humiliation, paraded through the streets of New York as a spectacle. Curious spectators lined the streets to hurl insults and rotten food at the men.

Yet another hardship was the weather. The heat of summer was difficult but, with a lack of blankets and coats, many prisoners froze during the abnormally cold winter of 1776–77. Snow accumulated inside the churches, sugar houses, and hulked ships through broken windows, covering those prisoners too weak or ill to move. Survivors of that first winter remembered the outcome: “Each morning, several frozen corpses were dragged out, thrown into wagons like logs, carted away, and then pitched into a large hole or trench to be covered up like dead animals.” Another prisoner recalled, “The distress of the prisoners cannot be communicated by words. Twenty or thirty die every day. They lie in heaps unburied.” Adding insult to injury, the naked bodies were often eaten by hungry swine. “What numbers of my countrymen have died by cold and hunger,” a prisoner bemoaned, or “perished for want of the common necessities of life!” For him, the treatment by the British was such that he decided, “Rather than experience again their barbarity and insults, may I fall by the sword of the Hessians.”

Not only was General Howe responsible for the atrocities committed under his command, but he was present for much of it and even condoned the violent treatment of prisoners. But Howe impacted the fate of American prisoners, including those eventually housed on the most notorious prison ship in history, in another way. He appointed as prison commissaries men with a lust for blood. These commissaries were in charge of overseeing the prisons, ordering food and supplies, and 80

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negotiating prisoner exchanges. A few of them would soon become infamous throughout the former colonies for their barbarity.

Howe selected Joshua Loring, a Tory from Boston, to be the head commissary. Loring approached his job with dispassionate efficiency and shared his general’s view that any royal subject who challenged the Crown was a rebel, not a soldier, and therefore not deserving of humane treatment. He cared not as to where and how the prisoners would be housed. But Loring faced the immediate problem of a lack of prisons in New York City. He opposed confiscating barns and other such facilities because they were needed for agriculture. The massive British army, after all, needed to eat. Believing the war would end quickly, he also failed to plan for the long-term housing of prisoners.

Howe, it seems, permitted Loring much discretion, preferring instead to devote his attention to the commissary’s attractive blond wife. A number of theories exist, but many of them suggest Howe and Elizabeth “Betsey” Loring were having an affair and that Joshua Loring turned a blind eye to the romance in order to keep his job, which he used to line his pockets.

Loring’s scheme was simple: funds for a prisoner’s rations, albeit minimal, continued until the prisoner was deceased. Loring appears to have delayed and underreported incidents of prisoner deaths in order to skim money from the prison accounts. He was getting rich; Howe could do as he pleased with Mrs. Loring, and it seems he did. For instance, when the general went to Philadelphia, he took Mrs. Loring with him, and the two were highly visible and affectionate at public social events. The joke back in London soon became, “Loring fingered the cash, while the general enjoyed the madam.”

There were similar jokes in America, including a wellknown poem by Francis Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence:

Sir William he, smug as a flea.

Lay all this time a snoring, nor dreamed of harm as he lay warm, in bed with Mrs. Loring.

Judge Thomas Jones, a royalist who blamed Howe for the loss of the American colonies, went so far as to level the poetic charge, “As Cleopatra of old lost Marc Antony the world, so did this illustrious courtesan lose Sir William Howe, the honour, the laurels, and the glory, of putting an end to one of the most obstinate rebellions that ever existed.”

Irrespective of the affair, Loring treated the prisoners in New York City horribly. Yet, as bad as Loring was, the warden of the Provost was worse.

His name was William Cunningham. Born in Ireland, Cunningham came to America in 1774 aboard the ship Needham as part of a business venture, which involved luring the Irish to New York with false promises and then selling his countrymen as indentured servants.

However, Cunningham’s racket caught up with him. His

passengers were discovered to be so malnourished and ill that the authorities seized the ship in New York harbor and freed them. The corrupt Cunningham managed to flee to Boston, where he met General Thomas Gage, the British commander, at the outset of the war. Apparently impressed by Cunningham’s sadistic ways, Gage appointed him as the warden of the Provost. Once back in New York City, Cunningham seemed only too happy to exact revenge on the people who had chased him out of the city.

Excerpted from The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn: An Untold Story of the American Revolution by Robert P. Watson. Copyright ©2017.

Available from Da Capo Press, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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Walking Sticks

by Robin Pliuta classic image of the 18th-century lady or A gentleman brings to mind luxurious fabrics, detailed garments, buckles on shoes, padded hips, sensational hats and, of course, walking sticks. The walking stick completed the look of a properly dressed person in Europe, and the look carried over into the wardrobes of young America in the 1700s.

One may wonder, why did canes suddenly become so popular? Through the ages, walking sticks have been used by agrarian people as a functional aid for navigating terrain and guiding livestock.

In Europe, a continent marred by conflict and war, weaponry for self-defense became as important as agrarian tools. Yet, as times change, style of war and conflict change, too. By the 18th century, swords were no longer a nonnegotiable daily necessity. In their place, walking sticks returned, functional as well as fashionable. Oftentimes, they doubled as a defense tool. Walking sticks retained their value as items of defense, power, and functionality, but also grew in aesthetic appeal. Eventually, they came with social implications and even helped others deduce information about their owners.

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Walking sticks of the 18th century have their roots in simple utility, yet they took on meaning far beyond practicality.

An array of designs, materials, and special features were at the fingertips of 18th-century individuals hungry for exotic, exciting, and fresh looks. They were elegant, charming, functional, and sometimes even comedic in quality. When considering accessories of the time, one must look at

Female Portrait Walking Stick, 18th-19th century, wood carved in high relief, Smithsonian American Art Museum

the entire portrait of the desired look of the 18th-century gentleman and lady. In style at the time were upright looks with straight backs and large hips for women and a dapper, tailored look for men. The walking stick was a natural addition to this style.

was also a rising middle class who also enjoyed the trends of the times.

The most common materials for walking sticks were wood, bone, and metals such as silver, gold, and bronze. Designs ranged from whimsical to plain and required skilled work by artisans who knew engraving, embossing, metalwork, leatherwork, and piqué. One could catch others’ eyes with Romanesque designs of muses or gods, and even comedic scenes of family and/or social life. There were scenes of romance, diversion, and the simple beauty of nature. The choice of design depended on personal taste and what one wished to show or hint to others about themselves.

The style of the Macaroni was influential for many 18thcentury men. The look originated among men who had traveled to Italy and developed a taste for the flare of continental European fashion, food, and expression. The walking stick was icing on the cake for their lavish style and attention to detail in appearance. The layers of fabric and structuring materials, detailed garments and dramatic hair styles for men and women were all enhanced with the right accessories. Walking sticks proved delightful and For men, walking sticks were as crucial to daily dress functional for any occasion. as pants and shoes. They enhanced one’s elegance and served as a useful tool for mobility and ways of practicing Another major influence on the fashion at this time were chivalry. There were endless possibilities of high-profile the emerging ideals of humanism, reason and individualism. ornamentation and cleverly hidden trinkets that combined This was the Age of Enlightenment, or Age of Reason. function with style. The 18th-century gentleman had a Philosophers, scientists, writers, and other intellectuals walking stick for every occasion: perhaps one for the published writings and made discoveries in the 1700s office, one for dinners and opera or theater outings, and that piqued interest in the potential of the h u m a n another for the most special occasions. The venue mind. With this, the value of individual determined one’s choice in material and identity grew, which meant a greater design. For instance, an everyday need for individual expression. Life was cane sometimes had metal progressing in Europe and America as casing on the bottom to the world seemed to grow in general protect it from mud, dirt, knowledge, curiosity, and the rise of and the like. Of course, the literacy after a dark period in Western materials of choice were as history. The changes in philosophy much as one could afford, as the and scientific discovery meant that walking stick came to denote much people were, as today, discovering about a person’s financial identity. more about themselves. They had The fancier the cane, the better the more curiosity about the world and impression on the general public. a desire to know their place in it.

Self-expression through fashion Ladies also carried canes. They tended emerged as people had access to to be slender, appearing more delicate, new and imported fabrics, exciting and often featured a wrist cord or tassels. and dramatic accessories, and many This allowed the cane to be twirled or choices of walking sticks. Of carried on the wrist. Many women enjoyed course, these luxuries were more carrying porcelain accented canes with attainable for the wealthy, but there feminine, whimsical, and elegant designs.

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Some featured pearls, jade, and nacre (mother of pearl). individuals who carried their canes in unorthodox ways.

Some had horned handles, while others had a knob. Written in the late 1700s, it reads: Many women enjoyed animals or miniature One man walks with designs of faces on the a stick close under handle. Sometimes this his arm; another entertaining feature came carries it horizontally, with mechanisms to open poising it by the the mouth, allowing middle; a third holds the cane to serve as a it up as a soldier on holding device for one’s duty holds up his gloves. One could never sword; a fourth bears be too prepared! it on his shoulder, as though it were a Others could tell a log of timber; a fifth person’s class just by twirls it round and looking at their canes’ round by the hook; style and craftsmanship. a sixth walks with it Nobility and the upper so that it is up in the class enjoyed endless air and down on the options for choice of ground alternately. wood, precious metals, The pamphlet describes engravings, and exotic a person humorously materials. The end of the labeled “the unicorn,” 18th century saw a rise in who carries the walking the middle class, which stick under his arm, tilted also wanted to enjoy the at an upward angle in the look and feel of carrying front, parting crowds as ABOVE: French Fashion Plate - 1768 elegant and whimsical he walks. Other violations RIGHT: The gold-capped walking stick to Benjamin walking sticks. The cane of walking-stick etiquette Franklin that he later bequeathed to George Washington. was no longer reserved were careless jabbing of for the upper class alone others, carrying under but allowed more common individuals to experience the arm so as to take up the space of three persons on personal expression through their accessory choices. a sidewalk, twirling, and nonchalantly dragging one’s cane behind. Although satirical, the commentary touches on the Much about an individual could be deduced by their need for self-awareness and special awareness as one carries walking stick. For instance, the manner of carrying a walking stick. reflected the person’s character, personal style, and level of etiquette. With the rise in canes’ popularity, rules had Aside from one’s level of etiquette, other facts about a to be established for a proper lady or gentleman to carry person’s identity could be discovered via observance of it well in society. Once walking sticks became popular the cane. Certain professions enjoyed a camaraderie and and common enough, there was even a satirical pamphlet distinguishability through the designs and materials of the published that commented on the inconvenience of some cane. For instance, a physician would be recognized by a 84

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gold knob-topped cane, which commanded respect and reminded others of his financial status achieved by the nature of his difficult work. Naval personnel, sailors, and other sea-faring professionals used canes made from whalebone.

These often had a hook handle, and some had precious stones or gold added. Some special canes for distinguished leaders featured a whale’s tooth for a handle – a true mark of a seasoned seafarer. The upper class enjoyed selecting exotic and rare materials for their walking sticks. One of the most desirable materials was ivory imported from the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia. This was also one of the first materials used to craft canes for Europe’s elite in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. These styles naturally carried over into the wardrobes of ladies and gentlemen of the budding American social scene. The most coveted ivory came from elephants, narwhals, and tortoiseshell.

With endless options for materials and design, the wealthy enjoyed expression of status and profession with their walking sticks. However, let us not forget the stick’s humble roots. Common people who led agrarian lifestyles or living a simple and modest country life also had ways of showing their identity through their accessories. Their

canes were made of functional, simple, and still beautiful materials that depicted their appreciation of the simple life. The wood carvings featured scenes of nature, fishing, hunting, shooting, and daily life. Readily available woods such as ash, maple, and oak were more common for simple styles.

For the lady or gentleman who had a liking for unique fashion, special gadgets and secret features could be added to craft a most useful and entertaining piece. Some had animal faces such as ducks, bulldogs, and frogs; others even had human faces of porcelain with tiny rosy lips and cheeks. While these added a sense of liveliness through whimsy, other canes were useful in interesting and eccentric ways. Some had snuff cavities and pipes inside, while others were essentially flasks. The top knob or horned handle would be removed, and on the inside, a removable tube served as the vessel for drinks such as absinthe.

This allowed the proper gentleman to be prepared, and the lady to be discreet about partaking. Some carried timepieces under the hinging or removable knobs atop the cane. Others hid inside umbrellas, swords, spyglasses, and amusing carvings or images. Some even contained musical Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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instruments. One was always prepared to show his skill at a proper party or casual gathering by taking his portable flute, oboe, or recorder out of his walking stick. Some contained a retractable telescoping device for measurement, quite popular among equine enthusiasts. The cane doubled as a horse height measurement tool, ideal for examining horses one intended to acquire.

walking stick accented the new appreciation of children’s identity and importance simply for existing, and not only because they would extend the family tree.

There is one walking stick of particular importance in American history. A beautiful gold-capped piece crafted in 1783, it was cherished by Benjamin Franklin, and captures the spirit of the American In 18th-century portraits ome had snuff cavities and Revolution and a wise yet some children are also humble founding father. shown with walking pipes inside while others were When Franklin was sticks. One may wonder serving as the American essentially flasks why children would be commissioner in France, depicted in adult attire his mission was to secure with accessories they would not likely carry in daily life. the support of the French for the American Revolution.

There is an explanation. Before and during the 1700s, Victory depended on French aid, as Britain’s powerful children often didn’t survive past a young age. For this navy could blockade ports in the colonies, overwhelm reason, they were seen as a symbol of family continuity and the Americans with the arrival of British troops, and dynasticism. This was reflected in the portrayal of children generally overwhelm Washington’s military. French troops in art. However, as the 18th century progressed, new ideas could greatly help to offset this threat with their support. and values resulted from the Age of Enlightenment. One Franklin was the most famous American public figure in such ideal was the individual value and potential of a person, France due to his international reputation as a man of including children. Philosopher Jean-Jacque Rousseau was politics, science, culture, and civic accomplishment. What among the first to argue that children should be considered intrigued the French was Franklin’s absence of excessive autonomous beings. Artists such as Chardin began pride despite his level of education and general wisdom. treating children as individuals. With a rising bourgeoisie, Known by his trademark fur cap, the French saw this as it became fashionable for families to commission portraits reminiscent of a frontier spirit, natural rights, and ideals with children as main features in the scene, showing about human nature in the minds of French intellectuals. loving bonds with their parents. In these The fur hat was a far cry from the dramatic wigs of portraits, children are France’s highest classes and royal family. His cap thus sometimes shown became a symbol of freedom, liberty, and American ideals. with walking sticks.

While the adult In 1777 Franklin wished to employ a French supporter appearance may seem of American ideals as George Washington’s aide-de-camp. strange to modern His name was Marquis de Lafayette, and he helped to viewers, the style of make great strides in way of gaining French support. This their portraits showed resulted in the American-French alliance against Britain, their new roles along with provision of military support and supplies, and within the family encouraged the support of other nations. This happened and value placed on just in time, as four days later, Britain declared war on their potential as France. Benjamin Franklin’s time in France was diplomatic individuals.

The both politically and in his social life. He enjoyed music a addition of a great deal and turned out to be quite the popular man in

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the salons of Paris, where he met Maria Anna, countess of Forbach. She was established in society as a patron of the arts and greatly admired Franklin. The two developed a genuine friendship and maintained correspondence. She also wrote consistently with Lafayette, who would give her news of the war. Her two sons served with Lafayette until the end of the war. At the Battle of Yorktown, France’s intervention with 29 warships and 10,000 troops left no option but for British General Cornwallis to surrender.

This, in effect, ended the war. Franklin and Lafayette celebrated together in Paris, and the countess gave the gold-capped walking to Franklin as a unique, personalized gift. The body is an elegant black, and the gold top is shaped as a fur cap as a tribute to founding father Benjamin Franklin. He later gifted this incredible piece to

his revolutionary comrade and friend, George Washington.

The piece can be seen today in the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Franklin is an honorable example of an American who was true to himself and his country. His walking stick is a treasure and reminder of his character and the spirit of the American Revolution. He exemplified the American values of self-improvement, hard work, and virtue. How fortunate that walking sticks were an integral part of the 18th-century wardrobe. Without them, we may not have this delightful reminder of a most fascinating period in American history.  

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Revolutionary War Site & Camden Battlefield and Longleaf Pine Preserve www.historiccamden.org - 222 Broad Street, Camden, SC 29020

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by Hope Longe

ftentimes it is the everyday items that reinforce O gender institutions because the seemingly normal products appear to not carry any deeper meaning, but, in reality, it’s the everyday items that shape the deeply rooted societal institutions. Despite being items created for children to play with, toys, especially dolls, give historians studying material culture a crucial glimpse at what life was like during the eighteenth century.

Cloth materials, paint products, and designs of dolls help researchers understand trading practices, artisan markets, and social classes during the eighteenth century.

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The colonial period was a period of intense change and provided colonists an opportunity to reestablish themselves in a new territory. While Europe was rife with revolutions, the American colonists were working to define what it meant to be a colonist and what life on the North American continent should look like for a territory of England. One key aspect of this was the struggle to navigate ever changing gender roles. Traditionally, women were confined to the domestic sphere and encouraged to be docile and calm. However, women in England were pushing for a reevaluation of these roles and arguing for more opportunities outside of the confines of their home;

an argument that transported itself to colonial America.

During the eighteenth century, dolls symbolized more than just a charming play thing for little girls, but they represented the deeper societal institutions in the colonies.

On the surface, dolls appear to just be a simple toy and everyday item for children with minimal significance, and, as a result, many historians have forgotten to study the impact these dolls have on the development of colonial society. However, one thing historians can agree on is that dolls for young girls definitely prepared them for domestic life in adulthood.

Not only did the doll industry heavily influence young girls, but dolls affected the development of a strong fashion industry, trade, and artisan markets. Dolls served as a representation of eighteenth-century ideologies, but they benefited the burgeoning economy in a post-industrial revolution era; a trend that would continue well into the nineteenth century as England expanded its influence and American cities grew wealthier.

Before

the Journey to

America

Prior to the arrival of children in the American colonies, dolls were incredibly popular for young girls. Artisanal dolls would have been purchased by well to do families and homemade dolls for girls in lower class families. Regardless of the social class one thing remains true: young girls loved playing with dolls as an escape from their reality and as a way to expand their imagination. Whereas adults saw playing with dolls and toys as a way to educate and train the young minds of children for the onset of adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it.

Aside from being a toy for young girls, dolls served a functional purpose for colonial communities, especially for the fashion industry. The prominent fashion houses during the eighteenth century were based in England and France, and if a colonial woman wanted to dress in the current fashion trends, it would have been cost prohibitive for many to order a piece directly from London or Paris for several reasons. To start, tailors and fashion designers would need the woman’s measurements, but it was not

feasible for her to travel across the Atlantic for an outfit, and mailing measurements could take too much time.

Also, import and export taxes made it too expensive for women to order a dress and return it to the designer for alterations if they did not like it.

To make shopping and designing clients easier for the colonial fashion industry, designers would create a “fashion doll” wearing the design the fashion house intended to produce. Then, the fashion house would send these fashion dolls to stores and shops that wanted to produce or sell these designs to colonial consumers. This made it easier for women to see designs in person, and then shopkeepers and dress makers, also known as “mantua makers,” in the colonies were able to make dresses for local women.

The fashion dolls also cut down on costs for designers because they could send a miniature version of the outfits as opposed to creating a full gown from yards of luxury fabric. Fashion dolls were typically made of wood with a painted face and eyes, and sometimes they had glass eyes for a more polished look. Their hair was made of flax or wool and then styled into the latest fashions.

Because fashion dolls were so easy to transport, they helped cut down on costs for designers, but they helped with spreading fashion news regarding designers and critics.

According to Reinhardt, one fashion critic commented on this practice by stating, [D]oth a tire-woman in Paris send to London a doll completely accoutred to shew the new mode; away hie the English...after the doll...Then the dress of this same confounded doll, and the artifices these same confounded tailors, which cost more than a million, are by England transported to America...it is a monstrous extravagance.

Clearly this critic disapproved of the transportation of fashion dolls from Paris to London and then later onto America, but this trade increased revenue and commerce between the regions at a rate that mirrored the booming economic developments of the industrial revolution. These dolls were so popular that they later received diplomatic immunity, an “inviolable passport,” and a military escort during a trade embargo and rising military tensions between Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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England and France in the early eighteenth century. These dolls were significant because they wore the latest and greatest fashion designs of the era, and, more often than not, these dolls wore the very designs that some of the most elite women in Europe wore; this included dolls modeled after both Queen Anne and Marie Antoinette.

Fashion dolls would later spur on the development of ladies’ fashion magazines, and the fashion doll would cease to be transported to and from international clients.

Preparing Young Girls

for

Domesticity

Regardless of the century, historians consistently argue that children’s toys prepare young boys and girls for adulthood.

As Leslie Reinhardt, an American Art Fellow with the Smithsonian Institution, argues, “dolls and dress, like books, helped to guide young girls to virtuous womanhood.” While young girls enjoyed playing with their dolls, the activities and stories created around these precious toys reflected eighteenth century ideals of femininity and domesticity.

Many of the dolls represented the values and roles women and girls were expected to perpetuate during the eighteenth century; whether that meant she should be a housewife or that she would need work in a domestic job, depending on her social class. Also, along with dolls, doll houses were used as educational tools for young women because it helped them visualize and plan out how a room should be organized or designed. Similar to a textbook, the doll house provided young women with a visual and tangible example of how to set up a proper home, what it should look like, and how to design the space. Learning to design and maintain a home at such a young age was incredibly important because these were skills that were needed in order to succeed in their future marriages as a wife and mother. Young children of either gender were seen as miniature adults in many ways, and childhood was just seen as a preparatory time period separate from adulthood.

As the century progressed, more and more young girls were given doll houses, but they were still mostly for display and only the wealthy families purchased these items for such young children. However, families began to give their daughters doll houses as a wedding gift in the latter half of 90

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the eighteenth century. Doll houses were given as a wedding present to highlight the major transition their daughter was about to embark upon, and it represented the home she was leaving and the home she was bringing with her to her new estate. Some of these doll houses, especially for wealthy families, were designed to look like exact replicas of their existing home; all the way down to the same wallpaper and window trimmings.

As a way to teach young girls common skills they would use when married, mothers taught their daughters how to create dresses for their dolls. This prepared her for the inevitable instances where sewing skills would be necessary, like repairing a torn garment or creating a pattern for a new garment. Especially if a young girl was in a middle to lower class family, learning to sew and create your own clothing was crucial to the financial success of the family, but creating high quality pieces required years of practice to develop the necessary skills. Girls were taught important life skills at a young age because society viewed childhood as unique to adulthood but still a great time to prepare for her marriage, motherhood, and adult life.

Reinforcing Gender Ideals Playing with dolls not only prepared young girls for domestic life, but it reinforced the era’s gender ideologies. Dolls and doll houses prepared young girls for their future role in the domestic sphere, but it also subliminally taught them about femininity, sexuality, and behavior norms for women.

Reinhardt demonstrates how dolls instilled girls with ideas about acceptable behavior and their role in relationships.

For example, she argues, “they [dolls] reiterated in various ways long held expectations of female modesty, obedience, submissiveness, and chastity, fundamentally reaffirming conservative values that were being challenged in the second half of the eighteenth century, an era of social and political revolution.” Many colonial Americans struggled to maintain consistent gender norms because discussions on gender were ever shifting back in Europe, and, as a result of their increased trade and transnational relationships with Europe, the spillover of revolutionary ideologies was inevitable.

There were a variety of dolls that young girls played with during the eighteenth century, and many middle and lower class families made them out of wood, wax, or rags.

However, wax dolls typically served religious purposes.

During the early part of the eighteenth century, these dolls were often nicknamed toy babies and doll houses were called baby houses. However, this nickname would fade out of use as the century carried on, and by the late eighteenth century they were consistently named dolls as opposed to toy babies.

Porcelain or more finely carved wooden dolls owned by wealthy families had fine silks and delicately painted faces, and these beautiful faces and outfits helped to craft definitions of beauty amongst colonial women. A doll with beautiful golden hair, blue silk dresses, and leather shoes represented the styles that upper class women should dress in. The richer the dyes were, the more expensive the fabric became.

century, with a straight spine, shoulders held back, and a wide chest; even undressed they reflected the fashionable standard of the period.” Corsetry was ever changing and developing both before and after the 18th century. During this period the focus was on posture and maintaining a conically shaped waist and full hips. Posture was reinforced in both boys and girls through children’s stays. As young girls grew into young women, they began to wear stays and bone lined garments of their own that took on more adult shapes like their mothers. Many researchers since then have pointed out how corsets in later periods stymied the development of lungs and rib cages, and this resulted in fainting spells for young women.

While many of the traditional and pre-revolutionary era gender roles were preserved and perpetuated through the use of dolls, we cannot discount the efforts made by women that pushed back against these bounds. The century was known as the revolutionary period, not just for the American colonies, but for the whole of Europe as well. It is impossible to expect disenfranchised groups, especially women, to not find hope for equality and agency in the wake of revolutions. Proud European philosophers known for influencing the spark of the American, French, and other continental revolutions worked diligently to encourage marginalized groups to rise up and find opportunities to create equality in their community.

In the United Kingdom, women began social equity movements to encourage women to break out of the domestic sphere and provide legal protections that men had when they followed a similar path. British women, including the philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, pushed for social equality amongst women and men. In her publication, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, is considered one of the great early works on feminism. Wollstonecraft was able to dissect and break down the cultural systems put in place to push women into the domestic sphere. She argued that the educational system in England encouraged women to be more docile and domestic, a theory widely supported by current historians. Wollstonecraft wanted to reform the Oftentimes, elegant dolls wore the ever fashionable bone national education system to include young women and lined bodice and corset. According to Reinhardt, “Doll girls in an academic scheme that offered opportunities bodies displayed the ideal body type of the eighteenth outside of the domestic sphere. Though Wollstonecraft Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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was a well respected philosopher during her time, she would not see a reformed education system in her lifetime, but she did help spark the women’s rights movements in the United Kingdom. These movements would gain more followers and momentum in the coming centuries until the eventual successful suffragette campaign in the twentieth century.

Social Class

and

Toys

Similar to other mundane, everyday items, dolls, though seemingly devoid of meaning, represented more than just a cute toy for children, and instead was a tangible representation of the social class dichotomy at play in the colonies during the eighteenth century. Everything from paints, doll construction materials, and fabrics for their decorative clothes represented the differences between the social classes. For example, having a doll pictured in any kind of familial portraiture instilled a sense of elegance and luxury normally associated with the upper class because dolls were expensive items.

When a family purchased dolls for their children, they had the option of purchasing them already dressed or undressed, but, understandably so, the already dressed doll was far more expensive because of the time and effort put into designing and crafting small scale dresses for the dolls. According to Reinhardt, if a family purchased an already dressed doll the doll would include the expected “outer shell” of fashion trends as well as petticoats, shifts, stays, pockets, garters, stockings, and shoes. If a doll was purchased without clothing already made, then some of the wealthier families could hire a dressmaker to recreate the designs and styles worn by the commissioning families themselves; as a result, a young woman could have a dollhouse and doll set that mimicked her childhood home and her family.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many wealthy families invested in doll houses for young girls and women. Commercially constructed or commissioned houses were an extra expense, and wealthy families were primarily the only families that could afford for these accessories. However, dollhouses functioned differently than expected because they served as displays for doll 92

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collections; they were not played with the same way that a young girl in the twentieth century would play with a doll house. Though the cost of dolls and other toys decreased with the spark of the Industrial revolution in England, they were often still too expensive for colonial families because of the import and export taxes levied.

More ornate dolls purchased by wealthy families had silk clothing, leather shoes, painted faces, and they sometimes had real human hair on their head. Silk materials were a fine commodity, and despite the increased global trade, it was still an expensive fabric that many families could not afford to wear. One doll designed for a wealthy family and held by the Museum of London, is described as A doll with a painted head with the remnants of a brown wig. She is dressed in Indian silk, striped satin blue and white with a narrow red border, embroidered with red tulips, with attached leading strings. Her other clothes include a linen muslin apron and white suede mittens...

The dress is lined with bright yellow moire silk...She wears three petticoats…[and] pink silk stockings with blue satin ribbon garters.

Unless she was born into an artisan or wealthy family a young girl’s doll would not have some of these beautiful characteristics. Until the late seventeen hundreds, it was very difficult for anyone outside of the elite community circles to acquire Indian silk or any kind of patterned Indian silk. The occurrence of so many deep, bold colors on the dolls outfit indicates that it was in the possession of an affluent family with the resources available to acquire such unique fabrics.

In a clear contrast to the description about the elegant, ornate doll, the dolls that middle class, and possibly lower class, girls were given did not seem as luxurious as the bold colors and fabrics of the more expensive doll. The Manchester Art Gallery describes one such doll as wooden with painted features, dressed in a wrapper, with a cream trimmed dress, and a linen or lace cap without a wig. The clear contrast in descriptions demonstrates the very same contrast between social classes during this time period.

The early years of the eighteenth century saw doll houses as an adult item to demonstrate wealth and pride in the

Wood doll ca. 1740-1750

In the 17th and 18th century girls continued to play with wooden or rag dolls. Wax dolls were also popular. At that time they were called toy babies and dolls houses were called baby houses. However by the 18th century they were called dolls.

home, but as the century carried on the doll houses were given as wedding gifts. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, this all changed. More and more doll houses were accessible to younger children, and, during the latter years, it was acceptable for children to play with dollhouses because it was seen as a necessary preparation for adulthood. Because the industrial revolution made the production of dollhouses slightly cheaper dollhouses were no longer strictly ornamental items and children were given the opportunity to play with them.

It is significant to note that dolls represented social classes because it was the small, everyday items that slowly strained class relations. These items subliminally reminded the lower class of their status and limited access to resources, and this constant reminder added fuel to the

fire that would later erupt as the revolutionary movement.

As stated earlier, the eighteenth century was known as a period of intense revolutions and rapid change, and small commodity’s like dolls and toys would play a role in straining these relationships as the century carried on.

In Conclusion Though many of the revolutions in Europe regarded social classes within each region, it is crucial to point out that the American Revolution was somewhat unique comparatively.

In France, the bourgeoisie class wanted political and economic power to that of the upper class, and in England, the working class wanted access to resources withheld from them by the government and upper classes if they didn’t work in the infamous workhouses.

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An added benefit of the doll industry was the creation of jobs to employ people in both colonial America and in England. Through the creation of dolls the lower class was able to find employment and a middle class was able to flourish and develop. To create an ornate and high quality doll, the family needed to employ the skills of a staymaker, hairdresser, dressmaker, and several women who stitched the shifts and petticoats. However, as the industrial revolution grew during the eighteenth century, artisanal markets would become smaller. The industrial revolution made it difficult for artisans to compete with the rapidly dropping prices of factory produced toys and dolls, to the point where only the wealthy were purchasing such ornate dolls.

Dolls introduced young children to social class divides at such a young age, with wealthier girls receiving dolls with fine silk dresses and artisanal paints, and young working class girls getting handmade dolls with leftover fabric scraps for their outfits. Dolls were an important item in the lives of many young girls both in England and colonial America, and this item helped spur on the development of a thriving international fashion industry that carried on into the modern era. These everyday items seem insignificant at first glance as a toy for children, but this is just another example of how something normal can be extraordinary.

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The Dollhouse of Petronella Oortman Jacob Appel - 1710 The baby houses of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the toy dollhouses of the 19th and early 20th century rarely had uniform scales, even for the features or contents of any one individual house. Although a number of manufacturers made lines of miniature toy furniture in the 19th century, these products were not to a strict scale.

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Learn more at: www.ColonialMarketDays.com 94

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June 8 & 9, 2019 Lebanon, Indiana

25th Anniversary 18th Century Market Fair Fort Frederick State Park Big Pool, MD

April 25-28, 2019 A juried 1730-1790 Trade Fair featuring Period Suttlers, Artisans, Street Vendors, Hawkers and Entertainers Campers are welcome! Including Civilians, Military Individuals and Units and American Indians.

For Questions or Additional Information: Fort Frederick State Park (301) 872-2155 or bob.study@maryland.gov www.FriendsofFortFrederick.info

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Keeping Warm: Quilts in Colonial America

by Kathryn Morgan n a freezing night in the eighteenth century, American colonists could be found around the hearth of their homes wrapped in a handmade quilt. Quilts were both homemade and commercially produced throughout the developed world.

Likewise, the fabric was created both in home and in stores, as well as imported from across the ocean, including India and China. Nevertheless, America was suited for this craftsmanship as many of the materials could be found or grown within the colonies. Quilts were often made of wool or linen and could be yielded in the agreeable environment.

Sheep were raised for the production of wool and flax seeds were cultivated for linen, although not as successful as the rearing of sheep. While cotton was a crop that was produced in the southern colonies, its production was limited until the invention of the cotton gin in 1794. Though it wasn’t widely popular until even later in the eighteenth century.

No matter the materials, quilts were manufactured to serve multiple needs in everyday life for bed spreads as well as on special occasions to commemorate life events such as christenings and weddings. American colonists brought this craft tradition to the New World not only to keep them warm but to build a sense of identity and community amongst themselves.

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Late 18th century piece quilted coverlet

Colonists customized quilts through designs, patterns, and colorization. Quilts got their colors from the natural dyes created from plants, insects, and animals since synthetic dyes did not exist at the time. For example, reds were made from madder root or cochineal insects, and blues were made from indigo leaves. American colonists even published books that were scientific in nature on how to use these materials to produce the correct colors and hues. Variation in quilts was also achieved through different patterns. One method of quilting pieced together embroidered fabrics for a decorated bedspread or covering. This can be seen in a quilt donated to the National Museum of American History by Martha Babson Lane Soule, whose Maine roots stretch back to some of the earliest American colonization.

Another quilting practice was whole cloth, which stitched together complex patterns on a solid top. An example of this can be seen in ceremonial purpose of the 1781 christening quilt of John Todd Cocke Wiatt, who would go on to become the first marshal of the North Carolina Supreme Court. While the creator is unknown, this quilt housed at the North Carolina Museum of History demonstrates the mastery over the needle the craftsman needed to possess in order to create the intricate pattern.

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Chintz appliqué was also a method of quilting. Imported and Central Pennsylvania. These similar designs are seen from India, chintz fabric involved painting, resist dyeing to specifically within the Philadelphian Quakers. Many of the prevent the colors from bleeding, and mordant dying to quilts found in this region in the eighteenth century were fix the colors to fabricate beautiful cloths. An example of homemade but followed a general style. Related patterns this fabric can be seen in the DeWitt Wallace Decorative suggest not only a regional style but communities that formed Arts Museum at Colonial Williamsburg. Like the whole- through quilting patterns of a designer from within the cloth method, chintz appliqué demonstrated a high level community. Similarities within regions stem from not only of skill in needlework. Favored in the mid-Atlantic and quilting ideologies, but shared definitions of true quilting. southeastern regions of America In Appalachia and Southern in the late eighteenth century, regions, tiny stitches holding the W hile some historians have colorful pieces of chintz fabrics together defines quilting attempted to associate certain would be cut out to create while a tied or knotted bedcover patterns with specific states , quilt the shapes of birds, fruits, or is considered a comforter. On the historians overall have found flowers and layered on white other hand, New York and some more success with identifying or cream backgrounds. These areas of Pennsylvania differentiate patterns to certain regions . quilts served a more decorative quilts and comforters by the purpose. The elaborate designs thickness of batting material. of quilts allowed American colonists to express their These practices occurred within the Amish community as identity visually, similar to other forms of needlework well. Emigrating from Germany and Switzerland, the Amish like the sampler. Displayed within homes, quilts’ designs settled in Pennsylvania in the mid-eighteenth century. Amish conveyed domestic as well as global references to the lives women soon took to the practice of quilting as a means of the inhabitants. Quilt makers who expressed these to cover their beds. However, the Amish utilized simplistic messages were mostly women. Quilt making was often designs of geometric patterns of diamonds, squares, and seen as a domestic practice for women. Needlework, cross- bars. These shapes were also characteristic of Pennsylvania stitch, patchwork quilts and similar crafts taught girls regional patterns. These are just some examples of specific lessons of the private sphere. These skills additionally were communities within the American colonies brought closer a relatively standard part of the education for girls at the together through the practice of quilting. While some time. Patchwork quilts provide an exemplar of the skills historians have attempted to associate certain patterns with acquired by quilting. Girls would learn mathematics through specific states, quilt historians overall have found more measuring the fabric to construct quilts. They would learn success with identifying patterns to certain regions. both family and national history through taught imagery that conveyed stories of the past through design. Similarly, American colonists utilized quilting to keep themselves the values of the American colonists were presented in these warm, educate girls, and build a sense of identity and works as well. Girls furthermore worked with dyes they community. Quilts were both fabricated in colonial homes utilized in their creations, which was a sort of science in and commercially produced within America. Through and of itself. While some materials were produced in the embroidery, whole cloth, and chintz appliqué, colonials were colonies, other textiles and dyes were imported from abroad craftsman in their own homes and within their communities. making these quilts a domestic and even global product.

Customized designs, patterns, and colorization further allowed American colonists to create unique designs that Though quilts served as physical and educational tools, displayed cultural ideals held in the eighteenth century. quilts likewise brought communities together in colonial Quilts provided physical needs and acted as vehicles for America; recognizable folk regions include Upstate New cultural understanding of the American colonists that are York and the New England region, Northern Appalachia, still observed today.

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Silent Sentinel< of the Continental Soldier< Memorial Highway

by Jeff Williamson he Mahwah River snakes its way across the modern NY/NJ border and, for a little T stretch it goes along State Route 202, River Valley Road aka: the Continental Soldiers Memorial Highway. Over three centuries ago farmers, initially Dutch in origin, attempted to eke out an existence here, much like the Lenni Lenape Indians had for centuries before. During the 18th century it became home to pioneers and patriots who are still there, silently watching the world go by.

It was along the Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s banks that Blandida Bayard purchased a track of land some 16 miles long from the Hackensack Indians. Believing she was within the colony of New York, she established a trading post just a mile or two south of the modern border and became what is assumed to be one of the first women entrepreneurs in New Jersey.

Located a fair distance from the settlements of and around Manhattan, the land had long been settled by people of the Ramapaugh tribe and it is with them that Bayard traded along with the growing number of settlers moving west.

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What makes the area unique is that diversity of peoples that inhabited it. In addition to the long established Natives, Dutch colonists began migrating in in the late 1600â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and were supplemented by those from England: each of those, who could afford it, brought with them indentured and permanent servants (which included African slaves) and all became intermingled to one extent or another in this valley.

Bayard died in 1711 causing her land to be probated and willed to her daughter Rachel who joined into a company with relatives by marriage, the LaRoe and Kiersted families. This went the way of many joint family ventures and from 1725 to 1743 legal and informal negotiations found the land go to Hendrick LaRoe, who then parceled it out among his sons, Lambert, Arie Hendrick and Jacobus.

Jacobus built his home on, or very close to, Blandidaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original trading post. This is preserved today as the Laroe -Van Horn House. Constructed in 1750, it became a tavern as well as homestead and just south of it, on land

cleared between a sharp turn of the river and the road, became the final resting place for those who lived and worked here, including Hendrick Sr and Jacobus.

Jacobus and Arie Hendrick had adjoining plots in between the river and the highway heading south. Arie’s daughter, Maria Aurie, married another Dutch farmer, Andries Willem Hopper, and he acquired parts of both his father in law’s property, building a home of his own just a little further down the road on land that is now occupied

by Ramapo University. His home was later expanded and is today known as the Havermeyer Mansion.

The Hoppers managed several large landholdings throughout what is now Bergen County, and their name remains associated with a number of interesting locations.

Most notably: the little graveyard next to the Laroe – Van Horn House. This is one of several Hopper family cemeteries, they were certainly not the first ones buried there - several LaRoes including Hendrick appear to have taken up permanent residence by 1769, and perhaps Blandida herself a half century before - but they became the most locally recognized in the area. Within a hundred yards of this location further in the woods, along the River is what is known as the Hopper Slave Cemetery.

New Jersey’s attitudes towards slavery and races is an open secret: the state actually still had slaves up to the end of the Civil War, but the moniker of “Slave Cemetery” covers burials for those who were not full on of European ancestry. It appears the second grave yard contained slaves as well as freedmen, surviving Ramapough Indians and those of mixed ancestry – euphemistically referred to locally as “Jackson Whites.” Even the nearby Reformed Church of Mahwah had a low wall separating portions of its churchyard for burials between full on European descended residents and those who were not with segregated burials continuing well into the 20th century.

Maria LaRoe’s husband, “Andrew” Hopper owned several slaves, and as this land was his, both burial grounds bore his name. He self-described as a yeoman – a freedman farmer and had acquired for himself a modest estate with business interests that extended locally and into New York City.

During the American Revolution, the Valley Road served as a route for elements of the Continental Army to move between Morristown and upstate New York. General

George Washington found several opportunities to be a guest of Andrew Hopper, especially in the summer of 1781 when the arrival of French forces fueled the General’s fantasies of launching an assault on New York City.

That assault was not to be as evidence gathered, some of it attributed to Andrew Hopper himself, suggested an assault would fail. The French allies encouraged, in no small way by General Comte de Rochambeau, instead a march south where their naval assets would be more effective.

History records the daring and miraculously surprising (to the British, anyway) march to Yorktown.

On the night of August 25/26, 1781, American and French soldiers camped between the LaRoe and Hopper homesteads. When they continued on, they marched past the little cemetery along the road with their haversacks full of Hopper grown foodstuffs.

In time, Andrew (d. 1813) and Maria Hopper (d.

1849) took up residence in the cemetery bearing their name. The Slave Cemetery also took in occupants, and though many of them had little but rudimentary markers that quickly disappeared, even the family cemetery suffered the march of time. In 1910, a county survey reported over 50 graves were present in the family cemetery, either by physical marker or through records. There is no known count for the Slave Cemetery. By the 1970’s, the family cemetery was overgrown and suffered from vandals before volunteers reset some of the larger monuments, one of them being Andrew and Maria’s obelisk. In 2010, an informal survey found only 12 markers with names or hand carved dates with evidence of maybe another dozen field stone marked, anonymous graves. There are only five names known in the Slave Cemetery, four belonging to a family of freedmen named Harrison and one to another freedman named Samuel Jennings with evidence of dozens more with no names. Even more pressing is the evidence that the bank of the Mahwah River has eroded the northern boundary of the burial ground.

Today, the Hopper Family Cemetery can be seen by keen observers heading south on Rt 202 before Ramapo University, especially in the winter months when the foliage is absent. In summer months, these silent sentinels of America’s history may be completely concealed from view and modern awareness.

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English bare-knuckle boxers prize-fighting in a field, 18th century. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Verico from Giulio Ferrario's Costumes Ancient and Modern of the Peoples of the World, Florence, 1847.

s a sport, boxing entered the modern age in 1813 with the publication of Pierre A Egan’s Boxiana; or Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism. His lavishly illustrated book regaled his readers with both words and image glorifying what he called “the sweet science of bruising”.

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By chronicling the sport’s history dating from its origins among the ancient Greeks, explaining the emerging rules of the sport, and vividly describing some of its celebrated fighters and their heroics, Egan provided his readers with all the essentials of a modern spectator sport- champions to lionize, skills to practice, and a narrative arc to follow.

Measuring

the

Length

of

His Eye-Strings:

“Rough and Tumble” Fighting in the Early American Republic

By Christopher Elmore

Yet practitioners of the sport outside of Egan’s native England would have scarcely recognized the sport depicted on the pages of his treatise. Particularly when compared to the prevailing fighting styles in the North America, Egan’s “sweet science” suggested a sense of civility and order in the sport that was noticeably absent elsewhere.

Two of the fighters featured by Egan were Americans- Bill Richmond and Tom Molineaux. Neither was well-known in their erstwhile country of birth. Both were former slaves who, upon gaining their freedom, turned to the British for protection.

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Richmond escaped while his owner was fleeing a British advance during the Revolutionary War. He enlisted with a British officer, who, impressed with Richmond’s physical skills, encouraged Richmond to come to England after the war to try his hand at the growing sport of prizefighting.

Molineaux, the younger of the two, apparently won his freedom by defeating a fellow slave in a fight staged by their owner who also agreed to emancipate the winner.

Popular legend of such emancipation bouts suggests the plausibility of this account, even absent documentary evidence to confirm it.

Their background as slaves made them unlikely American champions. Yet even without this obstacle, their conversion to the English style of fighting would have further alienated them from their American roots. English boxing was neither well-known nor commonly practiced in the Americas.

For a variety of reasons, inhabitants of the northern colonies, particularly those in urban centers, looked down upon physical combat as a legitimate sporting activity.

In the southern colonies, however, fighting was a regular component of daily life. But the form of fighting in this region contrasted sharply with the developing English style, which was perceived as “timid and unmanly” to those on the American frontier.

During the 18th century, English boxing, sometimes referred to as pugilism, “underwent a process of specialization and professionalization from which it emerged as one of the most popular sports in England”. James Figg, the man first credited with being an English boxing champion, and his pupil, James Broughton, developed a set of rules in the first half of the 18th century that became the standard for English prizefighting until replaced by the officially adopted London Prizefighting Rules in 1838.

Broughton was especially influential in promulgating the new standards. First published in 1743 and known as “Broughton Rules,” his code introduced the idea of formal rounds with scheduled breaks, along with the elimination of hitting below the waist. While holds were still allowed, the use of teeth and fingers for the purpose of maiming was strictly forbidden, as was hitting an opponent when he was down.

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their fists closed. Broughton also introduced the use of padding made from soft goat skin to protect both the fists of the fighter and the face of his opponent. This led to some referring to Broughton’s style as “kid-glove” boxing.

Taken together, Broughton’s innovations and his role in popularizing the sport in England earned him the moniker “the father of boxing”.

As Figg and Broughton were helping to refine the sport, the English monarchy assisted in legitimizing it. In 1723, King George I erected a ring in Hyde Park for public viewing of prize-fights. King George II is rumored to have attended a prize fight between an English champion and a visiting Venetian boxer known as the “the Gondolier.”

By the early 19th century, these changes had produced a sport that would seem largely recognizable to a contemporary fan of championship prize-fighting. The fighting style that emerged in the American colonies during the same time period was very different. As Thomas Anburey wrote in his Travels Through the Interior Parts of America, “an English boxing match, though a disgrace to a polished nation, is humanity itself, compared with the Virginian mode of fighting”.

The sport of fighting in the American backcountry “where it came to be called ‘rough and tumble’… was a savage combat between two or more males, which sometimes left the contestants permanently blinded or maimed.” According to Henry Adams, this style “differed from the ordinary prize-fight, or boxing-match, by the absence of rules. Neither kicking, tearing, biting, nor gouging was forbidden by the law of the ring.”

The circumstances that might provoke a fight were simultaneously random and predictable. They were predictable in that there was a high probability of a fight breaking out any time a group of men met in public, particularly if there was drinking and competition involved.

Political meetings, horse races, cock-fights, and card games were especially prone to an outbreak of rough and tumble fighting. These types of events “would frequently lead to a form of rivalry, with challenges resulting in boxing or wrestling bouts watched by a ring of spectators.”

The popularity of these events certainly encouraged them. According to the 19th century historian Hardin

Taliaferro, if men returning from a public gatherings disfigurement or severing body parts.” Fithian noted reported that there had been no fight that day, they were that “every diabolical Stratagem for Mastery is allowed met with groans of disappointment from those who had & practiced” including “Bruising, Kicking, Scratching, not attended. Understandably then, some saw fights as a Pinching, Biting, Butting, Tripping, Throtling, Gouging, prime opportunity to make money. According to historian Cursing, Dismembring, Howling, &c.” Charles Janson, Nancy Struna, one renowned Virginia entrepreneur, a Presbyterian minister traveling through the American Benjamin Berry promoted his tavern by “retaining locals frontier on his journey from England to establish a church to serve as fist-fighters in bouts against all comers.” in Louisiana, characterized butting as a “beastly mode of

Fights were random, however, in that one could assault used by men in North Carolina.” He described the never really be sure what offense would provoke a challenge. tactic as being “executed nearly in the same manner as is While lamenting the practice, Philip Fithian, a northerner practiced by bulls, rams, and goats.’’ living in colonial Virginia, suggested a number of potential Biting was also common in rough and tumble scenarios. An individual might take offense, for example, fighting. Janson recounted an episode involving a “brute in when an acquaintance “in a merry hour called him a human form named John Stanley” from North Carolina lubber, or a thick-skull, or a buckskin, or a Scotchman, who “sharpens his teeth with a file and boasts about his or perhaps one had mislaid the others hat, or knocked dependence upon them in a fight.” Another English traveler a peach out of his hand, or offered him a dram without Thomas Ashe provided a vivid account of an 1806 fight wiping the mouth of the bottle.” In Fithian’s view, these between a Virginian and a Kentuckian in which the former perceived slights and “ten thousand more quite as trifling has his nose bitten off yet somehow endured to win the and ridiculous are thought and accepted as just causes of fight when he took “the Kentuckian’s lower lip between his immediate quarrels.” teeth and ripped it down to his chin.”

Combatants were not obligated to fight in the Plucking out the eye of an opponent was such a rough and tumble style. Once a challenge had been issued, popular tactic that gouging was virtually synonymous with the participants could opt to “fight fair,” which generally the rough and tumble style. According to Isaac Weld, an implied some variation of the British boxing rules. The Irish tourist of North America in the late 18th century, social pressure emanating “the combatant twists his from the assembled crowds, forefingers into the side Plucking out the eye of an opponent however, almost invariably locks of his hair, and then was such a popular tactic that gouging pushed them toward applies his thumbs to the choosing to fight “no holds bottom of the eye to force was virtually synonymous with the barred.” To many people it out of the socket.” rough and tumble style. in these communities, “the Elliott Gorn argues that willingness to fight roughgouging was “the sine qua and-tumble, rather than in a ‘fair fight,’…revealed “the true non of rough and tumble fighting, much like the knockout grit of a man.” punch in modern boxing.” The popularity of gouging “was

Yet, rough and tumble fighting also meant fighting attested by the presence of numerous one-eyed men along alone. As Englishman Thomas Ashe observed, if the choice the Appalachian frontier.” According to Teddy Roosevelt, to fight rough and tumble were made, no outside actors a backwoods bully might threaten to “measure the length” were allowed “to intermeddle or hinder either combatant of an opponent’s “eye-strings” as the prelude to a fight. from tearing or rending the other on the ground, or in any An English explorer Thomas Anburey reported other situation.” meeting a Virginian who “kept the nails of both thumbs

Rough and tumble fighting was a brutal affair, as and second fingers very long and pointed” and “hardened it emphasized, in the words of Elliott Gorn, “maximum them every evening by candle” to “prevent their breaking Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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or splitting in the States of North the execution of America “what is his diabolical worse than all, these intentions” (349). wretches in their Taliaferro also noted combat endeavor that prospective to their utmost to combatants “would tear out each other’s keep their thumbtesticles.”

He nails oiled and claimed that “four trimmed as sharp or five instances as hawk’s claws.” came within my own When asked why observation, as I they did this, “they passed.” would reply, ‘To feel fur a feller’s eye-strings, and make The rough and tumble style extended beyond him tell the news.’” simply physical confrontation. Given how inflammatory

Gouging served the dual purpose of bringing an words could be in the instigation of these conflicts, it is end to the fight and providing the winner with a souvenir. probably not surprising that they were also essential to the Gorn recounted an episode in which a passerby commented ensuing scrapes. “The victor always bragged savagely of his to a beleaguered fighter that his appearance suggested that prowess, often leaping on a stump, crowing and flapping he had fared poorly in the bout. Pulling an eyeball from his arms” which was, in the view of Theodore Roosevelt, his pocket, the combatant, who was in fact triumphant, “a thoroughly American touch.” retorted “Have I?”

Rough and tumble fighting was concentrated in

The 19th century the south and the frontier T he C atholic C hurch , with its ideological serial publication Davy regions of Virginia, Crockett’s Almanack, hold over the growing immigrant population, North Carolina, Georgia, which was loosely based actively encouraged young people to learn the Kentucky and Tennessee. on the life of legendary “Virtually every foreign structured approach of English boxing. frontiersmen David and American traveler Crockett, often referenced the popularity of eyeballs as whose impressions have come down to us has made note souvenirs in frontier life. In an 1836 story titled “Crockett’s of the sharp rise in physical violence encountered south Aunt,” Crockett’s uncle gives his girlfriend a pair of eyes of the Potomac.” One observer even suggested that the that he had gouged out. “Crockett’s aunt dries them, further one moved from Virginia, the “more depraved” the hangs one in each ear and wears them to church” In people became. another story, a girl named Lotty Ritchers “carried twenty And fighting in this part of the country was eyes… that she had picked out of the heads of certain gals indeed ubiquitous. Ashe reported being told by one of his of her acquaintance. She always made them into a string American hosts “that few mornings appeared that did not of beads, when she went to church, and wore ‘em round bring to day a friend or acquaintance with the loss of an her neck.” eye, or the mutilation of half his features.” Weld claimed to have been told that in some parts of these states “every Gouging was not necessarily the most disquieting or third or fourth man appears with one eye.” painful strategy in the repertoire of the rough and tumble North Carolina was especially renowned for its combatant. As Isaac Weld, an Irish visitor to the Americas excellence in gouging. Tom Parramore, a North Carolina in the late 18th century observed in his Travels Through folklore historian, noted that many early Americans would 106

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have understood the meaning of the threat to “claw your eyes out like a Carolina gouger.” Visitors to the state were warned that “a North Carolinian cannot salute you without putting his finger in your eyes.”

North Carolinians were certainly aware, if not always proud, of their state’s reputation.

In a defense of the state in 1810, The Raleigh Star, a North Carolina newspaper, acknowledged fighting that “may sometimes have been conducted along what it called ‘unphilosophical lines’.”

A number of factors led to the popularity of “no holds barred” combat in backwoods colonial America.

According to Joseph Pecina, while the violence associated with this style was considered disreputable in the northern colonies, it “earned one honor and respect on the frontier because there, men were judged by their toughness, ferocity and brawling prowess.”

The origins of immigrant settlers also played a role. By the 18th century, many of the migrants that settled these regions came from the rural regions of England and northern Scotland. These settlers brought with them customs from their homeland that were readily adapted to their new environment. Theodore Roosevelt opined that “These fights were among the numerous backwoods habits that showed Scotch rather English ancestry.”

The southern culture of honor was another factor behind the popularity of rough and tumble fighting. In his essay “Legacy of Violence,” historian Edward Ayers argues that understanding the difference between a culture based on dignity and a culture based on honor can help explain the popularity of “no holds barred” fighting in the south.

The culture in most northern colonies was based

on the value of dignity, which Ayers describes as the belief that when they were born people “possessed an intrinsic value at least theoretically equal.” Dignity was essential to both the Puritan value system that predominated in the New England colonies in the 17th century and the middleclass commercial society that was emerging in American urban centers during the 18th century. According to Ayers, in a culture of dignity, “men were expected to remain deaf to the same insults that Southern men were expected to resent.”

In a culture of honor, however, “you have exactly as much worth as others confer upon you.” And Ayers argues that a society that “is preoccupied with the perceptions of others is also likely to be subject to extreme patterns of behavior.” In the southern culture of honor, particularly among the poorer settlers living on the edges of the x American frontier, “individual status was never permanently fixed, so men constantly sought to assert their prowess.”

The uncertainty of life on the frontier furthered this tendency. Folk historian Thomas Parramore argues that unrestrained nature of fighting compared to the rule-bound English style was the result of the “freedom of the new American milieu, together with the value placed by frontier life on physical strength and daring.”

People on the frontier were tough because they had to be and their behavior was, at times, extreme because their environment necessitated it. “Faced with dangerous hard labor, exploitation by wealthy men, poverty and hunger, rough-and-tumble fighting was symbolic of their lives.”

The oral culture that predominated in the southern and backwoods regions also shaped attitudes toward fighting.

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Literacy was not a priority in this region as it was neither essential for survival nor accessible to most residents of these more remote regions. When taught to read and write, individuals are socialized to distinguish words from actions. Words on a page represent an idea that may or may not conform to a given reality. In cultures that rely on oral traditions, however, “ideation and behavior remained closely linked.” An individual is known by their word and their word had to be defended at all costs. Any slander or humiliation that tarnished an individual’s honor threatened their sense of self. “By risking injury in a violent encounter, an affronted man - whether victorious or not“could restore his status and “validate anew his claim to honor.”

S l a v e culture also shaped and encouraged rough and tumble fighting in a variety of ways.

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themselves were responsible for some of the fighting traditions that developed in the south. In particular, slaves from West Africa brought a style of fighting that included kickboxing, head butting, and slapping that paralleledand indeed influenced- the rough and tumble tactics that characterized fighting in the backwoods of the American frontier.

Throughout the hierarchy of southern society, slavery encouraged violence and the preservation of honor.

The absence of recourse to the law forced slaves to settle conflicts among themselves. At the top of the hierarchy, the willful use of violence required to maintain the slave system encouraged the children of slaveholders to “indulge their passions” rather than learning to “govern their tempers.”

Perhaps most importantly, slave culture influenced the worldview of lower-class whites, the most frequent practitioners of the rough and tumble style. Gorn argues that “eye gouging was the poor and middling whites’ own version of a historical southern tendency to consider personal violence socially useful - indeed, ethically essential.” In a world with limited social mobility and lives hanging in the balance, rough and tumble fighting allowed these men “to shout their equality at each other” while removing “any stigma of servility”. The bravado and ferocity of gouging “proved a man’s freedom.”

At times, the political elite found themselves appalled by the unbridled violence of rough and tumble

fighting, particularly among the lower classes. The Presbyterian minister Janson claimed that the “lower class in this gouging, biting, kicking country are, perhaps, the most abject that ever peopled a Christian land.”

In 1746, North Carolina Governor Gabriel Johnston pleaded with the colonial legislature to regulate “the barbarous and inhuman manner of boxing which so much prevails among the lower sort of people” The assembly acquiesced in 1749 by making it a felony “to cut out the Tongue, or pull out the Eyes, of the King’s Liege People.” However, “the resourcefulness of boxers quickly outran the imagination of the law.” Consequently, in 1754, the legislature “added the slitting of noses, the biting or cutting off of a nose or lip, and the biting or cutting off of any limb or member to the list of felonious offenses.”

Virginia’s colonial statutes reveal similar difficulties with regulating the sport. In 1772, the House of Burgesses tried to strengthen the laws they had passed in the 1740s and 1750s by making it illegal “to wound, by gouging, plucking or putting out an eye, biting, kicking, or stamping upon any of his majesty’s subjects.”

But efforts to legislate against the rough and tumble fighting style did not prevent politics from provoking fights.

In Early Recollections of Washington City, 19th Century historian Christian Hines recounts a “rough and tumble fight” sparked by the 1800 election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Although each combatant managed to retain both eyes in their heads, one was nevertheless “blinded for life.”

Southern elites generally eschewed rough and tumble combat for the more refined score-settling custom of dueling. Yet, even they were not immune from the necessity of defending their honor in the “no-holds barred” style. One high-profile example involved Georgia Governor

and one-time US Senator James Jackson who had a longrunning political feud with the Savannah politician Robert Watkins. In the 1790s, their rivalry had resulted in a couple of physical confrontations involving them and their supporters. By 1802, however, they had apparently reached the conclusion that only a duel could settle their differences on a more permanent basis.

Nevertheless, when the weapons failed to discharge, the conflict degenerated into a gouging match in which Jackson was ultimately forced to bite off Watkins finger to save his eye.

By the middle of the 19th century rough and tumble fighting was on the decline. As firearms became more readily available, dueling replaced fighting as the preferred method of defending one’s honor. The abolition of slavery and the southern defeat in the Civil War also affected the cultural dynamic by removing factors that had facilitated the development of rough and tumble style.

The Catholic Church, with its ideological hold over the growing immigrant population, actively encouraged young people to learn the structured approach of English boxing. The first American boxing champion, John Sullivan, was, not surprisingly, and Irish Catholic.

X 106: Matthew Lyon & Roger Griswold of Connecticut 107: Bill Richmond from a portrait by Hillman 1812 TOP LEFT: The Bruiser Bruisd; Or, the Knowing-Ones

Taken-in - Louis Philippe Boitard, 1750 BOTTOM: Unknown Artist, 1742 TOP RIGHT: James Gillray 1788 Spring 2019 | Reliving History

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