Reliving History Summer 2018

Little Shops

of

Horror: Colonial Dentistry

Reliving History

Vol I Issue II

the average & extraordinary of the 18th century

Summer 2018

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78129

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Merchant Trade Cards Squirrels as Pets Fishing Colonial Waters

Reliving History Magazine - Summer 2018 $6.oo

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The Old Fort at Fort Wayne, Indiana 2018 Event Schedule

April 7: 13th Pennsylvania Regiment Drill 1777 Sat. 10am - 4pm

July 14-15: The Three Rivers Muster Sat. 10am - 6pm, Sun. 10am - 4pm

April 14: Montcalm & Wolfe: School of the Soldier Sat. 10am - 4pm

July 28-29: Colonial America 1775-1783 Sat. 10am - 6pm, Sun. 10am - 4pm

April 21: Early Modern Muster of Arms: Soldiers of Pike and Shot 1580 - 1610 Sat. 10am - 5pm

August 25-26: Post Miamies 1754-1763 Sat. 10am - 6pm, Sun. 10am - 4pm

May 4: Education Day For grades 4 & 5, Pre-registration required May 5-6: Muster on the St. Mary’s Sat. 10am - 6pm, Sun. 10am - 4pm June 9-10: Siege of Fort Wayne 1812 Sat. 10am - 6pm, Sun. 10am - 4pm

September 9: Be A Tourist in Your Own Hometown Sun. Noon - 5pm October 20: Fright Night Lantern Tours Sat. 6pm - 10pm, Tickets required November 24: A Christmas Open House Sat. 11am - 5pm

The grounds of the Old Fort are a city park, and you are welcome to explore them at any time.

During listed events, the buildings are also open to the public and tours are available.

For More Information: PO Box 12650 Fort Wayne, IN 46864 260-437-2836 events@oldfortwayne.org www.oldfortwayne.org

From the Desk of the

Reliving History

EDITOR ABBIE SAMSON DESIGNER CASEY SAMSON

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Dear Readers,

Editor

The launch of Reliving History has been an incredible journey. You have helped us get our vision off of the ground. Thank you for the calls, messages, and in person handshakes showing your support. Because of you we can continue our mission of bringing the overlooked parts of history back into the light.

We are frequently asked if we worry about running out of topics. The quick answer is a firm no. There are so many people with a passion for history and each of them has their own interest. I know many of us have thought, “how did they...” or “I wonder if…” and those are the questions that spur research that turns into the articles in Reliving History.

It will continue to be an important part of these issues to share the stories of unsung heroes like Peggy Warne A synopsis of whose controversial legacy is included here.

It is up to you to decide if the fit is average or extraordinary.

I am grateful to Jeff Spanbauer who worked with us to include a section of his primary research surrounding 18th century gunflints. I have no doubt that his work will change the appreciation we have for an item so common, its complex story is often overlooked.

For those interested in writing and sharing their unique passion, the writer guidelines are included the back of this issue. It is an honor to have such accomplished and enthusiastic persons reach out and want to share in the publication. I consider it a huge compliment that people want to be a part of Reliving History.

In conclusion, I hope you continue to enjoy and learn from the work provided here.

There is so much about the collective past that we have yet to consider that all contributed to our world as we know it today.

Thank you for sharing in this adventure with us,

Abbie Samson Editor

Summer

2018

Contents Fishing Colonial Waters Aunt Peggy 18th Century Laundress Needlework A Spark & Ignition Salem Massachusetts Artisan Highlight One Lump or Two Everyone Loves a Parade Unsheathing the Past Sleep Tight, Sweet Dreams Little Shops of Horror Trade Cards Squirrels as Pets

6 10 12 16 20 26 30 38 44 48 54 58 64 68

All of the sources and primary documentation for the articles in our publication are listed in appearance order on page 74. If you have any questions about these sources or accessing them, please contact us directly at: 317.688.1038

58 The blacksmith “dentist” typically engaged in “[m]ere tooth pulling requiring manual dexterity and muscular strength without anatomical knowledge or surgical skill…”

On The Cover

“Not On My Land” Geoffrey Harding

Surveying in the 18th century on the eastern frontier could be a dangerous and risky profession not a place for those unfamiliar with the hazards and hardships encountered in the wilds of the eastern frontier. Most of the early surveyors were usually frontiersmen, a hardy group of men who felt at home in the wilderness and were familiar with the lay of the land and the native people who lived within. Early encounters with the local natives were most of the time friendly, but as time went on and the colonist began to encroach on native land without permission surveyors were not a welcome site especially if there were boundaries drawn up in treaties and they were trespassing on native land. In the painting “Not On My Land” surveyors are approached by Seneca warriors, and its obvious there not pleased with there presence, particularly the man being pointed at, as this was considered a rude gesture in native culture and its evident by the Seneca warriors body language and gestures that this has become an impolite moment.

Original available; Oil on linen 32X42

38 A steel, silver, or cast-iron tool called sugar nippers made with opposing blades were used to crack into the hard loaves of refined sugar before being pounded into a fine powder using a mortar and pestle and sifted.

20 Archaeologically, both military and civilian sites across the North American colonies yield gunflints, and archaeologists continue to wrestle with the issue of dating and sourcing these gunflints.

48 The sword has long represented honor and ferocity in battle as it required skill in close hand to hand combat.

12 Urine, from both humans and animals was often used as a form of stain remover, similar to bleach as it was an easily accessible source of whitening chemicals. The ammonia content also served to soften the cloth.

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John and Elizabeth Jereys and Their Children by William Hogarth c. 1730

Fishing Colonial Waters by: David Fahrenholz

T

he history of fishing can be traced from ancient times as a source of food then to a gentleman’s hobby and now has evolved into a sport and an industry. In Colonial America fishing was also a pastime but its history also changed as the colonists struggled to survive.

Fishing was not initially considered a viable way to feed the newly transplanted and growing colonial families. When the early settlers started to arrive in the eastern region of the colonies they were looking for precious metals and gold as a means to support themselves. When they failed to find any, they began to farm. The soil for farming was found to be rich in the river valley basin areas and quite rocky and sandy in other places. These rocky and sandy soils made for difficult growing conditions. In a further complication growing seasons were also shorter than expected. As crop conditions continued to struggle colonists turned to hunting. Early colonial hunting proved to be successful. The early deer population would run in herds numbering in the hundreds as well as turkey flocks of a hundred. Early wild turkeys averaged twenty to thirty pounds and some were reported as large as sixty pounds.

The large deer herds were frequently herded into traps by setting brushfires and then killed by the hundreds for the hides as these were more valuable. Turkeys were so plentiful that prices stayed quite low and carcasses were left to rot.

Eventually this surplus of wildlife began to change as the deer started to move west, north and to higher elevations.

Turkeys started to migrate west as well. Population growth began to strain the meat supply as well.

The advent of increased fishing, beyond the occasional use for food, began during this somewhat leaner period.

As colonists turned to the water for food they had to develop methods to catch the wide variety of fish. Early attempts at fishing for the colonists involved spear fishing and using handmade nets. The use of bone topped spears for fishing was easy due to the availability of branches from local trees. Spear fishing did have disadvantages though.

The fish can be spooked by shadows above them and the person fishing must constantly be on the lookout for schools or individual fish to spear. In addition, spears can be lost unless you tied it to your person. The natural progression from spears was to fishing poles. These were crafted from split willow, cane, ash, hickory and maple Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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saplings. String or twine was attached at a fixed point and then hooks made from small bird bones were added.

There were a variety of lures used and they ranged from live bait, which was sometimes difficult to get, to carved wooden types stained red with berries or roots. Fish traps made with aspen twigs were also used and this method was introduced by the Native Americans to the colonists.

As fishing expanded the colonists found a bewildering variety of fish available to them. Inland fresh waterways offered trout, bass and perch. For residents closer to the ocean mackerel, herring, halibut, hake and cod were available in bays, river inlets and at the shore line. At one time it was estimated to be over two hundred varieties of fish in the New England area alone. Fish were so plentiful that you could catch fish by hands, scoop them out of the water in frying pans and pickup dead fish recently killed by horses crossing streams. Despite an abundance of fish some residents near the ocean were staving off starvation by eating the endless oysters that could be found. Many of these early settlers were still poorly equipped to fish.

Atlantic Salmon & Allis Shad by the River Wye by Arthur Devis c. 1772

Atlantic Salmon were an extremely common catch on the coast. In the background is a net hung upon a branch.

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Oysters at this time were normally twelve to thirteen inches and were frequently roasted over a fire and put into stews. In later years the smaller oysters were caught in large quantities, pickled in small barrels and sold to Barbados. This practice of oyster harvesting is still quite

The lobsters in this period weighed an average of twenty-two pounds. common today. There were other varieties of water foods to be had and the more common were water terrapin and lobsters. Water terrapins, while more difficult to catch were considered delicious and a great treat for soups by colonists. Lobsters were abundant and were captured along a large section of the eastern coastline from Maine on down.

The lobster cages used to catch them were fashioned from driftwood and hand-woven nets. They were so numerous that it was easy enough for anyone to catch them including children. The lobsters in this period were normally one foot or longer and six inches or more in girth. They weighed an average of twenty-two pounds. This size could feed four men easily. There were also numerous reports of lobsters measuring six feet or longer. These were most likely older examples having survived due to the lack of trapping according to an early settler named “Eddis” writing in their letters home.

The commercial act of fishing also started around this same period and the most prevalent merchants were the experienced English fishing ships who came over in early spring and then returned to England in mid-summer. The local fishers who hoped to ply their trade commercially were not as experienced and ill equipped and struggled to keep up at first. The fish were plentiful though and this allowed them time to refine their skills. These commercial fishers used nets, cod hooks, mackerel-hooks, herring-nets, seines and even shark-hooks. The most common fish eaten, sold and traded was the cod and much like today was a hearty thriving species resistant to harvesting on a normal scale. There were categories of Cod caught and sold.

These three categories were marchantable, middling and refuse. The “merchantable” was primarily sold to Roman Catholics in Europe for fasting purposes

during religious holidays. The second, “middling”, was consumed in colonial homes and on the ships. The third type, “refuse”, was also called “Jamaica Fish” as it was sold there in large quantities. The sheer amount of cod allowed colonists to prepare and salt the fish which and to keep it for a much longer time than normal. This was an important advance in food preparation as it allowed for food storage in a time when food hygiene was questionable at best.

higher quality oils extracted from the flesh. The prices for whale varied greatly and ranged from sixty cents for common whales and up to $1.77 per gallon for the Sperm whale.

The practicality of fishing for survival gradually split off into an important and vital commercial industry and casual fishing. Collectors today treasure early fishing gear such as hand carved wooden lures and plugs, handmade hooks, bait buckets and woven wicker creels owned by the genteel set of colonial society. While these early settlers were initially not as skilled as their English counterparts they quickly overtook them in the commercial market. After the revolutionary war and in the years that followed the commercial fishing industry became highly efficient and by the late 1700’s they were over harvesting the cod and other native species to near extinction. Currently these same efficiencies threatens fishing as commercial fisheries face tightened regulations Causal and sport fishers also deal with catch limits and seasonal restrictions as conservation efforts attempt to allow fishing to remain a viable way of life.

While cod remained a staple another highly prized fish was the Sturgeon which grew to twelve feet in the teeming ocean waters. Two species of fish that were not well thought of were the salmon and the shad. In fact, in the early years of the colonies shad was fed only to laborers and roaming hogs and salmon sold for as little 15 cents a pound in current monies. The consumption and reputation of shad and salmon barely grew until after the revolutionary war.

After the war they began to become more desirable and early rivers and streams were bulging to the point that fishers were nearly guaranteed a large haul. As important as fishing had become the colonists considered it to be a male only role. Colonists and Native Americans women were expected to farm and care for the children among many other duties, but no records exist of prominent female participation.

A smaller but still important segment of the early fishing industry was the practice of whaling. Native Americans would use the bones, flesh and oil of whales carcasses that would wash up on the beaches.

When the colonists arrived, they worked with the local Natives to catch and harvest whales as well but on much smaller scale in the beginning than what was seen in later years. Whale oil was valuable commodity for the European market.

It was used in a variety of ways ranging from oil for lamps to lubrication for George Washington’s Pocket Fishing Set. components. The Sperm whale would command This fishing set may be the “Fishing Case for the Pocket - properly furnished with Line” that Washington ordered from London in 1762. This set contains hand forged hooks, horsehair and higher prices due to the silk fishing lines, and wax for waxing the fishing lines.

Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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Aunt Peggy

In Memory Of Peggy Warne October 10 1746 - October 1840 Erected By Peggy Warne Chapter Daughters Of The American Revolution

O

ne of the endearing spirits of colonial times is the no nonsense, pragmatic approach to taking care of matters. One of the many examples of this is Margrietje, aka Margaret, or ”Peggy,” Vliet Warne.

Peggy’s reputation for adopting a roll usually reserved for men is what made her, and so many other women’s, strength of character one for notoriety. One important question is how much of it is legend and how much is fact? Another, would be how much of that matters?

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by: Jeffrey John Williamson

Peggy was born in 1751 (not 1746 as recorded on her monument) in Six Mile Run, now Franklin Township, Somerset, N.J. Six Mile Run was heavily populated by Dutch families who founded the first church there in 1703.

The Vliets were among the oldest immigrants having arrived from Holland to Flatbush, Long Island N.Y. in the previous century. Peggy’s parents, Daniel and Geertje “Charity” Springsteen shortly after moved to Jugtown in Bethlehem Township, what is now West Portal, Hunterdon, N.J.

Peggy was the only daughter of their eight surviving children. In 1775 Peggy married Joseph Warne, son of a family well established in New Jersey. The two set up farming in a part of the expansive community of Mansfield Woodhouse adjacent to land owned by Joseph’s father and brothers, in what is now Broadway, Warren, N.J. Shortly thereafter the Revolution started. While no battles were fought in Warren (then part of Sussex) County, there was the odd logistical action as Patriot forces moved about the country protecting nearby Oxford Furnace. It is not known if Joseph served in the Continental Army or the militia, but three of his brothers did. Peggy’s father and several brothers also served in the Patriot cause (Captain Daniel Vliet, D.A.R.), in General William Maxwell’s NJ Regiment. This illustrates the fact that many local men were absent for considerable periods of time. It is here that the legend of Peggy Warne began.

Margaret Vliet Warne is credited with being the first doctor of what is now the town of Broadway. While never formally educated, her career as a midwife and general physician was borne out of the Revolution while many certified doctors were off serving one or both sides of the war. In his book History of Warren and Hunterdon Counties, John Snell recorded that she “…not only practiced in her own neighborhood, but kept a horse night and day and rode into the surrounding countryside … undeterred by rain, hail or drifting snow… her saddlebags full of herbs….” (Snell, p. 504). “Aunt Peggy,” as she came to be known locally, was an angel of mercy during a difficult time in the region.

From this, Aunt Peggy’s reputation for helping the ill extended to tending wounded or sick soldiers. Again, while no military action took place around her area of operations, it is possible she tended soldiers on leave or on the occasion troop movements passed through. Nevertheless, her reputation locally became embroidered into being a Clara Barton of the Revolutionary War. In 1890, fifty years after her death, the Warren County Medical Society referred to her as, note a midwife but an obstetrician – though not a doctor. (DAR Magazine, Nov 1962, p 690) This must be taken in light of the fact that this was 30 years before women were recognized the equality to vote, so this was in fact an important honor. Further honor was bestowed

upon Peggy Warne when a Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter opened in her name in 1915. Among their first public acts was to put a stone monument with bronze plaque upon her grave site in Mansfield Woodhouse Cemetery, now Washington, Warren County, N.J.

While done with great fanfare in conjunction of the DAR Chapter, the Church that then operated the cemetery and members of the local community, the plaque was quickly discovered to have one error: Peggy’s birth date was recorded October 10th, 1746, five years earlier than her church records. Undeterred, the Chapter fifty years later placed a similar plaque on a stone shed, the sole surviving structure of the Warne farmstead, in nearby Broadway.

Whether or not Peggy Warne tended to soldiers has become a debate. The DAR has since removed her status as a “patriot” because her role during the Revolution came under scrutiny. Errors of her birth date and local legends of her tending to soldiers dismissed as family stories further undermine her as any sort of hero of the Revolution.

This is a disservice to both her and many women who stayed behind during the Revolution. It is possible that in 1881 Snell used local legends to embellish Peggy Warne’s service to the War effort, but as doctors did not regularly deal with pregnancies at that time (to say nothing of being rare in the first place), it fell to midwives to tend to pregnancies – and virtually every other medical need – in the area. There is no evidence to bring Peggy’s role in that function into question. Quite the opposite, in fact.

What we do know is that Peggy and Joseph had nine children, the first born in 1778. Joseph died in 1798, and shortly after Peggy married his brother Elisha. In 1840, Peggy passed away at the age of 89 and was buried in Mansfield Woodhouse Cemetery where her DAR monument now marks the site. What she did during the War and after was enough to establish her as an important hero of the community, if not the Revolution. To that end she does deserve remembrance, both for herself and every woman who did what needed doing. While she may have lost the title Patriot, she well deserves the monikers wife, mother, doctor, and yes to her contemporaries, even hero.

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The Laundress by Jean-SimĂŠon Chardin, 1730s

The 18 Century Laundress th

by: CL McLaughlin

I

n modern America we consider the act of doing laundry a tedious and unavoidable chore; however our modern methods of doing laundry would seem surreal to those living in the 18th century, where laundry was a lengthy and wearisome endeavor. Where we in modern society complain about folding and drying our clothes, laundry in the 18th century was a labor intensive and time consuming production that not only involved hours of back breaking work, but also the use of large amounts of resources, such as firewood, soap and water. Although laundry and the act of doing laundry was tedious and time consuming, it also helped to establish a role for women in the labor structure of colonial America. As doing laundry was a chore to the wealthy, many women found work and a purpose by taking on this task for their employers. Laundresses in almost all cases were women, apart from workers who were laundering cloth for manufacturing purposes. This designation gave women an opportunity to distinguish themselves as skilled and valuable workers in a society that had few regular opportunities for a woman to be classified as skilled laborers.

It comes as no surprise to see how tedious the work of a laundress was in the 18th century, as colonial America is often associated with a physically demanding lifestyle. Daily tasks often required people to get up early in the morning, and work long hours until the task was complete. The rich however were afforded the luxury of hiring help such as Laundresses to do these backbreaking tasks for them.

For the average colonial servant, days often began as early as 5:30 in order to take advantage of the day light hours, especially in the winter months. The average hired laundress would need to wake up

even earlier to begin her daily tasks either in her own home or at the home of her employer. Susanna Whatman, a wealthy European aristocrat, wrote a detailed account of what she perceived the perfect laundress to be in her guide “ The Housekeeping book of Susanna Whatman 1766-1800� this became the standard of etiquette for servants, including Laundresses in 18th century colonial America.

In her account, Susanna Whatman asserts that an accomplished Laundress must begin her task early often rising before the sun at around 4:30 am. Due to the tedious nature of laundering, Whatman claims that laundresses would often choose Monday to complete this task, as Sunday was often the largest dinner day for the household, and there would often be leftovers. This allowed the cooks of the household to be free to assist in the laborious task of preparing the linens of the home for laundering and it would allow kitchen space to be freed to accommodate this endeavor.

On the day that laundry was to take place, Laundresses would often rise at 4:30 or earlier to gather the necessary fire wood for this task.

On average, for a large home, cooks and kitchen staff would require 30 large logs of wood to prepare three daily meals. In comparison, a laundress would need to triple that number and collect 50-60 large pieces of wood to maintain enough heat to wash the clothing efficiently. With a weight of approximately 5 pounds per log, a laundress would need to carry 150-200 pounds of wood to get a fire suitable for laundering. Once the firewood was prepared a laundress would then be required to gather fresh, clean water from a well or a stream. The water needed to be carried by bucket and by hand Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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from the water source to the house. Often a laundress would carry 5 gallons of water per trip. With the average copper vessel holding approximately 30 gallons of water, a laundress would need to make 6 trips to the well per load of laundry. On top of the 30 gallons for the laundry itself, Laundresses also needed an additional 10 gallons of fresh water to rinse the clothes once the washing process was complete. As laundresses were considered skilled workers in the 18th century, this task of bringing water to and from the well was sometimes preformed by household children or slaves, as it was thought a waste of time for a skilled worker to be tasked with running back and forth the from the house to the water supply.

Once the appropriate amount of water was gathered it would be added to a large copper pot over the fire. This pot could serve multiple purposes in the household, such as preparing bath water, making food and brewing beer. Despite its various uses, on laundry day, water would be boiled in the pot and laundry would be added to the boiling water.

might save their laundresses this task by providing them with a box mangle, which consisted of a frame and large rollers in which the laundry was laid flat and manipulated until it was wrung enough to be laid by the fire or hung on a line. Although box mangles were useful to the laundry process, they were large, cumbersome and expensive and therefore a luxury item rarely seen outside of commercial operations or homes belonging to the elite of colonial society. Often, a laundress would be required to wring the clothes by hand and leave them to dry. If the clothing needed to be dried quickly they could be hung on racks by the fire, although this was not the preferred method as it would take up space in an already cramped kitchen.

If the stains were stubborn, and could not be removed in the first few steps La Blanchisseuse by Jean-Baptiste Greuze of the laundering Laundry often consisted of three process, there were After being processed in the copper pot, articles of clothing separate steps, with a designated often remedies used by were individually lifted from the copper pot and placed into vessel per each step to keep a laundresses to remove warm water with lye soap to rid the articles of clothing of continuous cycle. The first step the impurities. Lemon any foul smells and remove stubborn spots. Often it took would be to add the clothing juice was often used to to the boiling copper pot. This rid the clothing of juice two laundresses to wring the fabric by hand. would clean the clothes and rid and blood stains; brick them off most of their stains and dust was often used to dirt. Laundry was stirred in this copper pot by a bat or a wooden remove grease stains. Urine, from both humans and animals was paddle for about 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes was complete, often used as a form of stain remover, similar to bleach as it was an articles of clothing were individually lifted from the copper pot and easily accessible source of whitening chemicals. The ammonia content placed into warm water with lye soap to rid the articles of clothing of also served to soften the cloth. Laundresses also paid special attention any foul smells and remove stubborn spots. If a spot was especially to keeping white clothes bright and vibrant for longer periods of stubborn the laundress would remove the clothing from the pot and time. Often during the white laundry loads “bucking� was used to scrub the cloth on a scrub board with strong lye soap until the stains bleach whites in order to maintain their vibrancy. This involved white were lifted. Once the stains were removed and the clothing smelled clothing being soaked in lye soap, sometimes for weeks and then fresh it was rinse in a separate vat of cold water to remove any soap laid on the grass to dry. The chlorophyll in the grass assisted in the or dirt, before being dried. Often it took two laundresses to wring whitening and brightening process. Additionally, leaving items out in the fabric by hand. If their employers were especially wealthy, they the sun was incredibly effecting in returning white linens and garments 14

Reliving History | Summer 2018

to their desired brightness. Though this could cause issues with fading colored garments, as the strong sunlight can bleach natural dyes if the garment is left out to long.

Another method of bucking used in colonial America was the use of sugar cone wrappers to dye and whiten fabrics. Often the blue paper that covered sugar cones would be used in order to stain and dye the cloth blue, however it has been noted that the paper could also be added to whites for a “bluing” process that would brighten the white clothing. This bluing process would remove the need for traditional, harsher bucking and cut down significantly on the time it took for a laundress to brighten the whites. Bluing is a common practice in whitening clothing and is still used by many today as a means to whiten clothing without harsh chemicals.

Although bucking was popular in pre and early 18th century washing, it quickly fell out of favor as it took up large amounts of space and resources, in addition to the fact that the process was time consuming. Bucking fully fell out of favor in the late 1700’s when chlorine was discovered to be a faster and more effective form of bleaching and whitening clothing. By the turn of the century chlorine became the more popular alternative to whitening due to its effectiveness and ability to save the laundress a lot of time, especially as she needed to complete the other loads of laundry on top of the whitening process. Laundry, even apart from whitening, took hours to finish a single load. Requiring two to three loads in a single day. This process was exhausting for the laundress and those assigned to assist her in her duties. role in the larger economy by taking on a task that was vital to common colonial American life, Laundresses hired by Harvard University but an inconvenience for the wealthy within colonial society. In fact, were not classified as “servants” by the laundresses were respected and honored in their communities. In art, laundresses were often depicted as pristine and pure individuals, a University, but rather “employees.” distinction that set them apart from other female laborers in colonial Once the items were completely washed and dried a laundress would society, as shown in the below painting. Laundresses were not only a examine to see if the items needed to be pressed or ironed. Wealthier staple of the upper class colonial society but also a representation of households would have had specially shaped irons for a variety of purity and colonial values. different tasks, which was a luxury in the 18th century. Upper and middle class households were more likely to have a simple sadiron According to records kept by Harvard University, laundresses hired or a linen press. The sadiron is a simple solid piece of iron similar there were not classified as “servants” by the University, but rather in shape to the modern appliances we use today. It was suggested to they were classified as “employees.” This designation went a long way have two irons, so one could be being heated on the fire. The most in distinguishing the importance of this skill to colonial America common way to check the temperature of the sadiron was to spit and the growing identity of female labor in 18th century society. A on it and make sure it had the proper sizzle. The linen press was colonial laundress therefore not only played a key role in colonial comprised of two wooden boards and the items were pressed between American life, but also paved the way for the future of women in the to remove wrinkles. This would complete the laundering process work force. until the next laundry day in which the process would begin again.

Although a laundress’s work was undoubtedly back breaking and labor intensive, it also offered women a unique opportunity to be presented as a skilled worker in colonial America. Women began to play a key Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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Needlework The Essence of Colonial America by: Megan Quebedeaux

T

he concept of sewing samplers dates back to ancient Egypt. Throughout history, insights on everything from personal information like birth dates, to religion, marriage and courting could be found in the decorative threads of sewing samplers. The social status and family background of a woman could be found in the way she stitched in the eighteenth century. A delicate and detailed piece of displayed in the entrance of a home or presented to a suitor for everything needed to know about a young woman and her values.

Throughout the eighteenth century, the average adolescent girl was given little formal education, as education was a commodity for mainly the wealthy. If formal education were available to the middle class child, often times it was through a Dame School. At these schools both the

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boys and girls received a very basic elementary education including needlework. Though it is less common, some young boys also created simple samplers in attendance at a local Dame School. This sampler sometimes completed by both sexes was called a marking sampler and consisted of their alphabet and numbers.

Boys were more likely to be given continued lessons in typical subjects like reading, writing, and arithmetic beyond this basic education. The girls went on to be taught the basics of maintaining the home and other areas deemed appropriate for females such as etiquette, music, and other arts. Women of the colonial period were raised to with the ultimate goal that she would marry well and properly manage the home and children.

The second sampler for young girls would be much more intricate than the first. If the girl was lucky enough and her family could afford further education, she would create a sampler that would show off this formal knowledge and training. For example, these may contain verses in French, Latin, Italian, etc. There was more choice and creativity involved in the design of this second piece. Here we find clues to individual personalities and artwork that conveys the values and interests of the artist or her family. We find examples today that are heavily embellished with images depicting everything from the everyday grind of farm life, to images of common stories or fables and not including any verbiage at all.

A sampler created in 1793 by Mary Hearn of Nantucket.

These depictions were a representation of a young girl and (NARA, Records of the Veterans Administration, RG 15) what she and her family believed as well as their station in life, and sometimes their political allegiance. Examples Also, she will not be forgotten, because she has patiently exist with patriotic prose and royal figures alike. It also created this work that can outlive her: showed a suitor what he could potentially be gaining out of the marriage. The hope being a capable and pious wife.

Martha Earl is my/ name To this effect we find many existing samplers that display Hackensack is/ my station biblical quotes. Many are adorned with the Lord’s Prayer, Heaven/ is my dwelling/ or popular psalms regarding piety. That demonstrated the And Christ is my [sal/v]ation virtue of the girl and her value for family and God. Some When I [am] dead in my grav/ samplers even spoke about death and mortality. This was -e and all my bones/ are rotten not necessarily considered morbid, but acknowledged that For/ this you sea remem/ber me there was an end and that life should be treated as God That I are/ not forgottin/ would want it. On several occasions we find samplers She was born August/ 1 AD 1781 being done in memory of a passed loved one.

ABCDEFGHI A young girl’s sampler was a great symbol of achievement for her family and their dedication to the education of their child, along with their appreciation of art and culture.

These second samplers could often be found in the home, in view of guests, as a decorative piece, showing off the skills of the women and wealth of the family. This was particularly useful when the young woman was of marrying age and courting suitors and their families.

Mary Hearn’s sampler in 1793 shows the appreciation for a higher being. It shows what is important to her, in showing that she knows she will die at some point, and that through being faithful to God, she will be in heaven.

Girls with such skills were considered quite a prize by the young bachelors of the colonies, as it represented a well off financial familial status, religious piety, education, and additional qualities of a future homemaker. This was all important when considering a future wife as women would keep track of all clothing, bed and dinner table linens. Though their time would be dedicated to the daily tasks and their needlework spent on mending and making clothes and linens for the home, we still find examples on these daily items of the embroidery skills being used to add monograms and personal family touches to said items. The most popular item found ornately decorated after a woman was married are bed coverings. If a woman Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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had time and a particular talent, there are records of embroidered home goods being hired out in exchange for goods or money.

These samplers are now used as documentation of a particular persons existence in the past. Not only do they represent a history, but they are used as documentation of a woman’s existence, birth, marriage, and geographical data.

of her entire family and included dates for the marriage of her parents. Asenath Goodale submitted this to the military as proof marriage and was given a pension after the death of her husband for his service in the war.

Many examples can now be found in the National Museum of American History. When looking through them the themes of piety, family, and even death are the most prevalent. Molley Russell has a beautifully detailed pattern in the collection. With such a detailed stitch, it is evident that Molley had a great education. Her father was a wealthy shipbuilder, known by many. Molley married a captain in the army in 1785, nine years after creating this sampler. The sampler shows a detailed border with flowers stretching from it. There is a line of birds, sheep, and goats, showing great dedication to detail, along with the bottom showing two men intricately stitched. The verbiage of Molley’s sampler shows a deep faith in God’s love and his ability to give hope. The sampler is a text book depiction of what can be seen in pieces across the board from the eighteenth century. The piece is embroidered with the following inscription: When Stern Affliction Waves her Rod My heart Confids in the my God When Nature Shrinks Oppresd with woes E en then in thee she finds Repose Affliction flyes and hope returns Her Lamp with brighter Splendor burns Gay Love with all his Chearful Train And Joy And peace are here again Molley Ruff[ss]ell Ad 12 1776

In some cases we can track familial lines through these textiles. Though this is of great value to historians, the concept of these pieces being used as a form of proof of facts is not new. During the Revolutionary War there are instances of needlework being provided as proof of marriage when women were left widowed. For example, Laura Goodale, who was the daughter of Chester and Asenath Goodale, stitched a sampler with the birth dates 18

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Sewing samplers provide a window into a time of patience, virtue, and the importance of family. The time, skill, and individuality that the sewer put in all give us insights into the person and the family they came from. They have long been more than just small decorations and are a historical resource used both then and now as documentation of meaningful life events. Often, one of these carefully stitched pieces is the only evidence we have of the life of the common person.

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A Spark

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Ignition:

The Logistics of Supplying Gunflints on the American Frontier of the th th 17 and 18 Century

by: Jeffrey A. Spanbauer

T

echnological innovations in military weaponry in the mid-fifteenth century introduced more widespread use of matchlock muskets to European infantries and navies, and soon gave way to a more reliable sparking mechanism in the form of the snaphance of the very early seventeenth century. This device created the spark when a small shaped stone of flint hit a case-hardened steel frizzen. From the snaphance would come the well-known flintlock musket by the first half of the seventeen century, with both British and French militaries adopting its use as they imported these firearms from the Dutch and Lowland manufactures and exporters.

With these early muskets also began a quest to improve the spark array, as well as the reliability of sparking, from these gunflints, and this inspired some experimentation both in terms of the shapes and sources of the flints themselves, especially as the many conflicts which occurred upon the European continent caused shifts in suppliers and manufacturing centers. From chip, or do it yourself, style to the gunspall, manufactures would eventually settle upon the blade style of gunflint in the hopes of improving efficiency of design.

While the British would maintain trade networks throughout the seventeenth century in order to obtain French styled flints, not only the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries would they begin to mass produce their own styles, utilizing their own source flint. Colonial demands and colonial conflicts would necessitate this.

Archaeologically, both military and civilian sites across the North American colonies yield gunflints,

and archaeologists continue to wrestle with the issue of dating and sourcing these gunflints. Particularly since the late 1960s, attempts have been made to differentiate between the nations of manufacturing and the origin source of the lithic material. In most cases, the examination of gunflints have focused upon the morphological characteristics, most specifically, the shape and color of the stone, and the utilization of that as the linkage point between the gunflints and a particular nation or chronological point.

With this information, the gunflints offer some corroborating evidence for a chronology of the site or location. Most authors and scholars have also concluded that the British and colonials preferred French flints when given the option. However, little discussion of these sites or studies has involved the logistics, the network of trade and military supply, of colonial military fortifications and sites.

In my recent M.S. thesis, “Sparks Fly:� Connecting Midwestern Forts Through a Comparative Study of Gunflints, I sought to address some of these issues of logistics, supply, and morphological components by examining the gunflints of four contemporaneous interior forts of the Midwest, occupied between 1683 and 1779.

The forts of Michilimackinac, St. Joseph, Ouiatenon, and de Chartres all saw periods of both French and British occupation, and spanned an area from the northern tip of Michigan to southern Illinois, providing a variety of military occupations, and illustrating the difficulties associated with organization and logistical supply upon the frontier. These issues are reflected within the gunflint assemblages excavated from these sites. When questioning the issue of preference of gunflint style, or the desirability of particular nations in obtaining particular styles, colors, or types of gunflints, an examination should also include the practicality of obtaining such goods while being stationed or living in the deep interior of the North American colonies. Similarly, any discussion of Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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assemblages should consider the influence of political-economic and Emery further conclude, without primary source corroboration, events upon the trade and logistical patterns of the British, French, that the British there obviously utilized French flakes and spalls Spanish, and later, Americans. when possible as a result of this skewed assemblage. Yet, these same authors, like many others, argue for the clear advantages of During the late 17th and throughout the 18th centuries, a series blade style gunflints, that the cock jaws hold the gunflint tighter of global conflicts would clearly have hindered and influenced the as a result, as opposed to the domed gunspall. If this is the case, availability of different types of gunflints within the North American how can we explain the overwhelming number of spalls to blades? interior. These many wars would involve Britain and France, their Here, global events enter into the logistical picture. The French had colonial militias, and indigenous allies. These clashes would range ceded their North American territories to the British in 1763, with from King William’s War (1688-1697), Queen Anne’s War/War of the Treaty of Paris. From this point, some French citizens remained Spanish Succession (1702-1713), the War of the Quadruple Alliance in their previous habitations, at places like Fort Michilimackinac, (1718-1720), the War of Jenkin’s Ear (against Spain, 1739-1742), while the majority fled or were removed to Spanish territories west the War of Austrian Succession (1742-1748), the Seven Years War/ of the Mississippi. The French had innovated the blade (flake) to French & Indian War (1754-1763), Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763-1766), replace gunspalls as early as 1663, but the French military would not to the American Revolution (1775-1783). Clearly, transporting and standardize its use until the 1730s. As a result, spall gunflints would supplying interior garrisons with gunflints, as well as other trade and find decades of use, especially in places like the colonies, and would military goods, would be hampered by naval blockades, disruptions outnumber blades in the archaeological assemblages. Whether blades in manufacturing and supply, and transportation along the frontier. at this early point remained expensive, or some doubted their utility, or perhaps continued in short supply outside of France, gunspalls Economic issues would similarly have impacted the ability of would be shipped by the barrel to these interior forts. colonists, their militia, and regular troops to obtain much-needed gunflints. These disruptions caused by trade, embargoes, and regular French traders still occupied houses within these interior forts of logistical difficulties would have affected supplies at these interior Michilimackinac, St. Joseph (French controlled, 1691-1763), and sites. Prior to the French and Indian War, for example, the British Ouiatenon (1717-1761), despite the British takeover, but at Fort de had controlled their North American colonies through a policy Chartres (1720-1763), the British removed the French inhabitants of negligent enforcement (salutary neglect) of their laws and tax from the fort. As a result, the assemblages of artifacts could yield collection. As a related effect, there existed very little in the way of small, but noticeable differences. With French traders in the forts, significant, professional military force within the colonies. Colonial the British may easily have seen an advantage in buying from them, or militias provided the defense of these lands. After this conflict, in buying blade gunflints from them (more particularly as they would however, the British government reversed their position, restricted the not develop this style themselves until about the Revolutionary War), availability of French trade goods within the colonies, and enforced or perhaps bought French gunspalls simply due to the quantities and stringent importation rules. Similarly, the imposition of specific taxes costs available to them. Documents demonstrate that the British such as the Stamp Act (1765) and the Revenue Act (1767) would Indian agents at Fort de Chartres routinely purchased supplies, result in boycotts and non-importation agreements by American including gunflints, from the local traders, and there is no reason colonists. These protests would have impacted trade as well as the to suspect that those in the other forts did things otherwise. The availability of trade goods for sale within the colonies. General difference, however, is that only a British trading company existed Thomas Gage, commanding the British troops in the colonies, would within the wall of Fort de Chartres, supplied through Philadelphia, complain to the Secretary of War about the colonial responses with while at the other fortifications, several French civilian traders and “There is nothing new to inform your Lordship of about Importation; groups lived and profited from their proximity.

Committees of Merchants continue to exercise the Government they have set up, to prohibit the Importation of British Goods…and In three of the four sites examined, the British occupied the enforce their Prohibitions by coerceive Measures.” These boycotts, fortifications for a relatively short time, abandoning them to affecting supplies and availability, demonstrated the ability of colonists the Americans or demolishing them during, or shortly after, the to impact politico-economic events, and this interference would lasted Revolutionary War. American troops never actually occupied these throughout the British tenure of these interior forts. sites. Thus, the artifacts found should demonstrate the accessibility of British goods and/or French gunflints, both spall and blade, and Examining archaeological assemblages, then, could demonstrate the present a unique snapshot of this time period. Again, consideration effects of these politico-economic impacts on trade and logistics. For should reflect the effects of logistics and supply for both French and example, at Fort Michilimackinac, occupied by the French from 1715 British, as they struggled at times to bring goods for their troops to 1761, and then by the British, French styled gunspalls outnumbered northwards from New Orleans, across the Great Lakes, and across French flakes (blades) in a ratio of three or more to one. Hamilton land to Michilimackinac or downriver from Fort Pitt, as this, too, 22

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could have impacted these styles, forms, or types of raw material from which these particular gunflints originated, as well as their availability.

General Gage, for example, repeatedly noted the difficulty in supplying the interior posts. Michilimackinac would prove the easiest to stock, but even this proved no easy task. In a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, Gage complained that supplies from England were “Loaded and Unloaded Twenty times, to be Transported in Vessels Boats and Waggons.” Twenty different loadings, from ship to wagon to schooner, to get from Montreal to Michilimackinac, and again, this would remain the easiest of the four forts to equip. In the interior forts of Ouiatenon and St. Joseph, resupply came from Michilimackinac, along the rivers and streams from Lake Michigan

Gage immensely, as well as those involved in the Illinois trade. After unloading goods in New York, they traveled by wagon ninety-some miles to Philadelphia, and then another 320 miles to Fort Pitt. From there, large batteaus (boats) would need to be built in order to ship supplies down the 1,200 mile trip to the fort. This all assume that the weather and climate allowed for a navigable passage. For many months of the year, transportation proved difficult, if not impossible, due to flooding in the spring, and low water in the fall, which allowed for “Two Months in the Spring and about two Months in the Fall of the Year” to get troops and goods there. Again, beyond the perils of river travel also lay the dangers of the inhabitants of these lands.

Gage warned the “French, have at all Times, the fairest opportunity of inducing inimical Indians to cut Off the Supplys of Provissions.”

Throughout the British tenure at Fort de Chartres, several confrontations resulted in violence, loss of goods, and destruction of property as a result of this voyage.

The gunflints assemblage at Fort de Chartres would show a slightly unique pattern when compared to that of these other three fortifications. The largest fort, Michilimackinac, demonstrated only a 6.84% compilation of British-designated gunflints, and these all represented gunspalls. The number is reduced when examining the total gunflints excavated to only 5.45%. This may have resulted from close proximity of French traders, or a large stockpile of French gunspalls.

Fort de Chartres, on the other hand, where stores always ran low and where the costs and risks of supply always remained A modern rendition of what Fort de Chartres may have looked like in its prime. high showed a different ratio. Here, Documents demonstrate that the British Indian agents at Fort de Chartres British gunspalls made up 29% of the routinely purchased supplies, including gunflints, from the local traders. total gunspall assemblage, and 20% of and roughly 130 miles over land. Still, those paled in comparison the total gunflint category. Gage, in 1767, that “A great many Stores to complications at Fort de Chartres. The French had supplied this with an Addition of Artillery and Ammunition are demanded for the fort by travelling up the Mississippi, seventy days, from New Orleans, Service of the Ilinois.” Even with the costs high, and the future of and arriving 1,700 miles later with their supplies. This journey was the fort in limbo, the British relied less upon French goods, whether simplified for them because of the solid relationship they had with the left at the fort or bought from French traders in the vicinity, than they did indigenous population. As a result, French goods sold in the Illinois upon imported British gunflints. Perhaps the uncertainty of their tenure at the country came more cheaply, by some sources, thirty-percent cheaper. fort, or the increased insecurity of supply caused them to stop their waste and This fact alone might help to explain the presence of significant use, reducing drill, or further encouraged their reuse and the retouching of edges numbers of French goods in Fort de Chartres artifact assemblages. to extend their use life. At places like Michilimackinac, the British may have The British, however, lacked the advantages of friendly and firm utilized French gunspalls and blades due to alleged technological advantages, alliances with the indigenous groups of the Illinois, for most of their but an alternative might simply have been expediency. Choice may have time at Fort de Chartres. They also lacked the port of New Orleans. influenced their use and selection of French gunflints, but the pragmatism of As a result, they had to send their supplies down the Ohio River from obtaining gunflints so far from the centers of supply along the coastal regions Fort Pitt. The vast expenses of this, as well as the dangers, irked may also have forced British soldiers to use these same gunflints.

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SUPPLYING GUNFLINTS — THE BRITISH

Quality of the rock itself, when combined with increased demand due to the outbreak of war in 1754, caused many difficulties for the Board The British government, during the mid-to late 1600s, grappled in satisfying their gunflint needs. with the Issue of manufacturing gunflints. Only with the Board of Ordnance, a system of supply adopted in the early 1720s, would This issue of quality, for British gunflints, triggered anxiety in the they successfully deal with the logistical issues of procuring and soldiers that used them. By 1758, the quality of the gunflints had delivering gunflints. This process would need further refining until deteriorated, and “nearly half of the flints delivered ‘have been rejected they began to produce gunflints domestically. Early gunflint suppliers on account of their shape or colour, though they believe them to be purchased them through Dutch distributors. In the early to mid-17th serviceable, but said that by the strictness of the present View there century, the Dutch trading fleet outpaced that of Britain and France, will not be a number sufficient for His Majesty’s Service.” Surface while the first manufacturing hubs of firearms centered in the Low collected stones easily flaked, were seen as soft and crumbly, and did Countries, with Dutch and German producers. The Dutch, then not meet the needs of the military. Lord Colvill, a naval officer, also “are seen purchasing vast stores of flints and drawing the customary noted this in 1757, complaining that “three or four Musquets out of large profits in their capacity of arms racketeers.” They supplied the six frequently misfire occasioned by the Badness of the Flints.” Even nations of Europe with gunflints and firearms, and this balance would Gage, writing at the outbreak of the Revolution, complained “The not change until the Dutch War between France and the Netherlands Ordnance Flints have at all times been reckoned so bad, that the in 1672, which pushed France to develop their own industry. regiments generally supply themselves; and if the [regimental] Agents shou’d be ordered to send five or six thousand of the famous Kentish The French would then provide Britain with its martial needs, at least Flints to their respective Corps, it wou’d be of Use, and no great until the British built their own gunflint and firearms industry. British expence to them.” British officers often requested the French flints, trading groups like the Hudson’s Bay Company regularly bought yellow or honey in color, rather than the heterogeneously colored from the French. In 1691, a letter from their Committee advised British flints, linking color to unreliability. Many company officers “particularly to be spareing in your Flints (tho’ it seems a very small deal with these issues simply buying gunflints from the traders outside thing) and in your brandy, they both being French comodities and of the supply service. hard to come by.” While France and Britain would fight throughout this time period, only France would produce the gunflints necessary Obviously, a musket needs a gunflint, and soldiers need them. for war in the numbers that Britain would need. France, one would Regardless of the source of that supply, they remained a necessary surmise, would prove reluctant to supply her enemy with the means of item. In 1765, when the British first arrived at Fort de Chartres, they war, but British procurers at the Board of Ordnance merely utilized found neither “Ammunition nor any other Stores, that are useually middlemen to obtain necessary goods. As late as the 1730s, records Expected in Such a place” In the Inventory of Goods at the fort, demonstrate 2.5 million musket flints imported from France by a written by the French commissary and confirmed by the British London gun maker. Not until the very early 1700s would Britain commissary, no gunflints exist. Simply put, the French took all the attempt to meet her own firearm needs, with the growth of the stores for personal firearms with them. The only means of igniting gunmaking industry in Birmingham. gunpowder, then, would be those gunflints that Stirling’s regiment had brought with them, at least until they were resupplied from Fort The British government had begun to manufacture their own gunspalls, Pitt. by mid-1600s. With the addition of the “French lock,” and spinoffs based on it to their muskets, the gunflint Industry began to grow. During official times of peace, the commissary issued each soldier two Oliver Cromwell ordered a London gun maker, Roger Carlisle, in gunflints per year. By 1755, with war beginning, that number increased to 1655 to provide 11,000 flints. In 1660, George Fisher was contracted five. Depending on the time, the Crown sent 3 to 9.5 companies into to provide the Board of Ordnance with “5000 flint-stone by him cutt the Illinois Country. After 1763, a company consisted of approximately and brought into store.” De Lotbiniere believed these individuals fifty-five men. At its greatest population, then, Fort de Chartres would acted as middlemen, rather than individual knappers, but these orders have required a minimum of 2,500 gunflints per year, just for the regular demonstrate the continuing evolution of the industry. By 1704, the soldiers. The artillery also needed gunflints. Gunflints also remained Board of Ordnance ordered “240,000 ‘English Flints for musquett’.” a necessary item for trade and presents with the indigenous population.

This note only further shows the refining of the trade, and infers In just the months of August and September of 1766, for example, the an English style of manufacture, if not style of gunspall itself. The British Army contracted the Illinois traders to supply over 1,040 gunflints English now competed with the French in the production of gunflints. to the Indians in the Illinois Country. This particular trade good, mass As this production spread, producers continued to collect flint from produced, was much needed by both soldiers and indigenous at this the surface, rather than mine it, and this had the potential of affecting interior fort. What remains unknown, from the documentary evidence, is the quality of the gunflints, which could hamper domestic production. whether these flints represent French-made or British-crafted gunflints.

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The question of efficiency of particular styles of gunflints, as it reflects preferences, remains a bit of a mystery, in part, because of the lack of sources from the 18th century. Those that do discuss gunflints generally come from the American Revolution or post-Revolution. As such, they generally discuss blade gunflints, which prior to this period, only represent a French manufacture. From these various sources, the flint itself seems fairly irrelevant. Thomas Simes, a British Captain, notes in 1777 that the “flints best for service are those most clear, though the colour is immaterial, as there are good and bad of all kinds; neither too small or too thin are best, lest the first may not give good fire, or the latter break.” The bulk of discussions on gunflints focus primarily on the correct way to place the flint inside the cock itself. Simes, for example, advises, “they should be screwed in firm, between a thin piece of lead, it having them surer hold than leather.” This advice continues throughout the 1790s and into the 19th century, during the Napoleonic wars, where military men discount misfires less to the “badness of the flint,” issues with the firearms themselves, and more to issues with the “correctness in fixing the Flint” recommending that “Each particular Flint requires therefore its own particular mode of being fixed, so as to accommodate itself to the particular proportions and 101 conformation of each particular Lock.” By this point, the British had begun to mass produce their own blade gunflints, specifically mining flint from quarries in Brandon, changing the shape of the jaws of the cock, and employing many knappers to meet the needs of their military.

One last thought regarding supply and preference in styles and types of gunflints should reflect that needs of those outside of the military marketplace. These interior forts existed not just as martial bastions, but significantly served as centers for trade and alliance with the local indigenous groups. Wise commanders of these sites, then, needed to consider this large consumer group, and their possible preferences for items like gunflints, when purchasing goods. Potentially, then, the raw material, the style of manufacture of these gunflints might matter to these people with which the French and British are trading and treating. The only real evidence for these types of inclinations might be discovered in the ordering and buying patterns, or possibly in specific treaties themselves. Sadly, gunflints, those small, but ubiquitous artifacts, rarely appear in those documents. Still, in places like these frontier forts, the existence of the French traders, those who lived and traded with the indigenous population, there may exist artifacts influenced in the selection of trade goods.

The British often commented upon (and lamented) the close relationship between the French and Indigenous, especially in the post-1763 interior. Indian agent George Croghan noted in 1765, worried that “a Frenchman from the Ilinois passed by the Miamies Village, towards Detroit, & told all the Indians he saw, that the King of France their Father, had sent a large Quantity of Goods to New Orleans, for to supply his Children the Indians, in this Country & would send them more next Year.” The close friendship, trade,

and alliances between French and native may have also encouraged intelligent British agents to continue French practices, specifically those of supplying French goods, like gunflints, as a way to appease and satisfy these groups. Providing them with the styles, colors, and types of goods they habitually gained from the French could help the British to gain influence. With the British and French gunflints varying in sizes, shapes, and color of material, any switch would be noticeable. Both Hudson’s Bay Company and East India Company would continue to buy French flints, “which their Indian customers no doubt favoured on account of earlier contact with French traders.”

Of course, this partiality may have little to do with allegiance, it might merely remain a familiarity with a technology or style. By that same token, “colors have ideological associations…and it is possible that some of the native peoples…may have preferred flints of colors that were especially meaningful in the context of their own culture.”

Colors like black, yellow, and red demonstrate symbolic positions within indigenous clothes, jewelry, and face paint. It could be that such color symbolism extends to the lithic material of gunflints.

Only more thorough examination of primary sources could reveal these preferences.

The real issue in comparing and discussing colonial gunflint assemblages, in searching for patterns of usage, logistics and supply, or even any potential preferences as they relate to style, lithic material, or mode of manufacture rests in the issues resulting from the mixed contexts of the sites themselves. With the British occupying former French sites, and the continuing French presences within some of these sites during British occupation, attempting to assign “usage” or deposition to either nation remains tenuous at best, largely due to the lack of any secure context. Fort de Chartres, and its artifacts, offer some interesting comparisons, especially because of the differences in supply and the lack of French traders within the fort after British takeover. Specific experiments, with period locks and gunflints would prove difficult to do, but would shed light on any potential differences in the qualities of British and French gunflints. These small bits of chipped stone represent an even smaller portion of the archaeological assemblage at these sites, but they obviously had a large impact upon the daily, personal lives of those within the interior. From the Board of Ordnance, planning on an imperial scale to utilization as one hunted for food or defended their life, this item, valuable to soldier and civilian, indigenous and foreigner, helped to shape life in the interior.

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SALEM MASSACHUSETTS, 1775

A Fork in the Road to Revolution

Illustration for American Heritage Magazine by Edward Sorel

by: Jeffrey John Williamson

I

n response to the Boston Tea Party Parliament passed the Coercive, or Intolerable, Acts. Among these were the Boston Port and Administration of Justice Acts which placed Boston under the direct military rule of General Thomas Gage and up to 6000 Regulars.

In September 1774, Gage’s first action was to confiscate all the military stores at Charlestown and Cambridge, the primary garrisons of Boston.

This action set the Sons of Liberty to collecting arms and munitions: a step on the path that ultimately led to Emerson‘s “shot heard round the world” at Lexington and Concord the following Spring. However, such a result was not altogether inevitable before a lesser known event in Salem.

Parliament was confident that the Colonists were not going to fight.

Yet prudence suggested they stop war materials from shipping to the colonies. England rushed to enact weapons control, made more oleaginous by the fact that private ownership of arms within these colonies had been encouraged since their start: “At a time when the more advanced states were increasingly dependent on long service, mercenary armies, [John] Smith and [Miles] Standish… were helping Virginians and Pilgrims to revive a decaying medieval institution – the militia.”

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Nevertheless, Parliament ordered that genie back in the bottle.

Foreign arms trade was already illegal, at least in theory. Arms from within Great Britain could be dealt with more directly. That came in the form of a ban as an Order of King in Council on October 19, 1774, prohibiting the export of powder, arms and ammunition for six months to the colonies without a license from His Majesty or the Privy Council. This could have been a sensible strategy, if not already undermined by the tradition of the colonists to be armed for generations.

Gage received the notice of the ban of arms and ammunition by mid December 1774 but he continued receiving reports of more arms still arriving and being stockpiled in the colonies. These included 400 barrels of powder, 300 muskets, and several tons of lead that had arrived in Rhode Island on a cutter that slipped his patrols. Ironically, it was his own actions that fueled a veritable panic in arms acquisitions. To stem the tide, General Gage increased his marches into the countryside throughout the spring of 1775. This surprisingly did not lull the colonists into a sense of complacency, but rather furthered a sense of antagonism.

In February, he became aware that carriages for twenty cannons from a dismantled sea vessel were being assembled in the port town of Salem. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Leslie was sent out on the 26th with a regiment to search the town and confiscate the cannons. Since events at Charlestown the previous summer, the colonists maintained a watch upon the British garrison in Boston. When it became clear where the regulars were heading, after they landed by boat at Marblehead and began marching to Salem, the alarm was sounded.

Too late, however. While the militia were summoned from the surrounding districts they did not arrive before the Regulars. All that could be done was camouflage them pell-mell in barns and fields before Leslie arrived at Salem. The townspeople resorted to raising the drawbridge that entered the town from Marblehead. Stopped, Leslie attempted to commandeer some small boats tied to the banks of the North River near the bridge, but these already had their bottoms torn out. Irritated, the Colonel ordered the townspeople to lower the bridge. Their response came with insults and mockery

of Salem called out that the colonel had no orders to fire on the colonists without being fired upon first. While the colonists had no way to be sure of this their dare worked and the stalemate continued. From Leslie’s point of view, not only did he not have orders to fire without provocation, a general rule of engagement, but he may have had the Boston Massacre in the back of his mind. While ultimately acquitted, the soldiers involved in that incident found themselves in a very sobering predicament during their trial. A more practical concern was the fact he was miles from his home base and reinforcements while becoming more outnumbered and potentially surrounded with every passing moment. Such considerations must have given him reason to pause before escalating the situation further. Indeed, during the war that was short to follow, Alexander Leslie rose to the rank of major general suggesting a certain presence of mind while under pressure.

“So, you came all this way just to cross a bridge?”

“Well yes, and to get the guns.”

The impasse finally resolved when Leslie was offered the opportunity to accompany a small detachment of his men across the drawbridge and into the town a short distance but then, Irritation gave way to rage and Leslie ordered a company of regulars if nothing was found, only to turn around and leave. Thus, to aim their muskets at the townspeople. Quickly, the people fulfilling the letter of his orders, albeit empty handed, Leslie could Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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return to Boston. The Salemites, in what was a victory against These increasing sorties not only trained the Regulars, but also the an attempt to repeat the raids on Charlestown and Cambridge, colonial militia in maneuvers and response time. Gage also created succeeded in protecting the stores unmolested in their possession. an opportunity of constant exposure to the Regulars, dulling any intimidation value the well trained uniformed soldiers with polished It is unclear whether General Gage ever realized his subordinate’s bayonets may have had upon the otherwise rarely exposed colonists potentially creative adaptation of his orders, but the story very outside Boston. Each time the soldiers marched, the call went out quickly spread far and wide among the colonists – like most among the militia to shadow the British. As the march went on, New Englanders, Salemnites are known to be assertively proud more armed colonists gathered, confident that the Regulars would people, even to this day, when their team wins. The British not start a fight so long as they were not directly attacked first. regulars had been opposed, and that even without a shot fired.

In his diary academic and theologian Ezra Stiles concluded: After the events of Charlestown the previous summer, Gage requested more troops from the Crown. On April 14, 1775, a letter arrived from …thus was Gage shamefully outgeneraled, - he sent out Britain informing him that he was being sent a further 1,000 troops, a regiment to surprise and seize the Salem ordinance: not the 20-30,000 he requested, and that Parliament fully expected but they not only returned without it, but with the him to take further, more vigorous actions against the rebelling circumstance of repulse derogatory to the honor of the colonists. William Legge, Lord Dartmouth and Secretary of State soldiers, besides hazarding a trial in which they might have been swallowed up by the thousands which for the Colonies penned the letter himself saying, “A smaller force would have appeared in arms. now, if put to the test, would be able to encounter them [the militia] with greater probability of success.” Time was of the essence, and The Essex Gazette for the week of March 9 suggested the no more of it could be allowed for the colonists to further organize. number of responding militia as “not less than 12-15,000 men.”

Leslie’s decision to withdraw as quickly as possible was well Gage was prodded into greater proactivity. Besides his requests advised. The entire Salem expedition accomplished nothing for reinforcements, the military governor also recruited agents to except embarrassment for the regulars and training and confidence keep watch upon the illegal Provincial Congress. This Congress, for the militia. From the colonists’ perspective, the British formed the previous September when Gage had dissolved the soldiers obviously had no orders to fire their weapons unless colonial Representative Legislature, had been meeting in the small they were first fired upon. They therefore could be repulsed with town of Concord since February. Within this Congress Gage nothing more than a firm resolve, and perhaps a little trickery. had at least one man in his service. "Quite unsuspected by his friends in the Provincial Congress, Dr. Benjamin Church was To ensure that the colonists were not caught unprepared in the involved with other members of the Congress since the Boston future, they mobilized a rapid response force. Samuel Adams said Massacre. He had also served as chairman of the Committee of these minutemen: "I am well informed that in every part of the of Safety, and had become Gage's principal informant.” His Province there are selected Numbers of Men, called Minute Men- secret letters to the governor facilitated the events of that April. that they are well disciplind [sic] and well provided- and upon a very short notice they will be able to assemble a formidable Army. They The events of Salem proved two opposing perspectives. The first are resolvd [sic] however not to be the Agressors [sic] in an open was that conflict between the colonists and the regular army was not Quarrel with the Troops ;…" The colonists felt they could keep predestined to result in violence. While the threat was there, quick their arms and challenge the Army on these terms. Salem proved it. thinking on the part of the colonists and cool thinking on the part of Leslie averted bloodshed. The second is that the efforts of Gage Despite the blunder of Salem, the month of March saw still further to disarm and shock or awe the colonists into intimidation produced patrols. Taking as many opportunities as he could to show the flag, the opposite result: virtual contempt on the part of the militia Gage was in fact agitating the situation: for the authority of the military while they stockpiled weapons.

Ultimately, it was the second point that edged the colonies towards Gage saw these expeditions as a way of familiarizing his open rebellion two months later when cooler heads failed to prevail. troops with the terrain over which they [would have to] fight. He also hoped to intimidate the Minute Men – or at least make them tired of responding to false alarms.

Instead he gave them the feeling that they could muster huge numbers of their fellow Minute Men, and this increased their self confidence.

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Artisan Highlight Peter Goebel

P

eter Goebel has been synonymous with reproductions of the highest quality for over 30 years. His dedication to recreating not only the items of the past, but the methods has lead many museums and collectors to seek out his piece and experience. Every reproduction he creates in his one man shop in Delaware is as close to the original as possible in both method and construction.

Skills he says you have to learn by trial and error and a lot of practice. While many consider him a master when it comes to metalwork, Peter will humbly tell you he only considers himself at the level of a three year apprentice.

Goebel has worked with many original items in pursuit of his trade. Collectors often seek him out and send him their original metal cookware to be examined and dated. Goebel says that you cannot start with a modern knowledge and work your way back and expect to understand how they did things. He says you have to start much earlier. He has collected what information is available, going as far back in history as he can.

As he examines new pieces he uses this knowledge and the traceable progressions of metalwork through time to utilize the most period correct methods possible.

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What did you do before becoming Peter Goebel, Brazier?

I did some construction work and eventually ended up a foreman at Brookhaven National Laboratory in charge of a metal shop where we made everything out of every metal you can imagine.

From lead sinks to titanium ovens. I was hurt on the job in 1991 and when my wife and I were talking about what we could do, we thought “well we are reenactors, we can do something with that.”

Our first venture was colonial lighting and started “Lighting Your Way into the 18th Century.” But not a lot of reenactors need large sconces or chandeliers in their tent. So that didn’t go over to well.

Then at one of the very early Fort Frederick events, someone was lamenting over the fact they weren’t able to find a copper coffee pot. So we went home and started doing some research. I ended up hooking up with somebody out of the Victoria and Albert Museum over in London and they sent me over some illustrations of some period coffee pots and I got into the metal department at Williamsburg and saw the same thing there and thought “I could do that.” So I started making cookware. I have been a brazier making pots and pans ever since, over thirty years now.

You recently changed your title from “tinsmith” to “brazier.” What is the difference?

It seemed over here in the colonies they advertised as coppersmiths but also did brazier work but a brazier makes the small common items while a coppersmith typically worked more on the large copper drums and stuff.

How did you learn about the craft?

By examining originals and sketches over the years. When I first started I went over to Williamsburg early one morning and I spent 8 or 9 hours going through and looking at these originals. The cool thing about that is you can turn it over and see the spot on the bottom that you had problems with and see what the guy did to fix it, you know, the master. Who was definitely a master coppersmith 200 years ago, where I had no idea. I am not a master I am probably up to a 3 year apprentice now after 30 years.

Do you make all of your own hand tools?

Not all but I make quite a few of them. I make all of my own jigs. I own period tools that I more revere than use.

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What moment sticks with you the most?

There is nothing like holding an original piece. It is an incredible education. I get a lot of original pieces in the mail. Every couple of weeks someone will send me something and say “This is from 1680, can you do one?” I have had people bring me George Washington’s coffee pot from the Folgers collection. One that he traveled with. It was the one he took in his tent so everybody who had coffee with George must have used that thing. It was very ornate and had a lot of cast pieces. I had a guy show up with a wooden crate and an original coffee pot and asked if I wanted to see it. He opened it up and this was the original crate the pot had been shipped in. Inside was a coffee pot from Benjamin Harbeson, one of the best coppersmiths on the east coast. And inside was a coffee pot that had never been used. It was the way it was made, packed in wood shavings from a wood plane, little curly Q’s of wood that are all dried out now but still. There was this coffee pot with this stunning finish that was like… rubbed… it had a patina but it wasn’t shiny. That is the way I make everything now. I try and duplicate that finish on everything. I figure it was good enough for old Ben Harbeson, it is probably good enough for me to try and do it. But that was the way it was finished! I had never seen a piece that had never been touched. You go into the Dewitt Wallace or something like that and all of their copperware has been shined and polished for three hundred years.

Every housewife along had tried to keep it penny bright and the edges are rounded, some of the construction marks are gone. You know, it is a beautiful piece but it is soft and had this patina over use that this original didn’t have. It had sharp edges and file marks and hammer marks that you don’t see. What a thrill to see an original unused piece. I have been very fortunate to see some of these pieces and hold them in my hand and try not to drool on it.

Inspecting an Original Pot Recently at the Fort Frederick Market Fair, Peter was asked to examine an original piece.

Being an expert in his field, this common for him to do. This piece in particular was brass, late 17th century and had been repaired at least 3 different times.

“There is nothing like holding an

original piece. It is an incredible education.”

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Can you tell me about your first piece your first project with the colonial lighting?

That was a sconce. That did not go well. I made a bunch of little flat sconces and sold them through a little antique store in our hometown. They bought just about everything I made no matter how horrible it was. It was a real learners curve because there are no books. There is no writing.

And when you find a book on “coppersmithing” they are talking about making funnels on ships and railroad items, boilers. I am like “what about the cookware!” I want to know about the stuff that a local coppersmith, some little guy working in a small town would have made. Someone comes in and says they want a coffee pot. He probably had an idea of what it was they wanted and made his own pattern, fashioned some of his own tools, and built a coffee pot. That is the way I wanted to do things, and have for years. I make a lot of my own tools, all of my own patterns but they are scaled off of original pieces wherever I could find them. The construction techniques, are as close as I can get them to the originals. That is hard too. You have to figure out what they did.

Why are print resources on this trade so rare?

It was a guild trade. Guild members were notoriously closed mouthed. They trained their apprentices and swore them to secrecy. When the last guy died, that was it. Then the industrial revolution took over and everyone was doing it. They were using machines to do what was previously done by hand. You can see the marks on pieces when they are done by hand and that is the look I have always wanted to have. That pre industrial, hand done look. Something about the period just before the American Revolution, in the 1750’s and 60’s. After that someone working on the east coast over here wouldn’t have had to many opportunities.

That bum up in Massachusetts, Revere, was buying all of the copper he could to make sheeting for ships and all, using a lot of old pieces. That made repair work hard to come by so you had to make your own stuff.

Peter and his daughter at the Fort Frederick Market Fair.

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What would you say is your most popular item?

I would have to say the porte crayon, or the weskit inkwell. I think every reenactor in the world has three of them. I feel like I am making those every couple of weeks.

I sell a lot of pencils to carpenters, they like to use them on the job.

Is the lack of written information is the greatest challenge?

Yes, definitely. That being said, I am sitting in my shop looking at clipboards full of items that could be made but haven’t been reproduced yet. All from pictures, paintings, books, museums. Designs off of pictures people have sent me. All that could be new items for my stock. There are so many items out there that reenactors have never seen but were all over the place in the 18th century. You learn as you go and the pieces that don’t come out right, end up with marks all over them and you aren’t sure what you were even doing, the family gets those. It is all about learning techniques.

Are you working on anything new and exciting?

I have a 1650 frying pan which is going to be raised from the plate. In other words the whole thing is hammered up. The edge is flanged all by hand. That should be a real fun project to do. I have some other small things in the works. I have been working on an apple roaster I want to bring out.

What is an item that was common in the 18th century but not commonly known today?

A lot of cookware. Most reenactors don’t carry a lot of the cookware because they are living out of a tent and most of it was meant to be used on a down hearth in a kitchen, not a campfire. At home there would have been a myriad of cook pots and apple roasters, small ovens. You name it! Curfews to cover your fire at night, all of this would have been copper or brassware.

There are so many different kinds of cups. Hundreds of different designs for cups. I currently make 10 or so but I have designs for another 30. I do occasionally go off on a tangent and make something wild. Tobacco boxes and snuff boxes, there are probably a thousand. Jewelry like armbands or native American copper cones.

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What is your least favorite thing to make, aside from the tin?

There is a 1703 French chocolate pot that will just drive you crazy to make. It took me months to figure out how to make the forms to make the pot on and the tools. It is very time consuming. There is a porridge pot that takes almost 7 hours of hammering inside of the four inch pot. That little porridge pot will drive you nuts.

Back in the day I used to do a lot of re-tinning and the first thing I would do was a lead test. If it had lead in it, it was probably the original tin lining. I am not going to mess with that. Our tin today is food grade and lead free.

What is your favorite thing to make?

Flagons. I love making Flagons. Big beer mugs. They are enjoyable and easy to make now that I have done thousands of them. They are sturdy mugs and I know if they are treated halfway decent they can be here three hundred years from now which is really a cool thing. My makers mark is going to outlive me by a few hundred years.

Do you make unlined cookware?

I make a lot of unlined kettles and mugs. They just have to be kept clean. We don’t understand the way they cooked in copper hundreds of years ago. You can’t cook in copper the same way you do earthenware or cast iron, copper is a different beast. Tin lined copper needs moisture in it at all times. You couldn’t cook rice in a tin lined copper pot, you can melt the tin. You couldn’t make a rue, you are above the temperature of the tin. There is a technique called frying pan tin lining where you put the tin in and wipe it out. What is left is like a molecule thick layer of tin that when you are frying actually becomes liquid but isn’t thick enough to transfer to your food. So you are actually cooking on a layer of molten tin.

A lot of their copper and brassware was unlined and they knew if they didn’t clean it properly it would be poisonous. So they scrubbed the daylights out of it. It has antimicrobial properties. It wasn’t mandatory to line things with tin until Sweden mandated it for their military in the 1740s. A bare copper syllabub maker will make whipped cream that wont separate in your refrigerator for a couple of days. The antimicrobial properties don’t allow the microbes that cause it to separate to grow.

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One Lump or Two? Sugar Nippers in Colonial Kitchens

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by: Kimberly Sherman

“T

he whole family is united at tea, to which friends, acquaintances, and even strangers are invited,” wrote the Frenchman Moreau de Saint Méry when he visited Philadelphia in the 1790s.

Another traveler noted in 1781 that Americans “use much tea” and that “the greatest mark of civility and welcome they can show you, is to invite you to drink it with them.” Time around the tea table was as important of a social gathering in early America as it was in the mother land of England. Deeply tied with this ritual is the gossip that was exchanged and courtships that were begun. By the second half of the eighteenth century, tea drinking had become a part of everyday life for most William Clark (1823) Cutting the Sugar-Cane

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classes of Americans from the working to the wealthy. As the “preferred beverage in gentry households,” drinking tea became a ritualized experience complete elaborate tea-ware and its own proper forms of ceremony and etiquette. But what was tea without sugar?

WHAT’S IN THE SUGAR BOWL? Tea was only a proper drink when steeped and served with sugar. In the townhouses of colonial Charleston, South Carolina, the tea table was the “domain of women.” The table itself included a spread of accoutrements—tea pot, creamer, sugar bowl, tea canister, cups, saucers, sugar tongs, strainers and spoons—from which a hostess might serve her guests. The sugar bowl was piled high with small, crumbling lumps of white sugar. The bags of granulated sugar or uniform sugar cubes found on today’s grocery store shelves did not appear until the late 1800s. Thus, merchants in colonial America supplied their customers with hard, cone-shaped loaves of refined sugar which were wrapped in paper and sealed with a wax stamp.

These uniform loaves were created by pressing the sugar into uniform wooden molds. The particular loaf shape had been in use for centuries among sugar refiners in the Mediterranean. By the seventeenth century, the shape was so well-known that some grocers used the symbol of three sugar loaves in their signage.

before being pounded into a fine powder using a mortar and pestle and sifted. At other times, the small, uneven lumps were left as-is to fill the blue-and-white porcelain or delftware sugar bowls. In the homes of laboring Americans, the broken sugar might be placed into a small earthenware bowl or a wooden box made specifically to hold precious herbs and spices. Some pairs of sugar nippers were small and ornate for use directly at the tea table where hostesses displayed their family’s wealth in the parlor along with the rest of the home’s finest furnishings. Most sugar nippers, however, were more simple and utilitarian for everyday use in the kitchen.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, sugar consumption was commonplace throughout the British empire. Even the lower classes in England spent up to 10 percent of their income on sugar and tea. In previous centuries, sugar was considered medicinal and a spice-like cooking ingredient used mainly by the upper-class as a display of their wealth. Sugar consumption in Britain alone increased from and average of 6.5 pounds per person in 1710 to more than twenty pounds per person “Loaf Sugar to be Sold for CASH only . . . in the 1770s. Changes in diet and taste, and availability, as by the Loaf.” well as the widespread popularity of tea-drinking, instigated – New Hampshire Gazette, 3 January 1766 such a rise in sugar consumption. Household inventories taken in colonies like Virginia and New York indicate that No special branding was needed. Sugar was sugar—and it both urban and rural households were equipped for serving sold easily. But before refined sugar could be placed into tea and its partner commodity—sugar. a dainty porcelain bowl and rolled out with the rest of the tea cart’s wares and accoutrements, a kitchen servant In the British North American colonies, consumer society had to prepare it using a scissor-like tool. Here, she took boomed. The fashionable nature of tea-drinking and its up a steel, silver, or cast-iron tool called sugar nippers to association with sugar only increased with time. In the accomplish the task. Made in England and shipped to spring of 1767, Boston merchant James Murray wrote to a the American colonies, the sugar nippers’ opposing blades customer in North Carolina regarding a request for “200 were used to crack into the hard loaves of refined sugar lb of my loaf sugar and 6 lb bohea tea by the first vessel 40

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to Newbern� (James Murray to Gabriel Cathcart, 29 April 1767). Even in the most remote and rural settlements of the colonies, Americans could purchase their sugar loaves along with other necessities. Frontier stores stocked their shelves with loaf sugar alongside knives and forks, powder and shot, thimbles, linen handkerchiefs, buttons, pepper, thread, rum, nails, paper, and, of course, tea as detailed in the John Nisbet Account Book.

towns such as Boston. As British sugar imports increased, new North American colonial markets appeared and British industrial output was spurred on. In the American colonies, imported manufactured goods from Britain were paid for with raw materials and staple crops like tobacco.

Foodstuffs produced in the North American colonies, such as rice and pork, were then sent to the Caribbean to feed their enslaved populations who toiled in the sugar fields.

THE SWEETNESS OF EMPIRE SUGAR AND SLAVERY Sugar, along with tobacco, was one of the first successes As sugar surpassed all other agricultural products cultivated in plantation agriculture for England’s colonies in the in the British Caribbean, the plantation system used to seventeenth century. Since the late medieval period, cultivate it helped cement the institution of African slavery European consumers imported their loaves of refined in the Caribbean islands. Sugar exports from the sugar from the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Caribbean were the single largest component Cultivation of sugar cane eventually shifted to of planter income and thus increased their the Atlantic islands of Madeira and the Canaries demand for enslaved workers. Over the course before being introduced to the Caribbean and of the eighteenth century, Britain imported South America in the 1600s. England imported between 2.5 and 3.7 million African slaves its sugar from Portuguese planters in Brazil by to the Americas—of which 42 percent went way of Lisbon until the island of Barbados, to the Caribbean primarily as workers on settled by English planters, experienced a sugar sugar cane plantations. Jamaica, a British boom in the 1640s. By the following decade, colony at the time, alone boasted 700 England was importing about 5,000 tons of sugar plantations which were worked by sugar from their colonized island each year. some 200,000 enslaved men, women, and children. It was on the Caribbean Once sugar cane was harvested, the cane juice sugar islands of Barbados, Jamaica, was extracted for processing in the boiling and Antigua that the English first house of the plantation sugar works. After attempted to institute a large-scale several hours of round-the-clock boiling, slave system. Eventually the total the sugar was cured in a very hot and dry number of enslaved African men environment. The Caribbean sugar islands and women who worked in the exported a golden brown, semi-refined sugar cane fields and in the dangerous product known as muscovado sugar. It was boiling houses came to surpass the then shipped off to England or the American number of white inhabitants on the islands. colonies for further refining.

Planting, harvesting, processing, and refining sugar was The income from the English sugar trade was protected no simple task. It was hard labor, executed by enslaved under the Navigation Acts in the 1660s, requiring all peoples brought from West Africa to the Caribbean. At sugar to be shipped to England before being re-exported to the end of the 1700s, concern began to spread about the Europe or the American colonies. This led to the growth evils of slavery and anti-slavery groups in both Britain of the sugar refining industry in eighteenth-century British and the United States began advocating for boycotts of industrial cities like Glasgow, Scotland and New England West Indian sugar. William Cowper penned his thoughts Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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specifically reflecting on the slavery of the sugar trade in increase the wealth of the British Empire in the eighteenth his 1781 poem “Pity the Poor Africans” at such a time: century and its consumption was firmly embedded in the diet of many British and American citizens.

I own I am shock'd at the purchase of slaves, And fear those who buy them and sell them are knaves; SPARKING A REVOLUTION What I hear of their hardships, their tortures, and groans In 1763, the British Empire was at its height. Having Is almost enough to draw pity from stones. successfully defeated its imperial rivals in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and secured the North I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, American hinterlands in the French and Indian War For how could we do without sugar and rum?

(1754-1763), Britain seemed unstoppable. Britain was Especially sugar, so needful we see? also in debt. In order to recover the revenue lost What? give up our desserts, our coffee, and tea! from fighting a war on a global scale, the British government looked to their American colonies to make One 1791 broadside, published by the English up for the debts accrued in their defense. In 1763, merchant James Wright, recognized that to consume the British Parliament began attempts to aggressively sugar was to implicitly support the enslavement of tax the American colonies. This new effort to tax the others: “While I am a Dealer in that Article, which colonies began with a revision of the Sugar Act of appears to be a principal Support of the Slave-Trade, 1733. Often ignored by colonials, the duty of 6 pence I am encouraging Slavery.” Another pamphlet from per gallon was rarely collected by customs officials the following year cried, “No Rum!—No Sugar! Or, and even larger quantities of sugar were smuggled The Voice of Blood.” Some grocers in Philadelphia without strict enforcement of the law. The revised attempted to advertise products that were abolitionist- Sugar Act of 1764 reduced the duty to 3 pence per approved, but on the whole, anti-slavery supporters gallon, but outlined a much stricter plan for collection were not successful at encouraging large-scale boycotts at customs. of sugar in America. Sugar had helped substantially The Sugar Act of 1764 had the greatest impact on New England’s sugar-refining houses and rum distilleries.

A Boston shopkeeper named Elizabeth Murray was married to James Smith who owned a sugar house in the city. Due to the Sugar Act, Smith was forced to close his business in 1765. He reopened the following year, but his business never recovered.

“The late acts bore hard on the business. These & the short Crops in the West Indies have prevented the Importation of raw sugars here and have in course shut up the sugar houses and ours among the rest.”

--James Murray to John Murray, 13 November 1765 Still Life with Fruit and Sugar Loaf circa 1720

Merchants in colonial America supplied their customers with hard, cone-shaped loaves of refined sugar which were wrapped in paper and sealed with a wax stamp.

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While some Americans responded to the Sugar Act with indignation, their efforts were not as effective as later displays of political protest and boycotts leading up

to the American Revolution. Only the colonial legislature of North Carolina petitioned King George III directly regarding their taxation without actual representation in the British Parliament—a call that would become the heart of revolutionary thought and sentiment in the 1760s and 1770s.

In the following years, the consumption of sugar, tea, and other British imports would be dispensed with in an attempt to put economic pressure on the British government to reverse new taxation policies. But even after several years of warfare, Americans returned to their tea tables and filled their sugar bowls once again with lumps of white sugar. Whether among the tea ware or in the kitchen, the sugar nippers and their surprisingly turbulent connections remained an essential tool in American homes.

Photos Courtesy of James Townsend & Son

Reproduction sugar nippers and sugar cones are available for purchase at Townsends.us

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Everyone Loves a Parade by: Christopher P. Elmore

W

riting to his wife Abigail on July 3rd, 1776, John Adams announced that the second of July “will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”

He argued that the date “ought to be ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, for evermore.”

His prognostication, of course, turns out to be only half correct.

July 4th, the day on which the final draft of the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Second Continental Congress and not July 2nd, the date on which the assembly voted to declare independence, is the day that we know recognize as a day of commemoration. Yet Adams, knowing the importance of spectacle in civic life, was able to foresee the celebrations that have continued to mark this holiday to the present day.

Adams surely understood the role that commemorations of this nature had in bonding citizens to their community. They were commonplace in colonial America throughout the 18th century. Many of these festivals were imports from the European societies from which colonial settlers had come. King’s Day, New Year’s Day, May Day, and Pope Day were annual festivals that were routinely celebrated by colonists. Each of these, with the exception of New Year’s Day incorporated a parade of some sort, often with some sort of military element included.

The inclusion of the military in colonial parades varied in extent and purpose depending in part on region and timing. The earliest military parades in the colonies centered on the celebration of the King’s Birthday, an annual festival in both Europe and the colonies.

Participation in this event varied by region with the New England colonies of the Puritan tradition less supportive than colonies in the

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south where the Anglican Church was predominant.

Military parades were hardly unique to the 18th century or even to European society. Civilizations throughout history and across the globe have used marches and parades to achieve various goals.

The Chinese, for example, have traditions of military parades as expressions of state power that extend back over 4000 years. The development of colonial American traditions, however, was most influenced by contemporary European practices, which, during this era, were increasingly drawn from Roman customs.

The Romans developed extensive rituals of public displays of military acumen for a number reasons. Most basically, military parades served to honor the soldiers who had risked their lives on behalf of their fellow citizens and the Roman state and to welcome them home to their communities at the end of a successful battle. Roman leaders also used these events as a way to project state authority and to promote its legitimacy among both citizens and conquered peoples alike.

Colonial military parades borrowed from these existing European traditions and were typically staged by colonial elites to both demonstrate their loyalty to the crown to whom they owed their leadership positions and to rally public allegiance for the royal sovereign. Prior to the French and Indian War martial processions consisted of colonial militias practicing drills and, at least tacitly, demonstrating loyalty to the crown.

Military parades also served to cement community cohesion, a goal that was both necessary challenging in the often diverse and fractious colonial communities. For example, when the British declared war on Spain in 1740, the leaders of Charleston organized “a parade including British soldiers, a host of local officials and judges, naval captains, heralds who read aloud the declaration, a small band, the lieutenant governor, local militia men, and whatever ‘Private Gentlemen’ chose to join in.” Afterward, the colonial elite retired for a feast, “well satisfied that the colony was united for war.” For the most part, these celebrations were elite events that garnered little interest among the colonial masses.

out class tensions through orchestrated role reversals. Yet, while neither of these celebrations involved military demonstrations in their earliest incarnations, rising political tensions and the militarization of colonial civilian life in the latter part of the 18th century altered this.

With the arrival of large numbers of British troops in North America both during and after the French and Indian War, colonists, particularly those chafing against the increasingly interventionist British policies, came to view displays of British military force as tactics to intimidate colonial dissidents. Sometimes they were intended to do exactly that. Historian Benson Bobrick describes May Day and Pope Day festivals while typically lacking a martial the arrival of the British soldiers in Boston in the fall of 1768, “as element were more popular among the average colonists. May Day they “marched with insolent Parade, Drums beating, Fifes playing, was a pre-planting celebration that associated with the changing of up King Street.” the seasons and Pope Day, held on November 5th was the colonial version of Guy Fawkes Day during which British Protestants Opponents of the crown and its policies responded by incorporating celebrated the failure of the papal plot to gain control of the British martial displays into their own public events in order to counter monarchy. The popularity of these events was due to the ways in the growing British presence. The entry from November 3rd 1774 which they “leveled” social inequalities and temporarily smoothed from the diary of Nicholas Cresswell, a Loyalist who was touring Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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the British North American colonies noted his observance of one of these events in which a colonial militia demonstrated against the British prime minister. “Saw the Independent Company exercise. The Effigy of Lord North was shot at, then carried in great parade into the town and burnt.”

treason was publicly mocked by protestors marching through Philadelphia who staged a mock execution burned him in effigy.

The purpose of military parades extended beyond simply expressions of support or opposition toward the prevailing political order. A less commonly understood motive for military processions was that they provided opportunities for training troops. This factor, perhaps more than any other, helps explain the ubiquitous nature of these parades in the 18th century.

Mastery of battle formations was critical to the success of Roman legions and Roman generals developed routines that could be practiced by soldiers until perfected so that they could react instinctively when faced with the inevitable chaos of battle.

Throughout the decade preceding the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the Sons of Liberty organized marches of colonial militias to counter the parade of British troops coming into the colonies. At the front of these processions were the liberty poles and the liberty cap that had become symbols of colonial resistance to perceived British oppression. Bobrick cites newspaper reports of rebels parading through the streets ‘with drums beating and colours (sic) flying” in response to British military processions. Armed and uniformed, albeit poorly compared to their well-resourced British counterparts, As European militaries became more professional in the 17th militia volunteers followed in a show of public support for the and 18th centuries, officers increasingly came to see marching cause of resistance. in formation as an essential tool for developing soldiers into a disciplined fighting machine. The Prussians in particular were During the war, the rituals of parades were used to ostracize noted for their military discipline exemplified by their highly those who were deemed traitors to the cause of independence emulated lockstep drill formation. During the Revolutionary that the Patriots were fighting to secure. Benedict Arnold’s War, both sides hired Germans to assist their efforts with the 46

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British using mercenary troops to replace their own trained soldiers while the colonists, possessing fewer resources, focused on securing the expertise of Prussian officers like Baron Von Steuben to train the raw militia units which composed the continental army.

again morphed into new traditions and celebrations. Even before the end of the war, Boston had hosted the first 4th of July Parade commemorating the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. Eventually, this holiday, with its parades, fireworks, and military displays became the focal point of those seeking to rally support for the new govern In the southern At the outset of the American Revolution, fostering discipline colonies, Victory Day, marking the surrender of Cornwallis’ among the troops was paramount to colonial leaders. Marching army at Yorktown, was a cause for annual military processions, in formation as a means of acquiring martial discipline was not while Evacuation Day, celebrating the British withdrawal from new to the colonies. Colonial militias participated in public New York on November 25, 1783, brought with it annual marches for training purposes as many as six or seven days a festivities, including, of course, a military procession. year. Nevertheless, “those exercises lasted only a few hours and the rest of the day became much more relaxed, social and Befitting a man who loved the pomp and circumstance of festive.” martial displays, Washington’s birthday in February was another opportunity to get the troops marching and generate public And the lack of practice, along with the ragtag nature of the support for the new regime. The Society of Cincinnati, an colonial uniforms, weapons, and accommodations -was apparent organization of military officers, many of whom had served to most contemporary As John Adams wrote to Abigail in under Washington in the Revolutionary War, hosted annual 1777, “Our soldiers have not quite the air of soldiers. They meetings across the country on the 4th of July. The “then don’t step exactly in time. They don’t hold up their heads united with local militia companies for a parade that recalled quite erect, nor turn out their toes so exactly as they ought” the military achievement of winning the war for independence, Von Steuben, reflecting his initial assessment of the colonial while simultaneously acclaiming the new nation’s government soldiers at Valley Forge commented, “With regard to their and its leader.” military discipline I can safely say no such thing existed. In the first place there was no regular formation.”

However, as the 1790s progressed, military parades became partisan events with the two dominant political parties, the Few were more concerned by this lack of discipline, and Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, often staging rival did more to bring order to the colonial armies than George events. On the 4th of July, for example, “marchers began Washington. Having gained experience fighting with the British separating according to partisan sympathies and identities, with during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), Washington “Select parties” going on to enjoy their own feasts and drink had seen first hand the tactical advantages that could be gained their own toasts at different locations. Divided into partisan from a disciplined army. He was hardly impressed with the groups, the supporters and opponents of the government were colonial troops under his command. He brought Von Steuben, able to enjoy civic feasts in the company of politically likedue in part to the recommendation of Ben Franklin, to restore minded people.” Thus, by the turn of the century, military order. parades had cycled through a variety of purposes.

Washington very much favored the spectacle of a military parade, mainly because he thought it brought a serious of purpose to the men under his command. He emphasized music as being essential to the success of this endeavor. In a General Order on June 4, 1777 he expressed his concerns about the poor quality of the colonial military band, which he thought was “in general very bad.” He ordered “ the drum and fife Majors exert themselves to improve it, or they will be reduced, and their extraordinary pay taken from them.” In Washington’s view, nothing was “more agreeable, and ornamental, than good music; every officer, for the credit of his corps, should take care to provide it.”

At times they were expressions of support for existing political authorities and at times they were oppositional. At times they served to unify and at times they served to divide. At times they were used by elites to elicit public support from the masses and at times they were used by the masses to challenge the legitimacy of the elites. There is a certain irony in the fact that Federalists like Washington and Adams, champions of the military parade, found their own authority challenged by political opponents using this very ritual as their tactic. In this way, the history of military parades in the 18th century is a microcosm of the history of the country as a whole. Symbols and rituals are appropriated by new groups to serve their own purposes and in the process contest and reshape their meaning.

By the end of the Revolutionary War, military parades had Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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Unsheathing the Past:

The Role of the Sword

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by: Robert Ranstadler

I

n 1881, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of Great Britain’s capitulation to the American and French forces at Yorktown, nineteenth-century American journalist Sydney Howard Gay (1814 – 1888) recounted, “When Lord George Germaine waited upon Lord North with the news of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, on the 19th of October, 1781, the minister received it, Germaine says, as he would have taken a ball in his breast, and exclaimed: ‘O God! It is all over!’ It was not merely that a battle, or a town, or an army had been lost; it was the loss of a cause.”

that Lord North received the news of Cornwallis’s surrender as if being struck in the chest by musket fire.

Germaine was likely accurate in describing his Prime Minister’s shocking reaction to the dire news but, from a historically symbolic standpoint, it might have been more precise to describe Lord North’s ostentatious response as being “thrust in the heart with a blade” or perhaps “as if slashed across the breast with a sabre.” Without question, musket balls and cannon fire claimed thousands of lives during the Revolutionary War. Nevertheless, the eighteenth-century There is little reason to challenge Gay’s retelling of the dramatic was an era in which the admission of military defeat was formally exchange between Frederick North, then Prime Minister of Great rendered with the ceremonial surrendering of the sword—a weapon Britain, and George Germain, his Secretary of State during the that, in one form or another, has played a vital role in warfare for American Revolutionary War. General Charles Cornwallis’s stunning thousands of years. One only need examine the drama surrounding defeat, while a virtual inevitability when viewed in hindsight, was a the surrender at Yorktown to understand its significance. laughable impossibility to most statesmen and military leaders at the outset of the war. There is also little discounting the fact that the Following a devastating siege and naval blockade, a disgraced Cornwallis surrender at Yorktown symbolically marked the end of the conflict broke with military decorum by feigning illness and remaining in and the beginning of a new era, despite the war technically lingering his quarters rather than surrender to the Franco-American forces in on for another two years. Of greater interpretive interest, is Gay’s person. Instead, he sent out his adjutant, General Charles O’Hara, emblematic recounting of the event, in which Germaine observes to deliver George Washington his sword. In a move, made either out Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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of ignorance or spite, O’Hara bypassed Washington and attempted to tender Cornwallis’s blade to the nearby French Expeditionary Forces commander, General Jean-Beptiste Rochambeau. The French commander, in keeping with proper military protocol, declined O’Hara’s offer and referred him back instead to the General of the Continental Army. Washington, unwilling to accept the trophy from anyone but Cornwallis and in observing proper etiquette, forced the British officer to deliver the blade to his own second-in-command, Major General Benjamin Lincoln (an American officer that the British embarrassingly defeated at Charleston the previous year).

As dramatic and confounding the surrender at Yorktown might appear to the modern observer, it was not an isolated event nor entirely difficult to comprehend when placed in the appropriate historical context. Cornwallis, Washington, Rochambeau and their contemporaries famously lived during the Revolutionary Period, an era of Western history foreshadowed by the Enlightenment and referred to by Thomas Paine as the “Age of Reason.” The age was marked by the gradual transfer of power and authority from the religious and monarchical institutions of previous centuries to the aristocratic intellectuals, secular philosophers, free-thinking scientists, and representational bureaucracies of the modern era. These movements were manifold and touched nearly every aspect of Western civilization, from art and literature to politics and statesmanship. On the battlefield, “enlightened” armies and their eminently rational commanders operated by a rigid and hierarchical set of rules rooted in social norms, class-based authoritarianism, and cultural absolutism.

With the above factors in mind, it’s clear why soldiers and their commanders engaged in highly regimented and organized practices that seem impractical or even illogical today. Linear warfare and tactics, whether concerned with maneuvering a regiment on a long march or conducting a prolonged siege, were distilled down to their most rational and scientifically verifiable elements during the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries. We therefore witness the rise of armies that, instead of advancing upon one another in loose tactical formations, mechanically fired fusillades of cannon and musket fire at their enemies while receiving the same in return. This was a departure from the wild, open fighting of the sixteenth-century, where pikemen brazenly waded into ranks of panicking arquebusiers across the battlefields of the war-torn Europe. “Modern” warfare, on the other hand, essentially boiled down to a series of morbidly precise calculations based upon closely recorded troop numbers, terrain features, ammunitions stores, and volumes of fire.

This admittedly simplified view should not, however, eclipse the bloody chaos and violence that frequently broke out on eighteenth50

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century battlefields. Field commanders relied upon focused volleys of fire to break holes in enemy lines, whereupon they would order their sword-wielding cavalrymen to cutdown routing troops. It was in this arena that field commanders and their subordinate officers were critical in maintaining discipline and holding the line. A combat officer’s gravitas was forged upon social authority, rote training, and empirical drills influenced by generations of military tradition. It is therefore fair to say that the ceremonial act of surrendering a sword, while seemingly pretentious and inconsequential to modern civilian eyes, was an integral aspect of a much broader military code of conduct—one precariously balanced between rational objectivity and savage brutality.

The enlightened officers of the eighteenth-century were an illuminated generation of military leaders who, by way of their classical educations and the emerging influence of nascent military academic institutions, looked both to the past and present for reassurance and inspiration in the conduct and theory of war. In this regard, the sword held significant practical and symbolic value, both as a proven weapon and mark of gentlemanly martial virtue.

As symbols, swords represented power, protection, and justice; characteristics that shaped the Western military tradition. On the other hand, arme blance (cold steel) was still indispensable in battle, with the sword remaining a capable component of warfare and sometimes dictating the outcome of closely fought engagements. The 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse, for example, was a savage fight where American General Nathanael Greene handed British troops a pyrrhic victory in vicious handto-hand combat involving bayonets, hatchets, and swords.

In the abstract, the lineage of the sword influenced many gentlemen officers of the Enlightenment, even if in the most intangible terms. As students of the past, many of these men were undoubtedly familiar with implements such as the Roman gladius, a short stabbing weapon that, in addition to winning the Caesars of antiquity many battles, served as a ceremonial award (frequently presented by the Emperor Tiberius to the distinguished officers of his legions). Progressing forward, one of the most coveted weapons of the Early Middle Ages was the European longsword. Saxon blades were considered objects of great adoration, as they were both time consuming and expensive to produce. With the rise of Christian Latin states, the sword took on yet another symbolic role as both the protector and deliverer of divine providence. Monarchs often dispensed knighthoods with ritual blades, for example, while Crusaders preyed with sword in hand.

From antiquity to the Renaissance, professional soldiering was rife with tales of the sword. The doomed Roman commander Publius Varus, for example, chose to fall on his own blade rather than

“The Death of Major Peirson” by John Singleton Copley ca.1784

The sword has long represented honor and ferocity in battle as it required skill in close hand to hand combat. The significance of both the sword and the bayonets in this painting is to show the honor of the battle and Major Pierson’s death. Note how the sword has fallen from his hand and is depicted in striking detail just under his head.

face capture at the Battle of Teutoberger Wald (9 AD). Centuries later, the famed Minstrel of Taillefer supposedly juggled his sword, while wading into the enemy singing the “Song of Roland,” at Battle of Hastings in 1066. A romanticized recounting of the Battle of Hattin (1187) even depicted the defeated French Crusader, King Guy of Jerusalem, delivering his sword unto the victorious Sultan Saladin. So influential was the sword that some major European powers coronated their monarchs with mystical blades, such as Charlemagne’s Joyeuse and Edward the Confessor’s Sword of Mercy (both of which survive today).

Exclusive to the eighteenth-century was the socket bayonet that, when affixed to the end of a musket and used in mass charges, became an intimidating and bloody weapon. The sword, meanwhile, was largely regulated to the cavalry. Heavy cavalry, which saw action across Europe, made use of pointed broadswords suitable for thrusting into the enemy. Light cavalry, on the other hand, relied more on the use of curved sabers that were better suited for slashing routing foot soldiers. Swords of the latter type evolved from European hunting “hangers” of previous centuries. Characteristic of hunting and cavalry hangers were sharpened “false edges,” which delivered gruesome wounds, and brass or steel knuckle guards that afforded their owners The sixteenth and seventeenth-centuries brought with them the a minor degree of protection while wielding the weapons. Also a “gunpowder revolution” in which combatants saw the rise and typical of these swords was a single fuller that traveled the length of proliferation of firearms, both across the Continent and abroad. the blade. This slight longitudinal groove served the dual purpose Gunpowder weapons turned centuries of warfare—that included of both lightening the weapon while imparting greater structural years of proven siege strategies and tactical formations—on its strength along the core of sword. head. Swords, however, remained a prevalent part of combat during this era. Cavalry still cut down breaking ranks of infantry, for Infantry and artillery swords were largely outmoded before the first instance, while German doppelsöldners (two-handed sword-wielding shots were fired at the outset of the Revolutionary War. Regular mercenaries) were paid to wreak havoc upon enemy pikemen. troops in the Continental Army favored the bayonet if pressed Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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into hand-to-hand combat, while militiamen found swords too cumbersome or noisy when attempting an ambush. The latter, who learned a great deal of their irregular tactics from fighting Indians in the wilderness, preferred to use hunting knives or hatchets if forced into a fight. Swords were exceedingly rare items in Colonial America and expensive to import from abroad, which largely regulated their use to officers who were wealthy and of a higher social standing than rank and file soldiers. Thus, Revolutionary War-era swords were still very practical and deadly when wielded by cavalry but primarily took on more ceremonial and symbolic roles elsewhere in the military.

The infantry officer’s sword, although initially patterned after practical thrusting and stabbing weapons, gradually became more ornate in assuming its ceremonial role. In this regard, swordsmiths drew inspiration from the gentleman’s weapons of previous decades, such as luxurious hunting swords of the seventeenth and sixteenthcenturies. Hilts were generally decorative and incorporated features typically found on European smallswords, such as wire knuckle guards, swept quillons, and ornamental pommels. Such swords were also constructed of or finished with precious metals, like gold or silver.

While swords were expensive, it was not entirely uncommon for an officer of high station—especially European field commanders—to own several such weapons. British General John Burgoyne, who surrendered his sword to American General Horatio Gates following the second Battle of Saratoga (1777), owned several blades. According to Saratoga Battlefield National Park Service Rangers Joe Craig and Eric Schnitzer, “A general officer like Burgoyne would have owned a variety of swords; as a mounted officer, a standard sword would have been a hanger with a long, strong blade. But Burgoyne was also a cavalry officer (he was colonel of the 16th or Queen’s Light Dragoons) and as such he may have worn his regiment’s officer pattern horseman saber (although this is unlikely, as it would have been out of context with his position as a general officer while wearing a general officer’s uniform). Further, as an officer who was faced with ceremonial 52

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Above: Sword awarded to Colonel Marinus Willett by the Continental Congress for his meritorious action at Fort Stanwix. This is one of eleven identical swords made by C. Liger of Paris, France. (1785-86) Bottom Left: Painting of Colonel Willett wearing the ceremonial sword

by Ralph Earl ca. 1791

instead of battle duty, he may have carried a lightweight gold washhilted small sword.” The historical record fails to clarify which of the above swords “Gentleman Johnny” delivered to Gates at Saratoga. Regardless, the act signified a major turning point in the Revolutionary War that, up until Burgoyne’s defeat, had proceeded miserably for most of Washington’s forces.

In addition to offering swords as symbolic tokens of capitulation, Revolutionary War military leaders sometimes bestowed precious blades upon officers and soldiers in recognition of their gallantry on the battlefield. Washington, himself, had a long history of bestowing swords in such a manner. In 1782, for example, he presented three militiamen— John Pauling, David Williams and Isaac Van Wart—each a “dress sword and a brace of pistols” for capturing British spy Major John André. He additionally petitioned a fledgling Congress to produce fifteen swords for similar purposes. Officials only managed to procure ten swords, however, purchasing the weapons from France. The list of recipients included a variety of men, including “Col. David Humphreys, for his fidelity and ability… he presented Congress with the twenty-four British Regimental flags captured at Yorktown.” In his last will and testament, Washington even went as far to bequeath five swords upon his nephews. “These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheathe them for the purpose of shedding blood,” he wrote, “except it be for self defense [sic], or in defense of their Country and it’s [sic] rights; and in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands, to the relinquishment thereof…”

Whether a symbolic measure of military virtue or practical weapon of war, the sword continues to hold a special place in military history. Nowhere was this more prevalent than in Colonial America, where a ragtag handful of revolutionaries emerged from the dust and chaos of a seemingly unwinnable war to hand the supreme military power of the early modern era, Great Britain, the most stunning defeat of the eighteenth-century. While it was a loss received by Lord North as if he had “taken a ball in his breast,” it will forever be etched in our collective memory with the ceremonial surrendering of the sword—first at Saratoga then later at Yorktown.

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by: Laurie J. Paonessa

S

leep tight – don’t let the bed bugs bite! Did you ever wonder what that saying meant? It all comes back to the 18th century bed. A failure to “sleep tight” could mean a rough night for the party involved and dugs weren’t the only critters prone to making a comfy home in straw stuffed mattresses. Though not all colonists had the ability to sleep tight, they did have ways of using specific plants to keep critters from cozying up in bed thanks to a particular kind of straw.

Sleeping on a raised platform off of the floor was often a luxury for the average worker during the colonial era. Servants, children, or the less well-off would typically sleep on mattresses on the floor. In estate accounts of personal property, a bed was often the most valuable piece of furniture in the house. Wooden-framed beds had holes drilled into the side rails, headboard, and footboard spaced six to ten inches apart.

Ropes were woven through the holes to form a support grid under the mattress.

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The ropes were usually made of hemp or linen. For firm support of the mattress, the ropes would be tightened with a wooden tool called a “bed key” that looks like an oversized clothespin with a crossbar handle.

The bed key would take up the slack at the bedframe, and the ropes would be retied. This is the origin of the “Sleep tight” in the colloquial saying. Another

Sleep Tight, Sweet Dreams

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lived on Funk Island east of Newfoundland year-round, to harvest feathers from the great auk and other seabirds.

Since great auks were flightless birds, they were easy prey.

By the early 1800s, the great auk was nearly gone from the earth, hunted into near-extinction. The last known pair of great auk was killed in 1844 by men gathering specimens for an Icelandic collector.

A working class person may have multiple mattress ticks on top of one another. However this did not multiply the level of comfort. Each of these were filled with cheap and common items. The most common used being straw, chaff, corn husks, horsehair, wool, tree leaves, or a combination as stuffing material. Travelers or soldiers often carried ticking with them, stuffing it upon their arrival.

Chaff is the husk or outer covering of grains or grasses separated from the edible seed in threshing. The chaff had no use as food for people, and some would get chopped and stuffed into mattresses. Corn plants not only provided Summer Amusement. Isaac Cruikshank, 1782 corn kernels but cobs, husks, and stalks. Wasting nothing bed support that was prone to slackening was called a helped farmers make the most out of the fruits of their sacking bottom and was made of a single piece of sailcloth labor. Corn cobs could be burned for fuel while the sturdy or canvas edged in eyelet holes. Rope would be strung corn husks found their way into stuffing for mattresses. through an eyelet, around a wooden peg on the top of the There were potential problems for those stuffing mattresses bed rails, and then back through the next eyelet. with plant matter. Hopefully, the mattress ticking was a sturdy A rectangular fabric sack called a “tick” formed the outer enough weave to keep the sharp ends of the straw or other part of a mattress. A tightly-woven linen or cotton cloth stalks from poking through. Eventually, the filling would called ticking, frequently woven with a twill weave, was a break down or get matted, making for some uncomfortable popular choice for creating mattresses. First, three sides nights. These were also prone to retaining moisture. The were sewn, and the tick was then turned right-side-out. filling could get infested with insects or attract rodents Then, the inside was stuffed with a variety of materials looking for their own cozy abode. To provide relief from depending on what the person could afford. Completely these unpleasantries, the mattress would be periodically filled, the tick was typically between 10 to 12 inches thick. opened along a seam and the contents discarded. The Finally, the fourth side was sewn shut. The mattress was casing could then be washed and dried before refilling with sometimes called a “palliasse” from paille, the French word more straw. A common time for an annual “changing-ofthe-mattress” was after the fall harvest of cereal crops, when for straw. fresh straw, chaff, and corn husks were available to be dried.

The wealthier colonists could afford to stuff ticks with If the plant material wasn’t dried fully before stuffing, the feathers to create a down mattress. Goose or duck feathers contents would mildew. were popular choices for mattress fillers. The feathers of a bird known as the great auk, similar to a penguin, became prized for stuffing material by the mid-1700s. Huge breeding colonies of great auk gathered on islands in the North Atlantic. A 1785 account described how several hunters 56

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Galium is a genus of herbaceous plants and a member of the Madder family, with over three hundred species worldwide. So what does this plant have to do with getting a good night’s sleep? Its common name is bedstraw or fragrant bedstraw, earned by its spicy vanilla-like scent and

the popularity with which the species was sought after for use as stuffing. Coumarin compounds similar to those found in cinnamon give this plant the fresh scent upon drying. Other nicknames are ladies’ bouquet, sweet-scented bedstraw, or three-flowered bedstraw. Fragrant bedstraw was traditionally included in mattresses not only for the scent but the added efficiency it has in repelling insects.

Some species of galium are annual (grow for one season and then die) and some are perennial (grow back every year). Galium triflorum is a perennial plant that easily grows in moist woods across the North American continent.

This low-growing plant spreads along slender stems and has green leaves in whorls of six, resembling a green 6-petaled daisy. The minuscule greenish white 4-petal flowers are easy to miss, they appear in the summer in clusters of three at the end of narrow stalks. By the end of the summer, the flowers have changed to round nutlets around two millimeters wide, covered in bristles. The bristles help attach the little burrs to passersby for dispersal.

mentions adding white-flowered bedstraw to a warm footbath to comfort and strengthen the sinews, arteries, and joints after travel, cold, or pains. The author considered lady’s bedstraw to be an “herb of Venus” so was thought to strengthen the body parts – both internal and external. The multi-talented galium genus includes species whose roots were used for red dye. There are other species of galium around the world that have similar nicknames. A few of these names being; marsh ladies’ bedstraw, a native of Sweden and dwarf ladies’ bedstraw, from Provence, France.

Other nicknames were corn ladies’ bedstraw, rigid ladies’ bedstraw, and trailing ladies’ bedstraw.

The use of plant filled ticking fell out of fashion in the 19th century with the invention of incredibly cheap cotton wadding. The price of which was described as not greater than that of “the commonest flock and chaff bedding” and something that would be a “source of increased comfort” to “the whole of the industrious and poorer classes.” Though no longer used in bedding, Fragrant Bedstraw was still hung in bundles and bunches to ward off stow away critters, and A British herbal guide from the seventeenth century keep the air fresh and clean.

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Little Shops of Horror: Blacksmiths, Barbers, & Colonial Dentistry

John Collier "A Sadistic Tooth-Drawer" Circa 1773

by: Christopher P. Elmore

F

ew events inspire dread in the minds of modern children than a trip to the dentist. Parents struggle to comfort their children, in part, because few of them enjoy going to the dentist either. Contemporary Americans, however, might have a different attitude toward dentists if they appreciated how far the dental profession had come since colonial times.

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Medical care in colonial America was rudimentary at best, as the medical profession was still very much in its infancy. A contemporary commentator William Douglass noted that more colonial Americans “die of the practitioner than of the natural course….” Dental care was even more substandard as even medical doctors eschewed working on teeth, which were

deemed non-medical in nature because they were “outside the body.”

Nevertheless, dental problems were a real concern to colonial Americans and poorly understood by most. Cotton Mather, the renowned author and colonial Renaissance man, complained much about toothaches. “Think; ‘The Teeth wherein I Suffer so much Torture;

How much have I sinned with them!”

At another point, he refers to the combination of his baby and permanent teeth as “Fifty-Two Tormentors in thy Gums.” Mather developed a theory that his tooth troubles were the caused “by sinful and excessive eating, and by evil speeches,” apparently assuming a relationship between actions involving the mouth and aches and pains within it.

already very loose. Nevertheless, people in pain will take drastic measures to ease their suffering. According to Peter Mayhew, “One common method of removing teeth was to simply knock them out by holding a wedge of wood against the tooth and banging on it with a hammer or mallet, but that often left the root of the tooth embedded in the gum and could lead to infection and possibly death.”

was a major factor in the rotting of teeth, adding, “I am inclined to think that smoking is hurtful to the teeth.”

With more people living longer lives and consuming products that did significant damage to their teeth, the shortage of available dentists became a more acute societal problem and a variety of amateurs stepped in to fill the void.

“By reason of this unseemly neglect, and ignoring of this important study Another popular theory held that The demand for dental work increased in medical schools, a sort of empirical toothaches were caused by “toothworms” significantly in the 18th century. Short observation and study arose, in the which burrowed holes in the teeth. life expectancy and bland diets meant main by men unlearned in professional Since worms were typically found in the that few people in the medieval and matters, consisting of barbers, hairremains of human corpses and worms early modern eras required specialized dressers, shoe-makers, blacksmiths and were known to dig others, who became holes in apples, it was a the extractors of aching f all else failed some dental short leap to conclude teeth.” forceps also had a steel ball on that they were also responsible for the the end of one handle used to Pierre Fauchard, cavities found in teeth. smash the offending tooth out considered by some to This bizarre theory be the father of modern and end the unfortunate might help explain dentistry, recounts a patient s ordeal some of the equally number of cases in bizarre remedies used which amateur “toothto ease the pain of toothaches, including dental care. Most people did not live drawers” did serious damage to their “leeches, blistering, cupping, and long enough to lose their adult teeth helpless patients. In one case, unable laxatives, as well as with prescriptions while the consumption of grains and to extract a rotten tooth, the extractor of lizard liver, green frogs, and a urine vegetables did little damage to the simply hammered the tooth back into gargle.” While most of these were teeth. But the Columbian Exchange the mouth of the patient, pushing it up home remedies, the theory underlying brought improvements in diet that into his sinus. Berdmore cites a case in their use was so widely accepted that led to increased life expectancy and which the practitioner, while extracting even so-called “professionals” of the larger populations also increased the a pained tooth, “‘brought away the time recommended their use. availability of crops like sugar, coffee, affected tooth together with a piece of and tobacco also that we now know jawbone as big as a walnut and three Still, the most common solution to the to be catalysts for tooth decay. By the neighbouring molars’. problem of toothaches was extraction late 18th century, dental practitioners of the pained tooth. Pulling out a were increasingly aware of the damage Barbers were the “go-to” medical tooth that is still rooted in the gums is caused by these products. Thomas practitioners throughout the medieval a challenge for any person. Few possess Berdmore, a well-known and respected and early modern periods until formal the willpower or intestinal fortitude to English dentist, published a treatise in medical training began in earnest in the pull out their own teeth unless they are 1770 in which he observed that sugar late-18th and 19th centuries. Barbers

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generally dealt with any bodily issue that an individual could not handle on their own. In addition to clipping hair and nails, barbers performed surgery, provided tonics and elixirs and performed dental work. Toothextraction was considered well within the domain of a barber’s skill set since teeth were outside the body, like hair and nails. “As they[barbers] also often pulled teeth, they would string a row of teeth in front of their windows to alert potential customers of their services.”

Blacksmiths became involved in dentistry for similar reasons. Blacksmiths were natural tinkerers and had a variety of tools at their disposal that enabled them to generate the leverage needed to extract teeth. The ability to work with metals proved valuable as metals like gold, silver, and mercury could be used to fill cavities. Most importantly, working with hardened metals was one of the few activities that required the same amount of brute strength as extracting teeth.

The blacksmith “dentist” typically engaged in “[m]ere tooth pulling requiring manual dexterity and muscular strength without anatomical knowledge or surgical skill…”

Anxious Female Patient, Her Husband In those places lacking barbers or Observes the Situation Smugly.” blacksmiths who performed dental work, people relied on traveling The tools used by the blacksmith to “tooth-drawers” who were essentially extract teeth invoke the dread that a performers that came to town to visit to the dentist typically inspires. make some money both by extracting Dental forceps were used to either yank teeth and providing entertainment in the tooth out of the individual’s mouth the process. “Itinerant tooth pullers or at least attempt to break the tooth set up shop in marketplaces and at into pieces that would be easier to fairs. The “dentist” and his assistants remove. According to Dr. Alun Withy, attracted a crowd by telling stories, “If all else failed, some dental forceps singing and dancing, performing tricks, also had a steel ball on the end of one or juggling.” Fauchard describes the handle, used to smash the offending practices of charlatans who lured in tooth out and end the unfortunate prospective customers by staging fake patient’s ordeal.” extractions in which the “extractor” would drop a previously extracted tooth doused in animal blood into the mouth of a cooperating “patient” who would then spit out the tooth to demonstrate the ease of extraction.

Another tool was the dental key, which was attached tightly to the offending tooth and then rotated. According to Stanley Gelbier, professor in the history of dentistry at King’s College London Dental Institute, “This extracted the tooth - and usually gum and bone with it.” He adds that “Sometimes the jaws “A Rustic Blacksmith Turned Tooth- were also broken during an extraction Drawer Extracting a Tooth from an by untrained people.”

Tooth-drawers were essentially performers that came to town to make some money both by extracting teeth and providing entertainment in the process.

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The growing prevalence of tooth decay, the inadequacy of existing dental practitioners, and changing societal norms concerning dental hygiene encouraged a new breed of dental professionals to emerge.

In 1746, Fauchard published The Surgeon Dentist, a Treatise on Teeth, which challenged many of the myths concerning the causes of toothaches, like the toothworm theory and proposed remedies such as the cleaning of teeth and filling cavities that are still widely practiced today. Among the innovations introduced by Fauchard was the notion that a dental patient should be seated comfortably. According to Harry Schenawolf, “Common practice of the day included sitting the patient on the ground, the floor, or holding him or her between the operator’s knees.” Berdmore and others followed

with similar tomes and by the time of the American Revolution, a number of dental practitioners with professional training were advertising these new approaches in North America.

Washington had severe dental problems.

By the time of his presidential inauguration in 1789, Washington had only one natural tooth remaining. The austere expression most commonly seen in portraits of Washington was likely the results of his efforts to keep dentures from falling out. Washington’s concern for dental hygiene can be seen in his “Rules of Civility and Appropriate Behavior” which included the following:

These trends can be seen through that most famous set of 18th century American teeth, which belonged, of course, to that most legendary of founding fathers, George Washington.

Although his wealth and status allowed him the access to the most advanced “#15 Keep your Nails clean and Short, medical care, George Washington’s life also your Hands and Teeth Clean yet illustrates the many shortcomings of without Shewing any great medical practice in this era. A number Concern for them.” of Washington’s biographers have concluded that he was very possibly “#100 Cleanse not your teeth with the killed by his doctors as a result of their Table Cloth Napkin Fork or Knife but efforts to save him from what appears to if Others do it let it be done wt. have been a relatively mild pneumonia a Pick Tooth.” by bleeding him out until all of the “ill humors” had been removed.

Washington’s obsession with his teeth

was even caught up in a case of military espionage during the Revolutionary War. In 1781, as he was preparing an assault on New York, then being held by the British, Washington sent a letter to his dentist John Baker requesting “pincers to fasten the wire of my teeth” and one of your scrapers as my teeth stand in need of cleaning.” The British found the letter in a package of intercepted communications. Clinton concluded that the image-conscious Washington would not have included details suggesting such an infirmity as part of a ploy to deceive the British so the other captured correspondence must be legitimate as well.

In his concern for the appearance of his teeth, Washington was a man of his time.

Even at the height of tensions between the British and the American colonists in 1776, colonial dentist Benjamin

Take a seat In 1746, Fauchard published The Surgeon Dentist, a Treatise on Teeth, which challenged many of the myths concerning the causes of toothaches, like the toothworm theory and proposed remedies such as the cleaning of teeth and filling cavities that are still widely practiced today. Among the innovations introduced by Fauchard was the notion that a dental patient should be seated comfortably.

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Fendell remarked that the “foulness of the teeth” was “looked on as a certain mark of filthiness and sloth; not only because it disfigures… the countenance, but also because the smell imparted to the breath… is generally disagreeable.”

most well known dental patient in 18th century America, Paul Revere would have to be its most famous practitioner.

A silversmith and engraver by trade, the ever-industrious Revere recognized

on filling cavities, cleaning teeth, and “wiring into place false teeth made from ivory or animal teeth.” Revere also appears to have been one of the first to practice forensic dentistry when he was able to identify the body of his friend, John Warren who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, through the dental work he had performed on him.

Washington’s experiences also highlight another trend of the time: the widespread use of dentures to replace extracted teeth.

A number of colonial The professionalization dentists including John of dentistry in the late Baker, Paul Revere, and 18th and 19th centuries perhaps his favorite did not necessarily dentist, John Greenwood, make visiting the dentist who made the dentures a pleasant experience. that he wore at his The first dental school presidential inauguration in the United States in 1789, advertised their was founded in 1840 in skills at providing artificial Baltimore. Anesthesia teeth to replace those that was also first introduced had been extracted due to in the 1840s and was not tooth decay. Washington widely used for dental had numerous sets of procedures until the late dentures made throughout 19th century. Dental of his life, and contrary The blacksmith “dentist” typically engaged in “[m]ere tooth tools like forceps and to popular mythology, pulling requiring manual dexterity and muscular strength without dental keys, along with none of them were made anatomical knowledge or surgical skill…” toxic mercury to fill of wood. Indeed, most Dr. Carolyn Dean cavities were used well dentures of the time were into the 20th century. made with teeth taken Nevertheless, the work from living or recently deceased humans. the demand for dental care and eagerly of Fauchard, Revere, Berdmore, Baker, jumped in to fill the void. Struggling Greenwood, and countless others Teeth extracted from the recently to feed his growing family and having eventually succeeded “in placing deceased eventually became known as worked with John Baker, an Englishmen dentistry in the sphere to which it “Waterloo teeth” due to the popularity who had come to the colonies in the belongs—lifting it from the vocation of teeth scavenged from the remains of 1760s to develop his dental practice and of the barber, blacksmith and charlatan soldiers scattered across the battlefield spread the new dental practices being tooth-tinker, to that of the high and where Napoleon experienced his final promoted by Fauchard, Berdmore, and honored calling of artist, scientist and defeat. If George Washington were the others, Revere soon became an expert healer.”

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Trade Cards

The Development of Direct Advertising

by: David Fahrenholz

W

hen Colonial America was settled there were many traditions and practices that came with the people who were looking for a fresh start in a new land. The use of trade Cards, which started in Britain, France and parts of Europe, were a highly stylized type of direct advertising that came with them.

The evolution of these cards in Colonial America was a testament to the unique place they hold in how colonists developed the new economy.

The trade card is a form of communication that shares a history with an even older media called a “visiting card”. The visiting card was in use in elite society circles to introduce one’s self to another person by following the accepted rules of etiquette. Instead of simply expecting someone to accept your visit you presented a card at the persons home you wish to visit or speak with. If a card then arrived at your home, the person you initially left your card with was open to a visit or appointment. If no card was forthcoming, then you were discouraged from pursuing the conversation further and to do so was considered bad form. One of the methods developed under this set of societal rules to show heightened interest was to leave the card with a bent corner. This signified you left the card personally as opposed

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to sending it via a third party courier or handing it to a servant.

Visiting cards eventually became less common but trade cards were just starting to have an impact.

Similar in look and function to the visiting card, the trade card evolved as a way for businesses, tradespeople and proprietors to generate word of mouth and an awareness among their future customers by evoking a feel for proper conduct and appreciation for the customer. Initially trade cards were printed on paper and were comparable to shopkeeper’s bills for goods and services that would double as an advertisement.

Eventually they were printed on card stock and were designed to be portable and to fit in a pocket or folded to carry. As trade cards were expensive to create and the business of printing was not able to quickly adapt to changes in design or wording they were usually either printed in small runs of one hundred or larger runs with thoughtful distribution. Business owners or proprietors were very selective in how they used the cards. Many times, they were given to new or existing customers at the time of sale to help the customer remember where the goods were purchased. The cards were printed in a small square or rectangular size to encourage these customers to carry it with them or hand it to someone who might need these businesses in the future.

Benjamin Franklin's Printing Press. Benjamin Franklin. Etching by H. B. Hall, 1879.

At other times these cards were handed out to prospective customers by the business owner who identified them as person of substantive economic means, with the desire that the bearer would purchase from them or circulate it among their acquaintances.

business did as a service or goods they sold and how they were used.

In the early history of trade cards in the American colonies, the styles and designs were very similar to those most likely sent or brought over with tradespeople from other countries. As the colony prospered the cards changed in to a style that better reflected the specific trades and commerce typically seen in a new country.

The design of the cards evolved in several phases. The earlier designs from Britain and greater Europe relied heavily on associations with royal members of society and the unimpeachable integrity of their Newspapers were one potential avenue for advertising but frequent services or products. These designs frequently had crests of arms, errors and a plethora of poster ads meant the business owner needed a heavy flourish type borders and flowery superlatives surrounding the different way to keep the customers attention. Trade cards provided a proprietors name, a brief description and more direct way to put a focus on a specific location. All this with the intention of business. They came in a bewildering Businesses, investors catching the eye of a customer. As the array of designs that show the wide range & various types of cards became more popular the designs proprietors began to use of businesses hoping to gain consumer then began to focus on the quality and awareness. There are examples of cards the cards as a form of types of goods or services the business advertising draining of bedpans, removal security or actual provided. The illustrations then became of bugs using specialized wallpaper, the trade for commerce. very detailed with many featuring a venerable chimney sweeping and ember lithograph type rendering of the place of removal and fishing equipment for the business or a collection of goods sold. Many were also imbued with refined gentleman. The cards were usually of high quality and the an “action� illustration that became a pictograph version of what the printing was highly detailed. In addition, many businesses could not Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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afford the printing costs associated with them so when a card was handed out by a business it created the perception of a higher quality goods or services for the customer and in turn it gave them a feeling of stature in relation to the purchase of these commodities.

This scarcity due to the cost also added to the desirability.

This in turn had a positive effect on business growth by creating an increased desire for higher grades goods due to pent up demand by prosperous colonists. As the status of trade cards rose in the commerce of colonial life many businesses tried to stand out even more.

would purchase a good or a service on an open account and the business would record the sale on the back of the card. The card is now in effect a bill of credit and a receipt which was balanced against a ledger. When the bill was paid either in installments or in full it would be recorded and noted by dates and employee signatures. When the purchase was complete the card many times was returned to the customer as proof of purchase to use for any future lines of credit and in the case of defective services or merchandise. Over time these cards served as proof of credit worthiness and allowed customers to make larger purchases, even at other businesses.

Many hired designers to create new designs or create a specific branding for their businesses.

These designers were primarily working from France, Britain While the use of trade or Europe but as the colony cards existed well past the grew this in turn created a 18th century the offer of new opportunity for printers extended payment and credit and illustrators. By the 18th terms changed rather quickly century trade cards evolved reflecting the change in society into more than simply a form and the behavior of customers of advertising. Businesses, purchasing goods. As the investors and various types of advertising industry improved proprietors began to use the its offerings and reader cards as a form of security or response it also was able to actual trade for commerce. It lower costs to the point that was now a common practice Trade cards began to lose the for someone to send or ship status of exclusivity it once a trade card via a courier or enjoyed. representative internationally English Trade Card for James Ross, Tin - Man1761(The British Museum) to others to signify that Trade cards did not disappear The owners and employees of this person or business was entirely though. Today we use businesses began to use trade cards as in effect guaranteed to be something very similar that a form of an open account ledger and fiscally backed or financially we call a business card. It has receipt due to the scarcity of interested in doing trade with much of the same functionality coins and bills. them. Obviously much of this and appearance. The highly activity was based on expected behaviors and moral pressure to be detailed and embellished designs are now rarely seen even though as good as one’s word is. Such was the complicated and trusted the costs are so low any business or average person can afford to relationship of the trade card in Colonial America. print them. It would also be highly improbable you could convince a business to issue you a line of credit based solely on the fact you In time this same financial trust was used with all customers of possess the card. An additional and perhaps ironic use of today’s businesses that issued the cards. The owners or employees of these pocket sized business card is to use them as way to signal your businesses began to use these cards as a form of an open account intention to set up a meeting with a person or business much like ledger and receipt due to the scarcity of coins and bills. A customer the original “visiting” card did in hopes of developing a relationship.

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Squirrels th An 18 Century Pet by: CL McLaughlin

P

eople have always shared our pride and passion for our cats, dogs, and exotic pets alike. Paintings of prized livestock and portraits featuring a master and favorite dog are commonplace all over the world. The intricate and important part role our pets play in our lives is not new. They offer their owners companionship, loyalty and love. This was also the case in colonial America, where pets played an important role in the family dynamic of all societal classes. Some of the animals that our predecessors chose to fulfill the post as household companion may surprise you.

Although both modern and colonial societies value the roles of pets or “favorites” (as was the vernacular during the colonial period) there are some important differences. In modern society we consider a typical pet to be a cat, a dog or even a lizard. We have a distinct division between animals that are suitable pets and those that are not meant to be brought into the home.

However, in the 18th century, the idea of what animals were considered pets was much more broad. While not typically considered so today,

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Among tamed animals were the gray or flying squirrels that became so gentle as to sit on the shoulders of boys and to follow them everywhere.

- Albert Sidney Bolles woodland animals like squirrels and deer were considered as valued pets and as important members of the family.

Even during the era, many European visitors to the colonies were often shocked by the use of wild animals as domestic pets. Squirrels were a hugely popular companion especially among young American men as they would often catch these squirrels from their nests as soon as they were born. If the squirrels were taken young, they were fairly easy to tame and became a symbol of conquest and masculinity.

The animals served as a symbol of their ability to hunt, track, and gather for themselves.

The primary records indicate that squirrels were typically a pet for

children. However, many adults also owned squirrels as pets, including the upper class of colonial American society. Even influential political thinkers such as Benjamin Franklin were affected by the use of squirrels as pets. It is a well documented fact that his friend owned a squirrel named “Mungo”. Mungo died when he escaped his cage and got attacked by a dog. Benjamin Franklin’s friend was so distraught by this news that in 1722, Franklin wrote a tribute to Mungo. He sought to make his friend laugh because he was distraught over the loss of his pet squirrel. He wrote: “Only a few squirrels were better accomplished, because he had a good education and had traveled around to see the world at large…

John Singleton Copley. A Boy with a Flying Squirrel

Thou art fallen by the fang of The stereotypical quirky attitudes, uncontrollable death, cruel Ranger” wild stigma, and fluffy fur only added to the status of squirrels as a highly Although Franklin’s words were full desired pet. Plainly put, they are of humor, they also illustrate the cute. American grey squirrels and red important emotional role that pets, squirrels were the most common pets; including squirrels like poor Mungo, however American flying squirrels were played within the family. Although also limitedly available and even more this emotion over a squirrel would be highly sought after. Indeed, much like odd to us in modern society and for with breeds of dogs, there is a social those outside of colonial America, wild hierarch of squirrels. animals were revered and respected as a higher class pets within the structures It is noted in many sources that of colonial American society. Many squirrels were not only stolen from speculate that this derives from the their mother’s nests but they were desire of the people to tame the wild often sold on street corners. Due wilderness that surrounded them in to the popularity of squirrels as the still relatively unexplored and new household pets, they became very continent. profitable ventures for those breeding and selling animals. Squirrel and exotic

bird vendors were very successful in colonial America as they offered their customers a chance to own an exotic and wild animal. It is estimated that by the year 1800, the exotic animal industry was worth around $70 billion dollars in today’s money. Not limited to street vendors, squirrels were formally sold at bird breeders and other exotic animal shops. This industry created a problem within the natural world, in that it severely impacted the population of wild squirrels in areas. Due to the money that could be earned from these animals and the desirability of them on the market, squirrels were collected in numbers that threatened their populations, and impacted their ability to strive in the wild for years.

Although technically tamed wild animals, squirrels are hardly depicted as wild and exotic at all. Squirrels were often leashed with thin gold chains they are most frequently painted as regal and docile creatures perching on their young masters shoulders.

Writer Edward Topsell, when visiting America, commented that squirrels were “sweet sportful beasts and… very pleasant playfellows in a house” despite their common desire to chew Summer 2018 | Reliving History

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“An account in one of the late papers of a natural curiosity, I think ’tis called, to be seen in Walnut Street; a fine little bird, a beautiful flying squirrel, a rattlesnake, and other animals, are living in the most amicable terms in a neat, strong box or cage.

William went yesterday to see them; the bird was hopping about, ye squirrel laying asleep in a corner; 2 or 3 frogs in the box; the snake appeared torpid, but would stir when disturbed by a stick. The torpid situation of ye snake accounts to me for their friendly living together.”

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The Ground Squirrel. 18th Century illustration by naturalist Mark Catesby (1682-1749)

holes in their masters clothing, and just about everything else. Squirrels such prolific chewers that would easily escaped from wooden cages.

Blacksmiths, and other metal workers in turn developed metal cages for squirrels to stop this problem for occurring. As their popularity grew, people began to realize that squirrels enjoyed running off their energy on wheels. Blacksmiths made special wheels, similar to modern hamster wheels, for these squirrels so that people could observe this behavior.

Flying squirrels were especially desirable within colonial America, as they had higher energy levels and were more agile then their typical ground squirrel counterparts. These squirrels were often owned by the upper class citizens of and societal elites. Vendors often displayed these flying squirrels with great pride and fanfare, as well as matching prices. In 1798 Elizabeth Drinker made an observation of a vendor selling exotic animals, including exotic squirrels. She noted:

Drinker’s son eventually became an owner of a flying squirrel, as it was a gift from his older brother. Once the squirrel was in the house the family marveled at the wild creature, but at the same time Drinker wished that she could bring the squirrel back into the wild as it was high energy and destroyed many household valuables.

Despite their wild ways and ability to chew through things, the squirrel’s popularity as a household pet only continued to grow.

In 1768, Famous painter John Singleton Copley painted his younger brother with his pet squirrel. This popular painting was created to illustrate the importance that the squirrel had in the lives of his brother and in the lives of their other young

owners. Copley noted that the squirrel inspired his creativity, because his brother would rarely go anywhere without is “favorite”.

Despite the rampant popularity of wild animals as pets in colonial America, much of the information we have on colonial pets comes from the works of naturalist Peter Kalm. Kalm, was a Swedish naturalist who traveled through America between the years of 1748 and 1757. His travels resulted in a published journal entitled En Resa til Norra America (translated A Travel to Northern America). This manuscript was translated into multiple languages and distributed worldwide. Kalm’s journal contained his observations on North American nature and the odd way in which the colonists interacted

with the natural world around them.

In his manuscript he noted that many surprising mammals were tamed and were domestic pets. Among those animals mentioned were flying squirrels.

“Beavers have been tamed to such an extent that they have brought home what they caught by fishing to their masters. This is often the case with otters, of which I have seen some that were as tame as dogs, and followed their master wherever he went; if he went out in a boat the otter went with him, jumped into the water and after a while came up with a fish. The raccoon can in time be made so tame as to run about the streets like a domestic animal; but it is impossible to make it leave off its habit of stealing. In the dark it creeps to the poultry, and kills a whole flock in one night. Sugar and other sweet things must be carefully hidden; for if the chests and boxes are not always locked, it gets into them and eats the sugar with its paw. The ladies, therefore, have some complaint against it every day. The American Squirrel and deer can likewise be tamed. A farmer in New Jersey had one in his possession, which he caught when it was very young; at present, it is so tame that in the daytime it runs into the woods for its food, and towards night returns home, frequently bringing a wild deer out of the woods, giving its master an opportunity to hunt at his very door.”

Squirrel care literature also emerged on the continent during this period.

This was important as it taught the

colonists essential skills needed to take care of an exotic pet. This was important information to have as exotic pets required more detailed care than the typical hunting dog, horse, or livestock. In Jane Loudon’s book Domestic Pets their habitats and management Loudon states that squirrels are a better pet than a rabbit in that they have a more personal connection with their owners.

the best way to reward a squirrel was to give it “a fig or a date every now and then” and to allow the squirrel to crack their own nuts. He argues that this allows them the proper needed nutrition along with practicing some natural wild behavior. Although experts and colonial Americans believed that squirrels were fantastic companions and pets, these attitudes eventually began to shift.

“Because squirrels usually jump from one hand to the other in search for hidden nuts, it knows the name and person that feed it… There was a scenario whereby about seventeen lumps of sugar were found in the corner of a drawing room where squirrel was kept, apart from several nuts and pieces of biscuit.”

Of course in a modern perspective having a squirrel as a pet is not a good idea. As time went on people began to see squirrels as garden variety pests and sought to rid them from their homes and neighborhoods. Squirrels are difficult in that they have space requirements, finicky diets and like any wild animal, high potential for a temperamental disposition. Today, we see squirrels as animals carriers of diseases, lice, and other factors that could greatly impact the health of their owners. So as the desire for squirrels dwindled, the population of squirrels in urban areas thrived as their domestic brethren began to be released back into the wild and into city streets and parks. Although most of these domestic squirrels died as they did

Loudon also stated in the book that metal cages, notably tin, were the best for squirrels. Experts also recommended that they should have a wheel in their cage so that they could effectively exercise when not allowed to run freely around the house. Based on these manuals it can be concluded that great thought was given by Colonial Americans to the care of their exotic animals.

Similarly, in an article by Leisure Hour Monthly the Author starts a narrative on how he was successful with his squirrels, Peter and Dick. He stated that the best squirrels were to be found directly in the wild, and to be reared by their masters from when they were a baby. He also advised that 1771 John Singleton Copley (American artist, 1738-1815).

Daniel Crommelin Verplanck with Squirrel

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not learn the proper way to survive out in America gaining independence. shelter. Boston and New Haven soon in world, some survived and sparked By the mid 1800’s the squirrels had followed the trend and placed squirrels the idea among certain people within completely fallen out of fashion as pets into their public parks as well. Soon, society that squirrels should be a part and most of the cities were relatively urban squirrels were becoming so large of the landscape. devoid of the creatures. The city from people feeding them that they

government in Philadelphia sought began to fall out of trees. In order Although squirrels were a popular pet to revitalize the health of its people to stop overfeeding, cities planted nut in the more developed bearing trees so that food areas of the colonies, in would naturally be provided some more rural areas to the squirrels and the squirrels were more city would not need to feed often considered pests. them more than they could In the cases where physically handle. Although squirrels were considered the cities originally intended a pest, it became a for only a few squirrels common occurrence to be in their parks, the to be rewarded for numbers started to grow hunting a large amount into the thousands. Although of squirrels. In these squirrels were no longer pets more rural areas where in the conventional way, they squirrels were being had become a source of joy hunted, it is noted that for many in urban areas. the meat makes for a

fulfilling meal. In fact, So although the idea of in some communities squirrels as household pets squirrel scalps were has become foreign to us, considered payment they have always been a for ones taxes. It is source of comfort to the interesting that at the A Portrait of a Boy with a Pet Squirrel, 18th century Art Prints by Joseph Highmore humans that they reside same point in time, Squirrels were a hugely popular companion especially with. Whether they are pets in some communities in the conventional way, or among young American men as they would often catch squirrels were considered seen in public areas such as these squirrels from their nests as soon as they were born. important members of in parks, it is important to the family, whereas in others, squirrels by increasing the number of trees and note that squirrels have influenced our were a nuisance and pests. Some men parks within the city. The thought was society greatly. Through an intricate already known for their marksmanship that the people of Philadelphia would paradox of being both pest and pet, when shooting squirrels became be happier if they were brought back friend and food, the squirrel has a sharp shooters during the American to nature. Philadelphia in turn sought particular place in the history of a Revolution. These sharp shooters were to increase the number of natural young nation. These quirky creatures vital in the war against the British elements within the city, this included have truly influenced our history and where guerilla warfare was frequently squirrels. Three squirrels were released our communities from a multitude of used. One could argue that the humble into Franklin Square. The city provided different angles. squirrel played its own essential role these squirrels with food and boxes for 72

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Article Guidelines Distribution Frequency: Quarterly Accepts Email Submissions: Yes Website URL: www.RelivingHistory.us Description: A quarterly research publication dedicated to 18th century life particularly in colonial America. Reliving History focuses on material culture and the roles of different people from the 18th century. The more specific and focused the article gets, the better.

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73

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