Woman's Life in Colonial Days Part 14

I must begg you will not lett the fright you had given you prevent you comeing to see me again--If I coud leave my children in as good Care as you can I would never let Mr. W----n come down without me--Please to give my love to Miss Judy and your little babys and make my best compliments to Mr. Ba.s.sett and Mrs.

Dawson.

"I am with sincere regard "dear sister "yours most affectionately "MARTHA WASHINGTON."[163]

Because of the lack of good roads and the apparently great distances, the mere matter of travelling was far more important in social activities than is the case in our day of break-neck speed. A ridiculously small number of miles could be covered in a day; there were frequent stops for rest and refreshment; and the occupants of the heavy, rumbling coaches had ample opportunity for observing the scenery and the peculiarities of the territory traversed. Martha Washington's grandson has left an account of her journey from Virginia to New York, and recounts how one team proved balky, delayed the travellers two hours, and thus upset all their calculations. But the kindness of those they met easily offset such petty irritations as stubborn horses and slow coaches. Note these lines from the account:

"We again set out for Major Snowden's where we arrived at 4 o'clock in the evening. The gate (was) hung between 2 trees which were scarcely wide enough to admit it. We were treated with great hospitality and civility by the major and his wife who were plain people and made every effort to make our stay as agreeable as possible."

"May 19th. This morning was lowering and looked like rain--we were entreated to stay all day but to no effect we had made our arrangements & it was impossible.... Majr Snowden accompanied us 10 or a dozen miles to show a near way and the best road.... We proceeded as far as Spurriers ordinary and there refreshed ourselves and horses.... Mrs. Washington shifted herself here, expecting to be met by numbers of gentlemen out of B----re--(Baltimore) in which time we had everything in reddiness, the carriage, horses, etc., all at the door in waiting."[164]

The story of that journey, now made in a few hours, is filled with interesting light upon the ways of the day:--the numerous accidents to coaches and horses, the dangers of crossing rivers on flimsy ferries, the hospitality of the people, who sent messengers to insist that the party should stop at the various homes, the strange mingling of the uncouth, the totally wild, and the highly civilized and cultured.

Probably at no other time in the world's history could so many stages of man's progress and conquest of nature be seen simultaneously as in America of the eighteenth century.

_IV. New England Social Life_

Turning to New England, we find of course that under the early Puritan regime amus.e.m.e.nts were decidedly under the ban. We have noted under the discussion of the home the strictness of New England views, and how this strictness influenced every phase of public and private life. Indeed, at this time life was largely a preparation for eternity, and the ethical demands of the day gave man an abnormally tender and sensitive conscience. When Nathaniel Mather declared in mature years that of all his manifold sins none so stuck upon him as that, when a boy, he whittled on the Sabbath day, and did it behind the door--"a great reproach to G.o.d"--he was but ill.u.s.trating the strange atmosphere of fear, reverence, and narrowness of his era.

And yet, those earlier settlers of Plymouth and Boston were a kindly, simple-hearted, good-natured people. It is evident from Judge Sewall's _Diary_ that everybody in a community knew everybody else, was genuinely interested in everyone's welfare, and was always ready with a helping hand in days of affliction and sorrow. All were drawn together by common dangers and common ties; it was an excellent example of true community interest and co-operation. This genuine solicitude for others, this desire to know how other sections were getting along, this natural curiosity to inquire about other people's health, defences against common dangers, and advancement in agriculture, trade and manufacturing, led to a form of inquisitiveness that astonished and angered foreigners.

Late in the eighteenth century even Americans began to notice this proverbial Yankee trait. Samuel Peters, writing in 1781 in his _General History of Connecticut_, said: "After a short acquaintance they become very familiar and inquisitive about news. 'Who are you, whence come you, where going, what is your business, and what your religion?' They do not consider these and similar questions as impertinent, and consequently expect a civil answer. When the stranger has satisfied their curiosity they will treat him with all the hospitality in their power."

Fisher in his _Men, Women, & Manners in Colonial Times_ declares: "A ... Virginian who had been much in New England in colonial times used to relate that as soon as he arrived at an inn he always summoned the master and mistress, the servants and all the strangers who were about, made a brief statement of his life and occupation, and having a.s.sured everybody that they could know no more, asked for his supper; and Franklin, when travelling in New England, was obliged to adopt the same plan."[165]

Old Judge Sewall, a typical specimen of the better cla.s.s Puritan, certainly possessed a kindly curiosity about his neighbors' welfare, and many are his references to visits to the sick or dying, or to attendance at funerals. While there were no great b.a.l.l.s nor brilliant fetes, as in the South, his _Diary_ emphatically proves that there were many pleasant visits and dinner parties and a great deal of the inevitable courting.

Thus, we note the following:

"Tuesday, January 12. I dine at the Governour's: where Mr. West, Governour of Carolina, Capt. Blackwell, his Wife and Daughter, Mr. Morgan, his Wife and Daughter Mrs. Brown, Mr. Eliakim Hutchinson and Wife.... Mrs. Mercy sat not down, but came in after dinner well dressed and saluted the two Daughters. Madm Bradstreet and Blackwell sat at the upper end together, Governour at the lower end."[166]

"Dec. 20, 1676 ... Mrs. Usher lyes very sick of an Inflammation in the Throat.... Called at her House coming home to tell Mr.

Fosterling's Receipt, i.e. A Swallows Nest (the inside) stamped and applied to the throat outwardly."[167]

"Satterday, June 5th, 1686. I rode to Newbury, to see my little Hull, and to keep out of the way of the Artillery Election, on which day eat Strawberries and Cream with Sister Longfellow at the Falls."[168]

"Monday, July 11. I hire Ems's Coach in the Afternoon, wherein Mr. Hez. Usher and his wife, and Mrs. Bridget her daughter, my Self and wife ride to Roxbury, visit Mr. Dudley, and Mr. Eliot, the Father who blesses them. Go and sup together at the Grayhound Tavern with boil'd Bacon and rost Fowls. Came home between 10 and 11 brave Moonshine, were hinder'd an hour or two by Mr. Usher, else had been in good season."[169]

"Thorsday, Oct. 6, 1687 ... On my Unkle's Horse after Diner, I carry my wife to see the Farm, where we eat Aples and drank Cider. Shew'd her the Meeting-house.... In the Morn Oct. 7th Unkle and Goodm. Brown come our way home accompanying of us. Set out after nine, and got home before three. Call'd no where by the way. Going out, our Horse fell down at once upon the Neck, and both fain to scramble off, yet neither receiv'd any hurt...."[170]

Nearly a century later Judge Pynchon records a social life similar, though apparently much more liberal in its views of what might enter into legitimate entertainment:

"Sat.u.r.day, July 7, 1784. Dine at Mr. Wickkham's, with Mrs. Browne and her two daughters.... In the afternoon Mrs. Browne and I, the Captain, Blaney, and a number of gentlemen and ladies, ride, and some walk out, some to Malbon's Garden, some to Redwood's, several of us at both; are entertained very agreeably at each place; tea, coffee, cakes, syllabub, and English beer, etc., punch and wine. We return at evening; hear a song of Mrs. Shaw's, and are highly entertained; the ride, the road, the prospects, the gardens, the company, in short, everything was most agreeable, most entertaining--was admirable."[171]

"Thursday, October 25, 1787 ... Mrs. Pynchon, Mrs. Orne, and Betsy spend the evening at Mrs. Anderson's; musick and dancing."[172]

"Monday, November 10, 1788 ... Mrs. Gibbs, Curwen, Mrs. Paine, and others spend the evening here, also Mr. Gibbs, at cards."[173]

"Friday, April 19 1782. Some rain. A concert at night; musicians from Boston, and dancing."[174]

"June 24, Wednesday, 1778. Went with Mrs. Orne [his daughter] to visit Mr. Sewall and lady at Manchester, and returned on Thursday."[175]

_V. Funerals as Recreations_

Even toward the close of the eighteenth century, however, lecture days and fast days were still rather conscientiously observed, and such occasions were as much a part of New England social activities as were b.a.l.l.s and receptions in Virginia. Judge Pynchon makes frequent note of such religious meetings; as,--"April 25, Thursday, 1782. Fast Day.

Service at Church, A.M.; none, P.M."[176] "Thursday, July 20, 1780. Fast Day; clear."[177] Funerals and weddings formed no small part of the social interests of the day, and indeed the former apparently called for much more display and formality than was ever the case in the South.

There seems to have been among the Puritans a certain grim pleasure in attending a burial service, and in the absence of b.a.l.l.s, dancing, and card playing, the importance of the New England funeral in early social life can scarcely be overestimated. During the time of Sewall the burial was an occasion for formal invitation cards; gifts of gloves, rings, and scarfs were expected for those attending; and the air of depression so common in a twentieth century funeral was certainly not conspicuous. It may have been because death was so common; for the death rate was frightfully high in those good old days, and in a community so thinly populated burials were so extremely frequent that every one from childhood was accustomed to the sight of crepe and coffin. Man is a gregarious creature and craves the a.s.sembly, and as church meetings, weddings, executions, and funerals were almost the sole opportunities for social intercourse, the flocking to the house of the dead was but normal and natural. Sewall seems to have been in constant attendance at such gatherings:

"Midweek, March 23, 1714-5. Mr. Addington buried from the Council-Chamber ... 20 of the Council were a.s.sisting, it being the day for Appointing Officers. All had Scarvs. Bearers Scarvs, Rings, Escutcheons...."[178]

"My Daughter is Inter'd.... Had Gloves and Rings of 2 pwt and 1/2. Twelve Ministers of the Town had Rings, and two out of Town...."[179]

"Tuesday, 18, Novr. 1712. Mr. Benknap buried. Joseph was invited by Gloves, and had a scarf given him there, which is the first."[180]

"Feria s.e.xta, April 8, 1720. Govr. Dudley is buried in his father Govr. Dudley's Tomb at Roxbury. Boston and Roxbury Regiments were under Arms, and 2 or 3 Troops.... Scarves, Rings, Gloves, Escutcheons.... Judge Dudley in a mourning Cloak led the Widow; ... Were very many People, spectators out of windows, on Fences and Trees, like Pigeons...."[181]

"July 25th, 1700. Went to the Funeral of Mrs. Sprague, being invited by a good pair of Gloves."[182]

This comment is made upon the death of Judge Sewall's father:

"May 24th.... My Wife provided Mourning upon my Letter by Severs.

All went in mourning save Joseph, who staid at home because his Mother lik'd not his cloaths...."[183]

"Febr. 1, 1700. Waited on the Lt. Govr. and presented him with a Ring in Remembrance of my dear Mother, saying, Please to accept in the Name of one of the Company your Honor is preparing to go."[184]

"July 15, 1698.... On death of John Ive.... I was not at his Funeral. Had Gloves sent me, but the knowledge of his notoriously wicked life made me sick of going ... and so I staid at home, and by that means lost a Ring...."[185]

"Friday, Feb. 10, 1687-8. Between 4 and 5 I went to the Funeral of the Lady Andros, having been invited by the Clerk of the South Company. Between 7 and 8 Lechus (Lynchs? i.e. links or torches) illuminating the cloudy air. The Corps was carried into the Herse drawn by Six Horses. The Souldiers making a Guard from the Governour's House down the Prison Lane to the South Meeting-house, there taken out and carried in at the western dore, and set in the Alley before the pulpit, with Six Mourning Women by it.... Was a great noise and clamor to keep people out of the House, that might not rush in too soon.... On Satterday Feb. 11, the mourning cloth of the Pulpit is taken off and given to Mr. Willard."[186]

"Satterday, Nov. 12, 1687. About 5 P.M. Mrs. Elisa Saffen is entombed.... Mother not invited."[187]

In the earlier days of the New England colonies the gift of scarfs, gloves, and rings for such services was almost demanded by social etiquette; but before Judge Sewall's death the custom was pa.s.sing. The following pa.s.sages from his _Diary_ ill.u.s.trate the change:

"Decr. 20, feria s.e.xta.... Had a letter brought me of the Death of Sister Shortt.... Not having other Mourning I look'd out a pair of Mourning Gloves. An hour or 2 later Mr. Sergeant, sent me and Wife Gloves; mine are so little I can't wear them."[188]

"August 7r 16, 1721. Mrs. Frances Webb is buried, who died of the Small Pox. I think this is the first public Funeral without Scarves...."[189]

The Puritans were not the only colonists to celebrate death with pomp and ceremony; but no doubt the custom was far more nearly universal among them than among the New Yorkers or Southerners. Still, in New Amsterdam a funeral was by no means a simple or dreary affair; feasting, exchange of gifts, and display were conspicuous elements at the burial of the wealthy or aristocratic. The funeral of William Lovelace in 1689 may serve as an ill.u.s.tration:

"The room was draped with mourning and adorned with the escutcheons of the family. At the head of the body was a pall of death's heads, and above and about the hea.r.s.e was a canopy richly embroidered, from the centre of which hung a garland and an hour-gla.s.s. At the foot was a gilded coat of arms, four feet square, and near by were candles and fumes which were kept continually burning. At one side was placed a cupboard containing plate to the value of 200. The funeral procession was led by the captain of the company to which deceased belonged, followed by the 'preaching minister,' two others of the clergy, and a squire bearing the shield. Before the body, which was borne by six 'gentlemen bachelors,' walked two maidens in white silk, wearing gloves and 'Cyprus scarves,' and behind were six others similarly attired, bearing the pall.... Until ten o'clock at night wines, sweet-meats, and biscuits were served to the mourners."[190]

_VI. Trials and Executions_

Whenever normal pleasures are withdrawn from a community that community will undoubtedly indulge in abnormal ones. We should not be surprised, therefore, to find that the Puritans had an itching for the details of the morbid and the sensational. The nature of revelations seldom, if ever, grew too repulsive for their hearing, and if the case were one of adultery or incest, it was sure to be well aired. There was a possibility that if an offender made a thorough-going confession before the entire congregation or community, he might escape punishment, and on such occasions it would seem that the congregation sat listening closely and drinking in all the hideous facts and minutiae. The good fathers in their diaries and chronicles not only have mentioned the crimes and the criminals, but have enumerated and described such details as fill a modern reader with disgust. In fact, Winthrop in his _History of New England_ has cited examples and circ.u.mstances so revolting that it is impossible to quote them in a modern book intended for the general public, and yet Winthrop himself seemed to see nothing wrong in offering cold-bloodedly the exact data. Such indulgence in the morbid or _risque_ was not, however, limited to the New England colonists; it was entirely too common in other sections; but among the Puritan writers it seemed to offer an outlet for emotions that could not be dissipated otherwise in legitimate social activities.

To-day the spectacle or even the very thought of a legal execution is so horrible to many citizens that the state hedges such occasions about with the utmost privacy and absence of publicity; but in the seventeenth century the Puritan seems to have found considerable secret pleasure in seeing how the victim faced eternity. Condemned criminals were taken to church on the day of execution, and there the clergyman, dispensing with the regular order of service, frequently consumed several hours thundering anathema at the wretch and describing to him his awful crime and the yawning pit of h.e.l.l in which even then Satan and his imps were preparing tortures. If the doomed man was able to face all this without flinching, the audience went away disappointed, feeling that he was hard-hearted, stubborn, "predestined to be d.a.m.ned"; but if with loud lamentation and wails of terror he confessed his sin and his fear of G.o.d's vengeance, his hearers were pleased and edified at the fall of one more of the devil's agents. Often times a similar scene was enacted at the gallows, where a host of men, women, and even children crowded close to see and hear all. Judge Sewall has recorded for us just such an event:

"Feria s.e.xta, June 30, 1704.... After Diner, about 3 P.M. I went to see the Execution.... Many were the people that saw upon Bloughton's Hill.

But when I came to see how the River was cover'd with People, I was amazed! Some say there were 100 Boats, 150 Boats and Canoes, saith Cousin Moody of York. He told them. Mr. Cotton Mather came with Capt.

Quelch and six others for Execution from the Prison to Scarlet's Wharf, and from thence.... When the scaffold was hoisted to a due height, the seven Malefactors went up; Mr. Mather pray'd for them standing upon the Boat. Ropes were all fasten'd to the Gallows (save King, who was Repriev'd). When the Scaffold was let to sink, there was such a Schreech of the Women that my wife heard it sitting in our Entry next the Orchard, and was much surprised at it; yet the wind was sou-west. Our house is a full mile from the place."[191]