Unit Central Questions:
What do primary and secondary sources teach us about the characteristics of “everyday life” of individuals living in Deerfield at the four turns of the centuries? What do these characteristics reveal about changes in the town since its beginning as an English settlement?
Key Content Ideas Taught in this Lesson and Teacher Background
A probate inventory is a listing of real estate and personal property of an individual at the time of his or her death. These lists provide useful clues when trying to understand and reconstruct the life of the individual. By comparing inventories from different time periods in the same place, we can learn more about personal possessions and the economic development of a society or a particular family.
For more information, read: The Inventory of Ebenezer Wells
Intended Learning Outcomes
Understandings:
Students will understand that:
- Farming was still the backbone of the economy at the beginning of this period.
- The possessions of Ebenezer Wells (1730-1783) show that he died a wealthy man.
- A comparison of inventories from 1680-1720 and 1780-1820 shows significant increases in wealth and changes in the kinds and number of possessions owned by individuals.
Skills:
- Students will be able to use primary sources such as probate inventories to extract information and make logical inferences.
In Preparation for Teaching
- Make copies of inventories.
- Read The Inventory of Ebenezer Wells.
Activities
Activity 1: Ebenezer Wells’s Inventory
- Explain that during this period a probate inventory was made when the head of a household died. Three appraisers would list the possessions of the deceased. These lists were used when the wills were probated, and to settle debts and credits. (Clarify the meanings of any of these words with students. Be certain that they understand the difference between an inventory and a will.)
- Pass out copies of Ebenezer Wells’s inventory.
- Ask students if there is anything they notice that they want to share, or anything they don’t understand. Clarify words or expressions. students should know that this inventory was taken at Wells’s death, in 1783.
- Read the introductory section aloud and discuss terms that need clarifying. Note:
- “L” means pounds sterling, “Sh” means shillings (20 shillings=1 pound), and “d” means pence (12 pence=1 shilling).
- The meaning of “real estate”.
- Discuss the many plots of land owned by Ebenezer Wells and ask if students can identify any places in the town where the plots could be found. (Optional: Use maps distributed in the lessons “The Original Layout of the Town of Deerfield” and “Changes in Deerfield, Massachusetts Shown in Maps (1780-1820)” to locate Ebenezer Wells’s land.)
- Have students categorize the inventory. (For instance: household goods, items used outdoors, tools, etc.)
- Students pair off. Assign one category to each pair and have them make a list of all of the items in it.
- When the lists are completed, have students copy them on chart paper to be shared with the rest of the class.
- Post the lists and discuss.
- Give students time to copy the lists into their notebooks.
Activity 2: Comparing Inventories
- Distribute copies of the inventory of Robert Alexander, who died in 1690.
- Instruct students to read it and notice the differences between this inventory and the one from Ebenezer Wells.
- Discuss the value of the estate and the difference in number of possessions listed.
- Pass out individual copies of the inventory of Jonathan Wells (1659-1739).
- Allow students to pair off and list by category his possessions.
- Instruct students to find differences between Jonathan Wells’s inventory and that of Ebenezer Wells, made 44 years later, and to list these differences in their notebooks.
Homework Assignments:
For Activity 1: Have students write a summary of their learning entitled “The Wealth of Ebenezer Wells at his Death in 1783.”
For Activity 2: Ask students to write a one-page paper titled “How Inventories Show the Differences in Wealth and Possessions from 1680-1720 to 1780-1820.”
Follow-up to Activities:
For Activity 1:
- Place students in pairs to share and discuss their summaries, and to note in their notebooks anything they may want to add or change in their summaries.
- Place students in different pairs and repeat number 1 above.
- Instruct them to rewrite their summaries, being sure to include any new information, and pass in final copies.
Assessment:
Use the summaries of Ebenezer Wells’s inventory (follow-up to Activity 1, number 3), and the paper “How Inventories Show the Differences in Wealth and Possessions from 1680-1720 to 1780-1820” (homework assignment from Activity 2).
