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
Architectural styles of the times reflected the economic status and taste of the individuals who owned the houses. From 1780 to 1820, many changes occurred in communication, transportation, technology, and economic opportunity that were reflected in the houses and what was in them. Landscapes around the houses also changed, reflecting changing tastes and increased availability and interest in plants.
For more information, read: Dwellings – The Message of Houses and Their Contents
Intended Learning Outcomes
Understandings:
Students will understand that:
- Houses and their contents and landscapes can reveal a great deal about social conditions, living standards, culture, and taste.
- Architectural styles and household furnishings reflected the economic status and taste of the individuals who owned the houses.
Skills:
Students will be able to:
- Read and analyze historical documents.
- Use primary sources such as inventories, clothing, and houses to extract information and make logical inferences.
- Observe and draw artifacts.
- Interpret a floor plan.
- Create interpretive labels for artifacts.
In Preparation for Teaching
- Review Dwellings – The Message of Houses and Their Contents and Gardens in Deerfield.
- Make copies of the William Stoddard Williams planting plan and diagram of John Wilson’s orchard.
- Download and print copies of the photographs and floor plans
Activities
Activity 1: Inventories
- Distribute copies of the inventory of Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams (1761-1835) and take out copies of the inventory of Ebenezer Wells (1730-1783) from the lesson titled “The Puritans – Part 4: Artifact Exploration.” Explain that the Williams inventory was made more than 50 years after the Wells inventory.
- Instruct students to study the inventories and notice the differences between them. Discuss. [Teacher note: BR = bedroom, K = Kitchen, NC = north chamber, etc. Chambers are always second floor rooms which were used as bedrooms or for storage.] Have students notice especially the number of rooms, the section on books, and values being listed in dollars rather than pounds.
- Distribute copies of the floor plans for the Wells and Williams houses. As a class, identify the rooms and label them. Discuss the differences.
Homework Assignment:
- Write a paragraph about the differences between the inventories and the house plans of the Wells and Williams families. What do those differences suggest about how the life of the Williams family was different from the Wells family so many years later?
Activity 2: Wells-Thorn House
- Ask students to look at the photograph of the outside of the Wells-Thorn House. After 1750, the house was enlarged. Ask them to notice the differences in the two sections of the house and discuss them. Ask:
- Which section do you think is the older? Why? (middle section- smaller size, fewer & smaller windows, no paint or ornamentation)
- Why might the house have been enlarged? (change in family size and fashion, increase in wealth of current owner)
- What makes it possible for the newer section to have more and bigger windows, paint, and more ornamentation? (changes in technology, more cash, life was more secure) The current owners might have been inspired to upgrade to better keep up with the neighbors.
- Instruct students to sketch in their notebooks both parts of the house .
- Review pictures of the older section of the Wells-Thorn House from the Lesson “The Puritans – Part 6: The Wells-Thorn House”, and have a brief discussion about the contents of the rooms and what they tell us about the earlier time period.
- Ask students to look at the photographs of the four rooms in the newer section of the Wells-Thorn house. Tell them that each room in this museum was furnished to represent a different time period. The first (south) parlor dates to 1775, the second (north) parlor represents 1800, the first (north) chamber is 1815, and the second (south) chamber is 1830. Note that the word parlor came from the French word “parler”, which means, “to speak”. These were rooms for talking and entertaining. The word “chamber” came from the French word “chambre”, which means room. Chambers were usually bedrooms.
- In the 1775 south parlor notice:
- the bed not located in a chamber. (this would have been the “best” bed)
- curtains found only on the bed (textiles were expensive; curtains around a bed provided warmth and privacy; most people couldn’t afford curtains for their windows)
- the high chest (made by Simeon Pomeroy in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1775) which has curved legs, decorative carved shells, and brass hardware; it is made of cherry with a mahogany finish, as is the dropleaf table.
- paneled walls which are painted in a fashionable color, painted “crooked back” chairs, plastered and painted ceiling (with no more threat from Native Americans, lime needed for plaster could be safely brought in from overland from the western part of Massachusetts.), more windows that are also larger (glass was cheaper and threats of attack had diminished.)
- shutters for warmth
- built-in corner cupboard filled with fancy things
- big fireplace with crane (cooking could have taken place here, even
though it is a parlor)
- Instruct students to sketch in their notebooks 3 artifacts from the room. Along with each sketch,they should make notes about the artifact, its materials, design, and use.
- Hold a discussion that encourages students to use their observations about the room’s contents to make inferences about how the room was used and about life and attitudes in 1775.
- In the 1800 north parlor notice:
- best room – no bed, no cooking
- space for having tea
- furniture around the edges of the room- it was moved around as needed and then replaced around the walls.
- clock (made in Northampton, Massachusetts – cherry, finished to look like mahogany)
- desk and bookcase (writing and reading done here, also cherry finished to look like mahogany)
- chairs
- walls papered (a new fashionable option for room decoration)
- window seats
- narrower floorboards (big trees running out, floors still scoured, became unfashionable to have wide boards)
- rose color – warm colors for the north side of the house
- folding window blinds (for privacy, warmth, and light control)
- Instruct students to sketch in their notebooks three artifacts from the room. Along with each sketch, they should make notes about the artifact, its materials, design, and use.
- Hold a discussion that encourages students to use their observations about the room’s contents to make inferences about how it was used and about life and attitudes in 1800. Ask:
- What are the differences between the uses of the 1775 parlor and the one from 1800? (1775- used for cooking, sleeping, entertaining, was an all-purpose room; 1800- no sleeping or cooking, mainly used as a study & for entertaining)
- Why is the 1800 parlor less of an all-purpose room? (The house now has more rooms with specialized purposes.)
- Why is the house set up this way? (It is a time of peace, the family’s growing prosperity, and fashion of the times)
- What items in the 1800 parlor are signs of increased consumerism? More goods were made and marketed locally as opposed to goods from Europe. Values associated with purchased goods communicated a family’s refinement. (clock, desk, books, wallpaper, mirror)
- In the 1815 north chamber upstairs, ask students to notice:
- wallpaper and printed curtain fabric on the bed and at the windows -deer hide trunk – used for storage at a time when there were no closets; these were also used for traveling
- fancy chairs – easily moved, decorated with paint
- card table – expandable for boardgames and entertaining; made locally using an English pattern book
- painted floor (wide boards upstairs in a non-public room, maybe finished in 1770s)
- Instruct students to sketch in their notebooks 3 artifacts from the room.
- Along with each sketch, ask students to make notes about the artifact, its materials, design, and use.
- Hold a discussion that encourages students to use their observations about the room’s contents to make inferences about how the room was used and about life and attitudes in 1815.
- What items in the 1815 chamber are signs of increased prosperity? (The bed hangings were made in England of printed cotton. There are curtains at the window. )
- What does the presence of a washstand in the room say about habits? (It acknowledges the routine of increased hygeine. Its presence in the chamber shows that daily washing moved from the kitchen to a private space. Washable cotton fabric and the washstand show evidence of improved cleanliness, which in turn improved health standards.)
- In the 1830 south chamber (also upstairs) ask students to notice:
- no fireplace
- Venetian blinds made of wood and painted
- decorated chairs (“fancy” chairs)
- mirror, washstand
- grass matting from China on floor
- Instruct students to sketch in their notebooks 3 artifacts from the room.
- Along with each sketch, ask students to make notes about the artifact, its materials, design, and use.
- Hold a discussion that encourages students to use their observations about the room’s contents to make inferences about how the room was used and about life and attitudes in 1830. Ask: What does the absence of a fireplace tell you? (The room was on the south side, relied on solar heat, and was used for sleeping and storage- spaces that didn’t need much heat).
Homework Assignment for Activity 2:
- Select one artifact to draw from each room that illustrates the progression of taste and style, 1775-1830.
- Write a catalog label for each drawing.
- Write a few paragraphs that describe the changes between the 1775 and 1800 parlors and the front and middle sections of the Wells-Thorn House and what made it possible for these changes to occur.
Follow-up to Activity 2:
- Put a good sample of drawings on the class timeline at 1780-1820.
Activity 3: Anna and Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams House
- Instruct students to look at the Hinsdale Williams house exterior.
- This was the home of Ebenezer and Anna Williams, whose inventory students read in Activity 2. The house began with four rooms built in the 1750s.
- Instruct students to sketch artifacts and take notes as before. As they view the rooms in #5-9 below, they should make note of anything reflecting the existence of increased consumer goods, changing fashion, and technological change.
- Best Parlor. Notice:
- carpet from England
- French wallpaper
- “fancy” chairs (decorated with paint/gilt)-cupboard on one side of the fireplace, other side has a matching door with no cupboard; this second door was added for the sake of symmetry, which was very important at this time.
- sofa, new form of furniture
- fireboard placed against the fireplace opening in the summer.
- Family parlor (south side). Notice:
- many books (Mr. Williams had graduated from Harvard College)
- floor padded and covered with painted canvas
- padded chair
- slatted curtains – Venetian blinds
- desk and bookcase
- Dining room. Notice:
- table with dishes from China (Today china is a generic term for dishes, but these porcelain dishes were imported from China.)
- cupboard with more dishes, from China and England
- sideboard
- arches- very fashionable
- wallpaper from Boston
- commode
- Kitchen. Notice:
- no sink, no refrigerator (separate pantry was on the colder north side)
- fireplace with bake oven in wall, covered by a door when the oven was not in use
- cast iron stove
- all surfaces plastered and painted
- Census records of 1820 and 1830 show that unrelated people lived in the house. Who do you think they were? (farm hands, household help, Deerfield Academy students). Some information may be inferred from the ages of the boarders.
Homework for Activity 3:
- Draw 3 artifacts that show the wealth and advanced living standards of the people living in the Hinsdale Williams House.
- Write museum labels for these artifacts.
- Write a few paragraphs to illustrate the wealth of the Williams family.
Follow-up to Activity 3:
- Place some artifact drawings on the 1780-1820 section of the class timeline.
Activity 4: A Planting Plan
- Distribute “Gardens in Deerfield, Massachusetts”, Dr. William Stoddard Williams’ planting plan, and the diagram of John Wilson’s orchard.
- Instruct students to read the essay and notice the variety of seeds available for sale in Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1820. Discuss.
- Have students look closely at Williams’ planting plan. Ask:
- Count how many varieties of radishes Williams is growing. Why might he grow that many?
- Do they think his garden is typical of others in town?
- Ask students to look at the diagram of John Wilson’s orchard, noting the variety of fruits he grew. Ask:
- What will John Wilson’s family do with the produce from this orchard?
- Notice and discuss the order with which John Wilson has plotted the garden. What is the advantage of a plan? [To anticipate the size the plants will be at maturity influences the plan.]
- As a class, brainstorm the following questions and discuss:
- What factors influenced the plan of a garden? (Think about the light, soil, size of family, and variety of needs.)
- At this time in rural America nearly everyone had a garden. Why were they so important? (Think about this being before the railroad, supermarket, lawnmower, etc.)
- Cash was limited in this period. How might one’s garden operate in the community’s trade network? [For more information, see the exhibit area on Getting Things: Adding Up.]
Homework for Activity 4:
- Write a few paragraphs that answer the following questions: Why do you think there would not be garden plans for the period 1680-1720? What, specifically, about the plans indicates attention to beautification of the landscape? If you were a passerby, what would you notice about the house and grounds that would lead you to believe that E. H. Williams was a prosperous farmer?
Assessment
Use Homework for Activities 1-4.
