“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”– Genesis 3:19 “Oh my name it means nothing, and my age it means less.For the country I come from, is called the […]
Daily Life of the American Colonies: The Role of the Tavern in Society
I’m no stranger to taverns, and if I lived in the days of colonial America, it’s a safe bet I’d be found in one of the colonial inns that still dot the east coast. In fact, you still can when I have a chance. In the century or so leading up to the Revolution, colonial taverns […]
Daily Life of the 19th Century: The Cooper Shop at Old Sturbridge Village
I’m from the midwest, where for the most part, people are friendly. Outgoing even. If you meet a person outside in the dead of winter, you’re likely to find yourself standing out in the cold, talking about how cold it is. While visiting the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm Manor House in Newbury, Massachusetts, I found myself in a […]
Daily Life of the 19th Century: Clothes on the Line
Some things we took for granted, and among them was drying clothes on a clothes line. Certainly not the speediest method, but there’s a charm to the process that isn’t matched by a dryer. Time didn’t seem as pressing back then. People had patience. Our lives weren’t timed in fifteen minute increments. When you hang […]
Salem Witch Hunt Sites: Touring Marblehead & Essex County with The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane
The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe is divided into two time periods: Salem and the witch hunts raging through Essex County, Massachusetts in 1692, and the same area in more or less modern times (1991). For me, the magic is in how the author captures the dichotomy of travelling to historic places. […]
Revolutionary War Battlefields: Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts
The Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, was the site of the first real skirmish of the American Revolution. Earlier on the morning of April 19, 1775, British soldiers opened fire on a company of militia down the road in Lexington, but that hardly qualifies as a skirmish. The colonial militia at Lexington didn’t intend […]
Old Sheldon Church ruins: A quiet retreat in the South Carolina lowcountry
The old Sheldon Church, in northern Beaufort County, South Carolina doesn’t have much luck when it comes war. The proper name for this venerable set of old ruins is Prince William’s Parish Church. With a name like that, one would think it would give faithful service. This seemed not to be the case however, as the British burned […]
Haunted Hotels in Nashville, TN: Union Station Hotel
The Union Station Hotel in Nashville is a non-smoking hotel, and the lady needed a smoke before bed. She stepped out on the old platform, saw the bellhops and valets busy at their station and lit up. At the end of the platform she notices a woman, looking anxiously about, and pays little attention. The […]
