To Thee or Not to Thee

When we consider the everyday use of the Old English "thee" we are primarily thinking of the Middle Ages. The last remnants of common usage "thee" and "thou" had completely disappeared by the middle of the 1600s. At about that same time, the Quaker religion was founded by George Fox.

Research doesn't agree on exactly when the Quakers resurrected the pronoun "thee" and declared it the preferred term for plain speech, but certainly by the 1800s, it was commonplace.

Tweet this: Quakers used "thee" and "thou" but not like traditional Old English #history #amwriting

In the Old English, "thee" was the singular pronoun, equal to he or she. "Thou" was the plural pronoun, equal to they. Most research - but not all - supports the notion that the Quakers dropped the use of "thou" because they saw it as prideful. As modern day language recognizes "you" as both singular and plural, the Quakers used "thee" as both.

"Thee is well-read on this subject."

"Thee are a happy lot."

"Is that all thee has to do?"

"No matter what thee have, 'tis enough."

All are correct, if you're a Quaker in the 19th Century.

Pegg Thomas - Writing historical fiction with a touch of humor.

Paper in Colonial Times

by Roseanna M. White

These days there's a lot of talk of going "paperless." Why? Because paper clutters things up. We have stacks upon stacks of it. Reams sitting, waiting to be used. In my house, there are desks full to bursting with sketches and crayon drawings on paper of all weights and colors and sizes. Need a bookmark? Grab a slip of paper. Need to make a note? Grab a Post-It. Everywhere we look, there it is: paper.

But paper wasn't always so bountiful, nor was it cheap, nor was it made from wood pulp like today's paper usually is. Paper, in Colonial days, was like most things: precious, and coming as a result of much toil.

Important documents were often written on parchment, which is made from lamb skin. That would be what the final version of Declaration of Independence is written on--but not the earlier drafts. No, those were on the same thing most books, newspapers, and correspondence would use--what might have been called rag paper, linen paper, or cotton paper.

The process began with people collecting the materials that would be used. Often old sails and rope from sailboats would be sold to papermakers, to be turned into rag. Never ones to waste, even within a household what cloth that was no longer useful for other tasks would be saved for paper.

Once a papermaker had a large amount of these rags, his apprentices would roll them all up into a ball and pound them to turn them into a pulp with stamping mills. They were washed, dried, and stored for later use. Once its time came, the rag pulp would be mixed with water and stirred constantly so that the pulp didn't settle onto the bottom of the vat.

The next step would be to take a wooden frame with a metal mesh or grill attached to it and lower it into the vat.

This screen was dipped into the mixture and carefully lifted again, bringing with it a thin layer of the slurry. The molds would be leaned against horns to allow the excess water to drain off and the material to solidify. These sheets of wet paper would then be turned out onto felt to dry completely. After that, the paper would be polished.

Most early paper was cream or darker, sometimes gray. The whiter the paper, the higher quality it was considered.

From the mill, the paper would travel to stationers and people all over--just waiting to receive the ink that usually didn't last nearly as long as the paper onto which it was put. Rag paper is incredibly strong, hard to tear when dry--and though it can be torn when wet, you can mend it, and it will be as strong as ever when it dries again.


Photo credit - "Hollander" by Original uploader was Hdekroon at nl.wikipedia - Originally from nl.wikipedia; description page is/was here.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hollander.jpg#/media/File:Hollander.jpg

Women Pirates Anne Bonney and Mary Read

By Susan F. Craft

(In honor of my novel, Cassia, which will be released by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, Heritage Beacon, this coming September, I plan to write my blogs for the rest of the year about PIRATES. Argh!!!)

       

 

        Anne Bonney, born in the late 1660s in County Cork, Ireland, was the illegitimate daughter of William Cormac, a lawyer, and his housemaid. The family immigrated to a plantation in Charleston, SC, where she grew up and eventually eloped with James Bonney, who took her to a pirates’ lair in the Bahamas.
        She left Bonney in 1718 to become the mistress of Captain John “Calico Jack” Rackham. She claimed that Bonney had turned informant in order to receive the king’s pardon offered by Bahamian Governor Woodes Rogers. She sailed with the captain on his sloop Vanity and, dressed as a man, soon became an infamous pirate. She had a child by Rackman and retired from piracy long enough to deliver the baby. She left her infant son with friends in Cuba and returned to piracy.
        Mary Read, born about 1690 in Plymouth, England, was the illegitimate daughter of a woman whose seaman husband left on a long voyage and was never heard from again. When their money ran out, Mary’s mother took her to London to ask her mother-in-law for help.
        The woman didn’t like girls, so Mary’s mother dressed Mary as a boy and made her pretend to be her son. Mary masqueraded as a boy for many years, even after the woman died. After working as a footboy to a French woman, she enlisted as a male in a foot regiment in Flanders and later in a horse regiment, serving with distinction.
        Giving up her double life, she fell in love with and married a fellow soldier, and they became innkeepers of the Three Horseshoes in Holland. Her husband died young, and when Mary’s finances dwindled, she reverted back to men’s clothing and went to sea on a Dutch merchant ship. English pirates commandeered the ship that eventually was overtaken by Captain Rackman.
        Anne and Mary discovered each other’s cross-dressing secret and became close friends. Mary fought in a duel to protect her fiancé, killing her opponent. They became known as ruthless and bloodthirsty “fierce hell cats,” with violent tempers.
        In late October 1720, Rackman's ship was attached by a British Navy sloop. The drunken male pirates quickly hid below deck, leaving Anne and Mary to defend their ship, but they were soon overwhelmed, and the entire crew was captured and taken to Jamaica for trial.

        Captain Jack and the male members of his crew were tried on November 16, 1720, and sentenced to hang. Anne and Mary were tried one week after Rackham’s death and were also found guilty. But at their sentencing, when asked by the judge if they had anything to say, they replied, “Mi’lord, we plead our bellies.” Both were pregnant.
        British law forbade killing an unborn child, so their sentences were temporarily stayed.
        Some say Mary died of a fever in prison before the birth of her child. Other reports say she escaped.
        There is no record of Anne’s execution. Some reports say her wealthy father bought her release after the birth of her child, and she settled down to a quiet family life on a small Caribbean island. Others believe she lived out her life in the south of England as a tavern owner and entertained the locals with tales of her exploits.



Susan F. Craft is the author of a SIBA award-winning Revolutionary War suspense, The Chamomile, and its sequel Laurel. The third novel in this trilogy, Cassia, will be released this September. 

Roger Williams - The Founder of Freedom of Religion in America

Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, led the way for the United States to become a nation that allowed freedom of religion and was free from the tyranny of religious persecution.

Williams was born in London in 1603. While he was young, he saw numerous burning at the stake of Puritans and heretics which later influenced his freedom of religion views. In 1630, his controversial views became a source of contention, and he escaped to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1631.

He preached first in Plymouth then in Salem, but his sermons went against Puritan doctrine. He preached that the king of England had no right to give away Native American land or to force people to hold certain religious beliefs. In the Bloody Tenet of Persecution, Williams argued against doctrines that permitted religious persecution.

The Puritans had decided to banish Williams and send him back to England. But he knew that persecution for his beliefs awaited him there. So he escaped the colony in the middle of one of the coldest winters in Massachusetts. He survived because he was befriended by local Native Americans near Narragansett Bay.

Williams purchased the land from the Narragansett Chiefs and named is settlement Providence in thanks to God. Later his settlement grew to encompass the colony of Rhode Island. To protect the land, he also gained a charter from England.

Providence and Rhode Island’s charters were the first to allow freedom of religion. Because of this, many Jews and Quakers made their way there. Later Williams founded the first Baptist church in North America.

Roger Williams died at Providence in 1684, but his descendants continued to establish Rhode Island as a colony and state that allowed people freedom of worship and religion that became a cornerstone for the United States of America.

Battle of Bunker Hill and John Quincy Adams

by Elaine Marie Cooper

During the nighttime hours of June 17, 1775, cannon explosions in the distance awoke John Quincy Adams and his mother Abigail. John Quincy was only eight years of age, the eldest son of John Adams, who was then a delegate in Philadelphia at the Second Continental Congress. The night of terror with the British troops attacking the Patriots on Bunker Hill in Boston seared memories of terror in the young Adams child. Over 70 years later, he wrote about the incident and that frightening time in their lives.

Abigail Adams

He penned the recollections of his family’s expulsion from Boston the year before, taking refuge in their Braintree farm. He described Boston as a “walled and beleaguered town,” under the control of the British under General Thomas Gage. For twelve months John Quincy, his mother and siblings lived on their farm in the fear that Gage’s troops would invade the homes in the countryside and butcher them “in cold blood.” With his father gone, the burden on John Quincy must have seemed overwhelming.

And then on June 17, their fears were flamed anew with the roar of guns and cannons in the distance:

“…on the 17th. Of June lighted the fires of Charlestown -- I saw with my own eyes those fires, and heard Britannia's thunders in the Battle of Bunker's hill and witnessed the tears of my mother and mingled with them my own, at the fall of Warren a dear friend of my father, and a beloved Physician to me. He had been our family physician and surgeon, and had saved my fore finger from amputation under a very bad fracture.” (Massachusetts Historical Society)

Dr. Joseph Warren was known to John Quincy as his family physician. But to the Revolutionaries in Massachusetts, Warren had become a major leader in the Patriot cause. According to Nathaniel Philbrick in Bunker Hill:

“Over the course of the two critical months between the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington Green and the Battle of Bunker Hill, he (Warren) became the most influential patriot leader in the province of Massachusetts…While his more famous compatriots John Adams, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams were in Philadelphia at the Second Continental Congress, Warren was orchestrating the on-the-ground reality of a revolution.”

John Quincy Adams

For John Quincy Adams, the Battle of Bunker Hill became a personal loss, one from which he never seemed to completely recover. According to Philbrick, “Even after John Quincy Adams had grown into adulthood and become a public figure, he refused to attend all anniversary celebrations of the Battle Of Bunker Hill.”

The memory must have been far too painful, even for a future President of the United States.

Video from John Adams 

                                                     *     *     *

When I was a girl I walked up the 294 steps to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument, the granite edifice that memorializes this famous battle of the American Revolution. You can still visit the monument, but the stairs are currently closed for repairs. For more information on the Bunker Hill Museum, click here. 

Admission is free.

Elaine Marie Cooper grew up in Massachusetts, visiting the sites where the American Revolution began. You can read her historical fiction about the opening days of that war in Fields of the Fatherless.

Creek Indians in Revolutionary War-era Georgia

The research for what will be the final novel of my Restoration Chronicles Trilogy, Witch: 1790 (www.deniseweimerbooks.webs.com) has included learning about the Creek Indians. My Georgia Gold Series featured some late Cherokee history just prior to the Trail of Tears, but until I moved out of the foothills to the Georgia Piedmont, I knew little about this area of the state’s early residents. So who were they? And what were they like? In a series of articles I’ll share some of my findings on Creek Indian towns, appearance, beliefs, Colonial war in Piedmont Georgia and the charismatic half-blood Supreme Chief Alexander McGillivray (by the way, someone needs to write a novel about him). Today’s article will serve as an introduction.

Musgrove & 3rd husband Rev. Bosomworth negotiating for Creek

Before the middle of the 16^th Century, the Creek Indians (Muscogee, Muskogee, or traditional spelling Mvskoke), Mississippian Culture mound-builders, controlled most all of present-day Georgia. Following the battle of Slaughter Gap against their neighbors, the Cherokee, the Creek moved past the Etowah River. Another battle in 1755 determined the later Creek-Cherokee border with the Creek south of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia and west of the Coosa River in Alabama. This began the period of referring to the Upper and Lower Creek tribes. Piedmont or Middle Georgia was the home of the Lower Creek. Mary Musgrove, daughter of an English trader and a Muscogee woman from the Wind Clan, helped her husband John run a fur trading post and became the main interpreter for the first governor of Georgia. Under these favorable conditions, peace and deerskin trade flourished.

 

During the French and Indian War, the Upper Creek sided with the Cherokee against the English. The peace conference in Augusta, Georgia, in 1763, gave the victorious English colonies a large section of Indian lands. White settlement began. By 1773, Georgians demanded payment of the trade debts accrued by the Native Americans. This occurred at a land cessation meeting in Augusta.

Even after the land cessations, many Creek farms remained on open-to-settlement land. True Muscogean speakers sometimes looked down on Yuchi or Hitchiti speaker members of Creek Nation, calling them “stinkards.” Hitchiti considered Muscogees interlopers from the west in the past who had moved closer to traders and trapped and hunted year round to satisfy their desires for white goods. From 1716 on, many Creek Indians fled the land pressures in Georgia for Florida, becoming Seminole Indians. Seminole was a corruption of the Spanish word Cimarron, meaning “runaway” or “wild one.”

On the eve of the American Revolution, the Spanish to the south, French to the west and Cherokee and Creek on the frontier placed Georgia in an insecure position. Even though the Lower Creeks were more a loose confederation of independent towns than a unified people, they could have overpowered the still randomly populated state. Supreme Creek Chief Alexander McGillivray, son of a wealthy Scottish trader and planter whose property had been confiscated by the state of Georgia, pushed the Upper Creek to ally with the British, fighting alongside the Chickamauga (Lower Cherokee) warriors of Dragging Canoe. Meanwhile, McGillivray’s ex-trading partner George Galphin had some success in persuading the Lower Creeks to remain neutral. However, after the capture of Savannah by the British, they became nominal allies. Muscogee warriors also fought with the British in the campaigns of Mobile and Pensacola.

Following the war, a series of treaties between the new U.S. government or the State of Georgia and the Creek Nation led to misunderstanding and frustration on both sides and were not recognized by McGillivray and the main body of Creek Indians. By 1786, war had been declared on the Georgia frontier, one that would rage for many years.

 

Mob Caps

Abigail Adams - wife of John Adams

The mob cap was a simple head covering commonly worn during America's Colonial period. It came into fashion in the early 18th Century and survived well into the 19th Century. It varied in size and style quite a bit from country to country and year to year. Early versions of the mob cap included side flaps that came down and tied under the chin. This was considered flattering for the more mature lady whose chin had fallen prey to gravity.

Mob cap with sides - not tied

Head coverings were necessary in Colonial days. Bathing was infrequent and a mob cap kept the woman's hair clean. And hidden. (Because they didn't bathe frequently.) Modesty also played a part. A woman without her hair covered was considered undressed. Mob caps were essentially for indoor wear. When the lady ventured outdoors, she'd cover the mob cap with a hat or hood. 

Martha Washington - wife of George Washington

Hat worn over mop cap

The construction of the mob cap was simple, a circle of fabric drawn around the head with a ribbon or band. (Although we see them made with elastic in reenactment clothing, it's good to remember that elastic had not been invented yet when these caps were popular.) Some were elaborately pleated, but most were gathered. The amount of fabric left before the band to form the ruffle varied from almost none to enough to shade the face. Depending on where one lived, the fabric might be linen, cotton, or even gauze, but all were starched.

Germany

England

Netherlands

Even after the mob cap had fallen out of fashion with society's elite, it continued as everyday wear for the working class and servants for many more years. In fact, it still survives today in most operating rooms around the country.

French Serving Maid Knitting

~ Pegg Thomas

L'Hermione in Yorktown - Part 2, a Pictorial by Carrie Fancett Pagels

L'Hermione from Yorktown Beach at Riverwalk

L'Hermione sailed into Yorktown on Friday morning and was then moored at the dock. Many fundraisers have been taking place in both France and the United States. Admission was FREE but to get a spot you had to be there many hours ahead. When rain threatened on Friday, my husband agreed to return at the recommended 8 a.m. on Saturday to get us tickets for that morning. As you can see, cloud cover was dense. The Godspeed, from Jamestown, was also moored (in front of L'Hermione). If you will look to the left in the picture below you will see that the Godspeed is only a fraction of the size of L'Hermione, which was a warship.

L'Hermione sails and rigging against dark sky!

L'Hermione with the Godspeed in front

Closeup of the canons on L'Hermione

Look at those sails on L'Hermione!

L'Hermione had hundreds of ropes!

The sheer number of ropes and the height and width of the rigging and sails was astounding!!!

Tours were about twenty minutes, you simply circle the deck. Some of the crew were willing to answer questions. Since my husband is a boat engineer working on military vessels, it was interesting the things he asked and the answers he got. And I got to ask a question in my very rusty French when I asked a young woman why she'd volunteered--she said it was "a dream".

L'Hermione from the bow

Isn't this a GORGEOUS frigate?  I love the lion masthead, which is so impressive. By the way, that is the Coleman Bridge, AKA The Gloucester Bridge, which connects the peninsula to Gloucester, Virginia. Did you know -- The York River is one of the deepest rivers in the world. 

L'Hermione bow, masthead

Question: Is the Hermione frigate coming to your city? I hope you get to go! Read my previous post and be sure to click through to check the schedule. I highly recommend this as a family-friendly activity (at least it was for our little family!) That might even end up being our Christmas picture! A kind French family took our picture (you could hear French being spoken everywhere and some crew members couldn't speak English.) We discovered these kind people, who took our picture, are here from NATO and actually live in Hampton Roads--which only goes to show how the French-American military connection continues yet today!

The Frigate Hermione Comes to Yorktown!!! By Carrie Fancett Pagels

This Friday, the frigate Hermione makes her 2015 trip to America, departing from Rochefort, France, where the original ship was built. You can read more on the Hermione website.

You can follow the Hermione on Facebook, too.
https://www.facebook.com/hermione.voyage

And on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/hermionevoyage/
I love their boards!!!

They are also on Twitter https://twitter.com/hermionevoyage


According to what I have read, Lafayette did not sail into Yorktown during the Battle of Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution, BUT of course the French did sail in and helped turn the tide for the Americans and the HERMIONE was one of the ships. One of my Rousch ancestors, a Virginia militiaman, was there to witness it. Now I live only miles away from this historic site. I am so blessed!

The Waterman's Museum, Yorktown, Virginia

A Gala reception was held in Yorktown on May 20th to raise funds to support the Hermione expedition. Held at the Waterman's Museum in Yorktown, Virginia.

The Hermione will be stopping at multiple ports along the Eastern seaboard of the United States this summer. Some are: Mt. Vernon, Alexandria, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and more! 

Weather here in Yorktown has residents watching for Noah's ark (or maybe we're supposed to go on the frigate Hermione instead!) She's supposed to sail into port around 8 a.m. with ship tours beginning at 2 p.m.  There are also tents set up in Riverwalk for displays. Hoping to get down there in my raincoat and with my umbrella tomorrow afternoon. The Hermione will be in port all weekend, when the weather should improve. If you are a local, come on out!!!

Q:Will you have a chance to see the Hermione near where you live?

The Highwayman by Shannon McNear

Giveaway winner is Charis! Congratulations and thank you all for coming by to comment!

Novella Review by Lisa Norato

The Most Eligible BACHELOR Romance Collection
THE HIGHWAYMAN
by Shannon McNear

Barbour Books © 2015 

The Most Eligible BACHELOR is a delightful collection of nine romantic novellas of Americana history. The bachelors and their love interests range from a variety of time periods and walks of life. This review is for Shannon McNear's novella, The Highwayman.

The Highwayman is set along the Great Wagon Road, lower Shenandoah Valley, on the eve of the American Revolution.

Samuel Wheeler is a colonial wagon master who is terrifyingly accurate with a whip. His skill and daring "accidentally" land him the title The Highwayman when, on a lark, he darns the unclaimed boots and embroidered coat of a nobleman to become the disguised rescuer of a lady in distress. A rescue has led to chasing down redcoats, and now Sam's exploits are known up and down the Great Road. Stories of his bravery are repeated by children. Sam, however, has grown tired of his clandestine activities and longs for nothing more than to be able to express his love for Tall Sally, but every time he's near her, his tongue grows thick, his hands clumsy and he can hardly breathe, let alone speak.

Sarah Brewster is the tall and lovely red-haired daughter of an inn keeper along the road where Samuel and his cousin frequently stop. When Sally is accosted one evening, Sam dons his disguise and comes to her rescue. He finds he can declare his feelings as the Highwayman in a way he can't as humble wagon master Sam. But is the Highwayman in for a secret romance and more trouble than he can handle?

If you love a strong, silent hero, you'll fall for Sam as much as I did. You'll come to care for Tall Sally and the rest of the Brewster family. Shannon makes her colonial setting come to life, and her plot is a well-crafted tale of danger, deceit and romance with a satisfying, climatic ending. A wonderful, entertaining read that I highly recommend!

GIVEAWAYS!

Leave a comment and your email address to be entered to win this adorable stuffed calf in honor of Sam's team of oxen. Also being given away is a copy of the Novella Collection with a bookplate signed by all of the contributing authors.

Shannon McNear's first published novella, Defending Truth, in A Pioneer Christmas Collection (Barbour, 2013), was a 2014 RITA nominee. Her second novella, The Highwayman, was released in May as part of The Most Eligible Bachelor Collection (Barbour). She writes regularly for The Borrowed Book and Colonial Quills, and is a member of ACFW and RWA.