Devout Colonial Dog

On this Labor Day, I bring you a story about an ancestor's dog, originally posted on my genealogy blog, Relatively Speaking.

During the late 18th century, my husband’s five times great-grandfather, Lovell Clark and his wife, Mary, resided in the Milford, Massachusetts area. They were steadfast members of the Congregational church and adorned their profession by exemplary lives. They were sober, upright, industrious, unostentatious people, and justly held in solid esteem. Mr. Clark was a very strict observer of the Sabbath, and a devoted attendant on public worship. Nothing but absolute necessity would prevent his regular attendance on the services of the sanctuary.

The Clark family had a most remarkable dog — scarcely less pious than the rest of the household, especially in attendance on public worship, and deportment during the services. He equalled his master in punctuality and regularity. As surely as Sunday came and the Congregational church bell rung, he gravely proceeded to church, and posted himself directly under the pulpit, which was then supported by small pillars. There he remained during the services, invariably rising on his feet, as the congregation did, for singing, prayer, and benediction, and the rest of the time quietly sitting on his haunches, or lying recumbent. As to the Universalist church bell, he took no notice of it whatever — having due aversion for the heresy to which it summoned the reprobate.

At length his master was tempted so far from the path of rectitude as to tire of the dog’s company in the house of God. So he shut him up in close quarters at home during the hours of divine service. But this was too severe a privation for that canine devotee, who frequently made his escape, and repaired to his position under the pulpit, from which nothing but dire restraint could withhold him.
But he was getting old, and his master hired an executioner to dispatch him outright. One Thursday the exploit was attempted in the barn where the dog lay asleep. A terrible blow, presumed to be effectual, was given him on the head, which wounded him badly, but failed even to stun him. He leaped in agony from the presence of his would-be destroyer, ran away from the premises, and was supposed to have died on his flight. Yet he survived ; and lo! the next Sunday appeared at ch. again, to the astonishment of the family.

Poor abused worshipper! His master now relented, and tried to flatter him home with him, but could induce him to come only a part of the way. Finally one of the boys got him home, nursed his aching head, and it was unanimously resolved that his life should be held sacred. After this he lived several year., and attended church every Sunday regularly without molestation. Somehow at last he was lost on a journey to Providence, R.I., and never more found. Surely such a dog, if animals have immortality, ought to have a place among the blessed.

The transmigrationists might plausibly claim him as a strong illustration of their doctrine. Anyhow, he was no heterodox dog.

Source: History of the town of Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1881

Pets in Colonial America

Training the Puppy

People have enjoyed keeping pets for thousands of years. Have you ever wondered what type of animals were domesticated in Colonial America? Colonials referred to their pets as their "favorites." They enjoyed having their portraits painted with their their beloved creatures, providing us with a record of their fondness for animals...sometimes taken from the wild. However, one must note that the animals may not have been cooperative for the sitting and it may have been painted in. Yet, the pet obsession is still evident.

Naturally, there was the family dog. Smaller varieties were called comfort dogs, while most others were sporting dogs. Breeds included spaniels, hounds, setters, pointers,  terriers, bulldogs, and mastiffs. George Washington journaled an inventory of dog breeds.

The Peale Family with Dog by Charles Willson Peale

Birds of all varieties were in vogue, caged and leashed. Songbirds such as cardinals and mockingbirds were especially popular.

 

Girl with Bird and Dog by John Singleton Copley

 

  Huzzah! I just discovered that this painting (below) is in our local college art museum. Must see!

Anne Fairchild Mrs Metcal Bowler by John Singleton Copley

In Kittery, Maine, Colonial Governor, Sir William Pepperel stocked his park with deer, others kept deer for their hunting stock, but sometimes as pets. In 1752, Dr. Benjamin Jones of Virginia “kept over a hundred deer to amuse his children and grandchildren. A little bell he used on a pet deer is owned by one of his descendants.”

Boy with a Deer by John Van Cortlandt

 

 

Finnish-Swedish naturalist, Peter Kalm, when he traveled tot he American colonies in 1748-51 observed that, "The raccoon can in time be made so tame as to run about the streets like a domestic animal; but it is impossible to make it leave off its habit of stealing. . .Beavers have been tamed to such an extent that they have brought home what they caught by fishing to their masters. This is often the case with otters, of which I have seen some that were as tame as dogs, and followed their master wherever he went."

Deborah Hall by William Williams

In 1798, Elizabeth Drinker of Philadelphia wrote in her diary that her son William had “bought a flying squirrel in market, brought it home to please the children. I should have been better pleased had it remained in the woods."

A Boy with a Flying Squirrel by John Singleton Copley

Mrs William Cole and her cat by George Beare

  

Miss Frances Warren by Joseph Wright

 

Young Girl Holding a Monkey by Rosalba Carriera

What kind of animal would you enjoy having as a pet if you lived in colonial times?

RESOURCES: 

Out of this Century

18th Century American Women

Creatures of Empire: How Domestic Animals Transformed Early America By Virginia DeJohn Anderson
Pets in America: A History By Katherine C. Grier