Epidemics in Colonial America

We're all caught up in some way by the current coronavirus situation. It got me thinking about how these things were handled - or not handled - by our Colonial ancestors. Here's what I found:

There were many diseases that did great damage to the population throughout history including smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, yellow fever, measles, whooping cough, mumps, malaria, dysentery, typhoid fever, typhus, tuberculosis, and venereal diseases.

One of the most deadly that plagued the Colonies, especially those with a large immigrant influx from the Caribbean area, was yellow fever. In 1793, at least 5,000 people died in the city of Philadelphia alone, while another 17,000 fled the city. Medicine was exceedingly primitive with mostly bloodletting and purging. However, the College of Physicians adopted a series of eleven preventive measures for the city of Philadelphia on August 26, 1793:

1) Avoid every infected person, as much as possible. 

2) Avoid fatigue in body and mind. Don’t stand or sit in a draft, or in the sun, or in the evening air. 

3) Dress according to the weather. Avoid intemperance. Drink sparingly of wine, beer, or cider. 

4) When visiting the sick, use vinegar or camphor on your handkerchief, carry it in smelling bottles, use it frequently. 

5) Somehow mark every house with sickness in it, on the door or window.
Place your patients in the center of your biggest, airiest room, in beds without curtains. 

6) Change their clothes and bed linen often. Remove all offensive matter as quickly as possible. 

7) Stop the tolling of the bells at once. 

8) Bury the dead in closed carriages, as privately as possible. 

9) Clean the streets, and keep them clean. 

10) Stop building fires in your houses, or on the streets. They have no useful effect. But burn gunpowder. It clears the air. And use vinegar and camphor generally. 

11) Most important of all, let a large and airy hospital be provided near the city, to receive poor people stricken with the disease who cannot otherwise be cared for.

Some of these helped. Some are very close to what we're being asked to do today, especially avoiding those who are ill and keeping things clean and aired out. Good advice. Stay safe, everyone.

Pegg Thomaspeggthomas.com - Writing History with a Touch of Humor

Philadelphia's Powel House by Cynthia Howerter

Philadelphia's Powel House not only possesses one of the city's finest examples of eighteenth century Georgian architecture, it was also the home of Samuel and Elizabeth Powel who both played roles in the founding of America. The Powels were known for their hospitality and their house became a magnet for politicians and dignitaries during the years of our country's struggle for independence.

Located on Third Street in the heart of the city's colonial district, the three-story brick home was built in 1765 by businessman Charles Stedman and purchased four years later by Samuel Powel just days before his 1769 marriage to Elizabeth Willing. Shortly after buying the property, Samuel began extensive renovations to its interior, turning the house into one of the most elegant dwellings in the city.

Philadelphia's Powel House. Photo by ©Cindy Feger.

Samuel Powel, born in 1738, was a prosperous merchant, politician, and third generation Philadelphian who inherited his wealth from his father and grandfather. After graduating from the College of Philadelphia, he traveled in Europe for seven years before returning home. During his time abroad, Samuel spent time with Voltaire and the Pope and other prominent European leaders, and was exposed to architectural styles not seen in the American colonies.

Portrait of Samuel Powel

Samuel became active in Philadelphia's political and justice systems after his marriage. He served as the last mayor of Philadelphia under King George III's rule and became the city's first mayor after America won its independence from Great Britain. In 1792, Samuel became speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate which was located in Philadelphia.

Samuel's wife Elizabeth came from a well-to-do family of merchants and politicians. She was born in 1742 in Philadelphia to Charles and Ann (Shippen) Willing. Her father and an uncle served as mayors of the city. Elizabeth's sister Mary married William Byrd III, a Virginia planter, and her cousin Peggy Shippen was the wife of Benedict Arnold.

Portrait of Elizabeth Powel

After Elizabeth and Samuel married, leading American statesmen and intellectuals and visiting dignitaries regularly gathered at their home. The couple lavishly entertained their guests and promoted discussions about current political issues during and after America's quest for independence.

George Washington spent considerable time in Philadelphia as a member of the Second Continental Congress before the Revolutionary War began. He and his wife Martha were frequent guests of the Powels and the two couples became close, life-long friends.

In 1777, the British Army invaded and occupied Philadelphia. Although members of Congress and many residents fled the city to escape capture, Samuel and Elizabeth remained in their home. Britain's Earl of Carlisle took possession of the Powel House for a brief period and claimed the couple's bedchamber for his own, forcing Elizabeth and Samuel to stay in the servants' quarters until he vacated their premises.

Recreation of Elizabeth and Samuel Powel's bedchamber

The Powel House was one of the first in Philadelphia to have a dining parlor. Martha Washington was so taken with the green wall color that she had Mount Vernon's dining room painted the same color.

Powel House dining room. The color green was believed to aid digestion.

The ballroom was the most ornately decorated room in the Powel House. Located on the second floor, it occupied the front parlor and was the scene of many parties and social gatherings given by Samuel and Elizabeth. George and Martha Washington celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary at a dance in the exquisite room.

The Powel House ballroom 

Some of Samuel's favorite European architectural details were included in the Powel House decor during its renovation. He installed floor-to-ceiling wainscoting (see photo above) - which was unheard of in Philadelphia at that time - and a Rococo-style plaster ceiling in the ballroom.

The ballroom's rococo-style ceiling and crystal chandelier

Among the many guests who were entertained in the ballroom were Benjamin Franklin, the Marquis de Lafayette of France, and future presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The room was used for parties, dancing, card playing, and other social activities.

The ballroom's harpsichord and harp provided musical entertainment

When guests needed a respite from the entertainment, they gathered in an adjacent room that Elizabeth referred to as the "Withdrawing Room." Here, guests could converse without competition from the ballroom's louder festivities.

The Withdrawing Room

Many of our country's Founding Fathers were frequent visitors to the Powel House when the Constitutional Convention convened at nearby Independence Hall in 1787.

After the convention adjourned each day, the delegates needed a place where they could meet in the evenings to discuss and work out the details of the new federal government - a private place where their conversations would not be overheard and revealed to the public. Elizabeth, a woman known for discretion, offered her house to them.

Although it was not the custom for women to discuss politics during the colonial period, Elizabeth was an exception. Possessed of an excellent education and intellectual mind, she took part in the political discussions that the Founding Fathers and other male guests had in her home. George Washington found her to have excellent insight and judgement in politics and not only sought her advice at times, but gave it serious consideration when making decisions.

The Withdrawing Room in the Powel House

After Washington died, his good friend Elizabeth was given a small piece of his coffin. Along with a lock of his hair, it is displayed in the Withdrawing Room.

A display in the Powel House Withdrawing Room

Like many eighteenth century gentry-owned houses in Philadelphia, the Powel House has an enclosed rear garden with a brick-paved walkabout. The photograph below provides a view of the back of the original three-story house (light-red brick exterior with shutters on the first and second floor windows) with its long, perpendicularly-attached two-story addition (dark-red brick exterior with white shutters on the first and second floor windows) and part of the garden.

Rear of the Powel House and part of its garden. Photo by ©Deb Park.

During the Yellow Fever epidemic that struck Philadelphia in 1793, George Washington urged the Powels to leave the city until the sickness was no longer prevalent. Samuel declined, believing that as Speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate it was important for him to remain in town. He contracted the disease and died. Elizabeth survived her husband by thirty-seven years, never remarrying and taking her last breath in 1830.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the historic section of Philadelphia where the Powel House was located declined. Many buildings, including the Powels' once grand home, ceased to be used as residences and were turned into factories and warehouses.

In 1931, the Powel House was under threat of demolition and scheduled to become a parking lot. Rather than allow the destruction of such an important piece of colonial American history, the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks purchased the property and restored it, then opened it to the public as a museum.

Plaque marking the Powel House

Photographs by ©Cindy Feger, ©Deb Park, and ©Cynthia Howerter.



Thank you Cindy Feger and Deb Park for generously allowing me to use your photographs in the Powel House article.

Cindy, Deb, and I toured the Powel House during our visit to Philadelphia last year. The three of us are members of the Fort Augusta Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Fort Augusta Chapter is located in historic Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.


Are you friends with Cynthia on Facebook? Click here to find and friend her: Cynthia Howerter


Contact the Powel House for information about tours:
244 South Third Street
Philadelphia, PA  19106
Phone: 215-627-0364

Email: powelhouse@philalandmarks.org

Award-winning author Cynthia Howerter loves living amidst Virginia's rich history. She frequently visits historic sites, accompanied by her wonderful husband and trusty camera. One of her photos was recently purchased by Colonial Williamsburg and used on their Christmas cards. She enjoys sharing her photographs in her articles, believing that topics are more interesting when one can see them.

Museum of the American Revolution

I recently visited the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia which had its grand opening in April of this year. It really was a wonderful museum which depicted the War of Independence from its onset to its glorious victory. It was thrilling to see the familiar, as it began with an exhibits in Boston and Lexington and Concord. After all, I grew up in Massachusetts and had heard all about this all my life. But to see artifacts and such, I felt honored to be there. All in all, there was a broad overview of the Revolution, yet so many details were highlighted. I enjoyed the fact that representations of all peoples, nations, and genders, involved were exhibited. What impressed me was that throughout the museum what they did was not only tell the story of the American Revolution, but stories of the people involved. It was truly fascinating!

Here are a few photos so you can have a peek inside, of course there is so much more to see. Perhaps you can visit sometime. It is definitely worth the trip! (Be sure to click on the images to open up to a larger size to read the text on some of them.)

In the entrance of the Museum of the American Revolution are displayed these costumes which were worn in the TV drama, Turn. Although, I do wish they'd get mannequins with wigs and hats and boots. :)

The exhibits were all on the upper level, with the gift shop, etc. on the lower. A beautiful art gallery was in the upper rotunda. There were two theaters upstairs. These presentations included the Battle of Brandywine and one with an actual view of George Washington's war tent (sorry, no photo).

 

Pulling down King George III's Statue

The above depicts bringing down the statue of King George III. On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read in publicly in front of George Washington in New York City. A crowd went to Bowling Green in Manhattan where the angry mob pulled down the King's statue no longer willing to serve the crown.

Liberty Tree exhibit. Photo credit Blue Cadet.

  This stunning exhibit has a beautiful, life size Liberty Tree in the center. All around are stories and artifacts that help explain why Independence became such an important issue for the people and what measures they took in peaceful resistance to England before the war began.

Continental soldier

Joseph Plumb Martin left his grandsire's farm in Connecticut wanted to prove that he was as "warm a patriot as the best of them" and joined the thousands of teenagers in Washington's Army.

British soldier

 

Snowball fight at Harvard Yard

  This scene depicts George Washington breaking up a snowball fight at Harvard Yard among Continental soldiers during the Siege of Boston in 1775. The fight started when the young soldiers from Marblehead, Massachusetts saw the white, ruffled and fringed shirts of a unit of Virginians pass by and ridiculed them. Gen. Washington, needless to say, showed up at that moment and put an immediate stop to the hurling of insults and snowballs!

Francis Merrifield Bible

I was impressed by this Bible in the New England Soldiers exhibit. It belonged to Ipswich soldier, Francis Merrifield, who immediately after surviving the Battle of Bunker Hill inscribed the following:  "Cambridge June 17, 1775. I desire to bless God for his Kind apirince [appearance] in delivering me and sparing my life in the late battle fought on Bunker's Hill. I desire to devote this spared life to His glory and honour. In witness, my hand, Francis Merrifield."

Brothers Charles Wilson Peale and James Peale were both portrait artists. James served as an officer and served in the Maryland Continentals. His unit has suffered severe casualties at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights. When James reunited with his brother on the banks of the Delaware, Charles barely recognized him.

American prisoners kept at the State House in Philadelphia, PA.

During the early months of British occupation, a detachment of British grenadiers lived in the lower level of the State House (Independence Hall). Nearly 70 captured and wounded American officers were held on the floor above. Civilians who visited the prisoners were deeply affected by their suffering. Many Quaker women would bring food, drink, and medicine to the prisoners. Despite this, Quakers were often accused of harboring Loyalist sympathies since they were pacifists.

Hessian soldier

British Dragoons

Native Americans allies or foes?

 Some Native Americans allied with the British while others fought alongside the Americans.

We desire you will hear and receive what we have now told you, and that you will open a good ear and listen to what we are now going to say. This is a family quarrel between us and Old England. You Indians are not concerned in it. We don't wish you to take up the hatchet against the king's troops. We desire you to remain at home, and not join on either side, but keep the hatchet buried deep." —The Second Continental Congress, Speech to the Six Nations, July 13, 1775

Generations of Revolution

 This wall of Generations of Revolution in Photographs includes those who have made a difference in the cause of liberty in our nation's history. The large picture on the right with the man in the bicorne hat is of George Fishley. His photograph was taken along with thirteen other last men of the American Revolution, also featured here. This exhibit closes with mirrors at adult and child height to peer into and see a reflection of another generation of those who can influence revolution for liberty!

I hope you enjoy this little tour of the Museum of the American Revolution. Have you had a chance to visit it yet? What other historical museums have you visited that left a lasting impression on you?





New Englander Carla Gade writes from her Victorian home in central Maine. With ten books in print she enjoys bringing her tales to life with historically authentic settings and characters. An avid reader, amateur genealogist, photographer, and house plan hobbyist, Carla's great love (next to her family) is historical research. Though you might find her tromping around an abandoned homestead, an old fort, or interviewing a docent at an historical museum, it's easier to connect with her online.
https://www.facebook.com/CarlaOlsonGade

Hidden History - Elfreth's Alley

While touring Philadelphia recently, we discovered a little street tucked away from some of the other sights, called Elfreth's Alley. This narrow cobble stoned alley, is lined each side with brick houses that were built between the 1720's and 1830's. In fact, it is "Our nation's oldest residential street" and it has remained inhabited since colonial times.

Elfreth's Alley wasn't originally included in William Penn's plans for Philadelphia's "greene country town." As the city prospered, however, waterfront properties were purchased and rented by the many middle class merchants, tradesmen, and artisans for convenience of conducting business. By 1700, most of the population of Philadelphia had settled withing four blocks of the Delaware River. Overcrowding was an issue.

In 1706, landowners Arthur Wells and John Gilbert recognized the need and decided to combine their properties between Front and Second Streets and opened up a cart path. At the time the Delaware River was wider and flowed right next to this area. The alley was named after silversmith and land speculator, Jeremiah Elfreth, who built and rented out many of the homes there. Elfreth's Alley residents included Dolly Madison, Betsy Ross, and a friend of Ben Franklin, William Maugridge, whom he frequently visited there.

The brick row houses found at Elfreth's Alley are called a "Trinity,"and many can be found in Philadelphia. They are sometimes called "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" houses. Each home has only one room on each floor. There is often a basement kitchen, a first floor that was typically used as a shop, narrow stairway, and family living areas on the upper levels. Although there is no yard in the front of the home, there is some space in the rear for a garden and perhaps the keeping of a cow and a few chickens. There are gates between homes for access to the rear, as seen in these photos. 




We did get to peek inside one of the homes that is used as a museum for a Windsor chair shop, and it is quite compact. It amazes me that sometimes people took in boarders, such as sailors, and that families that actually lived and worked in these homes.

This was the original tiny house movement!

 

New Englander Carla Gade writes from her Victorian home in central Maine. With ten books in print she enjoys bringing her tales to life with historically authentic settings and characters. An avid reader, amateur genealogist, photographer, and house plan hobbyist, Carla's great love (next to her family) is historical research. Though you might find her tromping around an abandoned homestead, an old fort, or interviewing a docent at an historical museum, it's easier to connect with her online.

https://www.facebook.com/CarlaOlsonGade

A History Lover Tours Philadelphia

Carla Gade here to share about my recent sojourn over the cobblestone streets of historic Philadelphia. I just returned last week and have been sorting through hundreds of pictures so its hard to know where to begin...or end... So here are a few highlights of my whirlwind trip of two days following a family wedding.

In honor of our recent celebration of our country's freedom, I'll keep with the theme of Independence and briefly share some of the meaningful sights I visited. They may may spark fuller blog poss from me in the future, you just know I soaked up every detail!

I must say, that since my trip to Colonial Williamsburg several years ago, I have not had such a fulfilling historical trip.The only thing lacking was all the wonderful historical re-enactors that I enjoy so much in the living history museums, however I did get to meet one particular lady.

Her name was Betsy Ross.

Mistress Ross, was an upholster by trade and a flag maker. When the Continental Congress needed "colors," Philadelphia upholsterers and needle-workers enjoyed the opportunity to fulfill the government contracts to stitch flags.

My mother/traveling companion, a seamstress, asked "Betsy" if a grommet was used for the holes to attach the flags to the poles. Betsy had no knowledge of grommets and explained that the hole was reinforced hundreds of times with small stitches.

Cutting of a five point star.

Tradition states that she was the first, famed for her five-pointed one-snip star. Betsy was certainly among the several women flag makers of Philadelphia and remained an industrious flag maker for over fifty years. I found it remarkable that during this time so many women were employed in useful occupations to support the banner of freedom!

Independence Hall, originally Pennsylvania State House

As I stood in the early evening shadow of Independence Hall, waiting for our tour, the bell tolled six times. There I was on the hallowed ground of our country's birthplace, under the same sky, hearing the bell keep time, I was awestruck and humbled. We entered the center hall (from the south entrance) with the Supreme Court Room to the left and the Assembly Hall to the right where the        Declaration of Independence was signed and the U.S. Constitution was written. While in these rooms my imagination took flight and I heard the murmurs of our founding fathers as they ironed out the important issues of our democracy.

Supreme Court Room

Assembly Hall

Photo courtesy USHistory.org

As George Washington presided over the Federal Convention's sessions for nearly three months, he sat in this chair with a half sunburst carved into the top arch. Benjamin Franklin was reported to have said, "I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I... know that it is a rising...sun."

Again, I heard the magnificent sound of the bell as it struck seven, as we strolled toward another sight. The Tomb of an Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier.

As I approached this huge monument a stillness came over me. My eyes were immediately drawn to the statue of the father of our country, and brave leader, George Washington. The inscription above him read, "Freedom is a light for which man men have died in darkness." What a sobering thought. This was not a monument that one merely comes to take a peek at and quickly walks away.

The inscription on one side of the monument is from George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address, "The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts of common dangers, suffering and success."


On the other: "In unmarked graves within this square lie thousands of unknown soldiers of Washington's Army who died of wounds and sickness during the Revolutionary War."
And in the singular tomb in the forefront. Is there truly a unknown soldier buried inside? (Forgive me, this writer wonders things like this.) A tour guide comes by and affirms that indeed,  "Beneath this stone rests a soldier of Washington's army who died to give you liberty." Had they not, I would not have been there standing in front of the eternal flame of freedom.

On to the Liberty Bell! The Liberty Bell originally hung in the Pennsylvania State House, later called Independence Hall. The bell I had admired ringing earlier would have been this very bell, had it been in the times of our founding fathers. Bells were rung on July 8 to mark the reading of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776. Surely this very bell rang to mark our Independence!

As before entering Independence Hall, people and property were scanned before entry. A stark reminder never to take our liberty for granted. I did not know what to expect at the Liberty Bell. I grew up near Plymouth Rock. You simply walk up to the rock, look at it, and take a picture. Here there was a exhibition, as you walked along, explaining the history of the Liberty Bell and its significance to many Americans through the generations. The exhibition was very moving, more so than I imagined it might be. I really knew little about it. The Liberty Bell's inscription is from Leviticus 25:10. "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof." Abolitionists in the 1830's dubbed the State House bell, the "Liberty Bell" and used it as a symbol for freedom. There it was, another great symbol of our freedom...a bell that no longer rings. But let us never allow the sound of freedom to not be heard in our great nation!

New Englander Carla Gade writes from her Victorian home in central Maine. With ten books in print she enjoys bringing her tales to life with historically authentic settings and characters. An avid reader, amateur genealogist, photographer, and house plan hobbyist, Carla's great love (next to her family) is historical research. Though you might find her tromping around an abandoned homestead, an old fort, or interviewing a docent at an historical museum, it's easier to connect with her online.

https://www.facebook.com/CarlaOlsonGade