the stages; and the wittiest man in town, with us boys, was Hiram
Barnes, that drove stage for him! To be sure, neither of them was
eminent for learning or civil influence, but, in that temple which
boys’ imaginations make, a stage proprietor and a stage driver stands
forth as grand as Minerva in the Parthenon.”
Henry Ward Beecher’s sister, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, also writes of
Litchfield:
“Poganuc (Litchfield) in its summer dress was a beautiful place. Its
main street had a row of dignified white houses, with deep dooryards
and large side gardens, where the great scarlet peony flamed forth,
where were generous tufts of white lilies, with tall spires of saintly
blossoms, and yellow lilies with their faint sweet perfume, and all
the good old orthodox flowers of stately family and valid pretensions.
In all the dooryards and along the grassy streets on either side were
over-shadowing, long-branching trees, forming a roof of verdure, a
green upper world from whose recesses birds dropped down their songs
in languages unknown to us mortals. Who shall interpret what is meant
by the sweet jargon of robin and oriole and bobolink, with their
endless reiterations? Something wiser, perhaps, than we dream in our
lower life here.”[16]
That there were amusements of some kind follows as a matter of course
when there were so many young people in a place whose time was not all
spent in study and whose high spirits must overflow now and then.
In summer there were gay walks to Prospect Hill, where there was then,
as later, an Echo Rock, and to Love’s Altar, a shady nook by the stream
below the hill back of Governor Wolcott’s house. Both of these resorts
were immortalized in color by Miss Mary Peck in her album.[17]
Mr. Lord had built a bowling alley on the west side of the Prospect Hill
road for the benefit of the pupils of both schools, so we can picture
these walks combined with lively bowling matches, much like those of
later days that were held in the old bowling alley, back of the United
States Hotel. Then another set of young men and women met in bright
summer days and passed many a merry hour minding no more a rise in the
thermometer than ardent golfers do now.
Then there were even gayer sleigh rides on crisp winter evenings, for
Miss Pierce specifies in her rules for the school in 1825: “No young
lady is allowed to attend any public ball or sleigh party till they are
more than 16 years old.”
A fine pine grove of which some of the trees still remain to mark the
site, and which received the name of Pine Island, lay a mile or two
directly south, and was a favorite picnic ground for the girls.
Candy-making and candy-pulling by a big wood fire were great occasions,
for does not Mr. Cutler draw with his pen a lively picture of such a
party he attended?
The scarcity of sugar in those days probably added great interest to the
spring crop of maple sugar, and with snow still on the ground we can
think of the frolics there must have been sometimes over big kettles of
sap, which was taken out and cooled with snow to make a delicious candy.
Possibly there may sometimes have been invitations to apple bees and
corn husking just outside of the town.
Then there were excursions to the Lake, for we read in the Litchfield
Monitor for August, 1795:
POND LILY.
This subscriber informs the public, and particularly those who either
for health or pleasure are disposed to enjoy the water, that he has
thoroughly repaired that commodious, prime sailing Pleasure Boat, the
Pond Lily; and that she will ply from the northern to the southern
shore every day in the week, (wind and weather permitting.) She has
good accommodations for Passengers; and Ladies and Gentlemen, wishing
to indulge in a few hours of healthy and agreeable pastime, will be
cheerfully waited upon. Select Companis from the town and country, are
solicited to afford themselves this pleasant relaxation from business;
and on seasonable notice to the Skipper of the Boat, every required
attention is promised them, by their devoted, humble servant.
JAMES LEE.
Litchfield, August 24, 1795.
N. B.—There is a new wharf erected on the east end of the Pond; which
makes it much more convenient for the Passengers than formerly.
A much later advertisement reads:
The new and elegant Horse boat, Bantam, having been recently built for
the express purpose of accommodating pleasure parties on the Bantam
Lake is now completely prepared to accommodate ladies and gentlemen
who may wish to take advantage of this safe and neat (!) mode of
taking a trip upon our pleasant waters. Parties wishing to engage the
boat for a trip, must give two days notice to the subscriber residing
at the north end of the Lake.
HARMON STONE.
Litchfield, June 27, 1826.
BANTAM LAKE. (GREAT POND, SO CALLED)
Being a plan of much resort the subscriber has fitted up a small
establishment, located on the shore of the northeast extreme of said
Lake, in neat order, for the accommodation of those gentlemen and
ladies who may wish to spend a few hours on and about this beautiful
sheet of water.
FREDERICK A. MARSH.
May 28, 1829.
In 1827 the following notice was posted. This must have caused great
excitement with its unusual novelty.
THE AERIAL PHAETON.[18]
LITCHFIELD, CONN.
The subscriber intends erecting on Litchfield Hill by the first day of
September next an Aerial Phaeton. The design of the machine is to
afford an agreeable pastime to ladies and gentlemen. It consists of
Four Carriages each supported by Two Arms, which are attached to an
Axletree in the centre. They are turned by a Propelling Machine, and
will carry eight persons at once, two in each carriage, who will in
regular succession be raised to the distance of Fifty Feet in the air,
at a rate of velocity equal to ten miles a minute, or slower, as suits
the wishes of those occupying the carriages, and all with perfect ease
and safety. This method of recreation and amusement has been highly
recommended by the most eminent Physicians in the United States, and
will be found the best mode for taking an airing, by those whose lives
are sedentary, that can be practised. The place where it is to be
erected, is airy, the prospect extending wide, and being relieved by
all the variety of hill and dale. Every attention will be paid to
company, and all things done “decently and in order.”
JOHN H. MONTGOMERY,
Inventor and maker of the Aerial Phaeton.
Litchfield, Aug. 17, 1827.
Price 12½ per mile—children, half price.
One of the great events of the year was training day. It is sketchily
written of in Mr. Cutler’s diary, page 193, where it is depicted from
the standpoint of a young participant.
Miss Pierce’s method of education being both original and comprehensive,
she not only wrote history for her scholars to learn, but plays for them
to act.[19] These performances are said to have been very engrossing to
the scholars, all lessons and other occupations being given up for the
time. They must also have greatly entertained the townspeople. Then,
either to try to rival the fine acting of the “Female Academy,” or to
return the courtesy of their entertainment, or both, the young men of
the Law School would write and act other plays. Of the character of
these plays we have so far found no record.
[Illustration:
ELECTION BALL.
_Miss E. Canfield’s_
_Company is requested at Ransom’s Assembly Room, this evening at 7
o’clock._
T. GLOVER, } { M. TRYON, Jr.
J. H. SPARHAWK, } MANAGERS. { S. CURTIS,
HARTFORD, MAY 9, 1811.
PL. VI.—FACSIMILE OF INVITATION TO A BALL IN HARTFORD, CONN. TO “THE
ROSE OF SHARON”
]
Finally, there were balls: balls in the schoolroom under Miss Pierce’s
own patronage, the invitations to attend them being highly prized by the
law students, and balls given at the tavern or public house kept by
Josiah Parks, on the top floor of the United States Hotel. These latter
were larger. Those at the school were called balls; but Miss Pierce’s
grandniece reports their being simple, early dances rather than real
balls. “In 1798 a ball with the customary entertainment and variety of
music, cost about $160,[20] and nothing was said about it,” showing that
there had been a material change in the conditions and prosperity of the
town since the earlier days when a dollar to be paid to a man with a
fiddle to play for dancing was all the necessary cost of an evening’s
entertainment. On Plate VI is a facsimile of an invitation to an
election ball in Hartford.
There was quite an elaborate system of merit marks at the school, and
many a mark was won by the tiny stitches sewed on a dainty seam of some
muslin gown, for according to the fashion of the day, woman’s attire
could hardly be too delicate. There were no tailor-made gowns then. Even
in winter muslin dresses and slippers were worn.
“‘In 1794,’[21] to use Carlyle’s words, ‘every man began to ponder
whether he should not even dress himself like the Free Peoples of
Antiquity.’ Carlyle, of course, was speaking of French men and women;
but the fashions adopted by them soon spread to England, though
English women never pushed the classical craze so far as the French
did.
“It seems to us, however, that French women were not so much
endeavoring to dress so as to look like the Ancient Greeks and Romans,
as undressing themselves in order to look as much as possible like the
statues which these ancient ‘Free Peoples’ produced. Garment after
garment was laid aside, until they had brought their apparel down to
something that at all events succeeded in recalling the same
transparent scantiness so essential to the right setting forth of the
beauties of sculpture.... It was well that the readers of fashion
books of that time should be cautioned against exposing themselves to
the air for if the truth is to be spoken, our grandmothers and great
grandmothers were only half clad—exposed to the perpetual variations
of one of the most trying climates in the world; they for the most
part confronted it and its continual changes attired in a short round
dress of white cambric, with arms and necks all but bare, and feet
clad in silk stockings and thin kid or morocco shoes. In winter, it is
true, they had their warm pelisses, and mantels of cloth or velvet,
and these were frequently lined with fur; but they cut the period of
wearing winter wraps absurdly short, never gave up their white cambric
dresses, and early in the spring and late in autumn often went out
more lightly apparelled than we should in the dog days. Their own
deaths and the large amount of consumption they have handed down to
their descendants are the fruits of this folly....
“In December, 1806 we read: ‘The pelisse of twilled sarsnet with
simple wrap front continues the reigning favorite.’ Indeed, ‘the
gentle and pliant sarsnet’ and ‘the yielding and adhesive imperial
satin of gossamer softness’ are constantly prescribed for pelisses and
spensers at all periods of the year.
* * * * *
“Diderot says that ‘When writing of women we should dip our pen in the
rainbow and throw over each line the powder of butterflies’ wing,
instead of sand.’ And it almost seems as if in the beginning of this
century it was the fashion to dress them in the same ethereal manner.
* * * * *
“On Christmas eve, 1803, Prince Jerome Bonaparte married Miss
Elizabeth Paterson. A gentleman present on the occasion said: ‘All the
clothes worn by the bride might have been put in my pocket. Her dress
was of muslin richly embroidered, of extremely fine texture. Beneath
her dress she wore but a single garment.’
* * * * *
“Dresses which were extolled in summer and autumn were never wholly
banished in winter and spring. Our grandmothers were like the
daffodils, they appeared in all their bright attire before the swallow
dared to come, and ‘took the winds of March with beauty.’ How many of
them suffered for what they did, we may guess at, but can never know.
How much stronger we ourselves might have been had they thought and
acted differently, it is also vain to conjecture, but we can clothe
ourselves and our children in obedience to the laws of health and
strenuously resist all attempts to induce us to do the contrary.
[Illustration:
PL. VII.—FASHIONS OF 1807
From “Our Grandmothers’ Gowns”
]
“Still we find ‘a round gown jaconet muslin prescribed’ in December,
1812. We read: ‘Notwithstanding the severity of the season, morning
dresses continue to be made in white muslin, which is more fashionable
than anything else.’ It continued to be so for many a year after this.
It was supposed to be indelicate to wear anything else. ‘The dress of
women,’ we are told, ‘should differ in every point from that of men.
This difference ought even to extend to the choice of stuffs; for a
woman habited in cloth is less feminine than if she were clothed in
transparent gauze, in light muslin or in soft and shining silk.’
* * * * *
“A lady and her child attired in the most elegant fashions of the
season, September, 1807:
“LADY’S DRESS—A round gown with short train, ornamented at the feet in
flutings of muslin or needlework; a long sleeve ruched, with full top;
frock back and lapel, bosom cut low, and trimmed with scalloped lace,
a _chapeau a la bocage_ of imperial chip or sarsnet, or ornamented
with a wreath of ivy or jonquil.... A shawl of Chinese silk thrown
negligently over the shoulders....
“CHILD’S DRESS—A frock and trousers of fine cambric, bordered at the
bottom in rich fancy Vandyke; French back and bosom cut very low, and
ornamented with the same; Circassian sleeve very short....
“This is a lady’s outdoor equipment for October! The child’s arms and
neck are bare, and its feet are covered with nothing stouter than
yellow kid. Did the doctors of those days make larger fortunes than
they do now? They can never have been without work.”
While these passages are from an English standpoint, the following
quotations go to prove that the ocean was no barrier to apparel of much
the same nature; and while there was so much less communication between
the small New England towns and Europe, we know that there were even
then direct importations of fashion plates. Plate VIII is from one dated
July 1, 1799, which was brought from London soon afterwards by Mr.
Julius Deming for his daughters.[22]
[_From the Evening Post of 1802._]
_Wednesday, February 3._
FASHIONABLE NEWS.
LADIES DRESSES FOR DECEMBER.
WALKING DRESSES. Round dress of thick white muslin. The Hungarian
cloak, made of nacarat, or scarlet silk, trimmed all around with broad
black lace or fur. A bonnet of the same colour as the cloak, trimmed
with black lace or fur, and ornamented with a flower or feather of the
same colour.
DANCING OR FULL DRESS. A short robe of fine muslin, with a train or
petticoat of the same; the robe made plain over the bosom, with
additional fronts, to fly open from the shoulders. The whole bound
with scarlet ribbon; the sleeves and the robe, from the shoulders to
the bottom, are ornamented with scarlet ribbon. The bosom trimmed
round with deep white lace. A hat of white silk, turned up in front,
and lined with scarlet; a feather of the same colour fixed in front,
to fall over the crown.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. The prevailing colours are scarlet, pink and
purple. Black bear muffs and tippets, long before, and in the form of
a handkerchief, are general for morning and walking dresses; and white
muffs and tippets for full dress. Feathers and flowers of all
descriptions are universal; long scarlet ribbons are worn round the
bosom, from which miniatures or lockets are suspended. Caps in full
dress are more prevalent than last winter.
LONDON PAP.
[_From “A Girl’s Life Eighty Years Ago,” by Eliza Southgate Bowne._]
ALBANY, Aug. 8, 1802.
The Patroon and his wife came to see us. She is really beautiful,
dressed very plain; cotton cambric morning gown, white sarsnet cloak,
hair plain, and black veil thrown carelessly over her head.
NEW YORK, June 6, 1803.
Caroline and I went shopping yesterday, and ’tis a fact that the
little white satin Quaker bonnets, cap-crowns, are the most
fashionable that are worn—lined with pink or blue or white; but I’ll
not have one, for if any of my old acquaintances should meet me in the
street they would laugh,—I would if I were them. I mean to send Sister
Boyd a Quaker cap, the first tasty one I see; Caroline’s are too
plain, but she has promised to get me a more fashionable pattern. ’Tis
the fashion. I see nothing new or pretty,—large sheer muslin shawls
put on as Sally Weeks wears hers are much worn, they show the form
thro’ and look pretty; silk nabobs, plaided, colored and white, are
much worn, very short waists, hair very plain.
[Illustration:
PL. VIII.—FASHION PLATE FROM ENGLAND, 1799
]
NEW YORK, June 18, 1803.
The fashions are remarkably plain; sleeves much longer than ours, and
half handkerchiefs are universally worn. At Mrs. Henderson’s party
there was but one lady except myself with a handkerchief—dressed as
plain as possible, the most fashionable women the plainest. I have got
you a pretty India spotted muslin—’tis fashionable here.
The silk dresses must also have been light and airy in weight as Miss
Pierce’s grandniece tells a story of her aunt’s best black silk well
worth relating in these days of Saratoga trunks. At the present time
railroad passengers grumble at being limited to one hundred pounds of
baggage. A hundred years ago the amount permitted to each passenger of a
stage coach was but fourteen pounds, and a trunk then was hardly larger
than a handbag now, certainly not as commodious as a dress-suit case.
Having just returned from a visit to her sister Mrs. Croswell, at
Catskill, Miss Sarah Pierce reproached Miss Mary Pierce for having
omitted to put her best black silk in her trunk when packing it. “I
certainly put it in,” replied Miss Mary. “If you did I could not find
it,” was the retort. Miss Mary went upstairs and shortly returned with
the dress in her hand and showed how careful she had been to lay the
dress between the folds of an undergarment to keep it from being
creased. This was also the reason why Miss Pierce had not perceived it
in the trunk. Could any of the beruffled, trailing gowns of these days
be hid away like that?
That the elaborate dress of some of the matrons of Litchfield, extended
even to powdered hair raised in towers on the head can be learned from
the portraits extant by the painter Earle. The notice of his coming is
taken from the Litchfield Monitor.
LITCHFIELD, Feb 24^{th} 1796
Arrived in town a few days since, from New York, Mr. Ralph Earle, the
celebrated Portrait Painter; who holds rank with the most
distinguish’d pupils of the great West. His Paintings will do honor to
any country, in any age.
May 18 1796
Mr. Ralph Earle, the celebrated Portrait Painter, is now at New
Milford; where he will probably reside for some time. As we profess a
friendship for Mr. Earle and are desirous that the Public avail
themselves of the abilities of this able artist, we feel a pleasure in
making this communication, many gentlemen in this vicinity, having
been disappoint of his services, and several of our friends being
driven to accept of the paltry daubs of assuming pretenders.
Mr. Earl’s price for a Portrait of full length is Sixty Dollars, the
smaller size Thirty Dollars; the Painter finding his own support and
materials,—Applications by letter or otherwise, will be transmitted to
Mr. Earle from this office, or the Post-master at New Milford will
take charge of all letters addressed to Mr. Earle.
The following letter from the Litchfield Monitor of June 8, 1796, shows
how far-reaching was the Republican feeling in Litchfield when it was
sought to regulate through the press even the old custom of wearing
mourning:
DRESSING IN MOURNING.
_To the Printers of the United States._
_Gentlemen_,—
As your employment gives you the means of great influence in our
country, it is of great importance that you should be wise and good
men; that you should improve your influence in promoting the best
interest and real welfare of our rising nation.
At this time I would mention one error in my countrymen, which
prevails to our shame and poverty—the growing Fashion of dressing in
mourning. This is to our disgrace, and gives mortification to every
true lover of this country. During the Revolution, an economical
fashion, truly republican, was established and all classes wore it;
this was only a piece of crape or black ribbon on the left arm of men,
and a black ribbon on the head of women. This American fashion did
honor to our country, while at the same time it saved the property of
the people. The President of the United States, some of the Governors
and first rulers, have continued the fashion to this day. But great
numbers of unreflecting persons have thoughtlessly returned again to
an imitation of the British people, and greatly to their own loss, and
to the injury of the country. The articles worn for mourning, are
imported from Europe, for which our money is exported. This is a
serious misfortune; for the sum is very great which is every year
wasted for this trumpery. Let us act more like Americans, and save our
honor and our money. We ought to have our own fashions, and the most
frugal ones. To be imitators of Europeans and to our own loss is
disgraceful. Our pride as well as our reason, forbids this servile
practice. Americans! assert yourselves. Act with independent minds! be
no longer the dupes of a silly fashion. Elect no man to any office who
is guilty of this littleness of conduct—thereby you will preserve your
national dignity, and millions of your money!
AN AMERICAN.
P.S. It is really strange, and much to be regretted that our
legislatures do not attempt to correct this evil. A recommendation
from high authority to the people, would produce a good effect. At
least, it would keep in countenance those who wish to avoid the
fashion—for fashion is a tyrant, and weak people are afraid to
disobey. This tyrant therefore, should be borne down by the authority
of high examples.
In order to round out this sketch of the social conditions and customs
at Litchfield during the period of these chronicles, let us read the
impressions of a stranger,—a young man who, like many another, found
there not only a good legal education, but—a wife.
In the autobiography of the Rev. Lyman Beecher, his son Charles Beecher
writes the following:
“Judge Tapping Reeve, for over half a century a citizen of Litchfield,
was the founder of the celebrated law school, which for forty years
was resorted to by young men of talent from nearly every state in the
Union. Judge Reeve’s first wife was a granddaughter of President
Edwards, and sister of Aaron Burr, who for about six years regarded
Litchfield as home.”[23]
“No less distinguished in point of literary cultivation was the family
of Judge Gould for many years associated with Judge Reeve in the law
school, and afterwards its principal. He was of fine personal
appearance, polished manners, extensive acquaintance with the English
classics, and in all matters of rhetorical or verbal criticism his
word was law. His wife was in no way inferior to him in general
information and brilliant conversational powers.”[24]
To this institution came Edward D. Mansfield, from whose “Personal
Memories,” published in Cincinnati in 1879, we extract the following
passages: