It was Thursday, June 3rd, 1773, when Mary Simpkins married Robert Rand in Boston. Mary’s
father, William (1704-1780), was a well-known jeweler and silversmith. Rand was
a Boston merchant, from an established family. Despite the fact that the Boston
Tea Party was a mere six months away and her husband took part in militia
activity in Bedford, Mary (b. 1754 ?) wore wedding shoes from London. She was most likely
quite pleased with her stylish cream-colored silk shoes, brocaded with
pink and green flowers. The label reveals that they were made by the
cordwainers “Jno. Hose & Son. At the Rose in Cheapside near Milk Street.
London.” Clearly a treasured family heirloom, they were passed down
to her daughter and eventually, found their way to the collections of the
Connecticut Historical Society.
John Hose, c. 1773
Connecticut Historical Society, Object Number: 1953.16.0a,b
Mary Simpkins Rand Wedding Shoes
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About a year after their marriage,
Mary and Robert welcomed their first born--a daughter. The child did not
survive and was buried at the Granary Burying Ground, according to family
sources.
http://www.ma-roots.org/books/hearth/chapter23.html Rand Family Collections
A poignant memento survives from this troubled period in Mary's life.
The soon-to-be or new mother made a pincushion for her firstborn; it bore the
inscription: "Welcome, little stranger, to Boston, though the
port is block't up 1774." It was a token to her new role as mother,
but also to the tumult of revolutionary politics. Enraged over the Boston Tea Party, Parliament had passed the
Boston Port Act in March, and the Royal Navy had formed a blockade around the port of Boston. Patriot families fled the city, as Boston’s population fell from
some 15,000 to fewer than 3,000. Mary
was one of those who fled the besieged city. While Robert fought against the
British, serving as sergeant of the Bedford minutemen at Concord in April 1775,
Mary went to Chelmsford, Massachusetts. She did not return to Boston until
sometime in 1777, after Washington’s artillery forced the British forces to
move on to New York.
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In her flight to Chelmsford, Mary had to cross British
checkpoints, where suspicious British soldiers examined the few personal items that
frightened Bostonians could pack.
For the grieving mother, few items were more precious than the modest
keepsake that held the memory of her lost child. The image
posted here is from family collections.
Today, even after a period of over two centuries, we can
relate to Mary’s feelings of both joy and sadness, represented by these
treasured family artifacts.