Spring in Rural New England During the Founding Era: General Montgomery's Store

General Montogmery’s Store, 24 March 1793, Haverhill, NH

 What was happening in the small court town of Haverhill, NH. on this day in 1793? 

         It was a Sunday, and there were no purchases at General Montgomery’s store that day. Most of the townspeople were attending the Congregational Church, where Reverend Ethan Smith was delivering his sermon. General Montgomery (1764-February 21, 1825) and his family were seated in pews on the first floor; his store clerks in the gallery. [1]

Montgomery's shop with 19th century additions 

         Reverend Smith had visited the General’s shop two days earlier day to purchase “1 chamberpot” and "1 sugar bowle."  In subsequent visits, Smith's acquisitions are, not surprisingly, modest, given his remuneration from the congregation who supported his work.  For example, on April 1^st, he acquires items important to his ministry – paper and ink powder –  along with an ivory comb, for the sum of 2 shillings. [2]

General John Montgomery 

Even the wealthiest man in town, General Montgomery, would run afoul of the church leaders, for riding on the Sabbath, and was called upon to ask forgiveness.  Church records observed that: "Brother John Montgomery sent in a confession to be read in public for his transgression in riding on two occasions on the Lord's day, with humble acknowledgement of his sin which was accepted. "

Page from the 1793 Daybook, Courtesy, Haverhill Historical Society

         On the following day, the shop was open as usual, ready to supply the townspeople with nails, grains, textiles, leather, buttons, coffee, and spirits.

The material in this post is from my next book project.

1. General Montgomery’s 1825 Grafton County probate inventory records that he held one pew (No.4) in the South Meeting House, lower floor, valued at $30.00 and also one in the gallery (No. 25) valued at $4.00, most likely for his clerks or apprentices.

2. Rev. Smith was installed as pastor on 25 January 1792 and his requested "dimission" was in 1799. While gathering many new families to the Church, Rev. Smith's tenure was not with its troubles. Indeed, he was considered to be relatively strict and unyielding in his expectations. 

The townspeople were taxed £40 for Rev. Smith’s ministry and some would not pay this tax, citing the fact that the church was catering to the Piermont side of the town, among other reasons.

A Personal Touch: Wedding Shoes of A New England Groom, c. 1819

These low-heeled men’s shoes were likely made in Haverhill, Massachusetts by the wearer, Leonard Phillips, in the early years of the 19^th century.  They are in the Buttonwoods Museum collection (Haverhill, MA. http://www.haverhillhistory.org). There is no question that these are a rare survival as well as a very personal response to the shoemaker’s impending nuptials. The charming shoes are leather, embellished with leather appliques of animals, fish, peacocks & other birds, and trees. They convey a “folk” art feel. 

Although now faded, it is evident that the shoes were once colorful, and featured touches of green and red dyes, such as in the house applique on the vamp.  With low heels and squared-off toes, the shoes were fastened with buckles. The shape of the shoe was conservative, as wedding apparel often was (and still is today.)

Given the attention paid to the soles, one wonders about the religious background of the couple – were the soles visible while kneeling for wedding rites or communion?  The soles are incised with a man and a woman between two houses and there is a peacock incised on the heel. The clarity of the image on the sole and the condition of the heel suggests very little wear – perhaps worn just on this single occasion. We are given a vision of the literal joining of the homes of the bride and groom in matrimony. 

Whether the ornament included on the shoes was part of a European tradition familiar to the maker, or his bride-to-be is not known at present. There are examples, such as these 19^th century French wedding clogs (from the Musee rural des Arts populaires de Laduz, Yonne) which hold some similarity of purpose and motif, scattered in world-wide collections.

 Leonard Phillips married Sarah Head of Bradford, Massachusetts on January 20^th 1819. The groom was 27 and the bride was 23. Oh, to be able to see the couple in their wedding clothes!

The wedding shoes are currently on view in “Cosmopolitan Consumption: New England Shoe Stories, 1750-1850” at the Portsmouth Athenaeum, Portsmouth, NH. through 5 June 2015. MORE: www.PortsmouthAthenaeum.org

The hand-written label which accompanied the shoes reads:

"Leonard Phillips/ April 1792 - July 1832/Married Sally Head 1796 - 1881/Children/John Henry - 1820-1831/Sarah Almira 1823-1913/ Sarah married Charles Henry Brown - lived at 111 Keeley Street. Their son John Henry - our grandfather - hence Leonard Phillips maker of the shoes - our great, great grandfather - Beatrice & Rosalie Keene, Kathleen K. Babb"

Thank you to Jan Williams, Director of the Buttonwoods Museum, for her assistance.

For Your Bookshelf: "From the Elegant to the Everyday: 200 Years of Fashion in Northern New England

If you were not able to visit the exhibition at the Saco Museum, Saco, ME., you can now purchase the publication "From the Elegant to the Everyday…" by Saco Museum Director and exhibition curator, Tara Raiselis. This will be a welcome addition to your library with many little known or never before exhibited costumes, drawn from numerous New England repositories.

,
http://www.dyerlibrarysacomuseum.org/mus_home.shtml

Previous posts on the exhibition include a discussion of Revolutionary War patriot, Samuel Cutts and his suit
http://silkdamask.blogspot.com/2014/03/revolutionary-war-patriot-samuel-cutts.html

What were they drinking in 1793? Egg Rum & Egg Brandy

Egg Rum and Egg Brandy: The Cold Winter of 1793

On Monday May 20, 1793, there were a number of special alcohol purchases which appear in the Gen. Montgomery Store Daybook. They include postmaster Moses Dow’s 1 quart of Mallago (Malaga) wine, a glass of ginn [sic] and of particular interest, one 1/2 bowl of egg rum.  A few days earlier the purchase of “egg brandy” was noted.  According to food historians, this concoction was related to our contemporary eggnog, being a drink of egg, wine and milk/cream with many historic European antecedents. 

Egg brandy or egg rum as recorded in the Daybook, was in Colonial America somewhat different than its British counterpart in that it substituted the British use of wine for brandy or rum. It was quite popular in the Colonies, especially in the colder parts of the region where the egg beverage (egg, cream or fresh milk and brandy or rum) was rich, tasty, filling and was usually flavored with nutmeg or allspice. In a rural area like Haverhill, the ingredients – fresh cream and eggs, brandy or rum and spices-- would have been readily available. Given the fact that this was served at the Store, it is likely that it was served cold and not warm such as a posset, which required heating and carefully balanced ingredients, as well as appropriate ceramic serving vessels, frequently with a spout.

While it might seem too heavy for serving in late May by contemporary tastes, it was no doubt much lighter in concentration. However, of particular importance in the selection of this variant of “eggnog” was the fact that weather reports for May of 1793 reveal that it was the second coldest May to be recorded (in the North American Review, for example) until the famous cold of 1816, which many referred to as the year “without summer.”  The unusual cold of April and May, which reportedly froze buds and kept the ground hard well past usual planting dates, would have also changed patterns of trade, travel, purchase and even the number of ventures out of doors to the Store. The weather, not surprisingly, changed the routine of daily life not only in Haverhill but throughout New England.

Although contemporary receipt books and accounts appear not to list an egg brandy or rum (most likely because it was an understood, standard beverage) there was a close relationship between them and an eggnog and a syllabub. The creation of a syllabub required time and careful beating of eggs and cream, whereas the preparation of this "egg rum" or "egg brandy" one can easily imagine being created in the store along with the frequently mentioned bowl of grog.  (Grog was also a rum –based beverage, frequently mixed with other spirits or citrus or other juices or diluted.)

From a forthcoming article on General Montgomery and the 1793 Daybook.

Kimberly Alexander, Ph.D.
University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH., USA

Comparative Syllabub Recipes

To make whipt syllabubs

Take a quart of thick cream, and half a pint of sack, the juice of two Seville oranges, or lemons; grate in the peel of two lemons; half a pound of double-refined sugar, pour it into a broad earthen pan, and whisk it well; but first sweeten some red wine, or sack, and fill your glasses as full as you chuse; then as the froth rises take it off with a spoon, and lay it carefully into your glasses, till they are as full as it will hold.

From Charles Carter The London and Country Cook (London: 1749)

A Whipt Syllabub

Take two porringers of cream and one of white wine, grate in the skin of a lemon, take the whites of three eggs, sweeten it to your taste, then whip it with a whisk, take off the froth as it rises and put into your syllabub glasses of pots, and they are fit for use.

From Amelia Simmons American Cookery: or the Art of Dressing Viands, Poultry….Adapted to this Country and All Grades of Life (Albany, 1796)

Further information on the derivation of the term “egg nog” may be found on numerous historic food ways websites and in reproductions of historic cookbooks such as that of Amelia Simmons by Applewood Books.

Images courtesy:
^ Haverhill Historical Society, General Montgomery Store Daybook, 1793
^ Pouring a syllabub, Journal of the Early Americas (see link below for further information)

Great sites to explore:
Colonial Williamsburg: http://recipes.history.org/

Journal of the Early Americas:
http://www.journaloftheearlyamericas.com/2/post/2011/7/brand-new-recipes-archive-browse-your-favorite-historical-cuisine.html