Hallowell High School - Venture Yearbook (Hallowell, ME)

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The VENTURE 29 Boston to New Haven, and then to New York, is full of interesting com- ments on these inns and women inn keepers. They were nearly all old and very talkative. Their accommo- dation was far from being of the best. Of one inn on the road to Westerly, R. I., she writes: Arriv- ing at an 'ordinary' about two miles further, we found tolerable accommo- dation. But our hostess, being a pretty full-mouthed old creature, en- tertained our fellow traveller, the doctor, with innumerable complaints of her bodily infirmitiesf' Another inn keeper she accuses of having flavored her roast mutton with hair- oil from her fingers. Nearly all of these women she called extortioners. But women must have made good as tavern keepers, for their numbers steadily increased, far outnumbering the men in this particular line of work. These inns played an important part in the life of the times. Public meetings were held there, politics discussed, and all sorts of appoint- ments made. They even seemed to serve as matrimonial agencies. One personal appearing in the Boston Evening Post in 1745, shows one of the uses to which such an inn or coffee house might be put. The ad- vertisement was headed To The Ladies, and read as follows: Any young lady between the age of 18 and 23, of a middling stature, brown hair, regular features, and with a lively, brisk eye, of good morals, and not tinctured with anything that may sully so distinguished a formg possessed of 300 or 400 pounds. en- tirely at her own disposal, and where there will be no necessity of going through the tiresome talk of address- ing Parents or Guardians for their consent. such a one, on leaving a line directed to A. W. at the Coffee House in King Street, appointing where an interview may be had. will meet with a person who flatters himself that he shall not be thought disagreeable by a Lady answering the above descrip- tion. It would be interesting to know if any young lady responded, and if she did, if she found the young man to her taste. Women shop keepers were numer- ous in colonial days. Little adver- tising was done in those days, except upon the arrival of a ship from Eng- land. but from various references in court records and deeds, as well as from the scanty newspapers, it ap- pears that there were proportionate- ly more women shop keepers, she merchants as they sometimes called themselves. in that day than at pres- ent. In 1900, in America, the pro- Dortion of women in trade was about 4.3 per cent: in colonial days it was 9 per cent. They sold odd things for a woman, from the modern point of view. Groceries, dry goods and cut- lery may seem ordinary, but one woman sold optical glasses, another window glass. There were women book sellers and women druggists. But perhaps the most surprising thing for us to realize is that there were numerous women artisans in those days. There were, of course. the ordinary ones, dress makers, hat makers, and makers of head dresses: but one woman manufactured choco- late and mustard, another put up fish and one did chaircaning. There was a woman coach manufacturer, a soap maker, a rope maker. and several women blacksmiths. Some women were skilled in carpentry. There seemed to be little that could be done with the hands that at least one col- onial woman did not attempt, and usually with success. Thev were even captains of industry. One wo- man. Martha Turnstall Smith, was at the head of a large whaling company. There were also women nurses, not graduates of hospitals and medi- cal schools, as today, but of the school of experience. There were manufacturers of perfumes and medicines, and there was at least one woman undertaker.

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28 The VENTURE Guang' ianspotted the honor of Hallowell 1 8' So that its fame may never die. Helen Graves, '27, COLONIAL WOMEN OF AFFAIRS What, outside their homes, did colonial women do? Business wo- men of today think they know the answer, Nothing Women of the 20th century, busy in all industrial fields, and proud of their ability to do a man's work as well or better than he, are prone to think that women of an earlier day kept almost entirely to their homes, and left the labors of the business field entirely to their husbands and brothers. Particularly is this mistake made concerning col- onial women. We know that they had to work hard at all sorts of tasks in the household, and we cannot im- agine their going outside. Of certain forms of work, that opinion is well-founded. Women in those days had little time for litera- ture or for public speaking. Even if they had had the time and strength, they would have been, by most men, denied the opportunity. A passage in one of Governor Winthrop's let- ters illustrates man's attitude at that day towards anything that seemed to threaten his prerogative of superior intellect. Governor Winthrop writes: Mr. Hopkins, the governor of Hartford, in Connecticut, came to Boston, and brought with him his wife, a godly young woman, who had fallen into a sad infirmity, the loss of her understanding and reason, which had been growing upon her bv occasion of her giving herself wholly to reading and writing. Her hus- band was very loving and tender of her, but he saw his error only when it was too late. For if she had at- tended her household duties, and such things as belong to women, and had not gone out of her way to meddle with such things as are proper for men, whose minds are stronger, she would have kept her wits, and might have improved them usefully and honorably in the place God had set her. Such was the opinion held in those days of women who dared to assert themselves in the realm of the intel- lect. But colonial women did work outside the home. They entered many fields and were successful in them. Apparently, as long as they confined themselves to the practical and did not dispute the realms of the so-called intellectual pursuits with man, no one found fault with them. Perhaps one of the reasons for this lack of obiection and criticism was the fact that these women, almost without exception, were widows without husbands to support them, or unmarried daughters whose fath- ers were no longer living. If these women did not support themselves, the community would have to do it. Then, many of these women inherit- ed their businesses from husband or father. One wide-spread occupation for women, of which little or no criticism seems to have been made was that of inn keeper or tavern keeper. There were many of these women tavern keepers in the Elizabethan days in England, and they spread very naturally, and without comment to the Colonies. The town selectmen very early made sure that each town contained a tavern, and a woman who found it necessary to support herself. and who had a large and con- veniently located house. might easily become the tavern keeper. Essex Countv Court files show that as early as 1647 a Mrs. Clark of Salem was licensed to keep a tavern in that town. Much of our information concern- ing the taverns of those early days comes from letters and diaries. The diary of Madam Sarah Knight, who in 1704 travelled on horse back from

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30 The VENTURE Other occupations for women were among those that they fill extensive- ly today. Women school teachers, or school dames as they were called, abounded. But they had only the smaller children. Men had the posi- tions of more importance. Wealth and position in the New World were based upon the owner- ship of Bland, and from a very early day, women shared in this. Perhaps the earliest instance of women land owners and colonizers was that of Mary and Margaret Brent, who came to Maryland in 1638, bringing with them nine colonists. They took up plantations of a thousand acres each, and sent back for more' settlers. Mary Brent was Gov. Leonard Cal- vert's executrix, and for a short time was, in fact, if not in name, governor of the Colony of Maryland. Eliza- beth Haddon of Haddonfield, N. J., 'was another land owner and colon- izer, as was Mary Marenbuer of Pennsylvania. And one might go on to extend the list. Women were a success in this field, wherever they invaded it. Even in the field of letters women intruded, unwelcome though they were. The first American woman to be known extensively as a poet was Ann Bradstreet. Mrs. Bradstreet felt the masculine attitude towards women who attempted to write and complained of it. She was born in England in 1612, and came to Ameri- ca with her husband, Simon Brad- street. in 1630. He settled Upon a farm in Andover, and here hor eight children were born. It is truly amaz- ing that, overworked as she was, with the cares of her family. and household, and suffering from ill health, she could ever write a line. Her poems were not intended for publication, but were circulated nriv- ately among her friends. They reached the hands of her brother-in- law, who took them to England and had them published without the au- thor's knowledge. They were ad- mired, but the author was criticised. She says of this fact, in one of her verses: I am obnoxious to each carping tongue Who says my hand a needle better fits, A poet's pen all scorn I should thus wrong: For such despite they cast on female wits, If what I do prove well, it won't advance- They'll say it's stolen, or else it was by chancef' In 1666 her house was burned, and with it all her household possessions. Her few lines on that occasion have a real pathos: Here stood that trunk, and there that chest, Here lay the store I counted best: My pleasant things in ashes lie, And them behold no more shall I. Under thy roof no guest shall sit, Nor at thy table eat a bit: Ki No pleasant tale shall e'er be told, Nor things recounted done of old: No candle e'er shall shine in thee, Nor bridegroorn's voice e'er heard shall be. In silence shalt thou ever lie. Adieu, adieu: all's vanity. There were also women on the stage, and women managing news- papers in colonial days. At one time there were ten women running col- onial printing presses. Among these women was Ann Franklin, sister-in- law of Benjamin Franklin. The modern woman can hardly boast of any more variety in work than could her colonial sister, nor can she take pride in work better done. Women have always played their part well in the work of the world, and always will do so. All honor to those business women of an earlier day, who worked so well un- der so severe a handicap. May we of the 20th century equal their worth. VALEDICTORY As the business methods of those early colonial days have widened into the present methods of the business world, as the views of the business