Hunting Shirts in the Carolinas - Part 1

 

Museum of the American Revolution

I'm going to preface this blog post with the following........

Sharing is caring and that I am no means an expert when it comes to Hunting Shirts however, I'm sharing what research I have found and by putting the information out there in a blog post will hopefully bring more awareness to these items and their significance in material culture.

Hunting Shirts

In my opinion the leading expert in hunting shirts is Neal Hurst.......and I will bow down to the King of Hunting Shirts (that's my nickname I have given him as a sign of reverence). Attached is Neal's thesis on hunting shirts in America for those who haven't read it.  It's a great resource.  https://www.academia.edu/3336557/_kind_of_armour_being_peculiar_to_America_The_American_Hunting_Shirt?source=swp_share

Now back to our normal schedule.....

Hunting shirts appear in the backcountry of North Carolina in early 1760s.  This was the first one that I found in NC.   It is in the inventory of Daniel Prichard who died 1763 but his estate was not sold off until 1765.  Underlined is the hunting shirt he had in his estate which was sold for 7 shillings and 2 pence.  Also within in estate was a pair of leather breeches which sold for 11 shillings and several Indian blankets and linen leggings which is listed on this page and sold for 2 shillings.

Daniel Prichard estate sale 1765 Burke County, NC - Source: North Carolina County, District and Probate Courts. Burke County Wills and Estate Papers

Here we have another estate record with reference to a hunting shirt "hunten shirt" being sold in the estate of Nicholason Ross of Mecklenburg, County, North Carolina in 1774.   Hunting shirt sold for 4 shillings, 8 pence. 

Sale of Nicholason Ross estate, Mecklenburg County, NC 1774: Wills and Estate Papers (Mecklenburg County), 1663-1978; Author: North Carolina. Division of Archives and History (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Then we have the 1777 inventory of John Williams of Mecklenburg County where they list a variety of clothing including leather breeches, cloth and leather leggins and then we have a hunting shirt.  What I think is interesting is the value of the shirt at 1 pound and 11 shillings.  Much more valuable than the shirt seen only 3 years earlier.

 Sale of John Williams Estate - Mecklenburg County, NC 1777 - Wills and Estate Papers (Mecklenburg County), 1663-1978; Author: North Carolina. Division of Archives and History (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Inventory of John Williams, Cumberland County, NC 1779-80:  Wills and Estate Papers (Cumberland County), 1663-1978; Author: North Carolina. Division of Archives and History (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Then we have the estate sale of John Matthews from Cumberland County, NC 1779-80.   This is the further east I have seen reference to a hunting shirt listed.    It took me a minute to figure out that "Shourt = Shirt"   I also conferred with Neal Hurst and he agrees that it's a hunting shirt. 

And our final hunting shirt comes out of an inventory in Lincoln County, NC in 1782.  It belonged to John King.   This time the hunting shirt along with a pair of stockings sold for 9 shillings.

1782 Estate of John King - Lincoln County, NC Estate Records, Killian, Andrew-Kistler, Elizabeth, 1824-1964; 1772-1964; 1735-1914

To be honest, I am surprised that I have found this many hunting shirts listed in North Carolina estate records.  Also the range in value of the hunting shirts from 4 shillings up to 1 pound and change.  It makes you wonder how elaborate the hunting shirt that sold for 1 pound 11 shillings looked like.  

Runaway Ads

Since we are talking about the Carolinas (North and South Carolina) - this is (I believe) the only reference to hunting shirts in South Carolina newspapers.  (Again in the newspapers - not in estate or inventory records).   Listed on a runaway enslaved man named Jack from near Charleston SC in 1769.  Note he is wearing just the hunting shirt and no other shirt or jacket with it.

The South-Carolina Gazette; and Country Journal

Tue, Nov 14, 1769 ·Page 3

Then we have this 1773 runaway advertisement for a free man of color named Peter who was from Edenton but ended up in the Duplin County jail.   Peter is wearing an onzabrigs hunting shirt over his clothing.

North Carolina Gazette & Wilmington Weekly Post Boy: Wilmington NC Dec 29, 1773

Then we conclude with this runaway ad from 1777.   This is for a man named Leiw who belonged to a man from John Wilson in Charlotte, NC.   Leiw was wearing a white hunting shirt, pair of tow breeches and a half worn racoon hat. 

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"Virginia Gazette" Williamsburg, VA, June 1777

I wanted to add information about the use of hunting shirts in North Carolina during the Regulator movement (1771) and then the use of them by North Carolina Brigade during the American Revolution but figured it would be too much so there will be a part 2 of Hunting Shirts soon.

Dimity and HumHum Textiles

 With the warm weather soon to be arriving..... Light weight and white or off white colored textiles such as Hum Hum and Dimity can be found for clothing in the south.   Although light colored linens, printed cottons and chintzs were the more popular textile for gowns; hum hum and dimity do show up as an alternative textile.

"Textiles in America: 1650-1870" by Florence Montgomery pg. 220 - Indian dimities and figured dimities are shown on this page

Striped dimity from Burnley & Trowbridge (example from my dimity gown)

Dimity textiles

Evidence of Dimity being sold in the Carolinas shows up as early as the 1730s in Charleston. As seen listed here as "fine India dimitys"

The South Carolina Gazette, Charleston SC Jan  1738 pg. 3

 

While this advertisement the list both plain, figured and corded white dimities imported.   

Imported by the late Kenneth & Benjamin Michie -
The South Carolina Gazette January 1st 1750 pg. 4

While the vessel "Charming Nancy" has imported "India" dimity and printed dimity.  What is fantastic about this advert is the variety of summer textiles, white calicos, white chintz and then the dimities. 

The South Carolina Gazette, Charleston SC April 30 1750 pg. 2

North Carolina Gazette and Wilmington Weekly Post-Boy, Dec 29,1773 pg. 3

While in Wilmington, corded and flowered dimity is brought in via vessels from Bristol in late 1773.

So what is "dimity" used for in when constructing clothing items?   We see petticoats, gowns, as well for riding waistcoats and riding habit jackets and petticoats. 

The Public Advertiser; London England, May 30, 1772, pg. 3

The South Carolina Gazette, Charleston SC Jul 12, 1740 pg. 4

Then we see this advertisement for a lost "India "Dimity gown faced with fine chints in Charleston SC, 1740.   It makes you wonder what the chintz fabric was it white or cream color?  

In a search for "dimity petticoat" - it gave me 83 hits from 1730-1783 newspapers covering both England and the US.   Most of the accounts are from England but there were notices for ready made dimity petticoats in SC or dimity to be made into petticoats.  

Bordered dimitites for petticoats " The South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal, Charleston SC March 24 1772 pg 4

"Broad and Narrow figured dimity for petticoats";

The South Carolina Gazette, Charleston SC Jan 22 1756 pg.6 

Hum Hum textiles

Humhums or Hum Hum textiles are seen arriving in SC by the early 1740s and still available up until the 1780s.

The South Carolina Gazette; Charleston SC July 16,1763 p.2

White callicoes, chints and humhums along with India dimity are listed for sale in Charleston in 1763.  Normally hum hums and dimity are not listed together as textiles being sold but we do see it in this advertisement noted above.

The South Carolina and American General Gazette, Charleston SC; March 30, 1772 pg. 6

While this 1772 advertisement for the "Irish Linen Warehouse" in Charleston specifically names HumHums available for gowns along with plain, flowered, striped and check Muslins and then also printed linen and callico gowns available.  And the advertisement below lists "fine white humhums" for gowns also from 1772 Charleston South Carolina.

The South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal, Charleston SC May 12, 1772 pg 3

The only piece of hum hum clothing that I have found so far in the North Carolina is from an inventory from 1777 for Martha McKildo's estate of Edenton, NC where a "white 'hum hums' gown and petticoat" are listed and they were sold at the estate sale for 2 pounds and 1 shilling.

Sale of Estates 1745-1808, Chowan County, NC, Martha McKildo, April 2nd, 1777.

"Textiles in America: 1650-1870 by Florence Montgomery, pg 262

Although the textile description of Hum Hum is of a plain cotton cloth that was thick and stout in texture woven in Bengal.  Was hum hum considered a decent enough textile for summer weight gowns in the south?  I wonder since the hum hum gown and petticoat was worth 2 pounds and the 2 "old" callico gowns were only worth 1 pound and 12 shillings.  

Could we consider dimity being a more finer textile for summer wear versus hum hum?  Yet, in 1775, Hum-hums are available and sold as a variety of articles for the "summer season". 

The South Carolina and American General Gazette, Jun 2 1775 pg.1

Either textile would be a great addition to create a variety of summer clothing especially in the southern climates.   I haven't seen "hum-hums" available on the market for those reproducing 18th century clothing but "dimities" are available and are wonderful addition for summer time history clothing.

Scottish Clothing: Bonnets, Scotch plaids and plaid stockings and other associated clothing in the Carolinas

 

National Galleries of Scotland - Artist David Allan

This article will be examining Scottish Clothing in the Carolinas prior to 1776.  Scottish dress whether it be knitted bonnets, plaid stockings, plaid coats, gowns and jackets are documented in the Carolinas. Inventories, newspaper advertisements help us understand what is available in the Carolinas (both North and South) during the period before 1776.  There are references to these textiles and accessories found post 1776 and that is something we can look into at a later point. 

 

I spoke about scotch bonnets in a previous blog article but for those who don't know, scotch bonnets are a knitted cap that is fulled by shrinking the woolen fibers to make it resistant to the weather.    These are usually noted as a "blue bonnet" in runaway ads or as a "scotch bonnet".  These were available for purchase as early as 1758 in South Carolina.  I do want to note that early North Carolina newspapers are not as easily available as the ones from South Carolina and the other colonies.

Scotch or Blue Bonnet references: 

The South Carolina Gazette, Charleston SC Friday October 20 1758

The advertisement lists imported goods from Scotland on the "Live Oak" vessel - a variety of Scotch and Irish textiles as well as Tartan or Scotch plaids and blue bonnets.

New Hanover County, North Carolina Original Estate Records, Ca. 1741-1942; Author: North Carolina. Probate Court (New Hanover County), North Carolina.

This inventory is of Captain James McDonough's estate from New Hanover County, NC dated October of 1760.  At the bottom of the inventory it lists several clothing items including: 1 pr of silver knee buckles, 1 old shoe buckle, 4 cloaks, 1 hat and 3 bonnets.   My best guess that these are blue bonnets.   If someone reads this different, please let me know.

Imported Goods in the Carolinas

The South Carolina Gazette, Charleston, SC-March 19, 1763

Imported Goods on the "Little Carpenter" March 1763 - Robert Hogg Account Book - Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill, NC

6 Scotch Bonnets priced at 3/10 for a value of 1 pound 3 shillings.  Sold in Charleston, South Carolina in 1763 at their store.

Robert Hogg was a merchant who sold items both in Charleston, SC and Wilmington, NC.  His ledger books are at the Southern Historical Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill and only 1 of the many ledgers have been digitalized so far.  So much more information to be found for sure!

Runaway Advertisements:

The South Carolina Gazette, Charleston SC July 31, 1762

Runaway mulatto man named John from South Carolina with a variety of clothing but the most notable was a Scotch bonnet and the implication that he will pretend to be "free."

The North Carolina Weekly Gazette, New Bern NC Dec 24, 1773

Runaway Advertisement noting of a runaway enslaved man named "Shie" from Anson County, North Carolina wearing a "Scotch" bonnet and a Dutch blanket.  Anson County is located near the NC/SC border and adjacent to Cumberland County as well.

Plaid stockings

NC Gazette and Wilmington Weekly Post-Boy, Wilmington NC Feb 26, 1766 pg.3

This is the only account that I have found of plaid stockings in North Carolina or for all the Carolinas.  Imported goods from Leith and Glasgow in February of 1766 to be sold at William Watkins store in Wilmington, NC.   Scotch plaid and plaid stockings are listed for sale.   We can find references to plaid stockings available in Virginia as early as the 1750s particularly on runaways and then for sale in the 1770s but this seems to be the only reference so far for the Carolinas.  

Scots Plaids or Tartans

They can be found imported into South Carolina from 1734-1775 and then into North Carolina per the 1750s-60s.   Here are a few references to them as textiles and as clothing items.

We find a runaway enslaved woman named Bella in South Carolina wearing a "scotch plaid" gown in the 1740s. 

The South Carolina Gazette, Charleston, SC March 8 1740 pg.3

The SC and American General Gazette, Charleston SC October 14, 1768 pg.3

We have a runaway advertisement from Charleston in 1768 of a woman named Hannah who is listed as wearing an "old plaid jacket" ozenbrig petticoat.


In the estate of Aller/Eller McKeller in Cumberland County, NC 1769 - list 2 yards of Green Tartan, another 1 1/4 yd of Green tartan purchased as well as 1 green coat.  

Account record for the estate of Aller McKeller, Cumberland County, NC November 1768 Estate records of Cumberland County - Estates Records, McInnish, Donald-McKinnon, Murdock, 1663-1978

In the sale of John Curry's estate in 1771 we see several pieces of clothing including 1 tartan coat which was worth 1 pound and 4 pence. 

Sale of John Curry's estate in 1771; Cumberland County, NC; Notes: Estates Records, Collins, John Henry-Denning, Martin D, 1663-1978

Does these findings give us some answers?  I hope so.   They do give us a glimpse of what was available for those living in the Carolinas prior to 1776.   I can't think of any witty comments or conclusions to this blog post.   I will conclude with one final newspaper clipping describing the clothing on some "Scotch Torries" who broke out of a jail in Maryland after the battle of Moore's Creek in December 1776.

The Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg, VA Feb 7 1777 pg.2

Kenneth McDonald, Alexander McCleod, Daniel McCleod and Murdoch McCastle; were listed as four Scotch Tories from North Carolina.  Three of the men had on blue jackets while Murdoch had on a green coat.   Does the color of the jacket/coat signify anything of importance for Scottish people?  Just food for thought.

Hope you enjoyed this latest post!  

What are men actually wearing in the Carolinas?

 Men's clothing sometimes can be easier to find than women's clothing when examining estate and inventory records in the 1700s.   Earlier in the period, clothing is listed more frequently but by the 1770s, household or trade goods are listed more often than clothing. In this post, I will examine men's clothing listed in estate and inventories from the following counties; Duplin, New Hanover and Cumberland, North Carolina.  

John Matchet, 1774 Duplin County, NC inventory of estate

John Matchet lived in Duplin County, NC and his inventory from his estate listed the following clothing items:  2 hats, 4 coats, 5 jacket, 3 pairs of breeches, 1 pr of trousers, 5 shirts, 2 prs of stockings, 1 pair of Indian boots, 1 pair of shoes and buckles, 1 silver shoe buckle, 1 pair of knee buckles, 1 stock buckle, 2 razors and 1 watch

Not much description of the textiles of his clothing but as you can see he has both coats and jackets and breeches and trousers.   One thing to note is the Indian boots.   I have seen these mentioned in other inventories like in A Holden's estate in 1774 again from Duplin County.   Are these moccasins or a boot that you would wear while hunting?

Maurice Nevin, 1767 New Hanover County, NC inventory of estate

Next we have Maurice Nevin of New Hanover County who estate was inventoried in 1767.  Again we see 2 coats, 2 pairs of breeches, 2 jackets, 3 pairs of Hose, 4 shirt, 2 handkerchiefs, 1 hat, 1 pair of shoes, 1 pair of silver buckles.    Are the 2 coats actually long bodied coats or are they waistcoats?  As there are no waistcoats listed in this inventory.   Also, the word hose is used instead of stockings.   Is this traditional hose or just a term used by the person carrying out the inventory?  Also note the 2 muskets and pistol listed at the top. 

Here we have the inventory of James Steele of Cumberland County in 1774.   He has 2 coats, 3 jackets, 1 pr of leather breeches, 2 prs of plush breeches, 1 pr of thread hose.  Down at the bottom of his inventory they list 2 coats and 2 prs of breeches

James Steele, 1774 Cumberland County, NC inventory of estate

Another 4 coats are listed but I wanted to point out that Mr. Steele was a freemason.  As he has 1 freemason apron, 1 pr of white gloves and a 1 T-- Wigg in his inventory.   Again, note razors, strops and shaving boxes listed in his estate.   I have seen other freemason items listed in a few other inventories across North Carolina.

Andrew Gunderson, 1774 Cumberland County NC inventory of estate

Here we have Andrew Gunderson's inventory and they list the following items.  1 old blue jacket, 3 old pairs of trousers, 2 old ozenbrig shirts, 2 old linen shirts, 1 old stamped jacket, 1 old pair of shoes, 7 shillings of Proclamation money.

Not much here but the two types of shirts, ozenbrig and linen. a blue jacket and a stamped jacket?  We find stamped fabric for women's clothing but for men's?   Would this maybe be a banyan of stamped linen or just a typical jacket?  

Richard Beaughan's inventory, 1771 Cumberland County NC

So here at Cross Creek, NC in Cumberland County we have the inventory of Richard Beaughan. 1 blue coat trimmed in silver buttons, 1 camblet coat, 1 surtout coat, 1 red jacket, 1 pr of doe skin breeches, 1 pr of shoes, 4 shirts, 1 pr of copper shoe buckles, 1 pr of silver knee buckles, 1 pr of sleeve buttons, 1 hat,

In this inventory we see a little bit of description of the clothing, blue coat with silver buttons and a red jacket and the copper shoe buckles.  This is the first time I have seen doe skin breeches listed.  Normally we see leather breeches noted in inventories and that is something I will go into for a later blog post. 

Inventory of James Bradley 1771 New Hanover County, NC

I'll conclude with this inventory of James Bradley who was a merchant in the Wilmington area.  His inventory is broken down into saleable goods like textiles and products that would be sold in his store and also furniture in his house.   

11 shirts, 14 cravats, 7 linen waistcoats, 7 prs of thread stockings, 6 nightcaps, 2 prs of nankeen breeches, 1pr of ticken breeches, 1pr of sheets, 4 coats & waistcoats, 2 prs of breeches, 1 camblet cloak, 1 pr of silver shoe and knee buckles, 8 tortoise shell jacket buttons, 1 pr of broken Scotch Pebble sleeve buttons, 1 silver watch, 1 wig and wig box and 1 hat.   The tortoise shell jacket buttons are interesting as well as the broken scotch pebble sleeve buttons.  Wonder what those looked like?

Thanks for checking out the blog.   What would you like to see more of?   Leather breeches, fancy coats and waistcoats listed?    There is more to explore and there is some amazing clothing in the Carolinas during the 18th century for sure. 

"Done with these Worldly Goods and a Posterity to bestow them upon" - Examining inventory records of New England versus Southern records

 

Recently I had a chance to look back at some genealogy work that I had done.  This time trying to find inventory records of my female ancestors which in some cases is hard to do.   Out of all my Germanic relatives, I have a sliver of ancestors who lived in the Colonies during the 1600 and 1700s.  So I had this brainy idea to compare my New England relatives with my southern ones, the ones living in Virginia mostly.   Needless to say if you are looking for Massachusetts records, good luck.  I found most of my records available in Connecticut via Ancestry.com.   So without finding any Virginia relatives records (at this current time), I am going to compare a couple of Connecticut inventories with some North Carolina inventories by years.  

We are starting with Susannah Knowlton Olcutt who dies in East Haddam, Connecticut in 1754  - she is my 8th great grand aunt.  So finding this inventory made me super happy.  Her husband, Cullick Olcutt (my uncle) died in 1732 right before the birth of their last son Benjamin. 

In 1754, she leaves her three children her worldly possessions, Thomas, Benjamin and Hannah.  Ironically, her daughter does not receive the bulk of her clothing, only a few items.  

Thomas receives the following clothing items: one silk crape frock; and one blew (blue) shaloon quilt (quilted petticoat?) and one Black bonnet.  

Benjamin receives one pare of stays and one gown and one pare of gloves and one white Holland apron; one lutestring hood, one piece of green plain cloth and one piece of black and blue plain cloth and one little trunk and one fan and six Holland caps … one linnen patecoat (petticoat).

While Hannah Olcutt Fisher only receives one linen shift and two woolen westcots (waistcoats); two aprons and two linen caps.

The items were appraised per the law direct in 1754.   The quilted petticoat, gown and bonnet was appraised at 3 pounds;18 shillings. And then other items such as the stays, quilt, one cote, aprons, shifts, waistcoats, handkerchiefs, silk hood are all listed and appraised. 

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Then we look at the inventory of Hannah Charles of Perquimans County, NC.  Her probate is processed in 1753.   Not much is known about her but what makes her interesting is that she has jackets listed in her inventory.   It is a possibility that she was a Quaker since there were a large contingent of Quakers living in northeast North Carolina in the early 1700s. 

Estate Record of Hannah Charles, Perquimans County NC 1753

Hannah has 1 old camblet mantle, 1 old woolen jacket, 5 homespun petticoats, 1 cotton jacket, 2 pare of stockings, 1 stuff quilted petticoat, 3 homespun petticotes, 2 garlicks shifts, 6 aprons, 4 fine caps, 1 check'd handkerchief, a half yard of homespun, 1 pare of pockets, (further down) a pocket, 1 pormester hat, 1 basket and then finally 1 pair of linen gloves.

The thing to notice are two things, one the presence of jackets and the lack of bonnets in Hannah's estate.   The jackets are found in Quaker inventories in the northeastern part of North Carolina.  The lack of a bonnets strikes me but bonnets are found in the Carolinas.  Interestedly enough she has a a pormester hat which I am guessing is a straw or wool hat. 

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Now we go back to Connecticut to look at the estate of Dr. Samuel Ely of Durham, CT; he dies in 1755.  Within his estate there are several pieces of women's clothing.  As much as we would like to only look for women's estate records, in many cases, we need to look at the spouses' estate records as well.   This is a possible relative but haven't been able to track down for certain.

Estate of Dr. Samuel Ely of Durham, CT, December 24 1755

Estate record of Dr. Samuel Ely of Durham, CT 1755

I love the variety of clothing listed in this inventory.  His wife was Sarah as listed in a previous document.  More than likely she died shortly before he did.  

1 pair of stays which was worth 1-6-8 (1 pound, 6 shillings and 8 pence) those are some expensive stays in the 1750s.  But we will look at those again in a little bit after doing a little bit of digging.

1 silk crape gown; 1 black and white chintz gown, 1 calico gown, 1 striped gown, 1 pr women's stockings, 1 pr ditto; 1 green skirt; 1 red cloak, 1 velvet hood, 1 muslin apron; 3 shifts; 1 lawn handkerchief, 1 holland ditto; 1 pair ruffles; 1 lawn cap; 1 lawn cap; 2 caps; 2 cap ribbons; 1 pr shoe buckles; 1 fan; 1 silk damask blanket; 1 pair gold jewels (earings?); 1 gold ring.

What I like about her inventory is the variety of gowns listed.  Silk, chintz, calico and a striped gown of unknown fabric more than likely linen I am guessing.  Also we see lawn being used as a textile for handkerchiefs, caps and then a muslin apron.  Little bits and pieces of textiles being used to elevate a person's status.  Not insanely rich but well off nonetheless.

 

Here is another version of the items listed in the inventory from another document.  It is attached to Dr. Ely's will.  Which I find interesting is that the stays are valued at a much lesser price of 26/8 (26 shillings, 8 pence). Also listed is what looks like a "hat" listed right before the lawn handkerchief.  This item was missing from the previous inventory taken.  And the striped gown is identified as being linen which helps us understand Mrs. Samuel Ely's wardrobe.

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   Back in North Carolina....this time we examine the inventory of  Widow Rachel Mugaridge of New Hanover County from 1759.  More than likely, she lived in or near Wilmington, North Carolina. Here we see bed gowns and a "check" bonnet listed  among other items.  "Check" bonnets seem to definitely be a unique item in North Carolina.  The only other place that I  have found "check" bonnets listed is in Maryland, (1750s-60s) in runaway advertisements.  I have yet to find "check" bonnets mentioned anywhere else.

Inventory of Widow Rachel Mugaridge, New Hanover County, North Carolina 1759

What I find interesting about here inventory is that variety of clothing listed.  A silk gown, a calico gown along with 2 bedgowns.  Could the bedgowns considered a lesser item or a dress down item from the gowns, possibly.  Also are the "quilts" quilted petticoats?  They are listed alongside the "under petty coat", which again....what does that mean?


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"Connecticut Journal" January 26, 1770 page 4

Here we see an advertisement for the estate of Sarah Granger, late of New Haven, Connecticut in 1770.  Again, a possible relative but haven't tracked her down yet.  Her inventory is interesting because we find a few things...

Above we see one stript gown old; one short gown? ; one quilt old shalloon? ; one quilt flannel old?; 2 old caps; one old sheet wore out and --- old check linen apron.

 Then on the 2nd page we see one old black silk hood and one old short cloak.   I would categorize her as a lower class person.  Her total estate was only worth 14 pounds.  What I find interesting is you don't see stays, shoes, shifts, hats or anything extra in her wardrobe.  I am guessing she was more than likely she was buried with them.

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Next we examine the estate records of Sarah Wilson of Bertie County, North Carolina.  The inventory of goods and chattel were taken on March 20th 1770.  I had recently found this inventory while looking through some other records.   Bertie County is located in northeast North Carolina and was established as a county in 1739.   

Her inventory is interesting because she has 2 bonnets, a "permeter" hat, "shift's cloth" and a variety of other things too.   Of her bonnets, she has a white and a black bonnet listed.   Would the white bonnet be used in the summertime while the black bonnet is used during other times of the year?   

I like that the handkerchiefs are mentioned as either silk or just handkerchiefs.  You wonder if those 5 handkerchiefs were printed in some manner or not.  Again, another jacket is listed in her inventory.  I do not know if Sarah was a Quaker or maybe some other ethnic group. More to look into I suppose.  I love her inventory, I just wish there was more descriptions of her gowns and clothing but alas it's another story to look into.

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And then my final inventory...Beluah Holmes of Woodstock, Connecticut.  She dies in 1778.  She was only 48 years old when she passed.  Her wardrobe is amazing.  She never married and her mother Hannah had died the previous August.  Again another possible relative but haven't traced it down for certain.  What I love about her inventory is the variety of clothing and that she has "short" gowns listed in her inventory but yet she is 48 when she passes away.  So does the rule that "short" gowns are only found on younger women seems a little bunk.   

She has 2 short gowns listed - a linen and a striped short gown. Again she is no spring chicken but what do short gowns exactly mean in the 1770-80s?  More goodies to dive into such as she has quilted petticoats, brown mitts, linen gloves, a black silk bonnet, cotton and linen stockings, and then the waistcoats.  Were the waistcoats used for informal wear like around the house instead of wearing stays?   She has 2 waistcoats and then a striped woolen waistcoat but she does have 1 pair of stays.  

 Oh her gowns.....

1 crimson silk & worsted; 1 purple and white chintz; 1 double wrapping? gown; 1 brown camblet gown; 1 white corded dimmothy (dimmty) gown.   What shocks me the most is that her cambrick apron was worth 42p which is almost the same price as one of her gowns.  I just love this inventory.  So many ideas for a woman to wear in New England in the late 1770s.  

Looking at inventories always gives me ideas for my impression.   Maybe I will recreate some of the items listed in the estate records of my relatives as my way of honoring them.   I am really loving the purple and white chintz gown....(Ideas are brewing).......

Thanks again for checking out my blog.   Till next time.  Keep researching and always ask questions!