Getting into Eli’s World

Boston - 1775

The other night I bought a copy of Stacy Roth’s “Past into Present: Effective Techniques for First-Person Historical Interpretation”.  One of the interesting topics that she mentions is “Worldview”.  Worldview is basically how a character sees the world around them.  What’s going on in their time and place?  What memories do they have?  What are their hopes and motivations?  Basically, back-story and setting for the character, so that they can answer questions or speak in a natural way, without the answer or presentation seeming like a rehearsed lecture.

The reenactors at Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts do a great job at this.  A few years ago I visited there with some friends and the curator of the Pilgrim Hall Museum.  The curator knew many of the folks working in the Plantation village.  They greeted him as an old friend, but never broke character, asking if he’d been traveling, as they hadn’t seen him for some time.  After being introduced, one of the reenactors asked where I was from.  “Far north of here,” I answered, “Vermont.”  “Ah,” the character nodded, “Is that near the French?”  We then fell into an easy conversation about her garden, clothes and house.  At one point she casually mentioned the last supply ship that had come to the colony.  Later, while talking to another reenactor, he too mentioned the supply ship, but more in depth and from a different perspective.  All of the characters were on the same timeline.  They knew what was going on in their time and place, they had memories of past events, and they each reacted to them based on their beliefs.  They each had their own worldview.

I began thinking about the worldview of Eli Davis.  I’ve chosen a time, occupation, and birth date for him, but what about his beliefs and history?  What was going on around him in Boston during 1776?  What would his reaction to events be?  The best way to discover this was to research primary documents.  Larger events of 1776 can be found in history books, but for day-to-day, nothing beats a newspaper.

The Massachusetts Historical Society has a great online collection of period newspapers.  Yesterday I sat down and read The Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser for December 5, 1776 to see what sort of news Eli would be reading at this time of year.

A quick summary:

• First up, “An Act for providing Reinforcement to the American Army”.  Towns are being ordered to set up militias to be used in case the American Army needs men due to termination of enlistments that are expected at the end of the year.

• Next, “An Act to prevent forging and altering Bills of public Credit”.  The new government is issuing currency, and it will be illegal to forge such currency.  There will also be a fine for offering goods at cheaper prices to folks who pay in gold and silver instead of the new currency.

• A report from a local merchant ship that French and Spanish ports are open to American ships, and that those ships are allowed to fly the American flag.

• In Philadelphia, alliance treaties are being set up with local Indian tribes.

• Overseas, France has turned down a request by Britain to march troops through their country.  There is “very great confusions” in Ireland, and British troops are expected to be sent there.  Spain has ceded land in the Caribbean to France, and both French and Spanish fleets, with troops, are expected to land in Jamaica.

• Closer to home, reports of losses at Fort Washington in New York after a battle there, with 1,700 killed and 96 wagons loaded with wounded.

• The War-Office is ready to receive fire-arms and cannon, and to enter into agreements with manufacturers of such items.

In short, Eli is living in a world at war.  The American army is being defeated, and may be disbanding due to enlistments running out.  Possible allies are at war with each other, and the economy is being changed by the currency of a new government.  There are some gains with the Indians, but overall the world seems pretty unstable.

On the plus side, commerce in Boston seems to be doing well.  There are several advertisements for goods for sale, houses for rent, and trades being plied; goods range anywhere from mundane items such as cloth, to entire ships being auctioned off at the wharfs.  Though busy, the paper gives Boston a small-town feel, not unlike the tourist town that I live in during modern times.  Strangers are coming and going, but streets and shops are well known.

In addition to the paper, a map of Boston from 1775 helps further define Eli’s worldview.  Overlaying the map on a modern-day map begins to give a sense of scale, and road names that are unfamiliar start to take shape.  The advertisements stating things like “midway down King Street” make more sense.

Knowing more about the details of the area of residence that I’ve chosen for Eli makes it easier to shape him.  I’ve decided to continue this sort of research by reading the newspapers of the times, at roughly the same time of year as they came out originally.  I eagerly await this coming Thursday’s Continental Journal!

Bookbinder Ads & Banishment

My copy of the Spring 2012 issue of American Ancestors magazine arrived in the mail yesterday.  In it, there was a mention that members of the NEHGS have online access to the Readex collection 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, Early American Newspapers, Series I 1690-1876.

Armed with this information, I headed to my computer last evening and began playing.  Keying the term "bookbinder" into the search box after logging in via my NEHGS account, and limiting the search to the year 1776, turned up 22 individual articles.  As I began looking through them, I saw that they were all ads for bookbinders, mostly in New York.  The others were from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Boston.  Some of the advertisements were duplicates, printed in more than one issue of a particular newspaper.  The ads are interesting on their own, easily establishing the trade in New England, and giving a bit of insight into the occupation.  It appears that many of the bookbinders also sold the books, along with other items such as stationary.  A couple mention printing as well.  It looks like my persona could open up his options, and if I ever decided to pursue it, I might have a good basis for a small business if I ever attend reenactment events as a participant.

The ad below, from the Connecticut Courant, shows that the advertiser was not only a bookbinder, but also a stationer and bookseller.  It also gives a flavor of the political atmosphere of the time.  The Hartford printing office is also mentioned, which, the way I read it, was probably a separate business.

The next three ads come from The Constitutional Gazette, printed in New York.  The first and third again show that bookbinders also sold books and stationary, and that the topics of items being printed were related to the current events of the time.  The second item below is a help-wanted ad, looking for the services of skilled labor.

 

Another help-wanted ad appears in Boston, this time looking for someone to move to a different state.

Nathaniel Patten again appears, this time in The New-London Gazette, looking for rags for the purpose of making paper.  I like how this ad states how important paper was to the "true Friends to America."

 Next we find advertisements from The New-York Gazette.  Again we find stationers, booksellers, and the military.  These ads contain some of my favorite wording.  From Valentine Nutter: "The said NUTTER binds all Kinds of Printed and Paper BOOKS, in the neatest Manner, on the shortest Notice."  And from Philip Brooks: "He will study to give general satisfaction to his customers, and flatters himself the public will favor him with some encouragement."

 

 

 

 My marketing co-workers would love this one from The Providence Gazette.  It outlines a new publication to be sold by J. Douglas McDougal, Stationer and Bookbinder.  The ad summarizes the dramatic contents of the new book, including mentions of scenes from Lexington and Bunker Hill.  My favorite part, though, is the mention of a discount for bulk buyers. "Great allowances will be made to those who take a quantity."

 Finally, Nathaniel Patten shows up again looking for linen for paper-making.  This ad from Norwich, Connecticut uses the same wording as that of the The New-London Gazette, but the type is set differently, changing the emphasis.

In addition to all of this great information about bookbinders in 1776, I also found the primary documentation that I was looking for in regards to the Banishment Act of the State of Massachusetts.  The full text of the act was printed in The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser on October 22, 1778 in Boston[1].  William McAlpine, Bookbinder, is listed in the first column.


[1] The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser; Vol. 11 Iss. 531, Boston, Massachusetts (22 Oct 1778): p. 1. Digital image online, accessed 24 May 2012. http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10C02B2DB75B2480/0F418C809CE5EA70

What to Research Next?

With some basic information about my character established, I need to determine what to research next.  Over the past few days, discussions on the 18th Century Life list have brought up the topics of religions of the time, getting started in the hobby, and clothing.  Any of these would be good topics to research next.

In addition to those topics, I need to research the trade of bookbinding some more.  I've done reading about this in the past, but more to learn the basics of the craft as opposed to documenting its use.  I did do a little general Google research on the history of bookbinding last night.  I also made an attempt at finding a couple of books that I own about the subject.  One turned up, but not the other.

Since part of the goal of this project is to fully document what I can, I suppose I should first establish that the craft of bookbinding did exist during the time period.

In 1775, The New and Complete Dictionary of The English Language lists two terms that document the craft in the time period that I'm researching:

"Book'binder (s. from book, and bind) One whose business is to bind books."

And below it:

"Book'binding (s. from book, and bind) The art of binding books."[1]

Now to document that the profession existed in New England in, or around, the year 1776.

A simple search for the term "1776" on the website of The American Bookbinders Museum returns 17 results.  One result is for a piece of equipment. Ten of the results are for bookbinders outside of New England.  Of the remaining six entries, four are for William MacAlpine (also spelled McAlpine), and two are for James While, both of Boston, Massachusetts.

Clicking on the entries, it appears that both men are mentioned in the book Bookbinding in America, which I've requested via Inter-library loan from my local library.  One of the entries for William MacAlpine also mentions that he is listed on the "Banishment Act of the State of Massachusetts, 1778."

The Banishment Act sounds like it would be a good primary reference for documenting the trade in New England.

Google searches on the Banishment Act show that it was passed in 1778 to prevent certain people from returning to Massachusetts upon penalty of arrest or death.  A few sites have transcripts of the act, and William McAlpine, Bookbinder, is listed as one of those people.  The genealogist in me, however, wants to see primary documentation, or at least a transcription with a citation.  Without a good citation, it's not documentation, it's just a good clue.

Searching further, it appears that the best way to see a copy of the actual act is through the Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800, put out by Readex.  The only way to do that, it appears, is to find a library that subscribes to the series.  Looks like it may be time to start researching libraries in the area, and finding out what their visiting rules are.

While looking for information about the Banishment Act, I did run across another mention of William MacAlpine.  Apparently, in 1748, he had some property stolen by three people.  His name is mentioned on a warrant for their arrest: 

"3 The Jurors present Ann Grafton Cuffe & Quoma
Negroes as Above for Stealing sundry things from
Walter McAlpine of Boston Bookbinder of the Value
of Twenty pounds --"

The warrant is dated 12 July, 1748.  The reverse side of the warrant states that on 25 July, 1748, the three persons named were arrested and secured to appear in court.[2]

This primary document, combined with the mention of William MacAlpine in the Banishment Act, places a bookbinder in Boston, Massachusetts between the years of 1748 and 1778, which falls nicely into the timeline of my persona.  I'd still like to research the Banishment Act some more to see if I can track down a primary or cited source, but I think I can consider the trade of bookbinder in the location of New England documented. 

[1] John Ash, The New and Complete Dictionary of The English Language, (London: 1775) http://books.google.com/ (accessed May 22, 2012).

[2] Warrant for the arrest of Ann Grafton, Cuffee (a slave), and Quoma (a slave), 12 July 1748. Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Historical Society. Digital image online accessed May 22, 2012. http://www.masshist.org/database/doc-viewer.php?item_id=546&mode=nav

What's in a Name?

As I stated in my last post, every person begins with a birth.  Following that birth is a name.  There are a few ways that I could approach this.

Some re-enacting groups choose period-appropriate names for their personas.  It seems that most of the RevWar re-enactors that I’ve interacted with, though, use their own legal names.  There’s nothing wrong with either approach, however, I have sort of an unusual name, at least for modern times.  If I’m going to use my legal name, it would be neat to research it to see if it would have been a name that would have been in use in New England in 1776.

My last name is easy to document.  The History of Rindge, New Hampshire lists one of my ancestors, Randall Davis, as one of the signers of the Association Test of June 1, 1776 [1].  Several others with the Davis surname also signed the document.  So, the surname Davis did exist in New England in 1776.

What about my first name, Elroy?  That one is tougher.  It’s a rare name in modern times, and I can’t recall seeing it in any documentation from the time-period that I’m looking for.

Time for some research.

A quick Google search of “Elroy” turns up all sorts of interesting things.  A couple of towns named Elroy, a clothing line, a baseball player (actually a distant cousin), an actor, plus a few pages that are actually about me and things I’ve done.  Not much on the name itself though.  Refining the search to “Elroy name” turns up a lot of sites to give expectant parents ideas for baby names.  The name is of French origin, meaning “the king”.  The name seems to have peaked in popularity in the 1920s, though the data starts in 1880, which isn’t very helpful for my purposes.

A Google Books search turns up at least one promising hit.  A search for “Elroy” in books published between 1 Jan 1735 and 31 Dec 1776 found a reference to the name in an English-language periodical.  Unfortunately there was only a snippet view, so it was difficult tell the usage.  It was the middle name of a playwright, it appears, but I couldn’t tell the location.  Further Google searching on the name of the playwright finds that he actually lived in the 19th century, so the date of the book appears to have been misidentified in my original search results.

An Ancestry.com search turns up little regarding my name in 18th century New England.  A search of databases on the New England Historic Genealogical Society is similar.  The name does appear in the 1800s in New England, but I’m not having much luck finding anything from the 1700s.

It’s time to take a different approach to my persona’s name.

[1] Ezra S. Stearns, History of The Town of Rindge, New Hampshire, From The Date of The Rowley Canada or Massachusetts Charter, to The Present Time, 1736 - 1874, With a Genealogical Register of The Rindge Families, (Boston: George H. Elllis, 1875) http://books.google.com/ (accessed June 9, 2012), 121. The Association Test was a document which allowed citizens of the American colonies to “show determination in joining our American Brethren in defending the lives, liberties and property of the inhabitants of the United Colonies,” and to “with Arms oppose the Hostile proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies against the United American Colonies”.  The declaration was originally sent out by the New Hampshire Committee of Safety to the selectmen of Rindge on April 12, 1776.  According to the transcript starting on page 121 of The History of Rindge, all eligible men of the town signed the document, with none opposed, on June 1, 1776.