Thursday, March 29, 2012

Celebrating General Montgomery's Georgian House, c. 1790

It was one of those very special days when past and present come together in a powerful and meaningful way. I had the opportunity to tour the Montgomery House in Haverhill at the Oliverian Brook, store, barn and grounds with the generous owners and a colleague. The day was sunny and the Montgomery site, with it's some 4 acres of land, was spell binding. I have been in the house several times over the last 15 years, but not since beginning work on the 1793 Montgomery Store Day Book (Haverhill Hisotrical Society Collections) and with the General's 1825 probate inventory at hand. It was possible to see the entire Montgomery family project in a new light and with countless avenues for research. As my colleague commented recently on the allure of these past life experiences "it is wonderful to be happy in several centuries." Still processing this magnificent day, I wanted none the less to share some views of this remarkable North Country survival. It has been home to only four owners since construction.


The house was completed by the early 1790s and one of the most remarkable aspects is the sheer size and scale of the rooms, with floor heights well over 10 feet, even on the second floor. Simply but well detailed, deeply carved molding is also present throughout the house.  Little expense was spared.  The stair treads and risers permit a gradual ascent or descent, with ample room between the wall and the well-appointed stair rail, with three balusters per stair. The front entry is capacious and the 1825 inventory reveals the presence of "1pair dining tables, 1 mat and 1 pair firebuckets."


The second floor retains the elegant cove of the ballroom, once a common feature in the Haverhill houses and taverns which accommodated gatherings during the twice annual court weeks. The second floor ballroom was an uninterrupted expanse, but it could be easily divided with the hinged doors shown above, intact. 


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Top Five Posts: Community, Design & Architecture

Just a few days ago, the zephyrs10 blog had its 2500th page view!  Thought you might be interested in what the top five most read blog posts were:

Applaud 4H, 8 October 2011

ArtNouveau Squid, Unique Gift Offerings, 6 December 2011

Victorian Embellishments Teaser, 12 January 2012

Textile Notes: Installment IV, Montgomery Store 1793 Day Book, 30 November 2011

Georgian Architecture in New England, 11 November 2011

Thank you for following and for your comments.



1. Carving, detail, mantel. Courtesy Mark Wentworth Home
2. Stephen Couch entry, 1793 Montgomery Store Daybook, Courtesy Haverhill Historical Society
3. Compact & pendant, Helena Schaeffer, ArtNouveau Squid
4. "Catipillar" silk fringe detail, Courtesy, UNH Museum, Irma Bowen Collection
5. Sara Koski models her neoclassical influenced silk gown for 4H State Finals, 2011


Friday, March 16, 2012

Reverend Smith and Brother Montgomery


On 21 March 1793, readers of the Day Book are introduced to the town minister, Reverend Ethan Smith, when he visits the Montgomery Store to purchase "1 chamber pot" and "1 sugar bowle."  On this day, as in subsequent visits, Smith's purchases are, not surprisingly, modest.  He acquires items important to his ministry – paper and ink powder – on Monday 1 April, along with an ivory comb, for the sum of 2 shillings. 

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 without its troubles. Indeed, he was considered to be relatively strict and unyielding in 
his expectations. 1  Church records observed that even the General came under close scrutiny: "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. "

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.

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.

1. WILLIAM F. WHITCHER, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HAVERHILL, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1919. 102








Sunday, March 11, 2012

Haverhill, NH: Around the Common, 10 March 2012

Side elevation facing Court Street, Bliss Tavern

Entry detail, Williams Tavern

Side elevation, Williams Tavern

Court Street, out buildings

Above & below, entry details, Pearson Hall


Pearson Hall (Court House), c. 1814-1818
Mini photo shoot around the Common in Haverhill, NH.

Egg Rum and Egg Brandy: The Influence of Weather on 1793 Purchases


Egg Rum and Egg Brandy
Installment VI 
1793 Montogmery Store Daybook

On Monday May 20, 1793, there were a number of special alcohol purchases at the Montgomery Store including 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 it was 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 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 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 brandy” one can easily imagine being created in the store along with the commonly mentioned bowl of grog  (grog was also a rum –based beverage, frequently mixed with other spirits or citrus or other juices or diluted.).
 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.



Monday, March 5, 2012

Education Note: Creating an 18th Century Wardrobe


Dressing the Part:
Creating an 18th Century Wardrobe
  
Thursday, March 8th 7:00 - 9:00 pm 

Historic role players, re-enactors, home sewers, and anyone else interested in period clothing are invited to attend "Dressing the Part: Creating an 18th Century Wardrobe" at the historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House in Rollinsford.

Demonstration and workshop presented by Tara Vose and Julia Roberts.

www.paulwentworthhouse.org

paulwentworthhouse@gmail.com

Friday, March 2, 2012

Now for something different... Tara Frey's Prom Dress

 Tara Frey, a 2011 senior at River Falls High School in River Falls, Wisconsin, in her Starburst prom dress. Her mother painstakingly crafted the ensemble (including Tara's escort's vest) over six years.


Food for thought on a Friday!

http://www.kare11.com/dontmiss/919673/387/Wis-teen-makes-prom-dress-from-Starburst-candy-wrappers

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Behind the Scene at Embellishments, UNH

A behind the scene tour of Embellishments: Constructing Victorian Detail at the UNH Museum storage facility, led by guest curator, Astrida Schaeffer, was a visual feast.  Among the many dresses now on mannequins, awaiting their turn in the gallery in September, is the full garment for E. Hosking Nims, discussed in an earlier post.




Not much to say - simply stunning!