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THE COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
01 n. e r_ r e e r
VOL. 2 NO. 3
MAY 1981
How To Do Family History
We here at Colonial Williamsburg are often
mid nineteenth century, you should check
asked the histories of prominent families —
the Census of 1850, a gold mine of information. It's chock full of goodies that earlier
the ones houses are named for and famous
ones like the Henrys and Harrisons. The Research Department has some information
censuses omit. From 1790 to 1840 the census
from the colonial period ( but nothing at all
census includes parents' names and place of
after 1862) and has already put together genealogies of several eighteenth- century Williamsburg residents. But if visitors ask you
how to go about tracing their " Uncle Wythe"
birth.
back to George the Signer or if you want to
were legal because banns were published in
find your own roots, follow this brief guide for
doing it successfully.
church on three consecutive Sundays. -
Start
with
yourself, your parents,
records are merely lists of names; the 1850
Don' t be too concemed if you can' t locate
marriage licenses for your ancestors. Very often licenses don' t exist, but the marriages
continued, p. 2)
and
grandparents and work backwards. It sounds
obvious, but many would -be genealogists as-
The Exchange
Osume that everyone with the same last name is
related. To get anywhere you have to be sure
you' re following your relatives, not just the
name. Records such as family Bibles, diaries,
and letters can sometimes help too, but you
might hold suspect family trees drawn up long
ago by old Aunt Nelly: they may be more
Bev Lewis and May Stebbins tell us about the
interpreter exchangeprogram in
they partici-
pated last December.
Have you wondered if interpreters in other
museums face some of the same tough ques-
fiction than fact. On the other hand, Aunt
tions we have working in Williamsburg? We
found that interpreters at Sturbridge, Sleepy
Nelly could have learned about her ancestors
at her grandmother's knee and worked- it all
Hollow, and Plimoth Plantation ( all museums
out accurately in her genealogical study.
There' s nearly always a kernel of truth in family stories about origins and ancestors, but it
may take a lot of work to prove any one part of
in the Northeast) have different ways of approaching the same problems. We were the
first to participate in an interpreter exchange
program between outdoor history museums.
We spent five days going to these museums to
see how they handle different aspects of do-
all the several stories.
When you' ve exhausted the leads provided
by your family, the next place to check is the
mestic crafts. In return three interpreters from
bureau of vital statistics for the state your fam-
Sturbridge came to Williamsburg in mid -
ily lived in. The Virginia bureau' s records go
March.
back to 1856 but with sizable gaps. With some
Our favorite site in Old Sturbridge Village
luck you' ll find birth and death dates, parents'
was the Freeman farm. It' s a long walk to the
secluded setting that really gives the impression we are seeing a nineteenth century farm.
names, and — most important — county of re-
sidence. Once you know what county you' re
dealing with, you have narrowed down the
The work is divided strictly into men' s and
search to a task of manageable dimensions.
women' s chores. At seven in the morning the
County records can be very helpful, but unfortunately not all
farmer" brings the cows in, cleans stalls, and
have survived." Wills,
feeds the stock. He spent the rest of the day
we saw him spreading dung in the fields with
his cart and oxen. Before the morning passed,
deeds, and records of taxes for both land and
personal property are useful to genealogists.
Once you' ve traced back your family to the
continued, page f)
1
�Family History, continued
general appearance and secure imprisonment
If all these suggestions lead you nowhere,
of the inmates.
you can still try one other source, the pension
Guarding the prisoners often required more
applications of Revolutionary soldiers or their
than one man, so as conditions required, the
widows. Among other information they indi-
If you' re working on Virginia people, you' ll
gaoler could select guards using his own discretion as to the necessary number. Looking
after those in the cells must have been quite a
job; there were accused felons from all over
want to look at Clayton Torrence' s wonderful
the colony, runaway slaves and servants await-
printed guide to county records. Virginia Wills
ing their masters from anywhere in Virginia,
and until 1773 the Gaol was the destiny of
cate the place of birth and usually something
about marriage and offspring.
and Administrations, 1632 - 1800 is arranged
alphabetically by surname and under that by
county. It gives references to documents that
persons of unsound Mind."
Different prisoners received different treat-
genealogists find invaluable.
The ways of going about family history are
different from state to state, depending on the
ment. If they could pay for their food, the
gaoler ordered it from a tavern and they could
have anything they could afford. In the case of
records that survive and the finding aids avail-
paupers, the gaoler provided food and cloth-
able. Maryland, for example, has wonderful
ing ( and medicine, if necessary) on the per
diem amount allowed from public monies by
indexes and genealogical work already corn piled at the Hall of Records in Annapolis. The
the General Court. Until 1711 the public
Virginia State Archives in Richmond hasn' t
that degree of access, but has on hand genealogical charts for some families. When you
gaoler used his own money for this and peti-
write for information to these or any other
tioned the court for reimbursement; again we
see that the position of gaoler had to be filled
More often than not if you ask for any and all
by a man of some means.
But there were benefits to the position. A
salary of £30 a year was set in 1701 ( about the
available information, you' ll get back a form
same as a journeyman craftsman' s average
letter referring you to a professional geneal-
yearly income) and raised to £40 annually in
state library, be very specific in your request.
ogist; but if you ask for the 1788 will of Corne-
1718. Quarters were provided for the gaoler
lius Whipoorwill of Kesiak, they' ll do their
best to search it out for you.
and his family within the Gaol, which were
later enlarged by additions. The gaoler was
exempt from both militia and jury duty.
Job Descriptions
Keeper of the Public Hospital
Government jobs in Williamsburg? In the
When the Public Hospital first opened in
1773, its keeper was not a medical man but
eighteenth century there were quite a few.
more of a steward, and eventually the position
We thought you might be interested in de-
came to be called just that. Until modem psy-
scriptions of four of these:
chiatric methods were instated in the nine-
teenth century, the head man at the facility
Public Gaoler
held a post that closely resembled that of a
The position of gaoler required a person of
good judgment, discretion, spotless reputa-
gaoler; indeed the first keeper, James Galt,,
was a former public gaoler.
tion, sobriety, and some means. He answered
directly to the General Court of Virginia, following their directions and commands, but
tal' s court of directors. Along with maintaining
was appointed by the governor. The gaoler
cure, sanitary environment for the patients.
had to have a clear financial background in
He kept records of admissions, discharges,
order to enter into a £ 500 bond to the king
with sufficient security; this bond involved
and deaths. There was an appointed physician
the condition that he fulfill to the letter all the
the doctor' s attendance on patients when they
arrived and later as necessary. He often re-
The keeper worked directly for the hospithe physical plant, the keeper provided a se-
for the institution, and the keeper requested
responsibilities of the post.
layed medical instructions from the doctor to
the nurses. A matron who cared for female
The first duty of the gaoler was to maintain
the Public Gaol; after 1722 he cared for the
Debtors' Prison as well. This entailed keeping the buildings in good order in terms of
patients was the only other permanent employee at the hospital. Nurses, guards, and
2
�manual laborers were hired by the keeper as
the number of patients and other conditions
demanded.
Besides seeing that his charges got medical
attention, the keeper supplied food and cloth-
ing for patients — either at their personal ex-
pense or, in the case of those too poor to pay,
from public funds. Charges against the colony' s accounts had to be detailed in a form
suitable for audit by Virginia officials.
A modest salary was provided for the keeper, as well as an apartment in the main hospital
building. In the early years the position of
matron was filled by the keeper' s wife. Since
they lived on the premises, the two permanent employees were available to patients and
other staff at all times.
ing, tailoring, tutoring, cajoling, and persuading people to their opinions. This summer's
program will be composed of twelve to fifteen
actors, some working on a part time basis,
some on a full -time basis. The performances
will run from 10 A. M. to 1 P. M. and 2 P. M. to 5
P. M.
This summer there will be several innovations. Plans are afoot for a moming and afternoon group event or happening — such as recruitment, an auction, or an election — in
which the characters each day will be intro -.
duced to the public. All of our characters will
be from the era of Botetourt' s governorship,
1768 - 1770, and familiar with the basic con cems of the day. More characters will be about
town, moving within a one -block area rather
than tied to only one spot. This will yield
Keeper of the Magazine and
more interaction between characters and with
Public Armorer
the visitors.
These positions were usually filled by two
men, but occasionally one man held both simultaneously. The keeper was responsible
for looking after and repairing the Magazine
and the arms and ammunition stored there.
When the Guardhouse was built in 1755, that
too became his charge. The Guardhouse was
needed during the French and Indian War to
provide shelter, heat, and candlelight away
from the explosives in the Magazine for the
guards on their twelve -hour shifts. The keeper also served as the " Gunner" of Williams-
burg, who fired the guns during municipal
celebrations.
Characters returning from previous summers, though possibly having a new look,
are: an indentured servant in the pillory for
public drunkenness, a merchant recruiting for
a militia company, a naturalist comparing nature and society, a tailor working on a customer's new coat, a crotchety, narrow- minded old
man with opinions about everything, a grave-
digger reminiscing about the people and the
earlier days of Williamsburg, an auctioneer
and jack - f all- trades " urban" man, and a
o newly arrived tutor teaching a variety ofskills.
Other characters include a woman tavem
keeper discussing women' s rights and the " art
of tavern keeping," a young lady in a garden, a
When the armorer post was filled by a separate individual, he received his work from the
keeper who set out the arms in need of repair.
The armorer had to have detailed knowledge
of firearms and experience as a gunsmith. His
growing children, and a shopkeeper with Tory
leanings. Once again we will try to depict the
human drama of a black colonial' s experience _
specific duties were to take care of, keep
with a gardener at the Palace who has worked
clean, and mend the public arms stored in the
for three governors, an overseer come -to -town
on business, a preacher trying to start the first
gossipy midwife, a mother talking about her
Magazine and the Governor' s Palace. Three
of the public armorers were John Brush and
black Baptist church, two different apprentices comparing crafts and lifestyles between
two of Williamsburg' s blacksmiths, Hugh Orr
and James Anderson.
Africa and the colonies, a scullery maid trying
to keep her family together, a house servant
whose master is on his deathbed, a woman
speaking about her private time, and a free
black seamstress.
We hope that you as interpreters will greet
Occurrences
and talk with these characters from eigh-
teenth- century Williamsburg, and will incorporate their existence and characters into your
The actors are coming back to town. Char-
interpretations, as you do other physical aids,
acters from eighteenth -century Williamsburg
in our attempt to bring to life the colonial
will be walking the streets from June 1 until
period in Williamsburg.
September 1, gossiping, recruiting, auction3
�The Exchange, continued
The King' s - English
a class of school children were up on the
wagon helping him. The morning " milkmaid"
cheese,
milked all
and
seven cows,
readied her
The followingwords` were suggested by in-
made breakfast for the field
terpreters on .the winter in- service evaluation
hands. We joined the farmers for a special
forms as words we should all be able to define:
hog -butchering meeting. There was excite-
Headright —a grant of fifty acres of land
ment in their voices as they talked about the
made for each person transported to the
approaching weekend of pork curing and sau-
colony; the land was assigned to the one
sage- and souse -making. A noticeable differ-
who paid the transportation expenses. The
ence was that everyone in costume worked in
headright •
system began in 1617 as an in-,
one department. All the women knew how to
ducement to settle Virginia and lasted
cook on the open hearth and 'took turns knit-
throughout most of the seventeenth cen-
ting and sewing costumes:
tury and, in a modified form, for many years
-
At Van Cortland Manor, a part' of Sleepy
later. -
Hollow Restorations, interpreters were busy
Quit rent —Quit means to satisfy a debt, repay. Quit rents were sums, usually small,
with sausages and baking bread. They are
lucky to have the DePeyser family manu-
paid by individual landowners to the crown
for use of the land. Theoretically, all land
scripts for all their recipes. The school groups
were invited to participate and knead the
bread or clean off the cheese rounds that re-
belonged to the crown.
Militiaman —each free white male from ages
quire careful watching. There was evidence of
16 to 60 was required to serve in the county
candlemaking, spinning and weaving, and
militia to be called to arms in time of emer-
other crafts, some of which are added in the
gency.
summertime.
Plimoth
Plantation,
where
strict
Muster —a periodic calling together of mili-
first
tia troops from their homes for inspection
person interpretation is used, was closed ex-
and training.
cept to school groups. Here the forty or so
tury site. They talk, walk, and eat seven-
Retreat —from Smith' s Universal Military
Dictionary, " A beat of the drum, at the firing
of the evening gun." This is to warn the
soldiers to, forbear . firing; sentinels are
teenth century. The director calls the emp-
posted, and the password goes into effect.
loyees " cultural informants" or " human arti-
facts" ( Pilgrims, for short). They exist to show
This marks the end of the soldier' s working
day. . _
the visitor (called the " interpreter ") the cul-
Review —Smith' s definition is " the drawing
interpreters literally take up the lives of
people who existed at the seventeenth- cen -
ture, attitudes, and social interaction of the
out all, or part,of the army, to ... know the
condition of the troops. The manual exer-
early settlers. We' tried hard to' break the Pil-
grims out of their roles. We felt sorry for the
cise must be performed in good time, and
All maneuvers must be per -
schoolboy who asked for the john and was
directed to the next hut where a John lived.
The surroundings were stark, cold, and lifeless. The lunch of dried fish and commeal
with life...:
formed with the utmost regularity."
Tattoo or Tap-Too — the order for all to retire to their quarters. The word is derived
mush they offered us made us homesick for
from the Dutch " doe- tap -toe" meaning
Williamsburg.
We enjoyed most of all talking to the in-
turn off the taps as a signal to tavem keepers
to stop serving soldiers.
terpreters during the exchange. We heard the
Warp — lengthwise thread on the loom.
same remarks: how hot the costumes were,
Weft or Woof— crosswise thread carried in
how long the days, how wonderful to see a
face light up when it understands some new
the shuttle.
fact about the past, and how most of them
The Interpreter is a bimonthly publication of the Depart-
wouldn' t trade their jobs teaching history for
anything in the world.
ment of Interpretive Education
Editor: .BarbaraBeaman
Assistant Editor and Feature Writer: Lou Powers
Editorial Board - '
Bill Tramposch, George Collins,
Dennis O' Toole, Jim Rubley, Jane Strauss, and
ShomerZwelling.
1981 by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
4
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Colonial Williamsburg Interpreter
Description
An account of the resource
<p><em>The Colonial Williamsburg Interpreter</em> was a newsletter published July 1980-September 2009 by the education and research departments of Colonial Williamsburg and authored mainly by staff researchers and interpreters. Its purpose was to disseminate information germane to the current interpretive focus of the Historic Area uniformly across the various departments involved with historical interpretation. Some of the articles sprang from the need to impart new research or interpretive information to staff while others were inspired by employee questions or suggestions. In the earlier issues, standard sections include “The King’s English” which explained various words or terminology encountered in 18th century life, “Occurrences” which noted different programs and events of interest to employees and visitors, and “The Exchange” which was a guest column that offered the perspective and knowledge of non-research department employees on various subjects. Later issues had regular columns about historical subjects, archaeology, gardening, new books at the Foundation library, “Cook’s Corner” about foodways, “Interpreter’s Corner” concerning issues of interpretation, and a Q & A section. The number of issues published per year varied as did the length of the newsletter.</p>
<p>Several supplemental publications sprang from the Interpreter including <em>Fresh Advices, Questions & Answers</em>, and A<em> Cultural Time Line & Glossary for Williamsburg in the Eighteenth Century</em>. Fresh Advices offered discussions of recent research conducted by the Foundation and opportunities for applying it in the Historic Area. It was published infrequently from 1981-1987. <em>Questions & Answers</em> began and ended as a column in the <em>Interpreter</em>, but also existed as a supplemental publication from 1980-1989. It functioned as a means to answer common interpreter questions to the research department about eighteenth-century history and culture, Williamsburg area history, and Colonial Williamsburg itself. The one-time 1990 publication <em>A Cultural Time Line & Glossary for Williamsburg in the Eighteenth Century</em> consisted of a oversize poster-sized timeline and a glossary booklet. The time line included notable events in the Age of Enlightenment in the categories of politics, philosophy and religion, education, science and technology, fine arts and architecture, and performing arts and literature. The glossary was an expansion on selected entries from the time line to give more information on people and events that directly or indirectly influenced the development of colonial Virginia society.</p>
<p>An index to the <em>Interpreter</em> and its supplemental publications may be found here: <a href="http://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/library/_files/Interpreter.pdf">Colonial Williamsburg Interpreter Index, 1980-2009</a>.</p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Colonial Williamsburg Interpreter, volume 2, number 3, May, 1981
Description
An account of the resource
How To Do Family History -- The Exchange -- Job Descriptions -- Occurrences -- The King’s English