illness

December 11, 1851

Unpack

Dec 11th Thursday.  Have had a bad head ache and

very bad cold  Called into the other part of the

house with Mrs S Ames.  Mrs Witherell had bound

the quilt that we quilted yesterday  Mrs R Pool

called & I went into Edwins house with her.  She & her

husband have spent the day at Augustus  I varnished

store room stairs & porch.  Mr Ames came from New York

Mr Clarke put the inside windows in sitting room

Both Evelina and Old Oliver noted that Oakes Ames “came from New York” today after having been away eight days. He was probably glad to be home; he confessed late in his life that he didn’t enjoy travel. And family dynamics, if they had altered at all in his absence, would have reverted to normal once his “stalwart and rugged”* self returned to his own place as the head of the household.

Evelina’s cold, which had been hovering since Sunday, finally landed with vehemence, although Evelina continued to be up and around. She sat with both sisters-in-law, Sarah Ames and Sarah Witherell, and went over to Edwin Gilmore’s new house with her niece (and Edwin’s sister) Rachael Gilmore Pool. In addition to socializing, Evelina varnished her porch and storeroom stairs. The strong smell from the varnish wouldn’t have helped her “bad head ache,” at all; in fact, it probably made it worse. What was she thinking? Was she too economical to let Mr. Scott complete the job? And did she know that she was spreading her cold everywhere she went?

*William L. Chaffin, Oakes Ames, 1804/1873, Easton Historical Society, North Easton, 1996, p. 1

 

December 9, 1851

21e3fa70a71cf1a247c917909a88dc2f Dec 9th Tuesday.  Have been painting all day.

Got some putty from Edwins house to stop

the cracks in the hearth and painted that 

and then went to work in the storeroom

chamber finished that and the porch 

and this evening Mr Scott has painted

the floor & stairs.  Have quite a bad

cold felt it first Sunday morning

Mrs Holmes called about her milk has stoped taking

Despite having a “bad cold,” Evelina was up and working.  She walked over to her nephew’s new house and borrowed some putty which she used to fill some cracks on her own hearth. She “went to work in the storeroom chamber,” painting there and on the porch as well. It was a chilly time of year to be working in those areas, and not at all conducive to getting the better of a new cold, but Evelina seemed to have a goal in mind that she was determined to meet.

Mr. Scott was painting in the house as well, going over the floor and stairs. What kind of paint were he and Evelina using? The ingredients would have included pigment and a binding agent, such as milk or animal glue; the paint was meant to last as long as possible. Whitewash had prevailed on the plaster walls of early American homes, but other colors had since become popular. We don’t know what color Evelina picked. Mr. Scott would have mixed the paint up himself; there was no going down to a hardware store to pick up a gallon – at least not yet. Commercial house paint wouldn’t become available until after the Civil War, when Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams began to manufacture and sell ready-mixed paint.

In addition to the painting she did, Evelina mentioned a visit from her neighbor, Harriet Holmes, who came over to discuss “her milk” which “has stopped taking.”  This last sentence doesn’t quite make sense, and may be incomplete; if so, there’s no telling how the thought was intended to conclude. If we only consider what’s written, however, it sounds as if Harriet’s breast milk had just dried up. Yet there’s no commentary anywhere about Harriet Holmes having had a baby recently.  It’s a mystery.

*19th century painter’s caddy, Courtesy of http://www.donalsonantiques.com

December 8, 1851

 

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Dec 8th Monday.  Another unpleasant windy day

and we could not put our clothes out

Alson came after Mother this afternoon

and it has cleared off quite pleasant.  he is

better but is not able to work yet.  I have been

cutting out some cotton flannel for Jane to work on

last week she worked for herself.  It is three

weeks since she has been able to work much

Another Monday morning with weather too “unpleasant” to hang the wash out to dry. It rained in the morning, and “took the snow all of[f]” according to Old Oliver. The newest servant, Mary, possibly with the help of the still-recovering Jane McHanna, must have resorted to hanging wet articles over various registers around the house to dry.

Besides the weather being crummy, Evelina’s husband, Oakes, was still away; her brother Alson, though improved, couldn’t yet work his farm; her servant, Jane McHanna, hadn’t fully recovered from an illness of three weeks running and she, herself, was coming down with a cold. Evelina’s week was off to a poor start; she must have been anxious by this time to have her husband return home. On the bright side – perhaps – she saw her mother, Hannah Lothrop Gilmore, return to the family farm, where the elderly woman was always the most comfortable.

The weather “cleared off” in the afternoon, bringing back the sunshine. Did the full moon that night cheer Evelina up with its wintry light or keep her awake worrying about various domestic aggravations?

 

 

November 29, 1851

frontcover_500

Nov 29th  Sat.  This forenoon have been mending

Olivers (3) clothes and putting them in order to 

carry back Monday.  Have been with Oliver

to spend the afternoon at Mothers. Came

home by Mr Lothrops to bring Sarah Lothrop

Fred & Helen home  Alson has been quite 

unwell a week or more & is not able to work

Evelina was enjoying the company of her middle son, Oliver (3), today. Like many a modern child, he had brought his clothes home from college to be put “in order” (but not washed – it wasn’t laundry day.) Evelina mended what she could and then the two of them rode south to visit old Mrs. Gilmore and the family on the farm. They found that Alson Gilmore, Evelina’s brother, had been “quite unwell.” He was evidently bed-ridden, which suggests that their Thanksgiving had been less celebratory than the Ames’s.

Unlike the shovel laborers in the village, Alson did work that didn’t follow a schedule set by a bell.  He labored according to the demands of the season, weather and livestock. How had he managed to run his farm this past week when he was too ill to work? Most likely his fifteen-year-old son, Francis, took over responsibility for any livestock. And if the Gilmores had any dairy cows, it was typically the women of the house – in this case, daughter Lavinia or wife Henrietta – who would typically have done the milking. Because it was November, and after the harvest, there was otherwise not much work that demanded attention.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac, seen above, would have been full of advice for Alson and other farmers. We don’t know if Alson consulted it. (Like Old Oliver Ames, he might have consulted instead an agricultural newspaper called The Massachusetts Ploughman.)  The almanac was just featuring its new “Four Seasons” cover, first used in October of 1851 and still in use in 2014. It was designed by Hammatt Billings, a Boston architect and artist who also did the original illustrations for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and engraved by Henry Nichols of Cambridge, who name appears on the lower right.  The editor was Robert B. Thomas, whose portrait is featured on the right side of the cover, opposite Benjamin Franklin.

November 25, 1851

 

kitchen

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Tues Nov 25th  Mary has done the ironing to day except

the fine clothes and they look much better than usual

Jane is rather better to day and has washed the dishes

and assisted some about the housework.  I have made a

dickey for Mr Ames. Passed the afternoon at Father Ames

with Mr & Mrs Swain & Mrs Meader  Mrs S Ames,

Fred & Helen came home to night

Family members began to gather in anticipation of Thanksgiving. Fred and Helen Ames came home from their respective schools in Cambridge and Boston, adding animation to the quieter house next door.  Surely their parents, Sarah Lothrop and Oliver Ames, Jr., were pleased to see them.  Oliver (3), away at school in Providence, was getting ready for his travel home.

No one was making merry yet, however.  Everyone still had work to do. The new girl, Mary, did some ironing, evidently better than Jane McHanna usually did.  Jane herself, still recovering from an illness that had laid her low for almost ten days, was able to wash dishes and help out a bit. Evelina, after supervising Mary and Jane, was finally freed up to sew and socialize.  She was in a happier state of mind.

The men of the family were working as well.  While Oakes, Oliver Jr, Oakes Angier, and Frank Morton were at the shovel shop, Old Oliver and some of his men began “a building an ice hous.”**

“About sunsett,” it began to snow.

 

*Image of a mid-19th century kitchen, Courtesy of http://www.victorianpassage.com

**Oliver Ames, Journal, Courtesy of Stonehill College Archives, Tofias Collection

 

 

 

 

November 23, 1851

1850-shawl2

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Sunday Nov 23d  Jane with Michaels sister got the

breakfast this morning but after breakfast Jane 

went to bed  I could not go to church this morning

Augustus came home at noon and brought Mr

Davidson  Mrs Meader Hannah & self went

back with him  This evening sat with my shawl

& bonnet on from 6 to 8 Oclock waiting for Mr

Ames to go to Mr Swains and then took them off did not go

 

For the second time this month, Oakes Ames forgot to take his wife somewhere. On this occasion, they had planned to visit Ann and John Swain.  Evelina had missed the morning meeting and although they had company at noon, and she made it to the afternoon service, she was still eager to get out and socialize. As night fell, she put on her “shawl & bonnet” and waited for her husband to pick her up. He didn’t show. She “did not go.”

Evelina had been disappointed two weeks earlier when Oakes had forgotten her, but the tone of her diary entry on that day had been tolerant. This time, she was likely less forgiving. Once Oakes finally walked in the door, more than two hours late, Evelina must have let him have it. Surely she got mad. Surely they argued.

Oakes’s excuse would’ve been that he’d been off electioneering, just like the last time he forgot to fetch his wife.  The next day was another town meeting and, in anticipation, he’d obviously gotten sidetracked, probably with friends. At least Evelina could be certain that he hadn’t been out drinking; Oakes was a teetotaler. But she would have been left to wonder what the outcome would be of her husband’s absorption into politics, and how it might alter their relationship.

Jane McHanna, meanwhile, was still sick.  Evelina was not having a great week.

*Image courtesy of wwwVictoriana.com

 

November 22, 1851

maid

Sat Nov 22d  Another busy day I have had.  Jane

is better than she was yesterday but is not 

able to do much.  Did not rise untill after

breakfast.  Michaels sister came to night

has gone to meeting this evening   Jane was

quite smart talking this evening with them

I have had the offer of another girl.  She is

coming to work Monday & stay a few days

 

Evelina had lacked the full support of her servant Jane McHanna for much of this month. The thirty-six year-old servant had been away for five days and sick for seven. Evelina wasn’t happy to be doing most of the housework and all of the cooking and baking. With Thanksgiving less than a week away, she was feeling stressed.  She planned to get “another girl” to come in to help.

Evelina never described the nature of Jane’s illness but she did care enough about her servant to have brought in Dr. Wales.  She had allowed Jane to rest as needed, too, but she couldn’t help but notice that Jane seemed lively enough when her friends, Michael O’Beirne (also known as Michael Burns) and his sister came by to see her. Was Jane taking more time to recuperate than she needed? The relationship between the two women must have been strained by this point.

 

November 17, 1851

Hoof

Monday Nov 17th  Jane has not been at all well to day

but she has done the washing and went to

bed early in the evening  I did the housework

to day and was about all this forenoon  This

afternoon have been to Mr Nahum Williams

with Mrs S Ames  Mr Seth Williams died

Friday night and is to be buried tomorrow at

ten Oclock.  We drive the new horse for the first.

 

The stalwart Jane McHanna, now the only house servant at the Ames’s, did the Monday washing today despite feeling not “at all well.” By evening she was in bed. Evelina picked up the slack and did the rest of the housework herself, something she was fully capable of doing.

Despite the extra choring that she did, Evelina and her sister-in-law, Sarah Lothrop Ames, found time to ride out of the village to call on Nahum and Amanda Williams.  Nahum, who lived in Furnace Village, was most likely the son of the Seth Williams who had just died. As was customary, the Ames wives helped tend the dead, the dying, and their families in their community.

A little more than twenty years later, on September 1, 1873, Nahum Williams himself died, and Sarah Lothrop Ames and her husband, Oliver Ames, Jr. along with her brother, George Van Ness Lothrop and his wife, Almira Strong Lothrop, would attend his funeral. Clearly, Nahum had a long-standing relationship with the Lothrop family, if not the Ameses, too.

October 17, 1851

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Friday Oct 17 Was working about house most of the

forenoon and have been sewing on Susans

and my dress.  Carried my work to Augustus

for a couple of hours this afternoon.  Lavinia

and Abby were there  Mr Ames has been quite 

unwell for a day or two and to night has taken

a warm bath  I have written a letter to Oliver

this evening  Mr Ames sent him a check for 25 Dls.

 

Oakes Ames had taken ill. Had he caught the nettlerash from his wife and daughter? Or was his illness something closer to a simple bad cold? He was “quite unwell.” Whatever he had, Oakes chose to palliate his ailment with a hot bath. Did he take a sitz bath, one that would alleviate itching from a rash?

That Evelina makes note of her husband taking a bath insinuates that his bathing was something out of the ordinary, which wouldn’t be unusual for the era. Regular bathing, which for many meant a weekly bath, was only just becoming the norm, and indoor plumbing was only just taking hold in urban areas.  Unlike the image in the illustration (which was published circa 1877), most bathtubs at mid-century were still free-standing.  The bath water was poured from buckets of hot water, which had been drawn from a well or cistern or kitchen pump and heated on the stove.  (Thus the expression, “to draw a bath.”)

The Ameses were fortunate in having their own indoor plumbing, a fact we know from Winthrop Ames’s mention in his family history of a “bathing room” in the house. Was this room shared by both families, as the brick oven was?

Oakes wasn’t too ill to write a check for his son, Oliver (3), who was away at college. Evelina wrote to Oliver and perhaps enclosed the check with her letter.  Had Oliver written home asking for money?  Such a scenario is certainly time-honored.

 

October 16, 1851

 

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Thurs Oct 16th Lavinia came back with O & F and spent the 

night  Sat with her awhile and sewed some on

the waist of my dress and sewed some buttons on

Franks vest  Went with Augustus with her

about Eleven and stopt an hour.  This afternoon

have been to Augustus Lothrop with Mrs S Ames

He has been sick about a week with the

Typhoid fever.  Bought 3 Bl apples of N Alger

Mrs Swain has a son born this morning

Evelina’s niece, Lavinia Gilmore, stayed the night with the Ameses, having ridden from the Gilmore farm with her cousins Oakes Angier and Frank Morton Ames.  Lavinia often visited with the Ameses in North Easton, evidently enjoying the bustle that the village of North Easton provided, relative to life on the farm. Today she sat and sewed with her aunt, who always enjoyed company while sewing. Somewhere along the way in today’s comings and goings, Evelina purchased three bushels (or barrels) of apples from Mr. N. Alger, a probable neighbor of Lavinia and her family.

In the afternoon, Evelina went with her sister-in-law, Sarah Lothrop Ames, to visit one of Sarah’s many brothers. This youngest brother, Horace “Augustus” Lothrop, lived in nearby Sharon where he ran a cutlery company.  He was quite ill with typhoid fever, a bacterial disease that was all too common in the 19th century. Spread by unsanitary conditions, typhoid fever killed more than 80,000 soldiers during the Civil War. Happily, Augustus Lothrop would survive his bout with the disease.

Another survivor today was Ann Swain, who came safely through the birth of her first child, a son. No doubt the relatives who had gathered to help were thankful and pleased.

 

* Illustration of nursery furniture from Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1851