March 29, 1851 The Girls Filled His Hat with Flowers

Saturday 29^th (March)

This was a beautiful morning, but I arose rather late, did my work, and then went down to school where was such a sight as I have not seen for some time. Mr Gough was there with about 100 girls around him. He wrote in all, and those he did not write in he signed his name and dated after Mr L had written in them. The girls played and sang for him, filled his hat with flowers, shook hands with him and I do not know what all they did not do. We staid there until nearly two and then came home but found no dinner. After I came home I answered a letter washed myself and dressed. In the evening father and Libby went down also Cousin Elizabeth went with Mr Bigger leaving Caroline and me home alone. The first part of the evening I sat on the front steps, then came in and studied my lessons, and now while Caroline writes her journal I shall …?.. awaiting the arrival of the absent ones.

Serena gives an interesting description of the celebrity, Mr. Gough, surrounded by his admirers. She appears to be slightly critical of the adoration. John B. Gough published his autobiography a few years ago, in 1848. It is a small book, measuring 4 inches by 6 ½ inches, the perfect size to be tucked next to a young girl’s heart. The girls may be asking Mr. Gough to sign their copies of this book. Mr. L. is probably Edward Lippett, the Professor of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

Serena goes to her bedroom to wash herself and dress for the evening. She probably has a wash stand in her bedroom. The wash stand is a low cabinet with a marble top holding a pitcher of fresh water and a large basin. A china soap dish is decorated to match the pitcher and basin. A slop jar is hidden behind cabinet doors in the base. This is used to dispose of used water from the basin. The servant is responsible for filling the pitcher and emptying the slop jar outdoors.

Serena’s home probably does not have running water. It may possibly have a bathroom with an ornate tub that would be filled by the servant carrying buckets of hot water. Less affluent families may bathe in a large tub moved into the kitchen. Catherine Beecher includes several floor plans in her 1841 Treatise on Domestic Economy. None of these floor plans includes a bath room. She recommends accommodations at the rear of the home to include a bathing-room and laundry tub conveniently placed near the pump, reservoir or cistern, and boiler or furnace. Privies and a large wood pile would be nearby and sheltered from the elements (Beecher 274-294).

The family may have one of the new water closets or earth closets to function as a toilet inside the house, or they may use chamber pots or commodes in their bedrooms for toilets.  Chamber pots are large porcelain pots, with lids, discretely kept under the beds. Commodes are large, stately chairs with a seat that can be lifted to reveal a large pot (Seymour 302-303). Again it is the responsibility of the servant to empty these pots into the privy in the back yard.

 

Daily Cincinnati Gazette, July 29, 1851

The Cincinnati Enquirer March 30, 1851

 

Rumors about the “Swedish Nightingale” Jenny Lind are beginning to circulate. P. T. Barnum, the promoter, has brought her to America and is making arrangements for her concert tour. It is unlikely that anyone in Cincinnati has heard her sing because that would have required travel to Europe or to one of her earlier American concerts. Sound recordings, moving pictures, radio, and television will not be invented for many years. Mr. Barnum will succeed in whipping up mass hysteria among people who may have never attended a concert before.

Johanna Maria Lind

March 14, 1851 - Thomas asks permission to marry Libby

This morning we all arose quite early. Caroline expected to go home but was disappointed as James was very busy. The girls were to have compositions, some were crying, some laughing, some copying their compositions. They had very good ones…?… In the afternoon Libby and Caroline went down town. I met them as I was coming home from school. We had not been home long, when they came for Caroline, she said good bye and started. In the evening Thomas asked Father if he might merry Libby, yes.

James is the family servant. He is too busy to take Caroline back to the country. Serena does not tell us who came for Caroline. Perhaps John Wilson came into the city to get her.

It seems that Serena was not required to read a composition today.

Thomas is probably very relieved that he has permission to marry Libby.

March 12, 1851 - Caroline Wilson

We still are anxiously waiting for Father’s return but have Caroline with us yet. She’s expecting to go out home Friday, but we are very sorry. Nothing of much importance happened expecting Father’s return.

Caroline’s home is in Green Township, Hamilton County, Ohio (1850 FC Census). She lives there with her father-in-law John M. Wilson, a farmer born in New Jersey. His wife, Almira Lewis Wilson, died in 1848 (Spooner 166). Almira was Serena’s aunt. Three of John and Almira’s children still lived at home in 1850—Abigail (age twenty-nine in 1850), Lothrop (seventeen) and Roxanna (ten). The Census listing shows that the household also included Hannah Deckmyre, age thirteen, born in Germany, and Walter Hamlin, laborer, age seventeen, born in England.

March 8, 1851 - The Party

Saturday 8th (March)

Father started for Piqua, this morning, but certainly thought something dreadful was going to happen because we were all so cheerful. In the evening Mssrs Bigger, Hunt, and Printiss came in also Cousin Thomas Spooner and Kate Spooner. We had a nice oyster supper and spent a very pleasant time. Cousin Elizabeth and Mr Bigger took the front parlour, Libby and Mr Hunt the sitting room, Mr. Printiss and I the dining room, Caroline went to bed and Cousin Thomas and Kate went home. Mr Printiss tormented me nearly to death and I was heartily glad when he went to bed. This day is ended.

No doubt they were “all so cheerful”, making plans for an un-chaperoned party. Just imagine the fireworks if Father had asked Uncle Samuel to drop in to make sure the girls were all right! Albert Lewis may have assumed that Caroline, a twenty-three-year-old married woman, would chaperone his daughters. But Caroline was grieving. Her husband, Joseph Wilson, had left many months ago to follow the gold rush to California (1850 Federal Census). Both her young children are dead, both before reaching the age of two. Little Emma died in March, 1849, shortly before the birth of Joseph William. He died January 19, 1851, less than two months before this party (Spooner 175). So Caroline went to bed.

Serena gives us a few hints about her home. There is a front parlor, the formal room for entertaining guests. Since she calls it the front parlor, there may also be a second rear parlor. The sitting room is a more informal “living room” for the family.

Cousin Thomas Spooner lives on the south side of Longworth, between Elm and Plum (1850-51 Williams' Cincinnati Directory). The 1850 U. S. census shows him as a thirty-three-year-old merchant, but there is no Kate or similar name in his family group. In 1850, Thomas, his wife Sarah, and children Henry, Sarah, and William, lived in Ward 2 of Cincinnati, in the home of Laura Haviland and an eighteen-year-old Anna Haviland. No relationship has been established with the Havilands. According to the Spooner Memorial, Thomas is the son of Reed Spooner and Serena’s aunt, Abigail Lewis. The wife and oldest child of Thomas Spooner died in 1850, after the Census was taken. Two children, Sarah Abigail Spooner (aged four) and William Reed Spooner (aged two), survive in 1851. Cousin Thomas will marry Frances Maria Leonard, the sister of his first wife, October 9, 1851 (Spooner 146). The only Catherine or Kate Spooner to be identified at this time is Catherine Smith Spooner, the wife of Thomas Spooner’s brother William (Spooner 152).

Cousin Elizabeth should be easy to identify. The 1850 U. S. Census lists an Elizabeth Lewis, age twenty-five, in the household. A thorough search of the Lewis family yields no daughter by that name, born about 1825, and still living in 1851. Perhaps she is a widow, Elizabeth Somebody, married to a deceased Lewis cousin. No likely suspects are found. Census data are only as good as the information that the census taker gets and records. The person who provided the information for Serena’s family did not know the last name of the servant James. Perhaps the maid gave this information. Perhaps Cousin Elizabeth was so much a part of the family that the maid assumed her last name was Lewis. She and Mr. Bigger seem to be an item. James Bigger will marry Elizabeth Spooner in June of 1851. Who is Elizabeth Spooner? She is the daughter of Reed Spooner and Abigail Lewis, the sister of Albert Lewis. She is Serena’s cousin! She was born in November, 1824. Her mother died in 1830 and her father died in 1835, so she may have been raised in the Lewis household. Cousins Thomas and William Spooner are Elizabeth’s brothers.

March 4, 1851 Introducing Mr. Gough

This day I have been to school and have recited poorly, our …?… did poorly and as for Latin, it was worth nothing. I returned home in tears, but it did some good for I studied so much the harder. In the evening I went to hear a lecture from Mr. Gauff and a fine one it was for he mimiced the drunk and in fine he so intense into the spirit of his subject that it was impossible for . . . with him but what was worse then all I had to come home alone.

The Temperance Movement is very active in Cincinnati in 1851. Ministers and speakers are railing against the evils of drinking distilled liquor. John B. Gough is one of the most popular speakers on the national circuit. According to the Cincinnati Commercial he is “creating a tremendous sensation. He is undoubtedly a great man. He is comic, tragic, melo-dramatic, statesmanlike, and everything that is rare, in his manner and speech.” Susan B. Anthony, temperance activist and future campaigner for Women’s Suffrage, heard Gough speak in New York in 1849. She wrote, “What a lecture, what arguments, how can a man or woman remain neutral or be a moderate drinker” (Dannenbaum 18).

Serena goes to hear Gough, in spite of the fact that she has no escort. We can picture her scanning the crowd, looking for the friendly face of someone to walk home with her.

 

March 2, 1851 John and Julia Jordan

John and Julia Jordan

Sunday 2^nd (March)

I went to Sunday School, Church and heard not a very good sermon. In the afternoon I sent my excuse to my class teacher and did not attend for I awaited the arrival of John Jordan but he did not come. In the evening I staid from church and he likewise disappointed me as I gave up all hopes of seeing him.

 

Later journal entries suggest that John Jordan, and his sister Julia, lived in Piqua. A biography of their father, David J. Jordan, in The History of Miami County, Ohio, states that David lived in Piqua from 1824 until 1859, and was a very active and influential individual. His main professions were real estate and pork packing. He was well-known in the Methodist Church and “made his house, for many years, a hospitable retreat and home for the members of this denomination, and many of the far famed preachers of this church then living, found a frequent and hearty welcome under the shelter of his roof” (Beers 600). David Jordan had ten children, including John W. and Julia A. Jordan. The 1850 U. S. census shows John W. Jordan aged twenty and Julia aged fifteen. John works as a merchant and his younger brother David is a pork packer. Julia attends school.