May 24, 1851 - Boating Party on the River

Saturday 24th (May)

Preparations were made for the May party. Emma came down about ½ 5 o-clock, and the rest assembled between that time and 8 o-clock. We coupled off and went to the river, had a most beautiful sail down the river up the Licking about 7 miles, we then came back and went 7 miles up the Ohio, and landed at a most beautiful place. There was a committee appointed to set the table it was a very nice table indeed. After dinner they tried dancing which in my estimation was very wrong. Then there were . . . put up and . . . this game. Others took a pleasant walk in the wood . . . so they were differently employed. There was one which particularly attracted my attention a Mr T [homas]Harris. He is a very fine young fellow indeed. We dined (?) there until a little past six o-clock in the evening and then made preparations to return. There were some actions which were very very disgusting. We had a very pleasant trip down home except the dancing which I am afraid will make disturbance yet. We landed here a little after 7 o-clock where were omnibusses waiting to carry us home. Ours was so very crowded we were obliged to sit on each other’s laps. Mr P[rentiss] and I rode to the top of the hill and had to walk down which was not very pleasant. I tell you I was tired when I got home but soon retired.

Perhaps the picnic site is James Parker’s apple orchard, a popular destination for church picnics. It is located on the river east of the city. In 1886 it will be sold to a riverboat company and become Ohio Grove, the Coney Island of the West (Green, and Bennett 78).

Tommy Harris seems to have changed his mind about the party. On Thursday it sounded as if he did not plan to attend.

Emma may be Emma M’Cullough, from Mt. Auburn, who will graduate June 27, 1851. Her composition will be “Mountains and Valleys of Human Pilgrimage” (Alumna 1859:56).

If only Serena would tell us more. Is there a band stand with a brass band playing irresistible waltz or polka tunes? Has one of the young people brought along a fiddle or a flute? Or has the singing and clapping of the group led to impromptu dancing of spirited quadrilles (similar to square dances) or reels? Whatever the excuse, Serena is a good Methodist and Methodists don’t dance. “A deluge of American anti-dance literature was written by white, protestant, male evangelists and clergy who held rigid traditionalist views about the roles of women in society. These men admonished women that dancing always led to pernicious ends.” (Knowles 6) If Father hears about the dancing, Serena knows that she will be in serious trouble.

It is interesting that Mr. Prentiss is mentioned. Has he organized the omnibuses to meet the boating party, or has he been part of the party? Is Serena obliged to sit on his lap? Does he know about the dancing? By any stretch of the imagination, could he possibly have been considered a chaperone?

Tell me now, Mother mine, are you willing to send
Your girl to the Pit for the demons to rend?

Well, if not, then beware of the lure of the DANCE.

There the Devil will catch her if given a chance.

Lulu Agnew Singer (From “The Lure of the Dance”)

(Knowles)

May 20, 1851 - Going to the Panorama

Tuesday 20th (May)

Arose tolerably early, went to school, and Mr. Wilber proposed going to see the Panorama. Recitations as usual, came home to dinner, and it rained quite hard, I was caught in it, and by the time I got to school was quite wet. Had a little talk before school, and then, recitations as usual in the afternoon, after which we came home. I wrote a little composition and then dressed myself and went up to Sallie Sterritt’s. Spent quite a pleasant evening and Mr Ware came home with me. It was about ½ 10 o-clock when I got home, but I found Libby and Thomas still up, and this . . . had gone to bed. I retired.

A panorama is coming to Cincinnati! This is big news in these days when only live entertainment is available. Photography is in its infancy, and we are well before the invention of moving pictures in the 1890s.

The panorama was a form of mass entertainment developed in England early in the Industrial Revolution. The invention was patented by Robert Barker on June 17, 1787. The word “panorama” was coined at about the same time (Oettermann 5-7). Early panoramas were paintings viewed in specially constructed rotundas with domed roofs. Observers entered through a dimly lit corridor and climbed a stairway to a central platform. The platform was roofed to shield the view of the skylights above the pictures. The painted canvas was hung in a full circle around the walls. There were three-dimensional objects or cutouts at the base of the picture to provide a realistic transition to the mural. The first panoramas depicted a 360-degree view of a real landscape or historical scene. The painted surface could consist of a canvas strip up to 300 feet in length and 40 to 60 feet high (Oettermann 49).

Cincinnati is getting a moving panorama, a more recent development. This type of panorama depicts the view that a traveler might see from a moving vehicle such as a steamboat or train. It might be of any length. The ends of the canvas are attached to mechanically driven cylinders so that the canvas can be unrolled in front of the audience. The panorama would probably be narrated by a lively speaker and accompanied with exciting piano music. Steamboat journeys down the Mississippi are popular. This type of panorama is portable, so that it may be carried from city to city. Panoramas will become less popular as travel opportunities increase later in the 19th century (Avery 52-53).

We met Sallie Sterritt on March 30. Mr. Ware might be David A. Ware. The 1850 Federal Census describes him as a 16-year-old brick molder, living in Ward 8.

May 15, 1851 - Such graceful jumping

Thursday 15th (May)

The day of days has come. Rose by 5 o-clock was ready by 7 to start. Went down to Aunt Dodson’s to start, when I got there found the omnibus waiting for me. Went over for Mary S[ackett], and when I came back found Charlie [Wright?] waiting for me, introduced Mary to him and also Julia [Jordan]. Well we got started and such a beautiful morning, and pleasant ride until we came to the narrows where we all had to get out and the boys helped to haul the omnibus by. We walked nearly a mile when we got in but soon had to get out again. We were soon there and such a beautiful place. Went to the dressing room prepared our toilet and then down to the woods. The boys were very polite indeed, we got on top of the fence and such graceful jumping. Went up in the woods and staid until dinner time, came back ate dinner at a most splendid table after which we went out under a shady tree, read awhile, and then took a walk to the culvert and was caught by the boys, who came out from behind a bush, and took us a skiff ride, the boat filled so fast as to frighten us dreadfully, we tried to get to shore but it was impossible for sometime, finally we landed on a rock the boys waded and took us out. We then went up to the house, sat on the grass a while, and then prepared to come home. All seated in the omnibus we started, and had a very pleasant ride down. Edna W sang for us and then we sang. Arrived at last, but the beaux had their feelings somewhat hurt. Went home with Mary Sackett a while and then returned home.

Aunt Dodson is probably Jane Rose Dodson, the sister of Luther Rose. Luther Rose is Serena’s maternal grandfather.

Mary J. Sackett is a fellow student at Wesleyan Female College. She will graduate on Friday, June 27, 1851. She will read her composition “Influence of Cheap Literature” at the Commencement Exercises. (Alumna 1859:56). She will teach at the college from 1853 until at least 1859 (The Alumna 1859:98). Edna W. may also be a classmate.

Times are changing. Back in the 1820s, women had such a “passion for modesty…that group picnics were thought to be indelicate” (Green and Bennett 33). The location of this picnic is not mentioned. They use an omnibus to get there. An omnibus is a horse-drawn conveyance, similar to a stagecoach, but with the doors at the back and seats running lengthwise along the sides. It can seat from twelve to twenty-eight people, depending on the size of the vehicle, and requires two or four horses. Omnibus lines came to Cincinnati in the 1840s (McShane and Tarr 59). Williams’ Cincinnati Guide and Business Register for 1852 lists ten scheduled routes, but the young people seem to have hired this one for today’s adventure.

“Prepared our toilet” means that they combed their hair, washed their faces and hands, and perhaps bit their lips and pinched their cheeks to give them more color. These young ladies would certainly not use lipstick or powder their noses. They may have removed veils or wraps worn to protect their hair and dresses from dust while they were traveling in the omnibus.

They must get over a fence to reach the fields and woods. That fence would probably be a rail fence; barbed wire will not be commercially available until 1873 (World Book).

“The best way to assist a lady over a fence, is to stand yourself upon the upper rail, and while using one hand to keep a steady position, stoop, offer her the other, and with a firm steady grasp, hold her hand until she stands beside you; then let her go down the other side first, and follow her when she is safe upon the ground” (Hartley 70). Serena and her friends choose to ignore this advice. The laughing girls, in a flutter of sunbonnets, long skirts, and petticoats, gleefully leap from the fence, perhaps into the arms of the eager young men waiting to “assist” them.

May 11, 1851 - Calling a friend of mine Dutch

Sunday 11th (May)

It was very very warm when I arose Sunday morning that I could (?) not prepare myself for Sabbath School, I did not go to church. After dinner I dressed myself for class. Had to wear my old bonnet, however I went had a good class returned home where I found Thomas H[unt]. After tea Caroline and I went over to Cousin Elizabeth’s. Spent a very pleasant evening with Thomas S[pooner] and Mr B[igger] and returned at 10 oclock. Mr B accompanying us, but met with a small misfortune calling a friend of mine Dutch. . . .home where I found Thomas H[unt] and Libby courting, father not yet returned from church.

Cincinnati is the new home for a large population of Irish and German immigrants. The immigrants tend to live together in neighborhoods with a common language and culture. The Germans in particular become politically active. Germans in America are often called “Dutch,” a corruption of “Deutsch,” for “German.” The term “Pennsylvania Dutch” is an example of this. A “nativist” movement arises among people born in America who resent the influx of Catholics and other foreign born. This leads to violence and riots. This prejudice will slowly wear away, and Cincinnati eventually will come to treasure its German heritage (Green and Bennett 32-34).

Cousin Elizabeth Spooner and James Bigger will not be married until June. It looks as if she has already set up housekeeping in her own home. She may have had an inheritance from her parents that would have facilitated this. Another possible explanation is that she is staying with one of her brothers, Thomas or William Spooner.

Libby and Thomas were apparently enjoying a few moments of unchaperoned privacy while the others were away.

May 9, 1851 - Saw the bride and congratulated her

Friday 9th (May)

A most Beautiful day, and when I gaze out upon Nature how beautiful did every thing appear. Truely God is in every thing, Even when the gentle breeze this morning seemed slightly to ruffle the tender leaf, me think I could see impr.?. thereon the name of God. I did not go to school as I was not very well in the morning. In the afternoon, I walked down with Mr Printiss and such a walk, and such a talk. I got to school quite early, talked a while when the bell rang. I was not prepared with my Rhetoric lesson for which I was very sorry. Went up to get a library book and then after a chat with the girls returned home. After tea Cousin C[aroline] and I took a walk around the square, after we came to our door we met Thomas H[unt], who with Libby took a walk up past Sallie Sterritts, she came down with us, had a pleasant walk, but was quite fatigued. Caroline is now sleeping. Saw the bride and congratulated her.

Serena does not describe the library books that she reads. There is a concern at this time that young women and girls are too fond of novels and light reading, and that this may lead to “female depravity” (Calhoun 73). Serena’s teachers would probably have looked askance at Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, published in 1847, and even at Jane Austen’s books, published before 1817.

Is the bride Fannie B.? I have not been able to identify her.