Signpost is a free ezine from Bob Dillon Windsor Chairs. It is the mission of this monthly ezine to explore the history and contruction of Windsor chairs as well as other aspects of life in early America. For more information please go to Signpost Info. To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE, see below.

Signpost, a free monthly ezine from Bob Dillon Windsor Chairs.
An Ezine from Bob Dillon Windsor Chairs
Issue No. 19 -- December 1, 2001

Contents:

  • News
  • 17th Century Furniture by Jane Campbell-Chambliss
  • The Plight of the Signers of the Declaration
  • Selections From Poor Richard's Almanac

NEWS:

Our series on period furniture, introduced last month by Jane Campbell-Chambliss, now gets underway with her article "17th Century Funiture." Also known as Jacobean and sometimes Pilgrim furniture, this was probably the earliest furniture made by Europeans in North America -- other than the most basic, utilitarian stuff.

So whatever happened to all those guys who signed the Declaration of Independence? Some we know -- Jefferson, Hancock, Adams.... But there were 56 signers in all. Our next article, here by way of the Northwest Territory Alliance, tells us some of their tales. I've included a couple of associated links as well.

Another of the well-known signers was the great Ben Franklin. We round out this issue with a few more selections from his Poor Richard's Almanac.

Finally, here's a little fact to ponder: In 1790, the first U.S. census showed a population of 3,929,214 people in 17 states. My state, Minnesota, has more than that today!!

Until next time,

17th Century Furniture

by Jane Campbell-Chambliss, CAI, AARE, GPPA
Director Appraisal Operations, Campbellauctions.com

When the two earliest American colonies were founded-Jamestown in 1607 and Plymouth in 1620, James I was the reigning monarch in England (1603-1625). For this reason, the term Jacobean is sometimes used to describe the earliest American Furniture. However, because this earliest type of colonial furniture is derived from a combination of several earlier design sources, the term 17th century is used here to denote this period.

At the end of the 16th century, northern Europe was just emerging from the Middle Ages. The importation of Flemish pattern books and the immigration of Flemish-Huguenot craftsman began to bring influence of Italian Renaissance design to England. As this new style was introduced into a somewhat backward country, basic Renaissance elements began to appear in English Furniture: heavy turned baluster supports, flat bun feet, and arched paneled construction. These elements of design and construction were transplanted to America.

A general feature of 17th century furniture is a heavy appearance. The furniture was very durable; oak was the wood of choice. It should be noted that oak was used both in America and England. Ash and maple were also used, this was because it turned and whittled, making them suitable for the varieties of rounded forms found in that period. Although little evidence survives today, much 17th century furniture was originally painted.

Rounded shapes turned on the lathe provided an important decorative element in the 17th century furniture forms. Turned balusters, spindles and bun feet, formed in a varity of shapes, appeared frequently on case furniture. Splits spindles were created by gluing two blocks together with a thin strip of wood between the blocks. After the blocks were turned, the strip of wood was knocked out, leaving two half spindles which could be applied to case furniture.

Shallow carved geometric panels were also used as decorative elements. In fact, paneled construction was widely used in 17th century America. A medieval development, these insert panels were fitted into slots within an overall frame so that they could expand and contract with changes in humidity and temperature. Pretty smart thinking.

The technique of creating joints with mortise and tenon was widely used in 17th century furniture. With this technique, a hole usually square or rectangular was chiseled into one member and a tonque shaped to fit this hole was chiseled into the other. A peg was than placed through both pieces to secure them together, forming the joint. The person that performed this task was known as "joiner."

The chest was the earliest form of what we call case furniture today. This category of furniture suggests a case or box kind of construction. Other case pieces include chests of drawers, cabinets, cupboards, desks and sideboards.

The other categories of furniture are chair furniture including settees and sofas. This type of furniture has different concerns and completely different construction methods.

These many types of categories of furniture first became prevalent in the late 17th century. This Caused the maker now to have many new skills. The simple joiner was replaced by the "cabinetmaker." His skills included joining, turning, carving, veneering, and gilding of the wood.

He used both local woods and woods from other parts of the world, most of which was obtained by sailors that sailed into exotic ports of call.

Since oak was the wood of choice, many pieces have survived into the 20th century, and will be around into the 21st century.

The American pieces that have survived have much restoration. These pieces saw this restoration in the early part of this century This was due to the poplar nature of this type of furniture. Of the surviving pieces, most come from Massachusetts, but examples are also from New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia.

Because documentary evidence is scant, dating furniture from this period is especially difficult. The pieces that have survived provide little more than a broad outline of regional differences, the techniques of special joiners. Little is known about the actual makers of this early furniture. Thomas Dennis (active 1663-1706) and William Searle (active 1634-1667), both of Ipswich, Massachusetts, are two of the earliest known American furniture makers.

Peter Blin of Wetherfield, Connecticut, is associated with the sunflower chest, and John Allis and Samuel Belding, followed by their sons, are associated with the Hadley chest.

Courtesy of Campbellauctions.com

The Plight of the Signers of the Declaration

Five signers of the Declaration of Independence were captured by the British and brutally tortured as traitors. Nine fought in the War for Independence and died from wounds or from hardships they suffered. Two lost their sons in the Continental Army. Another two had sons captured. At least a dozen of the fifty-six had their homes pillaged and burned.

What kind of men were they? Twenty five were lawyers or jurists. Eleven were merchants. Nine were farmers or large plantation owners. One was a teacher, one a musician, and one a printer. These were men of means and education who launched the Ship of State which you and I have inherited. Yet they signed the Declaration of Independence, knowing full well that the penalty could be death if they were captured.

In the face of the advancing British Army, the Continental Congress fled from Philadelphia to Baltimore on December 12, 1776. It was an especially anxious time for John Hancock, the President, as his wife had just given birth to a baby girl. Due to the complications stemming from the trip to Baltimore, the child lived only a few months.

William Ellery’s signing at the risk of his fortune proved only too realistic. In December, 1776, during three days of British occupation of Newport, Rhode Island, Ellery’s house was burned and all his property was destroyed.

Richard Stockton, a New Jersey State Supreme Court Justice, had rushed back to his estate near Princeton after signing the Declaration only to find that his wife and children were living like refugees with friends. They had been betrayed by a Tory who also revealed Stockton’s own whereabouts. British troops pulled him from his bed one night, beat him and threw him in jail where he almost starved to death. When he was finally released, he went home to find his estate had been looted, his possessions burned, and his horses stolen. Judge Stockton had been so badly treated in prison that his health was ruined and he died before the war’s end.

Carter Braxton was a wealthy planter and trader. One by one, his ships were captured by the British navy. He loaned a large sum of money to the American cause; it was never paid back. He was forced to sell his plantations and mortgage his other properties to pay his debts. Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he had to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Continental Congress without pay, and kept his family in hiding. Vandals or soldiers or both looted the properties of Clymer, Hall, Harrison, Hopkinson and Livingston. Seventeen lost everything they owned.

Thomas Heyward, Jr., Edward Rutledge and Arthur Middleton, all of South Carolina, were captured by the British during the Charleston Campaign in 1780. They were kept in dungeons at the St. Augustine Prison until exchanged a year later.

At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the family home for his headquarters. Nelson urged General George Washington to open fire upon his own home. This was done, and the home was destroyed.

Nelson later died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis also had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife for two months, and that and other hardships from the war so affected her health that she died only two years later.

"Honest John" Hart, a New Jersey farmer, was driven from his wife’s bedside when she was near death. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. Hart’s fields and his grist mill were laid waste. For over a year, he eluded capture by hiding in nearby forests. He never knew where his bed would be the next night and often slept in caves. When he finally returned home, he found that his wife had died, his children disappeared, and his farm and stock were completely destroyed. Hart himself dies in 1779 without ever seeing any of his family again. Such were the stories and sacrifices typical of those who risked everything to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Courtesy of Northwest Territory Alliance
Submitted to "NWTA Spy" by Bob Kieck, 6th Virginia Reg’t
Originally appeared on the Annapolis, Maryland, website

Digital scan of the Declaration of Independence
Full text of Declaration, including the signers

Selections From Poor Richard's Almanac

Poor Richard, 1735

Courteous Reader,

This is the third Time of my appearing in print, hitherto very much to my own Satisfaction, and, I have reason to hope, to the Satisfaction of the Publick also; for the Publick is generous, and has been very charitable and good to me. I should be ungrateful then, if I did not take every Opportunity of expressing my Gratitude; for ingratum si dixeris, omnia dixeris: I therefore return the Publick my most humble and hearty Thanks.

Look before, or you'll find yourself behind.

Approve not of him who commends all you say.

By diligence and patience, the mouse bit in two the cable.

Full of courtesie, full of craft.

Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise.

The poor man must walk to get meat for his stomach,
the rich man to get a stomach to his meat.

The Family of Fools is ancient.

Necessity never made a good bargain.

If Pride leads the Van, Beggary brings up the Rear.

Pain wastes the Body, Pleasures the Understanding.

Nothing but Money,
Is sweeter than Honey.

The King's cheese is half wasted in parings: But no matter, 'tis made of the peoples milk.

Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.

A Lie stands on 1 leg, Truth on 2.

It is better to take many Injuries than to give one.

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.

If what most men admire, they would despise,
'Twould look as if mankind were growing wise.

Reader, I wish thee Health, Wealth, Happiness,
And may kind Heaven thy Year's Industry bless.

R. Saunders (aka Benjamin Franklin)

Sources
  1. Campbellauctions.com
  2. Northwest Territory Alliance
  3. The City of Annapolis, Maryland
  4. National Archives and Records Administration
  5. Emory University School of Law
  6. Britannica.com
Further Links:

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