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CHAPTER III
SOCIAL CUSTOMS OF THE WARRENTON OF FORMER DAYS
The social life in Warrenton for the first fifty years
was of course primitive, but amusing and interesting. Notwithstanding that
many of the inhabitants were of good English stock, possessed of
respectable property in lands and negroes, and bringing with them the
traditions and habits of their race, yet Warrenton was so remote from the
social and fashionable centers that their life was quite simple. Some
descriptions of the times and habits of the people, as portrayed by one of
them, Ellen Mordecai, may be taken as fairly illustrative of the fashions
and customs, too, of the period up to the year 1840.
Ellen Mordecai was the oldest daughter of Jacob
Mordecai, who made his residence in Warrenton as early as 1792. He engaged
in business for some years. Later, in 1809, he opened the well-known
school for young ladies in Warrenton. Miss Ellen was one of his able
assistants. A young woman of fine mind, well trained and cultivated by
reading the best literature of the period, as well as by association with
persons of literary tastes, she also possessed a fine sense of humor and a
keen wit. While a young woman she began to write the history of Warrenton,
its people and their customs, calling it The History of Hastings, in the main giving fictitious
names to many of the citizens. She continued to write it for some years
after she ceased to reside in Warrenton. It has never been published, but
was bound in a substantial manner, and, after nearly a hundred years, is
in excellent preservation. It is written in a good bold hand, and,
although the ink has paled, it is easily read.
Miss Mordecai died in 1884, at the advanced age of
ninety-four years. The History of Hastings was found among her papers, at
the home of her nephew, Henry Mordecai, on the northern boundary of
Raleigh. It is now the valued possession of her great niece, Pattie
Mordecai, through whose kindly interest I have been permitted to make free
extracts.
A DINNER PARTY
Miss Mordecai gives an account of a dinner of 1815, by
one of the most prominent lawyers of the town, whom she calls Mr. Penrose,
but whose real name is easily recognized as Kemp Plummer, head and
ancestor of a large and distinguished family.
Many weeks after the ball described Mr. Penrose gave a dinner party. He
had a social disposition, a large family, and a very sweet wife, who
fulfilled all her various domestic duties as if she had been educated by
the mother of King Lemuel.
Their house was pleasantly situated near a pretty skirt of woods, and,
although not otherwise improved, the yard was green, and the natural
foliage that shaded it gave the place an inviting appearance, Lawyer Penrose by his
practice supported his family comfortably, his manners were cheerful and
pleasing, and he was consequently popular in the village.'. It was in
compliance with his wishes that Mrs. Penrose had invited her neighbours to
"a dinner," as it was called, the dinner hour being about two. o'clock.
The guests assembled between eleven and twelve in "the chamber," as the
bedroom of the mistress of the house was styled; this was the usual
sitting room. It was customary for the ladies to bring their knitting and
sewing and sit in one room, while the gentlemen assembled in the porch or
out under the trees in warm weather, or in a separate room in cold
weather; so they did not meet the ladies except at dinner, and then the
table was generally between them. Before dinner a large bowl of toddy was
made and, handed first to the ladies, and then to the gentlemen, each and
all drinking from the same vessel. There were two or three carriages in
the village, several kept by the neighboring families and, of course, by
all of those who lived a great distance from the town. Two were old
fashioned chariots; one was painted green with casement windows of four
panes; of course, very small. After all were assembled they discussed
their domestic affairs rather than the gossip of the village. One told of
her poultry, another of her spinning and weaving and dyeing she had been
engaged in, while getting ready the spring clothes for her darkies.
Another complained that she could not get her cotton ginned, and the
little niggers were so slow and sleepy-headed over their tasks of picking
cotton, that she was not at all forward with her work. While these
house-wives discussed their interests two very mischievous girls were
getting all the fun they could out of their surroundings. One had chosen a
good seat near the door, not that she had to seek admiration, for that
always sought her; but she said she liked to sit where she could see
people as they entered before they had been looked over at a party, like
old finery in a show case. She was first to see Patrick O'Connor as he
entered, as he was to see her so he looked perfectly charmed and entered the room in
a broad grin, showing every one of his full set of strong yellow teeth,
and he had a mouth large enough to hold them all comfortably. "Well," said
the young lady with emphasis, "look at Pat in a light green coat and pale
drab pantaloons here in March; he is first, if not the last in pea time.
When old Mrs. G. observes him she will feel she must be hastening home to
hurry her gardener." "Why should she?" asks her companion. "Oh, because
you know she always has a strawberry party on the first of May, and green
peas at dinner, or she will think her garden is backward." So after
bowing, shaking hands, and the usual greetings had been interchanged, he
took his seat. The privileged young lady said to him, "Mr. O'Connor, don't
you know that it is not the fashion for the gentlemen to be with the
ladies before dinner?" "Oh he came to get a relish for it," replied her
companion. "However, we will let you remain with us until you have gotten
off six puns; not one more, understand" — for he was an indefatigable
punster.
In the adjoining room the gentlemen discussing various topics of interest
while sprinkling Mrs. Penrose's home-made carpet with tobacco juice; are
now forced to circumscribe their circle as Straw has come in to spread the
cloth. Mrs. Penrose came in just then and told Straw to put some lightwood
in the fire while she replenished the toddy bowl. All necessary
preparations being made, Mrs. Pen-rose led the way into the dining room,
and as the company arose their chairs were hurried in to be placed at the
table, those of the gentlemen having already been previously placed for
the ladies. A well-filled table presented itself. The provisions were as
ample and various as the m111-pond, the smoke-house, the poultry yard and
the pig-pen allowed; nor were partridges or venison wanting. The
vegetables were not less various than the meats, while the whole was made
savory by home-made mustard, which is not bright of tint but pungent of
taste, and for those who dreaded its power, there were plates tastefully
filled with delicious pickles — yellow, black, green, and red.
All things followed each other in quick succession down the throats of
some of the guests like the animals entering the ark. All did ample
justice to the dinner.
After again quaffing from the toddy bowl, and its prim bottom becoming
visible once more, the laughing guests adjourned to the chamber. There
some of the men smoked long-stem pipes until sunset, when the ladies arose
to go to their several homes. Mr. Penrose would not hear of it: He
insisted upon their staying to tea, and singing some good old songs; .his
persuasions were strengthened by his sweet-tempered wife, so that most of
the guests yielded. After the dinner table was removed they returned to
the dining room, Soon after the guests were all seated comfortably,
forming a large sociable circle, Mrs. Penrose asked first one lady and
then the other for a song. All of course pleaded colds and nobody could
sing this evening; but as that was the way the concert commenced in the
village, the prelude was hopefully regarded, every one knowing who would
sing and what songs they should hear. So they all had their say, and then
awaited patiently the coming music. "Well." said Mr. Penrose to his wife,
as usual on such occasions, "Susan, we must set the example I see, by
singing Ould Robin Grey." She objected in vain; everyone insisted so
earnestly upon it, that she yielded; and not only were all the verses of
that beautiful old song sung, but a sequel to it, with quite as many, with
a merry description of Jeanie's happy life. After Ould Robin's death she
was united to her faithful lover, Jemmie. Many were the comments on this
song, and the merited happiness of the faithful pair. Of course after
this, many songs were sung, among them "Rise, Cynthia;" then "The
Soldier's Return," the singer demurring at the many verses; but In vain —
she had to sing them all. Every one heard this singer with much pleasure,
her fond mother among the rest. There sat the old lady, her hands crossed
in her lap, her spectacles in one of them, her own countenance with its
benign and intelligent expression,
showing that she could appreciate more intellectual feasts than her present
position furnished.
The usual number of songs had nearly been sung when Straw the respectable
house-servant, entered with tea. I must describe this old man's appearance for
it was unique, dressed as he was in an old coat of his master's, fitting him
pretty well, as the master and man were about the same size Straw appeared in
shorts, nankeen shorts with no stockings, displaying 'without reserve the large
calf of his leg. He wore shoes of course, and he now came stepping in, coat,
shorts, legs and all, holding with his sturdy grasp the large square waiter with
its perforated edges. It was filled with cups of tea and coffee, all sweetened
and creamed ready to be drunk, while on a second waiter an abundance of good
eatables were handed by Winny and by some of the guests. These seemed to be as
much relished as if they had not dined heartily at two o'clock.
After the mistress of the house had, as was the custom, inquired of each guest
in turn, "if their tea or coffee was agreeable," there was a general pause in
the conversation, which was not resumed until after tea was over. In the course
of the evening all kinds of preserved fruits handed as a refreshment on Straw's
large tray or waiter. It was the fashion of the day and consequently all
house-keepers, who could afford it, laid in large stores of beautiful
preserves, not to be veiled by pastry, but to be seen in all their
transparency or their want of it. This want was seldom their destiny, for
the dames of the village were very skillful in the art in question.
The evening was now advancing, for the old clock in the corner of the room
had struck ten, and that hour for the good people of the town was a late
one. There was now no opposition made to their departure; so while the
hopes of meeting again soon was being expressed on all sides, the guests
in a body took leave of their hospitable entertainers. It was a dark night
and the ladies with their escorts sought their homes. Doctor G's most
direct way was distinct from the rest, being on one of the streets in the
length of the village, and of the three the least frequented. The house of
Mr. Penrose stood at one extremity and Doctor U's at the other end. The
street was dark as Erebus, nor was it level for, being little used. It had
never been, as the people expressed it, "worked upon." Consequently the
natural slopes and gullies remained much as they were when the village was
settled. A descent, each way from Mr. Penrose's to that of Doctor U's met,
nearly opposite an old blacksmith shop, and this being the worst of the
way, the doctor hoped there to get a lightwood torch to help him on the
way. But the "last spark had flown upward" for that night from the old
vulcan'e forge, and he, most probably with his feet to the fire at his
wife's house, was nodding, a mile or two from his shop. This midway ground
was shaded by several line trees in summer, and as the cows of the village
were in the habit of reposing there at that season, they frequented the
spot at all others, so that in summer and winter, night and day, it was
their lounging spot. Here came Doctor G. among them an unexpected visitor.
He was striding along cautiously, so as to at least place each foot firmly
on sides of equal height among the gullies. This, for a space, he
succeeded in effecting, never for a moment apprehending a previous rise,
when a few momenta after, to his great surprise, he was lifted bodily from
the ground and moved backward with all the speed possible to be exercised
by the affrighted cow—over whose back he had decidedly stridden. One
audible breath from the cow's distended nostrils, and off she set at full
speed. He was bobbing and bumping about in this way when he found himself
suddenly dropped off in the grass at Mr. Penrose's gate. Old Cherry
deserved this fright for she might have come home in good time and on
better terms.
Doctor G's shouting for help as he passed the house brought Mr. Penrose
and the servants at the same time to the gate. Just as they reached it the
cow threw him off. Being a quick tempered man, "he was in a fine frenzy of
rolling" when Mr. Penrose first espied him. Fortunately he was only
a little bruised. After many inquiries and much brushing off, he was
conducted to the house where, after he had taken a little more toddy, and
become a little more composed, while describing his accident to Mr. and
Mrs. Penrose (who by the way could not remain perfectly serious at the
recital) the unlucky doctor was now ready to take his leave. Old Straw
turned up a lantern and escorted him. The story was never forgotten in the
village, but after the first day or two it was not repeated in the
doctor's presence; he being for some reason or other the first person to
tire of it.
Thus ended the day of the great dinner at Lawyer Penrose's.
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
When we read of the quiet, sane way in which the early Warrentonians kept
Christmas we can but compare it with the present manner of keeping the
Blessed Season. Now, Christ as, intended to be one especially of pleasure
for children, carrying out the myths, legends and traditions that have
come to us from the old countries in connection with its celebration from
earliest time, has become one mad rush, hurry and scramble in the stores,
beginning a full month ahead, for all the newspapers and show windows beg
that the shoppers begin early; many buying extravagantly, recklessly,
utterly unmindful of the appropriateness of the gift bought—anything, only
to be able to "square" off the obligation they feel they are under to a
friend or neighbor for a gift to them, even estimating the value us
compared with the one received by them. Also in the gifts to the children
in the family, the parents have lost sight of the aimple fact of the
passing pleasure to the child, or a gift ' for future usefulness, and
instead buy most extravagant toys, often crippling their resources for
several months.
The young people have become as necessary as the older folks, and simple
gifts, just the thought, the remembrance, has passed, and they demand the
best there is, unmindful of the expense.
The hanging up of the stocking, the waking early and happy over the
contents, the happy greetings around the breakfast table, the church
service, then the family dinner and reunion, have to an alarming extent
passed. Some few are left who spend hours in a book store, selecting with
the greatest care a gift for a friend, or mother who has noticed the need
of something to be replaced in the room or wardrobe of her child, or in
consideration of some especial desire an article is selected.
Miss Mordecai gives us some delightful particulars of the Christmas season
as it was passed by the people of the village. Their simple life and
customs made a lasting impression on her.
There were dancing and dinner parties in many homes on Christmas day, and
egg-nogg in all The respectable blacksmith's good and neighborly wife has
just returned from the next door, having carried a frosted cake to the
children of the household. Her husband, whose athletic form was always
clad in indigo blue home-spun, of the same deep tint from head. to foot,
with the exception of his shoes and hat, sat quietly at home before his
snug fire. His blacksmith's shop was shut today and his busy forge
suffered to cool. His cotton gin was put aside and, with an old friend to
sit and chat with him, his little dining room presented one of the many
varied scenes of domestic enjoyment. There stood his wife's low
listed-bottom chair beside the fireplace, near which was a slightly
sloping table where lay the large folio Bible, as usual. A neat teakettle
holder made of patchwork, and a small hearth broom hung beside the
mantelpiece, while before the fire was lying a cat asleep.
In another home there sat the sturdy Scotchman, his calm, dignified,
strongly marked features reminding one of a lion in tranquility. The eyes
of the old man kindled with animation as he recalled the highland scenes
of his loved Scottish home. And then he listened with interest to the
descriptions which his companion gave of those western territories, which
are now Union linked in States, where lands worn and wearied out by
injudicious cultivation were then covered by huge forest trees.
This present Christmas day's companion was a Mr. Per-son, a man of strong
sound sense whom "nature cast in a gentleman's mould." His characteristics
were discernment, shrewdness, enterprise and perseverance. He had the
education that good sense derives from general inter-course with men, add
to this the essentials for business, and beyond, Mr. Person with the rest
of his contemporaries had had few scholastic advantages. But like a
ship-wrecked man on a desert island with only a single instrument, which
necessarily obliged him to apply to all purposes, he discovered its
various powers so it was with him judicious in appliances, analogical in
comparison. He was seldom at a loss, and what might have been wanting in
learning, was supplied by observation and practical sense. Few men were
more interesting in conversation and none evinced more innate chivalry
than he, in his invariably courteous manners to the female sex, though his
offered hand was rough, and its possessor not infrequently clad in a
blanket great-coat. Mr. Person inherited a large landed estate from his
father, Colonel Person, an officer in the
American Revolution. His son. though he resided with his
family in the vicinity of Warrenton, was one among the first emigrants to the
West; Mere on the banks of the Mississippi he took up large tracts' of 'land
which he frequently visited, at a time when there were no facilities for
traveling, nor any accommodations on the road, save such as were afforded by the
Indians in their rude villages. Mr. Person therefore traveled on horseback and
on foot, sleeping often on the ground, covered with blankets, and not
unfrequently warmed by the addition of a snow wreath, which we have heard him
say caused him to wake in the morning glowing with heat. Indeed when he first
moved his slaves to his Mississippi plantation he had to make the road as he
went — "felling trees for the passage of his wagons through the wilderness, as
the eastern part of Tennessee was then called; making rafts to cross the
intervening rivers; and after transporting his goods by these means, he
disembarked on the other side, and, having no further use for them, left the
rafts to float down the rivers. In the course of his conversation with his old
Scottish friend this gentleman related some of the customs of the Choctaw tribe
of Indians, who owned at that time the lands in what was known as the
Mississippi Territory, but now divided into States.
STYLES OP WOMEN'S COSTUME
Mrs. Galespie, who was the oracle of the village, wore
a man's straw hat with a broad green ribbon around the crown, while a
narrower piece going over the hat was tied under the old lady's chin.
These hats were not imported by Kitchen Crump from Leghorn, but he
probably grew the wheat, plaited the straw and, manufactured the hat, and
good strong ones they were. Nor 'were Crump's wool hats for the winter
made more perishable. So he crowned all heads in the village, man and boy,
from Mr. Falkener; one of the most conspicuous characters in the town,
down to old Daddy Breechy, the African, who used to bring walnuts in his
wallet and sell them at the door.
At that time the meaning of the word fashion was not understood in the
village, but a letter or by some means a report, reached the village that
a great change was to be wrought in the mode of arranging the hair. The
tresses of the dames and of the damsels had been collected in one smooth
fold at the back of the neck, and depending from a comb behind the head or
hanging in a single braid,, a tortoise shell or horn comb extending from
ear to ear fitted over the head and stuck in the hair to confine it to the
skull. The hair was now, so report said, to be combed up and even tied on
the top of the head, and the long comb called off by this new mode. But
the ladies of the village were shocked at this idea; some apprehended
rheumatism in the back of the neck, some thought it would be indecent to
thus expose the back of the neck, some became partially bald by adhering
to this style. As for the gentlemen, the tailors had no difficulty with
them. They gave each one a cut that fitted him for life. The skirt of the
coat was long and very full and almost touched the ground; the large
square collar fell fiat over the back; pockets and deep flaps were so low
that Mr. Plummer said when Mr. Falkener wished to use his pocket he had to
stand on, a stump to reach, it. "For my part," said Mr, Davidson, the
little Englishman, "Tho' I have heard this a hundred times, and repeated
it half as often, I have never been able. to discover the luster of this
wit which is considered very bright in the village, but I don't know that.
it would have shone through a November fog on the water."
End of Chapter III Source:Montgomery, Lizzie Wilson;
Sketches of
old Warrenton,
North Carolina; traditions and reminiscences of
the town and people who made it, Raleigh,
Edwards & Broughton printing company, 1924.
©2004 by
Nola Duffy &
Ginger L.
Christmas-Beattie. |
