Passion for the Past

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Sam Daggett's House: Its History Before Greenfield Village

Today's post will be loaded with old (mostly black & white) photos of the Daggett House - most of which were acquired from (and are here through the courtesy of) the Benson Ford Research Center library on the campus of The Henry Ford. Other pictures I found through my own outside research, including the Andover Historical Society in Andover, Connecticut. Of course, there are a few of the more current pictures that I took that are also included. I mean, every picture tells a story, right? Either way, I found there is quite a bit of great Daggett information rarely heard or even known/remembered out there, and, for those of us who like to go deeper than the average bear in our research, I'd like to share some of my findings.

~ ~ ~

*Anything of what you are about to read that is italicized comes directly from the archives or may be quoted from elsewhere.

From the video of the same name.

It speaks of Samuel Daggett and his family,

and of the house and how it was brought

to Greenfield Village.

What?---more on the Daggetts?

Yup!

I've had multiple people actually tell me that I'm obsessed with this house.

I laugh at that - I've seen and heard of people who have real obsessions, like some who watch football:

"I watch two games on Sunday. I tape three, then I watch the Monday game; Tuesday I watch one of the three I taped, Wednesday I watch another one...I watch the Thursday night game, then Friday I watch the Sunday night game. Saturday I watch college football."

Bill Burr (comedian)

Now, I would say that is a bit obsessive.

But it's cool - it's what he loves.

My point is, no one blinks an eye at sports obsessions, but me visiting the Daggett House once a week or so, researching the family, and perhaps writing blog posts about it is somehow extreme?

For me Samuel Daggett, his family and his life, just seems to fit the criteria of me if I had lived back in those mid-18th century days.

But, as for my passion for this house:

A) The house is an authentic historical artifact that was built around 1750 (my favorite time-period)

B) It is restored to look as it may have during the last half of the 18th century (yes!!)

C) As it sits inside Greenfield Village, period-dress presenters work in and around the house, doing chores and activities of those who actually lived in it when it was first built (I, myself, have watched and learned and then researched and even taught a little as well)

D) This more than likely would have been my life had I'da' lived back then (and I'm sort of experiencing it every visit to the frontier cabin - see links at the bottom of this post)

E) It is the only historical house of its kind in not only metro-Detroit, but in all of Michigan, and I even know of a husband and wife who replicated this house on their own property!

So I also run a Daggett Facebook Fan page (Friends of the Daggett House), and a few times a week at the minimum I try to post pictures I take during my frequent visits, as well as information about either the family, the house, or of the times in which the family lived. It was during one of these quick posts that I came up with the idea for this week's blog to show a history of the house itself from its beginning through when it was first brought and restored at Greenfield Village back in the late 1970s.

Darn! More research!

Here 'tis!
Greetings from the 18th century!

Let's begin by discussing the architectural style of the Daggett house. What is known as a saltbox-style house was called either a lean-to or a breakback during the 18th century, and it was a very popular architectural style in colonial Connecticut. This type of architecture design is a direct descendent of rural houses in medieval England. English settlers created this manner of engineering by adapting said medieval house form to meet the different needs and weather of northeast America. The most distinctive feature is the asymmetrical gable roof, which has a short roof plane in the front and a long roof plane in the rear, extending over a lean-to - in this case, the kitchen. I have read that this form got its "saltbox" name years later from the similarly shaped small chests used for storing salt at that time. It's design also reveals the layout of the interior where little effort is made to disguise the wooden structural members.

The style was perfect for the harsh New England climate.

Painting by Ian Kushnir

It seems the more I research, the more I've come to find that there is an interesting history here, greater than originally thought, and coming from a different angle.

It is interesting to note that when this "Wells Saltbox House" / “Connecticut Saltbox House” (as it was known during its early years at Greenfield Village) was acquired by The Henry Ford, it had very little attached history to it. Just the basics and enough to make its acquisition worth while. It wasn’t until after it was brought and reconstructed at the Village that any deep research was done on the family who once lived in it. But it took time to dig up the information that we now consider commonplace:

So here in the 2020s we know that the builder and original owner was a man named Samuel Daggett, who was born on February 3, 1722, in Lebanon, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America. His father, Deacon John Daggett, was 24, and his mother, Margery Eames, was 27. Samuel married Ann Bushnell on April 17, 1754, in Lebanon, Connecticut. When Ann was born on April 12, 1733, in Norwich, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America, her father, Nathaniel Bushnell, was 47, and her mother, Mehetable Allen, was 38.

In the collection of photographs here we have the earliest known images of
the Daggett House as it sat in its original location where Samuel built it
in Andover, Connecticut.

The house looks a bit ramshackled in these pictures because, well,
it was a bit ramshackled before it was sold to Mary Wells in 1951.

When this housewright (and farmer) built his house he, as mentioned, erected it in Coventry (now Andover), Connecticut around the year 1750, on a spot known as Shoddy Mill Road atop 80 acres of land, half of which had been deeded to him by his father. As far as I have been able to find, the house was built just a few years before he married Anna Bushnell in April of 1754. Samuel and Anna had three children: daughters Asenath (b. 1755) and Talitha (possibly known as Tabitha, but Talitha is on most records), born 1757, and a son, Isaiah, who was the youngest and was born in 1759.

In this picture we see the house was being prepared to be taken apart
and moved about 35 miles away, from Andover, Connecticut to Union.

It's interesting, and yet a little sad, to see my favorite house in this state & condition.
However, from this perspective, I do know its future.
And it's a good one!

Yes, pretty debilitated, I would say~
As is written on the photograph:
"A rearview of the back of the saltbox prior to its 1951 restoration. There are
fewer windows, and a door. The building off the back is a shed not original
to the 18th century."

Not as good of resolution but we can see the back shed a little better.

And here's a nice, clear shot.

I really like the idea that what we are seeing in the above black & white photos is the house where Samuel Daggett originally built it before it was removed to Union. I only wish they would have taken photos of the surrounding property. Well, at least we have these.

From what I recall when the house was first brought to Greenfield Village, there were questions and uncertainties on the original owner. As previously stated it was called either the Connecticut Saltbox House or the Wells House. This is how it was listed in the old guide books. In fact, there is still a small plaque located on the back of the house:

Yep---the plaque of the donor is still there!

Now, it was the contacts The Henry Ford / Edison Institute made who were able to locate the original builder and owner of this house. As Timothy J. Chester wrote in an article, now in the files of the Benson Ford Research Center: "The principle researchers within the Andover Historical Society are Margaret Hamilton Talbot, wife of the real estate agent who sold Mrs. Wells the house, and a Mr. Phillip Brass, Ph. D., both of Andover. Mr. Brass, using land and probate records, has drawn up land ownership maps of the Andover area for the years 1710 through 1790. In the opinion of these local historians, the Wells saltbox house was occupied and built by Samuel Daggett, a housewright.

As no other plausible history of ownership has been offered, the feasibility of Daggett ownership deserves to be tested."

And test they did, digging deep into their archives:

From the Collections of The Henry Ford
we have a wonderful map of the land owners
of Andover in 1750, right around the time
Samuel built his home.

1720 - "Saltbox" land not yet purchased from representatives of legatees

1730 - "Saltbox" land still held by proprietors

1732 - "Saltbox" land purchased by Capt. Joseph Swetland, of Hebron, presumably as an investment

1740 - 90 acres of this land purchased of Swetland by John Daggett of Lebanon---approximately 20 acres owned by Obadiah Newcombe of Hebron; approximately 40 acres retained by Capt. Swetland

1744 - 40 acres of John Daggett's Coventry land is deeded to his eldest son, Samuel Daggett

174? - Samuel Daggett acquires adjoining 40 acres from Capt. Joseph Swetland of Hebron

1746 - Samuel Daggett begins to reside on his Coventry land

1757 - Mention is made of Samuel's house in Coventry

*Note* - - this does not mean 1757 is when the house was built. It was common to have a house/homestead ready for a new bride and future kids, so I still believe it was built around 1750 or somewhere during the early 1750s~

1764 - John Daggett wills the remainder of his Coventry land to his eldest son, Samuel Daggett, excepting 20 acres set aside for Samuel's younger brother, John Daggett Jr.

Estate of Obadiah Newcombe goes bankrupt

1772 - John Daggett Jr. sells 20 acres to Samuel

1798 - Will of Samuel Daggett mentions his cider mill near his house and workshop. It is pertinent to note that the house site area is today surrounded by the remains of an extensive apple orchard.

Upon review of the above material, and of land abstract maps prepared by Phillip Brass, the following facts have been extracted:

The original site of the saltbox house now in Greenfield Village was on land owned by Samuel Daggett of Coventry, Connecticut. Reasonable evidence exists to show that it was unlikely that a house stood on the land before purchase by John Daggett in 1740. The land was Indian land until 1708, and not purchased for reasons other than speculation until John Daggett acquired it. As John Daggett had his own house and land in Lebanon, it may be supposed that he did not build a house upon the Coventry land.

Four years later, his son's reaching the age majority (maturity?), he deeded forty acres of this land to his son Samuel, specifically referring to him as a "housewright" by trade. By 1746, Samuel no longer lived with his parents, but was a legal resident of Coventry, presumably living in some sort of primitive shelter upon his land. By 1758, Samuel was married (and we learned he married in 1754), and in 1759 was listed as having a house on his land. (Again, with he and Anna actually marrying in 1754, I believe he had a house already for her and did not live with her in "some sort of primitive shelter," but in an actual house - probably the one we all know and love now in Greenfield Village).

It is unlikely that Samuel had more than one house on his land, as only one house is mentioned in his will. The same house remained in the hands of Anna Daggett, Samuel's wife, until her death in 1832. A detailed map drawn up in 1839 for the Hartford/Providence/Fishkill Railroad shows a house to be on the Daggett land.

Conclusion

The Wells saltbox house was, without a doubt, owned by the Daggett family, as both fact and native tradition attests.

The conclusion also attests to the house possibly being built as early as 1746.

As late as 1983 this house was listed in the Greenfield Village guidebooks as The Connecticut Saltbox House, and then the next guidebook that I purchased, from 1989, called it the Home of Samuel Daggett. And right around that time - the late 1980s - comments from the Village Planning Committee mentions, "Glad to see a name change on the Daggett House! Never could understand why a 1760s interpretation was given a late 19th century name." (The "saltbox" term was not used to describe this architectural design until sometime in the mid-to-late 1800s)~

And, if we also look over the information from Timothy Chester, we can also conclude that Samuel Daggett had 160 acres of land by 1772 (increased from 40 in 1744 and 80 in 1746). By 1791, according to the tax list, this had reached 218 acres, but only 16 acres of this total was plowed land. By looking over Samuel's account books and digging through the Benson Ford sources, we learn that the following are crops he mentions:

~hay

~rye

~wheat

~corn

~barley

~oats

~flaxseed (he likely took this to a linseed oil mill in the local area)

~beans

~potatoes

~hops

~tobacco

~apples (cider)

~turnips

and here are a few of the crops mentioned in his will that he bequeathed to Anna:

-wheat

-rye

-corn

-apples

Just to note how important apples for cider was to Samuel, from his own account book we see that in the year 1763 "I made 21 barils of cider"

1764 - 7 barils

1765 - 16 barils

1766 - 8 barils

1767 - 10 barils

1768 - 20 barils

1769 - 19 barils

By the way, it takes approximately 30 to 40 apples to yield one gallon of cider, and, depending on the size of the barrel used, about 40 gallons of cider, or slightly more, would fill an 18th century barrel.

And it would take about 60 to 65 gallons (or more, depending) to fill a hogshead,
as seen in the Daggett kitchen below:

Here is a great comparison of a couple of barrels to the larger hogshead (on the left).
This photo was taken inside the Daggett kitchen.

I suppose in a way I like to think that the world of Sam Daggett is being represented in the pictures here, for I have little doubt his apple yield was similar to what you see here. Yes, in the top photo with me standing in front of thousands of apples, that is Samuel's house there on the right - I did a little computer photo-trickery in this picture, as a composite of four photos.
The other two are as you see them.

Cider presses in Samuel Daggett's time were stationary, so the references to "my cider mill" in his will probably describes an actual physical place on the farmstead. This could have described the common-type of mill where the ripe apples were first shoveled into a round trough, where they were crushed by a horse-drawn roller. Then the pulp was carried to a press where the juice was extracted. Not all farmers had these--they were often shared with neighbors, with the work being done communally. However, there is a reference in the account book to Daggett working on at least one other farmer's cider mill (probably helping to get it in working order).

"In early winter the amber juice of autumn sat hissing and bubbling in the cellar in the most active stage of fermentation, a process which came to be described poetically as the 'singing of the cider' "

(Laurel Thatcher Ulrich)

He also mentions livestock in his account books:

+swine ("pork")

+beef cattle ("beef," "veal," "tanned calfskin")

+dairy cattle ("cheese," "butter")

+sheep ("mutton"---these also would have been raised for wool)

And there is the stock mentioned in various tax lists through the years:

+oxen

+cows

+horses

and in his will:

+heifers (a cow under 3 years of age that had not produced a calf)

+steers (castrated male bovine - could also be an ox)

+barrow hog (a hog that weighs more than 120 pounds and was raised for market)

+sow (a female pig)

+three swine

+two shoats (a young weaned pig)

+twenty two sheep

Besides building his own home, Samuel Daggett also framed nearly every other house in the surrounding area, as his account book at the Connecticut Historical Society attests.

As an adult, Isaiah Daggett, Sam's son, purchased land for a house from his father in 1793. According to a Daggett family diary, Isaiah built his house not too far from his parents' in Andover in 1805. The Daggett daughters married and moved off to raise their own families, one moving as far away as New York.

Samuel died on August 24, 1798, in Andover, Connecticut, at the age of 76, and was buried in Andover, Connecticut.

(from Family Search)

I did learn from the Greenfield Village research that Anna remained in the house her husband built until her death on January 28, 1832 (at the age of 98), and that's most likely where she died as well.

Encircled are gravestones belonging to the Daggetts
in the Old Andover Cemetery.
(Picture taken by Steven Lindsey)

Both Samuel & Anna are buried next to each other in the Old Andover Cemetery not far from where the family home once stood. Also, two of their children, Talitha and Isaiah, remained in the same area where they were born, while Asenath moved north to New York state.

“Prior to its acquisition by the Edison Institute” (as The Henry Ford was known in the 1970s), “the house stood in the town of Union, Connecticut where it was moved" (from its original location in Coventry - now Andover - Connecticut) "and restored by Mary Dana Wells in 1951."

So what happened to the house - who lived there - between Anna Daggett's death and when Mrs. Wells purchased it?

It was known as the Jack Hunt House when a man named Mr. George Watson first became aware of it (more on Watson shortly), for Mr. Hunt was considered the last owner before Wells took it over; but how about before him?

It is unfortunate that I have no information to give on that, nor any information about Jack Hunt.

One thing we do know: whoever owned it in the 19th century "updated" the structure by overlaying it with the popular Victorian styles, of which was removed when Mrs. Wells purchased the house. I, unfortunately, have no pictures of its 19th century "updated" look during this time.

The Daggett House when it belonged to Mary Dana Wells in the 1950s.
This was taken after the move from Andover to Union and after her restoration.

As noted in the collection of photos toward the top of this post, this structure was in a sadly dilapidated state when discovered by George Watson, who was an architect and restorer that worked at Old Sturbridge Village, the open-air museum located in in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Old Sturbridge Village, presents "a vivid and unforgettable portrait of life in a country village in (early 1800s) New England. With more than forty buildings----ranging from private homes to a working sawmill and gristmill----and an ambitious program of using interpreters in period clothing to interact with and educate visitors, Old Sturbridge Village has made the past come alive for millions of people. It's these presentations that document the work and daily life of a past that might otherwise be forgotten."

Due to his extensive knowledge and noting how rough both the interior and exterior of the house was, Mr. Watson felt it had been over ten years since anyone lived in the "Jack Hunt house," so he pitched the idea of it being removed and restored at Old Sturbridge Village. However, there was no interest in its removal to that open-air museum because of the early date in which it was built, as evidenced in its construction; it was not appropriate to the 1790 to 1840 span of collections in which Old Sturbridge Village portrays.

It was Watson, then, who brought Mary Dana Wells' attention to this house. When she had much of the 19th century overlay removed, she exposed "its original unbalanced facade. Its typical 18th century design prompted Mrs. Wells to purchase the building."

Once Mrs. Wells purchased the home she had it removed from Andover to approximately 35 miles southwest to Union, Connecticut, in 1951 where she applied her restoration to the house. Mr. Watson noted that had Mrs. Wells not purchased the home, it would not have lasted much longer.

It is mentioned that the only change made when the house was moved to Greenfield
Village was on the outside wall of the parlor where they found a portion of the
house was rotting. The workers cut in the room a bit and were able to make it work,
though it was now slightly smaller in width.

However:

...I see this cut while the house still belonged to Mrs. Wells, so I have
to question whether or not she was the one who actually had it done or whether it
was the Greenfield Village restorers who did it.

Fact is fact, and the cut is plainly seen in these Wells photographs before the house's removal to Greenfield Village. In my opinion, knowing the way the folks at Greenfield Village work, I believe if they noticed rotting wood they would have replaced it, similar in the way they had replaced the rear kitchen wall where Mrs. Wells had the addition affixed, as can be seen in the two pictures above and the one below.

Unfortunately, the Benson Ford Research Center has been closed
to the public since Covid, so I cannot delve deeper into the matter.
But, mind you, I will when the opportunity arises.

The structure served as Wells' home for the next 26 years, until she could no longer keep it in its pristine colonial condition.

While she lived in it, she treated it as her home, and, as a collector of antiques, she decorated the house as best she could in an 18th century manner, and even included a few objects from a hundred years earlier - a mix n match of the 17th and 18th centuries. There is a fascinating local pictorial called, "Living With Antiques," in which we get a wonderful view of the house during her time as the owner. The article, from 1963, states what Wells "has achieved in only eight years or so," hinting she began her work in earnest in 1955. Wells is also quoted in a film about her restored home as saying that in the winter she could not get the house warmer than 55 degrees, even with all of the fireplaces going!

A cold New England Winter at the Wells home.
Here is a full view of the rear addition she had added.

For the following few pictures I included my own more recent shots to give the reader a better idea of the look from when Mary Dana Wells owned it: the black & white photos are of when it belonged to Mrs. Wells, and the color pictures that I took shows how it looks fully restored back to its 18th century appearance roughly from the same angle.

Above:
Mary Dana Wells living quarters...
Below:
the same angle as it looks restored in Greenfield Village

Above:
The same living quarters, from the opposite angle...
Below:
Restored today

Above:
the front wall of the same room - Mrs. Wells' living quarters (or her living room)
Below:
as it looks today - -

Above:
and the kitchen (though I do not see the addition she put on)
Below:
the kitchen restored - - - -

It was in 1977 that Mrs. Wells decided to donate this wonderful representation of colonial New England America, complete with most of the colonial furnishings she collected, as well as an endowment fund to maintain it, to Greenfield Village. Unlike Old Sturbridge Village, Greenfield Village, which shows over 300 years of American history, readily and happily accepted such a gift!

Restoration specialists (and old friend of the house and Mrs. Wells), George Watson, as well as Donald Graham watched carefully as the Greenfield Village crew painstakingly dismantled the house and diligently reconstructed the numbered pieces at the far-end of the Village.

Still in Union, Connecticut - before carefully removing the boards...
...and after.

We can see how each board and each stone was removed, then numbered,
to be put back together at Greenfield Village.

The entire restoration works like a puzzle.
And between this photo and the one below, the beams Samuel Daggett himself
hewed by hand can easily be seen.

The frame that Samuel Daggett himself built.
How cool to see this!

The 1977/78 dismantling of the Daggett House to bring to Greenfield Village continues...

You can make out the fireplace and the beehive (or bake) oven on the 1st floor,

and the hall chamber fireplace on the 2nd floor.

And the restoration below~

With continuous labor, the house was ready for public viewing by the 1978 season.

The back wing Mrs. Wells added to the rear of the structure to provide a modern kitchen, auxiliary room, and garage was, thankfully, not brought to Greenfield Village.

And...

The late 1980s inside Greenfield Village~
(I am not certain who took this photograph)
From the files of former historic interpreter, Fred Priebe

Here we have the Daggett House as it looked in the late 1980s, all restored and settled in what will probably be its final resting place. It was at this time that Fred Priebe, who passed away in 2020, portrayed Samuel Daggett, back when Greenfield Village experimented a little here and there with the 1st person presentation.

I remember back in the 1980s when I began to visit Greenfield Village more and more, and more specifically, the Daggett House, so I must have seen Fred speak, but I simply cannot recall it personally.

Anyhow, before he passed away, Fred gave me quite a few of his Greenfield Village papers, including the speech he gave - memorized - as Samuel Daggett. Here is a portion of it:

"You town folks and neighbors come gather by and give an ear to Sam Daggett. Most of you know me, by name or by sight, a patient and God-fearing friend and neighbor. Why, I helped build some of your houses and barns...

I pray you listen to me now, 'cause there's a fire kindlin' under me in this year of 17 and 87 that's roarin' a storm within, and I can't lay it by."

The speech then goes into a historical oratory, and included thoughts on Shay's Rebellion and the Articles of the Confederation, among other things, which I found to be pretty fascinating.

Oh! How I wish I could remember hearing it!

And how I wish Greenfield Village would revise this moment in time!

Next we a picture going back to May 8, 1988 from the Detroit Free Press.

Note the man in the middle - Mr. Fred Priebe, in the days he portrayed Samuel Daggett.

From the files of Fred Priebe

Now, what about the antiques Mrs. Wells had inside the home?

The hall (bed) chamber, located directly above the great hall.

Now used for storage, this could have been the room where Talitha and Asenath slept.

It's here where the furniture of Mrs. Wells is now kept, numbered, wrapped, and covered.

I was told it was specified by her that her furniture was to remain in the house as

part of the deal. Since it was not all correct to the period in which Greenfield Village

wanted to represent, they held up their end of the deal and kept the furniture

inside the home, even though it's not displayed downstairs.

Before the Daggett House was brought to Greenfield Village, the Plympton House was one of the main historic houses used to show colonial life, as was the Susquehanna Plantation (though they have discovered since that the Susquehanna House was not as old as they originally thought, that it was actually from the mid-19th century, so now they present it as such).

A still from the Daggett video~

It was easy to see that the Daggett House was something special, something more suitable for their interpretive plans. In fact, they even made a thirty minute documentary film about the house, "Sam Daggett: 600 Miles from Home." After much searching, I was finally able to obtain a VHS-to-DVD of this film, and it includes so much information about the house's history, how they acquired, disassembled, moved, and re-assembled/restored this, my favorite house, and, along the way, the film intersperses short acting vignettes of people portraying the Daggett family.

What I liked seeing most was how, for the most part, the house was restored by using many of the same type of tools and tactics as Samuel Daggett himself used when he originally built the house way back when!

It's been a long-time coming for me to finally own a copy of this film - I've wanted it ever since I heard about it. Many thanks to my friend who was able to get me a copy!

Another Daggett-related item is this:

A very interesting cookbook was published in 1979 by former Greenfield Village
presenter-turned-author Margaret Chalmers

Colonial Fireplace Cooking & Early American Recipes. was published in 1979, only a year after the Daggett House was restored and re-erected inside Greenfield Village, and includes:

General Directions for Fireplace Cooking,

Fireplace Utensils,

Cooking Utensils,

Care of Black Iron Pots,

and Methods of Cooking.

Then there are pages of recipes for such early American delights as various ciders, fritters, pies, stews, breads, wassail, fish, desserts, meats & vegetables, and so on. Mrs. Chalmers also shows how to recreate her dishes using one’s own fireplace.

What I found interesting is that in 1971 she taught hearth cooking at Greenfield Village in, as she writes, “…the colonial kitchen of Clinton Inn at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.

There is nothing to compare with the rich smell of burning wood or peat intermingled with the fragrant odor of fresh breads and stews being cooked over an open fire.”

Oftentimes her own daughter, Kerry, would help.

I took this 35 mm photo back in October of 2001.
When I posted it on the "Friends of Daggett House" Facebook page, a few former presenters noted that the hogshead there had dishes upon it, which, because this hogshead is an original 18th century piece, is a definite no-no today.
Either way, I absolutely love how this kitchen looks, with the foodstuffs being preserved by hanging to dry out. Just everywhere your eye goes, preservation is occurring.

I wonder if Mrs. Chalmers initiated and taught the hearth cooking inside the Daggett House once it was placed inside the Village? I do know that previous presenters there have passed down to new presenters their hearth cooking knowledge, skills, and secrets, just as a colonial mother would have to her daughter(s).

This book's illustrator, Margaret McAlister, worked with arts and crafts at The Edison Institute (now known as The Henry Ford) since 1933, and she was the art teacher for children attending the Greenfield Village Schools for many years.

She sketched the wonderful piece of art below that has been placed inside Margaret Chalmer's book:

It is pretty telling that the book's author/chef cooked on the hearth in the kitchen at the Eagle Tavern (then the Clinton Inn) but includes this particular home as the only other artwork, aside from the cover art.

From what I was told by a few of the older "retired" Daggett presenters, Greenfield Village would have their Daggett interpreters watch the docu-drama called "A Midwife's Tale," for it very accurately depicts very close of what it may have been like living at the time of the Daggetts. It reminds me of the Daggett way of life, to be honest.

Ross Grover with Dorothy Bastien - both former Greenfield Village presenters from long ago - both were early Daggett presenters. Ross was also the Cotswold blacksmith.
Many longtime Greenfield Village visitors may remember Ross walking Sam & Jeb, the two oxen seen here, throughout the Village streets to different locations, including to Daggett, as seen here.

I highly recommend "A Midwife's Tale." In fact, I wrote a blog post about it - check it out HERE

It is to my understanding that there has been some recent talk on planting a few heirloom apple trees over near the Daggett House...as there should be; cider was important to the man and his family and without it, not all of the story is being told.

Personally, this is what I'd love to see, and include the stories of the agricultural changes between 1760s Daggett and the 1880s Firestone Farm (on the other side of the Village) so the changes can be seen as well as heard.

I hope that those who are familiar with and have visited the Daggett House now have an even greater understanding of this structure's importance in American history. It took quite a bit of digging to find information about Samuel Daggett and the house he built, since no one famous - not a Washington, Franklin, Adams, Revere, or Jefferson - ever lived in or even stepped through the doors for a visit. But in itself, in all consideration, this was an early American family that lived here. A family that were at one time a part of colonial America. Then, after the Revolutionary War and Independence, they were first citizens.

All right here.

And it was men like Samuel Daggett, along with his wife Anna and their children, that helped to make America.

Now for something kinda cool:

remember that hard-to-find Daggett film from 1979 I mentioned earlier?
Well, here are three clips taken from it:

Before we take our leave, here is an interesting story I recently learned about the Daggett Community that goes way back to Coventry over 250 years ago when the Daggett family were alive and living in this house:

As it sits inside Greenfield Village -
but there is another Coventry story to tell...

I know this wonderful community map is already here
in this post, but it is important to this story.
Please note the encircled name, upper right:
Richard Hale.

I love historical research, and friends who "know and share stuff"!

Nathan Hale statue.

As you know, I am always searching and re-searching for more information about the Daggetts and their lives. Well, my good friend, Larissa, pointed out something I never knew:

Nathan Hale, the American Patriot, soldier, and spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, was born and raised in Coventry, Connecticut - just a hop, skip, and a jump from where this Daggett house originally stood!

(Sadly, Nathan Hale was found out as a spy - caught by Robert Rogers of Queen's Rangers fame - and hung when he was just 21 years old)~

And Nathan Hale's father's name was Richard (who, like Sam Daggett, was a Deacon at the local church - - so...look on this map...in the upper right area of names encircled in a dark gray...in my opinion, I would be very much surprised if the Hales and Daggetts did not know each other pretty well, being from such a small rural area, and with Samuel not only being a Deacon at the local church, but also the jack-of-all-trades that he was - - - he was a well-known man about town!

How cool is this?

To think Nathan Hale most likely saw this very same house that's now sitting inside Greenfield Village - - !

I only regret I learned about this now - - oh well, better Nate than lever!

Until next time, see you in time.

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I put together numerous Daggett clips I made to give a tour of how it is presented today:

Click HERE for a more current video tour of the Daggett House

Click HERE for the first post on the Daggetts and their home - lots of information and loaded with photos.

Click HERE for my second post on the Daggetts and their home, which has a greater understanding of how the Daggetts lived in the 1760s.

Click HERE to learn about the Daggett Well Sweep and how it was made.

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Epilogue:

If you are a regular, or even casual, reader of this Passion for the Past blog, then you probably know how I enjoy dressing in my period clothing and spending my time in and around this mid-18th century home of Samuel Daggett's, emulating his time, oftentimes enjoying talks with some of the presenters who work there. You also know how I admire the cooking, crafts, and chores they do as well that helps to bring the past to life.

And you can probably guess how I've truly longed to be a part of it.

Well, that dream has come true to a very large degree...and more, actually;

over the past few years (and still continuing on) I've gotten to experience some of the most gratifying living history experiences ever: a few of us bring 18th century activities to life nearly a half dozen times a year in an immersion sort of way...experiencing the past rather than just speaking about or watching it.

And most times with no public about - just us and the past.

It all came about when I had a dream that I was in the Daggett House...but I wasn't just visiting - I was in my period clothing and actually working there! But I wasn't working as an employee of Greenfield Village - - - for some reason I, and a few others with me, were allowed to make the house come to life by actually living there, as if it were 1770. Well, you can imagine my disappointment when I woke up. But it got me to thinking - - what if...hmmm? And that's when I thought of the only place that ever allowed me, with a few chosen people, to make a historic place my home (aside from Charlton Park & Detroit's Historic Fort Wayne). So with a few living history friends I discussed my dream / idea and planned out what initially was our A Fall Harvest Day in 1770.

It grew from there, and below are the links to each of our immersive experiences there...kinda my life as a Daggett:

To read about our 2020 autumn excursion at the cabin, click HERE

To read about our 2021 wintertime excursion at the cabin, click HERE

To read about our 2021 springtime excursion at the cabin, click HERE

To read about our 2021 summertime excursion at the cabin, click HERE

To read about our 2021 summer harvesting of the flax at the cabin, click HERE

To read about our 2021 autumn excursion making candles at the cabin, click HERE

To read about our 2022 winter excursion at the cabin, please click HERE

To read about our 2022 spring excursion at the cabin, please click HERE

To read about our 2022 summer excursion at the cabin, please click HERE

To read about our 2022 autumn excursion at the cabin (Pioneer Day), please click HERE

To read about our 2023 winter excursion at the cabin - Candlemas, please click HERE

To read about our 2023 spring excursion at the cabin - Rogation Sunday, please click HERE

To read about our 2023 late spring - more planting at the cabin (& early farming history), click HERE

To read about the 2023 early summer weeding at the cabin (and a timeline event), please click HERE

To read about our 2023 summer excursion at the cabin (Lammas Day), please click HERE

So...what's the history of your house?

Here's mine...sort of - -

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Thursday, September 7, 2023

The Wonderful World of Eric Sloane: An American Historian & Patriot

History people always have their "go to" books for information.

I have many that fit into such a category. But there is a certain collection that really has America's past - from colonial through Victorian through early 20th century - in its heart & soul, more than most of the others. I mean, if you want to know what our ancestors knew and how they saw their world, well...what you are about to read will be a guide for you.

....~~~~~~....~~~~~....~~~~...

So it was one day, as I flipped through the book selection in the Greenfield Village gift shop - in the old days one could find the most amazing history books there - I came upon a book with an interesting title: American Yesterday by author Eric Sloane.

Never heard of him.

But a quick glance through its pages convinced me to get it. I especially enjoyed the conversational manner in which he wrote and how he looked at life in the old days in such a manner that he tended to notice the differences between "then" and "now," and how the earth has changes, not only for people and technology or fashions, but how the earth itself has physically changed. Sloane also spoke of days gone by on a more personal level in that he relates the past to people of today.

Oh! Baby, that'sa what I like!

My next museum visit found me searching for more Eric Sloane books, which I snatched up as I came across other titles, such as Our Vanishing Landscape and The Seasons of America Past.

I soon learned the author had quite a catalogue, for a quick search on the computer brought his complete collection to my attention, and I continued to purchase each. Eventually I began purchasing Sloane's works off of Amazon.com and eBay.

Oh! But Sloane had authored something like 38 books, and each one was written in the folksy conversational manner that appeals greatly to me. So I continue to buy them to this day.

And he was an amazing artist:

An Eric Sloane painting

Now, something cool began to happen as I hung around other history folk and listened to their words - people I knew and respected...people I know and respect: these living historians and historic presenters speak about Eric Sloane with reverence, referring to his works often, calling him America's greatest author of authentic Americana. And they speak with excitement! Ha! Funny thing is many so-called history majors know little about Sloane and his topics, which is not very surprising, for those modern academic professors who "teach history" in college have nothing on this man called Eric Sloane who actually got his hands dirty in his research and actually wrote about history, not just politics and wars, but the history people lived, and his only agenda was to teach and share his knowledge and visions---to get his readers to understand the past. From what I read, Sloane only went to school for art. As a historian, it seems he is self-taught.

Truly the best kind of historian.

Sloane sketches from the "Diary" book~

"While restoring a Connecticut farmhouse in the early 1950's he began to identify with the Early American settlers. He first moved to the Lake Candlewood area, then to Merryall, CT near New Milford and in 1956 he moved to Warren, where he kept a home until 1985. It was at a Warren Library book sale that he is said to have discovered Noah Blake's diary, an original account of New England farm life in 1805. With Sloane's unique illustrations and commentary the diary became the framework for Sloane's most successful book, Diary of an Early American Boy: Noah Blake 1805."

Now, in my Eric Sloane collection, I have the following titles (each includes Amazon links and reviews):

American Yesterday

A compilation of engrossing facts and anecdotes vitalized by author Eric Sloane's own pen, this book captures the living legacy of America as seen in "the things that were." According to Sloane, American Yesterday explores "our national attic of vanishing ways and obsolete occupations." Impressed by the artistry and sturdy realism of pioneer builders, he takes genuine delight in exploring the unique careers of barber-surgeons, dowsers, tithingmen, sawyers, nailers, plumbum-men, and a great variety of artisans, illustrating the activities, customs, and things created by the people who made their living in "antique ways."

Sloane, a devoted student of early Americana, speaks lovingly of the people who spent much of their lives creating wardrobe closets, foot stoves, church pew armrests, grindstones, featherbed patter paddles, charcoal burners, English phaetons, giant hogsheads, drovers' sleighs, windowsill sundials, and other items of long ago.

Credited with "doing gallant service, preserving records of the ways and the means of the forefathers who got along well with the resources now long forgotten" (Springfield Republican), Eric Sloane has written an immensely enjoyable book that will enchant anyone who takes pleasure in reading about the past and views its artifacts as part of a rich national heritage.

"In analyzing great-grandfather scientifically, we would have to take into account such physical elements as heat and moisture, gases, dust, noise, and the various other environmental factors that make modern life different from that of the past. We would have to compare changes in manual labor, habits of sleep, and the character of food."

Our Vanishing Landscape

Written with humor and affection, and enhanced with 81 of the author’s charming, historically accurate drawings, Our Vanishing Landscape takes readers on a leisurely sojourn through a bygone era. Leading us along rustic winding roads bordering fields and farmhouses, Eric Sloane captures our imaginations as he offers us a guided tour that evokes the America of pioneer times.

This fascinating narrative describes networks of canals, corduroy roads, and turnpikes; tollgates, waterwheels, and icehouses; country inns and churches; ingenious and colorful road signs; and massive snow-rollers that packed snow into hard surfaces for great sleds. Here also are engrossing accounts of toll-road owners, sign painters, circus folk, and other entertainers of the period.

Brimming with anecdotes about people and the times, this delightful, warmly written book remains a genuine and permanent contribution to the field of Americana.

The Seasons of America Past

"The book has a real reference value, but it will also offer … hours of enjoyable reading." — Library Journal.

From flying kites in early spring to hunting and fishing during the glorious days of Indian summer, author Eric Sloane takes readers through a year's activities as he applies his reverent touch to yet another fascinating aspect of early American life. From "sugaring-time," spring plowing, and June weddings, to strawberry picking, weeding season, the fall harvest, and cider-making, his winning book recalls the rustic endeavors of not so long ago, when the time of year determined when a tree was to be chopped down, fences rebuilt, and tree stumps pulled out.

More than 70 of the author's own pen-and-ink drawings charmingly depict cider mills and presses, sleds, pumps and wells, axes, plows, and other elements of America's rural heritage. A section of old recipes and household hints adds additional color and practical value to this delightful book.

"Anyone with an eye for antiques and a yen to know America from the roots up will treasure this detailed record of seasonal life in new England." — Chicago Sunday Tribune~

As Mr. Sloane wrote in this book:

"Spring, summer, fall, and winter seem almost to vanish today; we ice-skate on artificial ice, eat strawberries or watermelon all year round, and go about our work regardless of the weather or time of year.

"Fruit is forced and tinted to appear tree-ripened, even hens are made to lay faster by illuminating chicken barns throughout the night.

"The average American buyer buys by appearance rather than by analysis..."

Diary of an
Early American Boy

Diary of An Early American Boy

For his fifteenth birthday in 1805, young Noah Blake's parents gave him a little leatherbound diary in which he recorded the various activities on his father's farm. This reprint of an actual early nineteenth-century book provides today's readers with a delightful rarity — a view of bygone days through the eyes of a young boy. Eric Sloane has taken the notebook with its brief comments and expanded the daily entries with explanatory narrative and 72 of his own remarkable drawings.

Verbal and graphic sketches detail the construction of an entire backwoods farm as well as such common tasks as making nails, building a bridge, splitting shingles, spring plowing, and maple-sugaring. The result is "an extraordinary glimpse into everyday Early American rural life . . . [that] will delight readers of all ages." — History in Review.

In December, 1805, Noah Blake wrote:
"December has arrived with another fall of snow---just enough to cover the ground. Father says it shall be my job to keep the bridge floor in snow. The bridge bears my name, he reminded me."

Eric Sloane followed that with: Very few people stop to think how important it was to keep snow shoveled into the old covered bridges. In fact, some believe they were built just to keep out the snow. Yet because most road traffic was during the winter (because of the impassability of muddy summer or spring roads, and the ease with which heavy loads could be sledded over snow), the covered bridge's busiest time was sled time.

American Barns &
Covered Bridges

American Barns and Covered Bridges

When this book was first published in the mid-1950s, the author was concerned that such functional structures as the American barn and the covered bridge would soon give way to progress and be replaced by "modern" elements. Today, a number of these sturdy, beautifully proportioned barns and bridges are still standing — monuments to the skill and keen eye of their original builders. This lovingly written book, accompanied by more than 75 of the author's own sketches, provides a reliable record of those vanishing forms of architecture. Accurate line drawings depict a variety of barns, such as those in Maine, attached to houses; an "open" log barn in Virginia, and a "top hat" barn in North Carolina.

Covered bridges — like barns, built for soundness and endurance — are also illustrated, among them a saltbox structure in New England, a bridge with a pedestrian walkway in rural New York State, and a 10-span-long bridge at Clark's Ferry, Pennsylvania. Possessing a deep feeling for what might be called the Age of Wood, the author writes with "warmth and astonishing comprehension." — New York Herald Tribune Book Review. Americana enthusiasts and lovers of these traditional symbols of early American life will delight in this priceless tribute to a bygone era. Over 75 black-and-white illustrations.

Once Upon A Time:
The Way America Was

Once Upon A Time - The Way America Was

"This book is about once-upon-a-time in America." — Eric Sloane. Writer and artist Eric Sloane had an abiding love for America and worked throughout a long and productive life to capture the American spirit in word and picture.

The America Sloane loved was rooted in the simple virtues of our native soil: love of freedom, respect for the individual, sensible frugality, and determined self-reliance — all of which went to make up what Sloane perceived as our true American heritage.

Nowhere is this heritage more amply portrayed than in the work and ways of the early Americans in our pioneer days. In this book you will listen to Sloane's talk of home and hearth, farm and field, and see all manner of tools, utensils, buildings, and rural scenes rendered in his finely detailed and lively drawings.

A visit to America of "once-upon-a-time" brings us home to a land whose pioneer spirit endures, even amid the rapid and radical changes of our times.

A Reverence For Wood

Refreshingly written, delightfully illustrated book remarks expansively on the resourcefulness of early Americans in their use of this valuable commodity - from the crafting of furniture, tools, and buildings to the use of such by-products as charcoal and medicine. "One of Sloane's best books." -Library Journal.

A Museum of
Early American Tools

A Museum of Early American Tools

This absorbing and profusely illustrated book describes in detail scores of early American tools and the wooden and metal artifacts made with them. Informally and expressively written, the text covers building tools and methods; farm and kitchen implements; and the tools of curriers, wheelwrights, coopers, blacksmiths, coachmakers, loggers, tanners, and many other craftsmen of the pre-industrial age. Scores of pen-and-ink sketches by the author accurately depict "special tools for every job," among them a hollowing gouge, hay fork, cornering chisel, apple butter paddle, boring auger, mortising chisel, a holding dog, hauling sledge, winnowing tray, reaping hooks, splitting wedge, felling axe, propping saw horse, and other traditional implements. Sure to be prized by cultural historians, this volume will delight woodcrafters interested in making their own tools and thrill general readers with its store of Americana.

My friend and historic presenter at the 18th century Daggett House, Roy, understands and uses the old tools in the same manner as the once owner (and builder) of the house, Samuel Daggett, used in his time 260 years ago, so it was fascinating to see some of the tools in the Eric Sloane book used as they were meant to be when I visited the historic Daggett House.

Roy was told by a tool historian friend of Greenfield Village management that the replicated 18th century saw he was using was not quite historically accurate to the Daggett period, so he corrected that mistake by removing the metal bar that held the separate pieces of wood on each side together and replaced it with twine. He placed a smaller piece of wood that the twine was tied to and twisted it around - spinning it and twisting the twine to be very taut (how’s that for an alliteration?) - thus securing the two sides together tightly enough, as the more modern metal holder once did, and can now proudly use the saw as would have been done during Samuel Daggett’s time,

It's these little things that make a difference, at least for me personally, for it helps me to understand the thought process and also to know that what I am witnessing history in its truest form.

Roy, working at the 18th century
Daggett House, creating a historically
accurate saw suitable for the house.

A page from the Museum of
Early American Tools book.

Spirits of '76

Eric Sloane attempts to describe the spirits of America in 1776, including Respect, Hard Work, Frugality, Thankfulness, Pioneering, Godliness, Agronomy, Time, and Awareness. He does this with both words and line drawings.

Weather Almanac

In addition to his roles as a celebrated artist and folklorist, Eric Sloane was TV's first weatherman and an author whose popular books offer fascinating combinations of history, lore, and practical information. The Weather Almanac combines Eric Sloane's Almanac and Weather Forecaster with Folklore of American Weather into a single-volume edition that's filled with fascinating forecasting tips based on wind, clouds, the moon, and other natural phenomena. Sloane relates each month of the year to typical weather conditions, highlighting his observations with 135 nostalgic drawings.

The books of Eric Sloane celebrate the time-honored traditions of early America and their enduring value. A prolific artist, Sloane created nearly 15,000 paintings and drawings over his lifetime, many of which enhance his delightful books of bygone days.

ABC Book of Early America

ABC of Early America

From Almanack, Bathtub, and Conestoga Wagon to X-Brace, Yankee, and Zig-Zag Fence, this sketchbook of antiquities revisits delightful words and inventions of old-time America. Artist and historian Eric Sloane presents a wondrous collection of American innovations, including hex signs, ear trumpets, popcorn, and rocking chairs.

Readers of all ages will delight in these illustrated and hand-lettered pages, which feature brief captions explaining the items' origins and uses. Gadgets, gizmos, and contraptions include foot stoves, used in churches and under the blankets of sleighs and stagecoaches, oil lamps fed by whale oil and kerosene, water-wheels, weathervanes, and windmills (first built in Virginia in 1621 — a century later, there were nearly 1,000). The craftsmanship of the nation's early builders and inventors is reflected in this finely wrought compilation of historical curiosities.

Do's & Don'ts of
Yesteryear

Do's and Don'ts of Yesteryear: A Treasury of Early American Folk Wisdom

A delightful mixture of early American know-how and good old-fashioned gentility, Eric Sloane's Do's and Don'ts captures the spirit of bygone America in words and pictures. Combining two of the beloved folk historian's nostalgic how-to guides, this collection offers vintage, homespun advice that recalls "the joy of doing things not just the old-fashioned way, but plainly the right way."

A shining historical gem, this little book of American lore recalls a more kindly, less hurried time. Lovingly gathered by "Mr. Americana" himself from colonial-era almanacs and diaries, hundreds of brief reflections spread time-honored wisdom on everything from curing hiccups, lighting a proper fire, and mending clothing and furniture, to predicting the weather, making soap, and getting rid of ants, bees, swallows — and boring houseguests. Sloane's evocative drawings add the perfect finishing touch.

Here is an example of a "Do" - Do hammer a squared peg into a round hole when you wish a wood joint to stay.

Here is an example of a Don't" - Don't, as an invited guest, be late for dinner. This is a wrong to your host, to other guests, and to the dinner.

I Remember America

The name and art of Eric Sloane are synonymous with a vision – a rapturous recall – of America as it used to be: a simpler, quieter country of farms, villages, and crafts. Now in a majestic, outsized volume, Sloane presents an autobiography, a recollection, an album of stunning artwork, a passionate remembrance of the American landscape, and an outspoken defense of our threatened natural heritage. Half a century ago, Sloane, then an itinerant sign painter, set out to see America. The 37 oil paintings in this book depict the landscapes, the villages, the houses – indeed, the spirit of that time; they are vintage Sloane, classic Americana. But in addition to the powerful charm and nostalgia of his recollection, Sloane also presents “en passant” a report on the decaying American environment – both physical and cultural - and a lament for what we as a people have lost, wasted, or denied.

Yes, I own each book listed here. And will probably get more as time goes on.

I like to somewhat think of my own blog postings as sort of chapters of an American History book. Perhaps, now that I'm retired, I may put a few posts together in book form.

One never knows. All's I need is cash, right?

However:

"Eric Sloane is...credited with being the foremost authority on Early American rural architecture and Early American tools. His many books of paintings and drawings, and especially his "A Museum of Early American Tools", are considered the most important historical source works on the subjects. The Sloane Stanley Museum in Kent, Connecticut houses Sloane's own personal collection of Early American tools, as well as an exact replica of his painting studio. "A Reverence for Wood" is an invaluable resource to scholars of old growth timber in New England."

I have no idea how long I'll live; God only knows. But I pray when my time comes that I will be known as a Proud patriotic student of America and its history. That I'll be remembered as a man who loved his country: the United States of America.

Do I sound silly?

Foolish?

Old fashioned?

Ha! That's okay.

Hopefully I have a while to become someone's memory (lol).

Until next time, see you in time.

Here are links to my seasonal celebrations and actual experiences of time past (so far) - a sort of the coming to life of the Eric Sloane books: