NOVEMBER - Daily 18th Century Farm Life

As we make our way through the month of November,  let’s consider our lives,  most likely on a farm,  250 years ago:  numerous activities,  chores,  and necessities are carried over from month to month,  especially in Autumn.  And many of our English traditions continued in the colonies.

If Lammas Day,  which is celebrated in early August,  is about the opening of the harvest,  Harvest Home is about celebrating the end of this season.  It’s the conclusion to the year’s efforts and sees communities coming together to thank,  and or pay,  those involved.  This festival would usually include music,  dancing and other entertainment as well as a substantial meal,  which was a particular highlight for the poor who would be able to feast to capacity. 

Harvest Home can be in later October or anytime in November --- pretty much traditionally at the end of the grain and crop harvest season.   Also,  the festivities for Home Harvest take place at varying times around the end of the season,  depending on the local trade.  For example,  those communities dependent on cereal crops might celebrate in August,  while those who work predominantly with fruit or vegetable growing experience later harvests so their celebrations often took place in September.  Those involved in herding livestock would have gathered in October.  Of course,  there could be a gathering when all the harvest was in and ready,  whether grain,  animals,  fruits,  and vegetables,  and even root crop,  which oftentimes were not ready until November.

It stands to reason that the term  ‘Home Harvest’  (or 'Harvest Home')  may have also been referred to by alternative terms,  but essentially a gathering, or reunion, of communities to celebrate the end of harvest was historically experienced by all sorts of harvesting communities.

Wood chopping - a very important chore any time of the year,  but in Autumn most of all~~

However,  little was more important than having your wood chopped and ready.  This would have been a constant chore,  for one could never have enough wood,  especially for those of us living in the northern climate where snow could easily begin to fall as early as October and especially in November and the few months following..  

On average  (remember,  I wrote  “average”),  most Colonial homes would have needed at least 40 cords of wood for heating and cooking over the course of a year.

It would not only be just one variety of wood – depending on the cooking being done:  baking or frying or...there would be different varieties used for cooking food in the hearth,  such as birch,  hickory,  maple,  ash,  beech,  oak,  and elm.    As for the types of wood used for heating the home during the cold months:  given the choice,  they may have chosen oak,  black locust,  and/or maple,  should these tree varieties be accessible.  It was the hardwood that gave off the best and longest-lasting heat.

There is also the process of butchering some of the livestock that would be taking place.  The colonists did not waste any part of the animal.  They smoked ham and used the fatty sections of the pig for bacon.  The small and large intestines were used as casings for sausage,  and they made sausage from the leftover scraps of meat,  as well as from liver and lungs.  Fat made good lard for baking.. The meat from the heads and feet of pigs was chopped very fine to make head cheese. They cut steaks from their beef cow.  They made spare ribs and backbones.   And then there’s tallow - the rendered form of beef or mutton suet melted down and made into candles.  Candles were not only made from beeswax.

Many rural families had a smokehouse on their land to help preserve their meat,  including their ham and beef.  After rubbing the ham or bacon with a salt mixture and letting them set for a few weeks,  the meat would then be hung from the rafters in the smokehouse.

The smoke was created directly below the hanging meat by a fire in the floor of the structure and was made from aromatic woods such as hickory or apple,  and sometimes even corncobs,  which flavored the meat and created a crust that prevented its ruin by flies or other pests.

I am going to repeat a story here told in a recent previous month.  It very aptly describes daily life in a very real manner and deserves to be repeated.  I did make slight changes,  including the character names:

A Colonial Meal:  A Description by James E.  McWilliams  (taken from the book  "A Revolution in Eating - How the Quest For Food Shaped America")

On a warm Autumn afternoon in 1775,  Anna Daggett stepped out of her garden,  moved into her home where she began to cook at the hearth.   In Connecticut,  where the Daggett family had lived was becoming well known for its open land for pioneer farmers to grow wheat,  barley,  pumpkins and other squash,  green beans,  corn,  apples,  abundant garden vegetables,  and a healthy supply of meat.   And much of that combination,  as it did on most days,  would make up the evening meal.   Anna had started soaking corn kernels at the crack of dawn to soften them for pounding,  an exhausting task made necessary by the lack of a local gristmill.   She knew that she needed about four cups of cornmeal to feed her husband,  three children,  and herself.   So for the next couple of hours,  Anna and her two daughters dutifully hunched over a large mortar,  took wooden pestles in hand,  and reduced a tub of white corn kernels into a gritty heap of meal.

Meanwhile,  out in the barn,  Samuel Daggett and his son,  Isaiah,  contemplated a decision:  pork or beef?   The fact that they even had a choice reflected Sam's preparation as a husbandman.   Recently,  when the weather began to cool,  he had slaughtered two piglets and a calf.   The pigs were about seven months old,  the age when their muscle density was low,  fat content high,  and stringy connective tissue still pleasantly soft to the palate.   The calf was around two years old and similarly primed for consumption and preservation. Slaughtering a piglet was a turbulent task.  It began with a rapid cut to the beast's throat,  followed by a prolonged period of squealing and bloodletting.  The beast was then scalded in a vat of boiling water to loosen its sharp and wiry bristles so they could be easily brushed off.  Samuel gathered the offal  (the word literally denotes the  "off fall"  after the slaughter)  from the barn floor to make sausage.  He then hacked the corpse into two large chunks,  called flitches,  and placed them aside.  The cow met a similar brutal fate,  but its slaughter took longer,  resulted in a louder and deeper death rattle,  and required greater precision.  Samuel had to not only kill it but also find its joints and dissect it into clean cuts of chucks,  ribs,  loins,  and rounds.  For all the commotion and mess that ensued,  however,  the slaughter was the easy part. 

Isaiah and his father managed the more physically taxing jobs of smoking the pork and pickling the beef.   Smoking pork was a procedure dating back to the Middle Ages that sealed in fat and protected freshly cut meat from spoilage.   The two tossed the pork flitches in a large tub of salt,  turning them over repeatedly,  and then hung the coated slabs on metal hooks in order to air them out.   After a day or two,  they hauled the salted pork to the chimney,  which served as a substitute for a smokehouse.   

With the pork hanging in the shaft,  the wood smoke clogged the chimney and slowly coated the meat's surface,  enhancing its flavor while extending its shelf life.  Pickling beef involved submerging the cuts in a brine and vinegar solution that the boys prepared with salt,  spices,  and saltpeter.   The process took place in large wooden barrels and didn't so much impart flavor as give the acid in the vinegar time to kill the enzymes that decomposed meat.   The boys secured the barrels and rolled them to the corner of the barn.   With the girls and Anna still pounding the corn in the kitchen,  the Sam and Isaiah stood in the barn,  considered their inventory,  and made their decision.  They chose beef.

After placing three pounds of meat in a warming pan over the kitchen fire,  Anna had her eldest daughter,  Asenath,  who was well-trained in dairy,  quickly fetch some milk and butter.   The young lady has spent the entire morning in the kitchen,  scalding milk pans,  trays,  pots,  and churns in an eighteen-gallon copper pot.   Whatever did not fit into the cauldron had to be cleaned individually.   A colonial dairy had to be pristine.   Any residual milk that dried on the surface of a container or shelf might carry bacteria that would result in not only in a soured product but very possibly in widespread and potentially fatal illness.   Asenath could milk a single cow in about ten minutes.   Out in the barn,  after cleaning her equipment,  she did just that to seven of their milk cows.   She allowed the warm milk to cool in a tub and then strained it through a sieve concocted from a hollowed-out wooden bowl covered in a linen towel.   The strained milk rested in earthenware milk trays for several hours,  giving the cream a chance to coagulate at the top.   She then skimmed the thick cream with a slotted wooden paddle,  leaving behind the thinner milk that her mother had requested.   

I found this sketch on-line on THIS page.
I'm sure it's ancient - 200+ years.

The weather that day was dry and warm,  so the churning of the cream into butter took only a couple of hours rather than several.   Once the butter had formed,  the young lady squeezed out the buttermilk and fed it to the hogs,  a practice that improved the taste of the meat.   As late afternoon set in,  she covered the bottom of a butter dish with salt,  spooned in the thick butter,  patted it down,  and sprinkled the top with another layer of salt.   She then carried a chunk of it over to her mother,  whose cornmeal awaited.

As Anna warmed the meat and folded the butter and milk into the boiling cornmeal,  Samuel sent his Isaiah out to the cider house,  a small structure adjacent to the barn,  where he and his father had spent several long afternoons mashing hundreds of apples gathered from the Daggetts'  orchard into a gloppy pulp of apple meal.  They placed the sweet mass of fruit in cider bags that the two daughters,  Asenath and Talitha,  had woven out of human and animal hair.   Isaiah then picked up the bags and proceeded to take them to the cider press on their property,  pressing the apple juice into a vat.  After bottling the apple juice in earthenware jugs and corking them,  they were placed in a cool dugout beneath the barn.  Young master Daggett now grabbed three of these bottles and rushed back to the house,  where the earthenware containers were set upon the table alongside the root vegetables that Anna had picked from her garden and roasted in the wide hearth.

Placing jugs of cider on a table was a fairly remarkable thing for Isaiah to do,  as there were a number of eighteenth-century families in colonial America that lacked such amenities as even a dining table and chairs.  The Daggetts had both.   The girls threw a worn tablecloth over the pine table,  and,  after Anna pulled a loaf of cornbread from the hearth,  the family carried their chairs  (they knew of some families who used tree stumps)  to the table.   They shared a few wooden and pewter and even bone utensils to serve their food into their trenchers and bowls.   Then everyone began to eat.   It was an event that would have made Miss Manner's head spin.   The Daggetts ripped the meat off the bone with their dirty hands and shoved it in their mouths.   Food scraps were soon scattered across the table.   Some families,  especially out in the wilderness,  had no forks,  spoons,  or individual cups or tankards,  though the Daggetts did.   The cider pots were passed upon request to the person who wanted a drink.   No napkins civilized the scene,  as the coarse wool that made the boys'  britches and the dark serge of the girls'  dresses served that purpose just fine,  as did the tablecloth.   

And so,  rapidly and with gusto,  the Daggetts consumed beef,  cornmeal with butter and milk,  corn bread,  carrots,  beans,  and cider.   As the sun descended,  as the shadows outside stretched across the farm,  and as the embers glowing in the hearth turned ashen,  Anna and the girls began to clean.

The Daggetts did not lack candles,  but used them sparingly,  and sleep beckoned. 

Here it is November,  and apple harvesting continues on!

As seen here,  I have done presentations
on heirloom apples.

Apple harvesting would be continuing to take place,  oftentimes beginning anytime from summer,  with such pre-fall varieties as the Hightop Sweet apples,  through late autumn.  These later apples,  many of which had fallen from the trees,  sometimes made the best tasting cider:

For instance,  in his diary from November,  Noah Blake wrote:

"November 10

Sunday.  Robert Adams will come over tomorrow to help with the apples.

November 11

Spent the day gathering apples.  Robert stayed over.

November 12

More work in the orchard.

November 13

Gathered cyder apples.  Will drive them to the village tomorrow and deliver Robert to his home."

All of this,  along with the vegetables,  would have helped to sustain the family over the coming winter and spring seasons.  The cellar would now have its  "winter smell of apples and preserves."

Notice he said  "gathered"  rather than  "picked."

And now we find ourselves at the end of our growing season.

The corn has now been cut and shocked,  grain has been thrashed,  all the hay is stacked,  and the labors of summer are over.

The harvest, for the most part,  is ended,  and only a few very late vegetables await.  

Maybe some cabbages,  brussels sprouts,  lettuce,  beets,  potatoes,  and possibly a 

few late carrots and turnips are all that's left to pick.

Though New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating thanksgivings to thank God for blessings,  it wasn't until later in the 1700s that individual colonies would periodically designate a day of thanksgiving in honor of a military victory,  an adoption of a state constitution or an exceptionally bountiful crop.

Time to go a-fowling...

The piece I am holding is a brown bess smooth bore fowler,  used mostly for 

hunting fowl,  hence the name.

In North America,  land was readily available,  and possession of guns was universal,  as hunting with firearms was a primary means of survival.  Rural homes depended on arms to help feed their large families,  as well as to provide physical protection and fulfill local militia demands.  The heavily wooded terrain of the frontier provided a bounty of game ranging from turkeys,  geese,  ducks,  and game birds to the larger deer,  bear,  elk,  and moose.  In order to take advantage of this,  the frontiersman employed various combinations of ball,  buckshot,  or buck & ball in smoothbore flintlock fowlers which were the forerunners of today’s shotguns. 

Speaking of fowl,  I see a couple of good-size toms right in front of the house!

No,  Thanksgiving and Harvest Home are not the same thing,  though there is an agricultural connection.

No matter,  for either way we will have quite the harvest feast!

But preparations must come first:

cut off the head,  hang up by the legs,  as the meat will be more white and wholesome if bled freely and quickly.  In winter,  kill them three days to a week before cooking.  Scald well by dipping in and out of a pail or tub of boiling water,  being careful not to scald so much as to set the feathers and make them more difficult to pluck;  place the fowl on a board with the neck towards you,  pull the feathers away from you,  which will be in the direction they naturally lie  (if pulled in a contrary direction the skin is likely to be torn),  be careful to remove all of the pin-feathers with a knife or a pair of tweezers;  singe,  but not smoke over blazing paper,  place on a meat-board,  and with a sharp knife cut off the legs a little below the knee to prevent the muscles from shrinking away from the joint,  and remove the oil-bag above the tail.  Take out the crop,  either by making a slit at the back of the neck or in front  (the last is better),  taking care that everything pertaining to the crop or windpipe is removed,  cut the neck-bone off close to the body,  leaving the skin a good length if to be stuffed;  cut a slit three inches long from the tail upwards,  being careful to cut only through the skin,  put in a finger at the breast and detach all the intestines,  taking care not to burst the gall-bag  (situated near the upper part of the breast-bone,  and attached to the liver;  if broken,  no washing can remove the bitter taint left on every spot it touches).  Put in the hand at the incision near the tail,  and draw out carefully all intestines;  trim off the fat from the breast and at the lower incision;  split the gizzard and take out the inside and inner lining  (throw liver,  heart,  and gizzard into water,  wash well,  and lay aside to be cooked and used for the gravy).  Wash the fowl thoroughly in several waters  (some wipe carefully without washing),  hang up to drain,  and it is ready to be stuffed,  skewered,  and placed to roast.

(from the 1877 Buckeye Cookbook.  Food preparation and cooking,  for the most part,  had not changed greatly in these early American years).

Here is how to make stuffing and to roast your turkey the 18th century way,  from Amelia Simmons'  American Cookery  (aka The First American Cookbook)  from 1796:  

To stuff a turkey:

Grate a wheat loaf,  one quarter of a pound butter,  one quarter of a pound salt pork,  finely chopped,  2 eggs,  a little sweet marjoram,  summer savory,  parsley and sage,  pepper and salt  (if the pork be not sufficient,)  fill the bird and sew up.

The same will answer for all Wild Fowl.

To stuff and roast a Turkey,  or Fowl

One pound soft wheat bread,  3 ounces beef suet,  3 eggs,  a little sweet thyme,  sweet marjoram,  pepper and salt,  and some add a gill of wine;  fill the bird therewith and sew up,  hang down to a steady solid fire,  basting frequently with salt and water,  and roast until a steam emits  from the breast,  put one third of a pound of butter into the gravy,  dust flour over the bird and baste with the gravy;  serve up with boiled onions and cranberry-sauce,  mangoes,  pickles or celery.

2.  Others omit sweet herbs,  and add parsley done with potatoes.

3.  Boil and mash 3 pints potatoes,  wet them with butter,  add sweet herbs,  pepper,  salt,  fill and roast as above.

Fowl being roasted in the reflector oven.

Favorable events,  such as the sudden ending of a drought or pestilence,  might inspire a thanksgiving proclamation.  It was like having an extra Sabbath during the week,  for fasts and thanksgivings never fell on a Sunday. 

A harvest Thanksgiving dinner

But,  as the century wore on,  over time it gradually turned more into a festive celebration as much as it was a holy day  (or holiday).  Often,  men devoted the thanksgiving/harvest morning to go hunting or participate in turkey shoots,  like the one in 1783 in Warren,  New Hampshire,  where hens and turkeys were tied to stakes and men paid four and a half pence to shoot a hen at a distance of eight rods,  or nine pence to shoot a turkey from ten rods.

Usually the birds were killed before being mounted on the stakes.  If a man hit the bird,  it was his to take home.

The celebration of  Thanksgiving over the course of the 18th century evolved into a holiday celebrated around the dinner table - celebrating for a bountiful harvest.  As New England became more densely settled and the good farmland all locked up,  its residents started heading west,  and they took their social traditions with them,  including their annual Thanksgiving holiday,  as well as continued to celebrate and give thanks for a good harvest crop.

Another harvest Thanksgiving dinner.

And yet there is still another harvest chore that must be done for the colonial farm family:

candle making.

Artificial light in the 18th century was truly a luxury.  People were used to working by daylight while indoors,  so lighting a candle when the sun was up was rare.  It was customary for folks to move from room to room to get the most out of the day's light.  Generally,  candles were lit only during the nighttime hours,  and sparingly so,  due to the lengthy candle-making procedure.

As we have seen,  most 18th century homes were as self-sufficient as they could be and those who lived in them did their best to produce as many things needful to life as they could,  and this did include candles.  As part of their domestic work,  colonial women usually were the ones who carried the entire candle making process from start to finish,  though many times the children,  and even the men at times,  would help out as well.

Though it could be done any time of year  (as long as there were supplies),  the usual period for making candles was in early-to-mid November.  It had to be just cold enough for quick hardening,  and followed shortly after fall hunting,  where the collected waist fat from the butchered animals was used to make tallow for dipping.  Tallow candles were very popular in the 18th century,  and due to the idea that rendered lard was many times easier to obtain than beeswax,  it was very common,  especially out on the farm  (city folk could purchase their candles from the chandler --- while rural folk generally made their own candles,  city dwellers swarmed local shops to stock up on cheap tallow candles made from rendered animal fat and oil to fight off the up to 15 hours of daily darkness).

It's here that we can quote Susan Blunt,  a woman from the early 19th century,  who remembered her 18th century mother candle dipping:

"Mother used to dip candles in the fall,  enough to last all winter.  When a beef was killed in the fall,  she would use all the tallow for candles.  On the evening before,  we would help her prepare the wicks.  The boys would cut a lot of rods and she would cut the wicks the length of a candle and then string them on the rods.

"...in the morning she would commence her day's work..." 

Of course,  farms would also have bee hives on their property and,  thus,  be able to obtain the wax from the hive,  as well as the honey for a sweetener.  Where tallow had a pungent odor,  beeswax had more of a sweet smell.

Either way,  both types were popular in the 18th century.

Living in darkness...and cold...

Immersed in 18th century darkness

With darkness king of the 24 hour day,  it dictated daily activities.  Along with the bitter cold,  being buried in the dark shadows of nighttime reduced the once family-sized home into a single room in many cases,  for many families closed off the parlors to decrease the amount of warming space.   With a dim glow,  life centered around the hearth or stove for warmth and possibly a candle or oil lamp to give little enhancement any of the limited activities of which they may have partaken.  This low level of candle light created only pockets of brightness,  leaving most of the room in darkness.  Forget about the Hollywood movies  (or the History Channel) showing people enjoying a pleasant winter's eve reading by candlelight - I've tried and it's pretty darn difficult to do for any length of time.  As Laura Wirt wrote in 1818,   "writing by a dim firelight.  I can scarcely see."

Yes,  there was reading,  writing,  sewing,  mending,  and other necessities done as best as one could by such low light,  but on these long winter nights there was also socializing,  singing,  storytelling,  bible recitations,  games,  journaling,  family history lore,  and other ways to pass the time.  The glow of the hearth was sufficient enough for any of these activities,  thus saving on candles and fuel.

This image shows just how dark even a small cabin can be with a fire in the hearth and three  (!)  candles burning.  Of course,  we would not have any more than the hearth lit - we would not waste candles in this manner.
However,   we are celebrating harvest time / Thanksgiving...so we can make an exception.

Emily Barnes tells of her grandmother telling stories,  and  "how eagerly we sought our places in the sitting room around the low-cushioned chair,  which was placed in the warmest corner,  the room all aglow with the bright,  blazing fire.  'There is no need to light the candles,'   she would say;  and we were glad to avoid the interruption occasioned by snuffing them,  especially when so unfortunate to snuff them out."

(Snuffing in the old days meant to trim the wick rather than putting out the flame as we know it to mean today.)

Low level of light - - - 

A solitary candle to light the night - 

anymore than that could be considered wasteful. 

Then there is soap making.  Early spring and late fall on the farm were the times for soap-making.  But since soap was made mostly from the same grease and fat used to make candles,  November's butchering-time made autumn the more popular season for the chore.

It would also be in late November or early December when the farmer would bank his house,  when the north sides of homes were stacked with hay,  leaves,  corn stalks,  or maybe sawdust as protection from the upcoming winter's blast,  just as Noah Blake wrote on December 2:

"Banked the house with cornstalks and pompion  (pumpkin)  vines."

Yes,  a thick matting of cornstalks around the bottom of the house will keep some of the winter cold and wind out.   Even in cities like Philadelphia and Boston relied heavily on incoming shipments of sea-coal and wood for warmth.  November was considered the deadline to fill cellars before heavy snow blocked roads or iced over rivers.

Without central heating,  even rich city townhouses were drafty and freezing.  November meant hanging heavy fabric curtains around beds to trap body heat,  wearing multiple layers of heavy wool petticoats,  using fingerless mitts indoors,  and sliding brass bed-warmers filled with hot coals under the sheets.

So next month we head into December.  I wonder how warm we will be.

Will we celebrate Christmas?

Let's find out...

Until next time,  see you in time.

So...I plan to continually update this post as I gather more information.

If you are liking my month-to-month daily 18th century living posts,  here are a few more to check out:

For the month of March,  please click HERE

For the month of April,  please click HERE

For the month of May,  please click HERE

For the month of June,  please click HERE

For the month of July,  please click HERE

For the month of August,  please click HERE

For the month of September,  please click HERE

For the month of October,  please click HERE

To learn about ancient farming practices,  please click HERE

To learn about more 18th century fall traditions,  please click HERE

The information here came from a variety of sources.

Other sources include:
Seasons of America Past by Eric Sloane
Holidays and Celebrations in Colonial America by Russell Roberts
Early Farm Life by Lise Gunby
The American Farmer in the 18th Century by Richard Lyman Bushman  (though not nearly as much of this book is actually about farming practices of the time as I had hoped...it is a bit of a let down)
Diary of an Early American Boy by Eric Sloane
Diary of Mary Cooper

Reliving History Magazine

The New England Historical Society

Family Life in the 17th and 18th Century America by James and Dorothy Volvo

Much of the Harvest Home information came verbatim from THIS site

Some information came from my presenter friends at Historic Greenfield Village as well as Colonial Williamsburg 

I do not hide the fact that much of what you have read came,  word for word in some cases,  from the above sources.

Feel free to see more of these chores HERE

To check out wonderful documentary dramas about historic life and farm life,  click HERE

Sources:
The Complete Farmer and Rural Economist - Thomas Green Fessenden

~~ ~~ ~~

Harvest and Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village 2026

~Most do not think of Hallowe'en and Harvest as being a part of each other.

Yet,  it's true.

The pictures in this post were mostly taken either during Greenfield Village's Harvest Weekend or during the Hallowe'en event  (commonly known to most as Hallowe'en Nights,  though the official name is Hallowe'en In Greenfield Village)  You will see images and writings from the 18th and 19th centuries as well. 

"For the ancient Irish people,  the great festival of Samhain was one of the most important festivals of the year.  Usually celebrated around October 31st,  it marked the end of the harvest and the journey into the darkness of winter when the light would grown scarce.  It was also said to be the time when the spirits could pay a visit to the land of the living because the veil between earth and the spirit world was especially thin and permeable.  During this Celtic New Year people would leave their doors open to welcome their ancestors home,  a fire was left burning,  and they would leave out special food and drink to welcome those from the other world."

(click HERE for the Catholic history of this holyday) 

It's  a very wooden feel,  this season of autumn.

True  (click HERE).

Even though I've always loved the Autumn time of year,  and always looked forward to eating the first fresh ear of corn and seeing the first leaves to turn color,  I never fully realized the link between Harvest and Hallowe'en until more recently,  for over the years,  I continued on with my historic research,  and found out quite a bit more than I anticipated. 

It was only natural at early American harvest time gatherings,  in those days of long ago,  when the communities would come together for such harvest time activities as corn-husking parties,  apple paring parties,  the chore of cider making,  sugar and sorghum making days,  and even having thresherman dinner parties. 

So,  as history tells us,  after spending the day harvesting,  including shucking the corn and storing the ears or leaving them on the stalks to dry in shocks before husking,  a fine harvest dinner would be served from and for the farming family and all who helped to harvest.

Oftentimes such activities might take place in or near a cemetery,  and stories,  usually about the ancestral dead buried nearby,  would become an integral part of these autumn celebrations.  Over time,  these stories of people from the past would turn into ghost stories,  with many of our American ghost stories evolving from actual superstitions and rituals practiced by those who lived in the British Isles.

Harvest Moon~~~September 23,  2026

The Harvest Moon does not always occur in September.  Traditionally,  the name goes to the full moon closest to the autumn equinox,  which falls during October once or twice a decade  (this year of 2026,  as noted above,  it was in September).

October 8, 1772:

"John Lake is having a corn husking tomorrow. All the young people of the neighborhood should be there."

"October’s Full Moon is traditionally known as the Hunter’s Moon—a name that reflects the seasonal shift from gathering crops to preparing meat for winter.

Following the Harvest Moon,  fields are typically cleared,  leaves have fallen,  and animals are easier to spot in open landscapes.  At the same time,  game such as deer and other wildlife have fattened up over the summer and early fall,  making this an ideal time for hunting."

I snapped the above Hunter's Moon pic from my  suburban Detroit porch on the night of October 27.  I have corn stalks on my porch - my autumn decor' --- not amazing photography,  I know,  but still pretty cool. 

  

Perhaps the whole ghost thing came about due to early Christian beliefs:
All Saints Day  (originally called All Hallow's Day and is also known as Hallowmass)  falls on November 1st ---and Hallowe'en  (officially known as All Hallow's Eve),  falls on October 31st.  This Hallowtide is a multi-day Christian festival celebrated in honor of all the saints,  known and unknown.  Anglicans view All Souls' Day,  November 2nd,  as an extension of the observance of All Saints' Day /  All Hallow's Day  and it serves to  "remember those who have died,"  in connection with the doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the Communion of Saints.

If it sounds confusing,  read what I wrote again - for it truly is not.

This is what the sky looked like as we parked the car in the Greenfield Village lot.
Very ominous clouds...but no rain fell on us~~~
The look was very Hallowe'en...

The telling of ghost stories on Hallowe'en derives from both the Druids'  belief that the ancestral dead arise on this night and the Christian directive to honor the souls of the departed at Hallowmas.

These tales of the ancestral dead were told and retold by the elders to a spellbound crowd,  late at night,  after all of the activities were done,  when the moon was fully risen and the trees outside shook with the autumn wind.  That's when people gathered around a fire and told one another tales of the silenced dead lying in graves nearby.   In Celtic beliefs,  as mentioned at the top of this post,  there is a veil,  which is a thin barrier that separates the living from the spirit world.  On Hallowe'en night,  this veil is believed to be at its thinnest,  allowing spirits and ancestors to cross over and interact with the living.

Washington Irving shows such a scene in his Legend of Sleepy Hollow short story from 1820  (and the story itself takes place about 30 years previous).  In this tale,  Ichabod Crane was invited to an autumnal gathering at the home of the wealthy Van Tassel farm,  and later in the evening,  after food had been eaten and dancing was done,  "Several of the Sleepy Hollow people were present at the Van Tassel's,  and,  as usual,  were doling out their wild and wonderful legends.  Many dismal tales were told about funeral trains and the mourning cries and wailings heard and seen near the tree where the unfortunate Major Andre was taken.  Some mention was made also of the woman in white,  that haunted the dark glen at Raven Rock,  and was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm,  having perished there in the snow."

"Some mention was made also of the woman in white..."

The colonial farmer of the 18th century relied on his family for labor.  Aside from his crops of wheat,  corn,  squash,  cucumbers,  and other produce,  he also raised cotton,  hemp,  and flax.  It could be argued that of  the four seasons that make up the year,  fall just may have been the most laborious of all,  for there was not too large a window of opportunity to ensure the fruits of the spring and summer labor would all be harvested.  Gathering the yield is what life centered on during the months of September,  October,  and November.

Toward the end of September,  Greenfield Village held their annual Fall Harvest Weekend.  This is my favorite weekend of the year at the Village,  for Harvest time is shown from the 18th century through the early 20th century.

Let's step back to the 1880s first over at Firestone Farm:

Apples were still more for cider than eating.

Cutting up the apples to be mashed.

And here they are,  being pressed/squeezed into cider with the hand press.

In this picture we see fall plowing,  perhaps for the winter wheat to be planted.  Winter wheat,  planted from mid-September through early October,  may be harvested as early as June or as late as September or October of the following year,  depending on the region. 
The red building you see in this photograph is the mid-19th century cider mill.

A couple of Snow Apples on the table near the burning Daggett hearth.
I knew my friend Norm and I would want a snack while at Greenfield Village,  so I tucked them in my linen bag and brought them in for a photo.

Sam Daggett was an apple man.  He had a large orchard and made & sold large quantities of cider,  though I've not heard which variety  (or varieties)  he actually grew,  but you can bet in the 1760s  he did not grow Honeycrisp or Cortland or even McIntosh.  Those varieties came later  (Honeycrisp was developed in the 1960s -- Cortland are from the 1890s,  and McIntosh were from either the 1790s or the 1810s,  depending on which book you read).  How ever,  the Snow Apple,  also known as Fameuse,  was a very popular variety at that time,  and it could very well had been  'his'  apple.  "The Snow Apple was celebrated for its tender, crisp,  sweet flavor,  subtle strawberry aroma,  and its stark,  beautifully bright-white flesh."

It is my high hope that one day my dream of seeing a small collection  (or orchard)  of heirloom apple trees near the Daggett Farm House and being historically utilized will come true.

Handing a Snow Apple to Norm.

Some experts trace the variety back to the 1600s in France,  while others believe they were originally developed from French seedlings in Canada.  These fruits were first recorded in Canada and the United States in the 1700s.  Snow apples were cultivated in England in the 17th century and soon spread to America, becoming a popular food for settlers.  The Snow Apple was popular in Connecticut,  where the Daggett house originally stood,   particularly during the 18th century when it was widely cultivated.

Colonial beer brewing was an important task.  In fact,  there are hops growing behind the Daggett House for the specific purpose of brewing beer.

Hops for beer brewing.

While wild hops already grew across North America,  European settlers brought their own cultivated varieties for brewing.

A close up of the hops growing in the Daggett kitchen garden.

Richard Pillatt,  social historian from Camden,  New Jersey,  tells us a story of beer's importance in our history:

"After we announced  (that we were doing a historic beer-brewing demonstration)  this summer,  I was in a nearby restaurant eavesdropping on some people who were discussing our publicity,  and one of them asked the other,  'what does BEER really have to do with history?'  Well,  in terms of daily life in 18th-century Camden County,  one word easily answers that question:  'Everything,'  I said.  Beer played a central role in the social,  economic and political life of almost all our regional ancestors.  It provided daily nutritional sustenance,  it was made from the crops that they grew and bought and sold in huge quantities,  and it was the key lubricant in the networks of local taverns that were the culture's primary social and political venues."

Beer brewing at the Daggett Farm House.

Although there were those who drank to get drunk  (just like in our modern 21st century),  most in the colonial times drank beer because it was healthier than water.  They did not necessarily drink to get inebriated.

With that being said...along with apple cider,  ale and beer were major dietary staples in the colonies.  Literally everyone partook.  It was the common item which spanned generations,  from cradle to grave;  everyone drank beer or cider:  women and men,  farmers,  laborers,  merchants,  lawyers,  and craftsmen.

You would think they would all be drunk,  according to our modern manner of thought,  but beer was mostly just another beverage for health's sake.  Alas,  they were quite sober.   Much more sober than the false information that is spread around in current times.  

I'm just trying to correct another myth...

Every fall we can be a witness to 18th century beer brewing.
The brewers go through each step of the process,  and speak of the ingredients used.

Though I spy the hops in the upper right corner,  the rest of the ingredients displayed I cannot,  with any kind of  certainty,  name.

During harvest weekend at the Daggett Farm House there are activities both outside...

...and inside where we see cooking utilizing fall ingredients such as apples.

There was also wool dyeing,  a week after the harvest presentation.

They used to do it all at Daggett,  but it's been at the McGuffey Cabin this year.

To be honest,  I believe it works better at Daggett.  Well,  at least they're showing it.

Looks like the ladies are discussing the process.

All natural dyes are used,  which will be noted in the photos below.

Each colored skein is tagged with the ingredient that gave it its color.

My wife and I used to watch in awe...now she does it in the same manner.

Look at the vibrancy!

It is a wonderful presentation.

Our colonial ancestors lived in a colorful world.

But Greenfield Village also shows Hallowe'en traditions,  both old and new.  In fact,  for a couple of years they intertwined the holiday with the harvest.  The problem was the visitor had to have a separate Hallowe'en ticket to enjoy the Harvest,  which had always been free to members.  And the presenters did not show nearly as much.   So,  in that respect,  I'm glad the Village went back to their old way of showing the harvest separately,  which is actually my personal favorite weekend of the year.

As the sun began to set on Peter's Field at Firestone Farm.

Traditional holds about Jack-of-the-lantern  (Stingy Jack)  and how he made a deal with the devil not to take his soul.  According to one version of the story,  when Jack died he was too sinful to go to heaven,  and the devil had already promised not to take his soul.

So Jack had nowhere to go.  When he complained to the devil that without light,  he couldn’t see where to go,  the Devil gave him an ember from the flames of Hades to guide him in the darkness of the afterlife.

Jack took a turnip,  his favorite food,  carved it into a lantern and put the ember inside it.  With his lantern ready,  he began to wander in search of a resting place endlessly.

Besides the ritual bonfires  (meant to ward off evil spirits)  that are lit on this day,  mumming and guising  (trick-or-treating)  were also rituals performed during Samhain.

The traditional illumination for guisers or pranksters abroad on the night was provided by turnips or mangel wurzels,  hollowed out to act as lanterns,  lit with coal or a candle,  and often carved with grotesque faces.

Turnip lanterns usually represented supernatural beings and were used to chase evil spirits.  Guisers used them to scare people,  while in some cases they were set on windowsills to guard homes against evil.

I plan to carve a turnip one year.
I think they look very cool and period.

Irish immigrants brought the jack-o’-lantern custom to North America.  Here,  turnips were slowly replaced by pumpkins to make the iconic Halloween decorations,  and eventually became the plant of choice.

According to folklore researchers,  the original story and the tradition of making Jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween come from Ireland.

In the United States,  the carved pumpkin was first associated with the harvest season in general before it became a symbol of Halloween.  In fact,  it was in 1895 when an article on Thanksgiving entertaining recommended giving a lit jack-o'-lantern as a child's prize in Thanksgiving games.  The poet John Greenleaf Whittier,  who was born in Massachusetts in 1807,  wrote the poem  "The Pumpkin"  (1850),  which mentions Thanksgiving but not Halloween:

"Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,

When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!  When wild,  ugly faces we carved in its skin,

Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!"

However,  the carved pumpkin lantern's association with Halloween is recorded in the  November 1st,  1866 edition of the Kingston,  Ontario Daily News:

"The old time custom of keeping up Hallowe'en was not forgotten last night by the youngsters of the city. They had their maskings and their merry-makings, and perambulated the streets after dark in a way which was no doubt amusing to themselves. There was a great sacrifice of pumpkins from which to make transparent heads and face, lighted up by the unfailing two inches of tallow candle."

Over the past few years,  Greenfield Village has taken it upon themselves to improve the Hallowe'en event.  Years ago,  visitors simply followed a pumpkin-lit path through a portion of the Village and had trick-or-treat stops for the wee ones.  But ever since Covid,  they changed the event drastically - gave it nearly a complete revision,  of which I am personally happy about.  Instead of following a path,  Greenfield Village opened up for visitors to pretty much roam throughout freely to witness and enjoy a much larger variety of activities for young and old.  For the past couple of years they have been working on turning the Liberty Craftworks area into the Village of Sleepy Hollow.

~Most of my family,  as we strode toward the makeshift Sleepy Hollow~
"This road leads through a sandy hollow,  shaded by trees for about a quarter of a mile,  where it crosses the bridge famous in goblin story, and just beyond swells the green knoll on which stands the whitewashed church."

Taken the night we visited for the Hallowe'en event.

Now,  for the most part,  it is Sleepy Hollow in name alone.  Buildings named after those from the original Sleepy Hollow village in New York State.  However,  there is more to it than meets the eye,  as you shall soon see...

A couple of weeks before our Hallowe'en visit.

What kind of town would be without a tavern?
None that I can think of,  for taverns were everywhere in towns and villages of the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the same manner that bars are today..

The Spofford Saw Mill was originally built in the late 1600s.  However,  it is to my understanding that much of its original structure has been replaced over the years.

And for Sleepy Hollow,  it has been renamed---just for the few weeks.

The pumpkin in the upper window.

This was turned into an old-time tavern called Stark Tavern.  Taverns were often located in central areas,  providing a space for community gatherings,  business dealings,  and lodging and food n drink for travelers.

Adult beverages were sold and served.

And,  yes,  Stark Tavern is an original part of Sleepy Hollow.

But not this  Stark Tavern.

This is one for Greenfield Village.

Stark's Tavern is associated with Sleepy Hollow as it is one of the historic taverns in the area,  known for its connection to local folklore and ghost stories.

The tavern is part of the legends surrounding Sleepy Hollow,  particularly those popularized by Washington Irving's writings.

This Tripp Saw Mill is from 1855.

Each window with a pumpkin head.

The Fairfield Rice Mill was built in 1787,  though it is now in use as a pottery shop.

However,  for Hallowe'en and Sleepy Hollow they  called it the Storage Publik House.  A publik house was another name for a tavern,  so patrons could get beer,  though this was a publik house in name only---just for aesthetic purposes.

A pumpkin in the lower floor window.

But I like the way they look in the upper wooden window frames.

Next we have the Weaver's Shop,

This building,  which now houses historic weaving and textile machines such as looms and spinning wheels,  was originally built in 1840.

For Hallowe'en,  it was renamed the Morin Apothecary.

Apothecaries were both pharmacists and general medical practitioners. 

Again,  it was an apothecary in name only for the Sleepy Hollow scenario.

Again,  looking into the 2nd floor window...another pumpkin!

The glass blowing shop was also renamed for the event to the Wiseley Forge.

There was also a professor who could help those afraid keep the goblins and spirits away,  including The Headless Horseman.

For the past few years my wife and I have been treating our family to this Hallowe'en event.

They must like it---they keep coming back!

Most of my family - my wife and myself,  our three sons,  our daughter-in-law,  and our six grandkids.
I love  'em every one~

Now we'll head to the print shop.  Did you see what I did there?  lol

And then there was the print shop,  ran on this night by Andy.

Printed right here using an antique printer.
Yes,  both of these prints were printed on a historic printing press right there inside this building.

The free print.

The poster print for purchase.

If you look inside the shop,  you can see two separate prints,  of which I have one of each.

To me these are two fine souvenirs,

of which I also got one for my grandkids

~~~~~~~

So now we'll head over to the gristmill.

The Loranger Gristmill was built in 1832 and was in operation until 1928,  making it in use for approximately 96 years.  As you can see,  this is a water wheel mill.

In  "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,"  Washington Irving describes the gristmill as a quaint and picturesque setting.

And it truly is.

And we see two more pumpkins in the upper windows of the gristmill.

The gristmill not only serves as a significant backdrop in the story,  but also as a place where Ichabod Crane interacts with other characters,  particularly during social gatherings,  which highlights the cultural rural aspects of the setting.  So at Greenfield Village,  it's the Loranger Gristmill where the Sleepy Hollow story of  was wonderfully told.

And our story-teller came out to a full crowd of interested listeners.

If one can hold even young children's attention like this young lady did,  then you know they are good at what they do.

Storytellers in the 18th and early 19th centuries often employed a variety of styles,  blending realism with moral lessons and fantastical elements. 

She was quite animated in her telling of the tale,  including swishing her cloak when describing the autumn winds a-blowing.

The incorporation of fairy tales and folklore became popular,  appealing to both children and adults.

As darkness began to cover the land,  candles were lit inside the structures,  including the gristmill...which is characterized in the story by the  "burble and rush of the water over the wheel."

To hear such a story be told in such a manner,  an autum ritual was carried on,  for it was at Sleepy Hollow's Van Tassel farm autumnal gathering,  as part of many evening gatherings back in those early American days,  stories were told.:

"The chief part of the stories,  however,  turned upon the favorite spectre of Sleepy Hollow,  The Headless Horseman,  who had been heard several times of late,  patrolling the country;  and,  it was said,  tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the church yard."

Greenfield Village certainly does especially well with their depiction of  Washington Irving's  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,  for it was after hearing the Sleepy Hollow story,  we stepped over to the Firestone Farm field,  renamed the VanTassel Farm,  to watch for Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman to bring the pivotal moment - the highlight - of the tale to life right before our eyes.

This is the part of Firestone Farm known as Peter's Field.
But for Hallowe'en in Greenfield Village,  it becomes the VanTassel farm.

Now,  just so you know,  in Irving's story,  Ichabod did not meet up with the Headless Horseman at the VanTassel farm,  but,  rather,  in the surrounding wooded area.  For the event at Greenfield Village,  it works out best in the farm field manner.

From the gristmill porch,  I was able to capture the moment when the Headless Horseman chased Ichabod Crane down the dirt pathway.

It was due to hearing the story being told that our grandkids enjoyed this even more this year as well.

Even though it wasn't very dark out yet,  it was still a cool Hallowe'en site to see~

Ichabod spots the Headless Horseman~!~

Toward the gristmill!

And off they rode until next time.

They did a much better scenario/presentation than last year,  in 2025.

"All the stories of ghosts and goblins that he had heard in the afternoon now came crowding upon his recollection.  The night grew darker and darker;  the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds occasionally hid them from his sight." 

Here are a few souvenirs from this celebration:

Here is the program handout.

The front of this year's shirt.

The pottery plate I purchased.

It was in,  I believe,  2020 or 2021 when Greenfield Village began utilizing their steam locomotives for this event.  To many,  it is the highlight of the night.  I think it to be top notch!

"Enhance your visit with add-on experiences like the Hallowe'en Express,  a fan-favorite train ride that winds along a ghoulish and surprising journey through Greenfield Village."

Off to the train depot~~~

Brimstone Station  (aka Smiths Creek Depot)

Aboard the train we all went - cramming all of us onto two and a half bench seats.

My son and his nephew.

As we pulled out of the station...we saw a hobo...

We also rode behind the roundhouse where the steam locomotives are kept over night.

Taking the night train into the woods with its headlight and candlelit lanterns guiding the way is my favorite part of the evening ride.

It would not be a harvest holiday without a farm!

The lasers inside the Ackley Covered Bridge were very cool,  though I must admit I like the fog machine they used to have a little better,  with a recording of hoofbeats galloping across..

The moon shone brightly on the night we were here,  so I did my best to capture it.

The Daggett Farm House looking eerie...from a distance...

The Giddings House also looked rather spooky.

I took this with my phone's camera.  It tends to gather every bit of light and fully expand on it.  This would have actually been a cooler photo if it was more like what I saw in the dark.

As we left the Village for the parking lot,  I snapped a final photo for the night.

Ghost sightings seem to have been around since civilizations began.  From what I've read, there are numerous references to ghosts in Mesopotamian religions – the religions from the earliest times and places such as Sumer,  Babylon,  Assyria,  and other early states in Mesopotamia.  Traces of these beliefs survive in the later Abrahamic religions that came to dominate the region.  The concept of ghosts may even predate many belief systems.  Ghosts were thought to be created at time of death,  taking on the memory and personality of the dead person.

But,  since I've come to learn and understand that Harvest and Hallowe'en truly have a strong connection - that Hallowe'en was not necessarily originally about spooks and witches and goblins - and when I intersperse it all with Catholicism practices,  I now look at the Hallowe'en Holiday/Holyday with a different mindset.

Until next time,  see you in time.

Now,  a short history of Greenfield Village's Fall Harvest/Fall Flavors weekends:

The original Fall Harvest Weekend ended with the 2005 season,  but,  like very recently,  after many complaints,  was brought back in 2010 under the guise of Fall Flavors Weekend.  That lasted through the 2019 season.  From 2020 through 2024,  it was shelved once again.  More complaints from many of us,  which brought it back this year of 2025,  thankfully.

I've written many blog posts about their harvest weekends over the years,  though I have nothing on the earlier ones.

For further information on Hallowe'en's history,  click HERE

Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2012

Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2013

Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2014

Fall Colors at Greenfield Village 2014

Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2015 

Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2016

Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2017

Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2018

Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2019

In search of Autumn Past at Greenfield Village 2022

Fall and Harvest at Greenfield Village 2023

Fall and Harvest at Greenfield Village 2025

HERE is also a history of Autumn in the 18th century

Hallowe'en's history  click HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~