Designing To Get An Apprentice Boy

On October 31, 1774, Rev. Stephen Williams of Longmeadow wrote in his diary, “this day, my son Samuel set out on a journey for Boston (designing to get an Apprentice Boy)…” Samuel returned to Longmeadow on Nov. 9 and Rev. Williams recorded that “in the Evening my Son, returned home in safety – has had a comfortable journey…My Son has brot home a little Boy, ye Lord help us to do our duty to him and make him a comfort & blessing to us.”

This little boy was 5-year-old Oliver Blanchard. According to the records of the Boston Overseers of the Poor, on May 26, 1774, “received into the House Oliver Blanchard a Child of Margarett Thorps 5 yrs. old March 24th 1774.” Unfortunately, we do not know more about Oliver's parents. Oliver lived in a Boston almshouse until he was indentured to Samuel and Lucy Williams on November 3, 1774 and brought to Longmeadow on November 9. The archives of the Longmeadow Historical Society contain a copy of his indenture, a portion of which is shown above.

In the fall of 1774, Samuel and Lucy Williams had six daughters and a newborn son. The family lived in the Longmeadow parsonage (where the Community House is located today) with Rev. Stephen Williams and his wife; this must have been a full household indeed. Rev. Williams mentions young Oliver frequently in his diary and these references provide a glimpse into his life as an indentured apprentice.

Oliver's tasks included helping Samuel Williams with farm work. In doing so, he learned skills which he would need to be a farmer. He must have proven trustworthy for, even as a young boy, he was given a great deal of responsibility for the family’s livestock. On June 27, 1777 (when Oliver was 9 years old), Oliver successfully brought oxen from Somers to Longmeadow by himself. Rev. Williams wrote “I was much concerned for Oliver who was alone – (i.e., without any human person) bringing ye oxen, from J. Bumstead – but God was with & preserved ye child, so that he was not so much as wet, being at Jonathan Burts in ye time of ye Shower…” On four other occasions, the diary refers to Oliver’s tending of the farm’s horses and cattle.

The Williams family cared for Oliver when he was sick with the measles in 1778 and when he was injured in January, 1782: “Oliver Blanchard fell down from ye Hay loft in ye Barn, upon ye colt, and was Hurt – considerably…” Two days later, Oliver was still in pain, so “his master took him in a sleigh & carried him up to Dr. Pynchon who gave advice and direction…” The next morning, he had improved: “Oliver is better – blessed be to God.”

Per the terms of his indenture, Oliver was to receive 13 pounds, 6 shillings, eight pence at the end of his indenture in 1790. This payment was designed to provide Oliver with some capital so that he could make his way as a productive citizen of the community and state.

And, Oliver did just that. In 1793, Oliver Blanchard was established enough so that he could marry a local girl, Clarinda Cooley. By 1798, he was one of the wealthiest citizens in town, according to the tax valuation.

How did this enterprising young farmer earn his money? The archives of the Longmeadow Historical Society include the account books of Erastus Goldthwaite and Asa Colton and our president, Dr. Al McKee, has examined them for clues to Oliver's financial success. These books list business transactions with Oliver and, from these, we can tell that he grew hemp (used for making rope and other products), wheat, corn, rye and tobacco. The Blanchards also probably had an apple orchard and raised sheep.

Page from Account Book of Erastus Goldthwaite

Oliver Blanchard joined First Church and, in 1803, was elected to a position of authority within the church - tythingman.

Oliver and Clarinda were not blessed with children, but Clarinda’s brother, John, honored him by naming his son born October 4, 1808 after him – Oliver Blanchard Cooley. Shortly afterwards, on October 31, 1808, Oliver Blanchard died. The inscription on his headstone notes that "he was an affection husband, kind neighbor and a valuable citizen."

Longmeadow Cemetery Photo by Al and Betsy McKee

Sources

1. Longmeadow Historical Society archives

2. Diary of Rev. Stephen Williams

3. The Eighteenth-Century Records of the Boston Overseers of the Poor, Eric Nellis & Anne Decker Cecere, 2007

4. Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988

5. Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax, 1798

Contributed by Elizabeth Hoff, LHS Board Member Originally published December 2, 2021

Thanksgiving Proclamation!

We may think that the holiday of Thanksgiving has always been celebrated like we do it now--with big meals featuring turkey, and family gatherings around a football game or a parade with giant balloons. But the holiday in the past was quite different.

We've all heard about the first Thanksgiving when the starving Pilgrims shared a peaceful bountiful feast with their Native American neighbors in 1621. But Thanksgiving feasts occurred at many times of the year--chosen by the local officials to celebrate some event. The Continental Congress proclaimed the first National Day of Thanksgiving in 1777. But even before that, The Governor of Massachusetts made "A Proclamation for a Publick Thanksgiving" in 1773.

I HAVE therefore thought fit to appoint, and I do, with the Advice of His Majesty's Council, appoint Thursday the Twenty-fifth Day of November next to be a Day of Publick Thanksgiving throughout the Province, exhorting and requiring the several Societies for Religious Worship to assemble on that Day, and to offer up their devout Praises to GOD for the several Mercies aforementioned, and for all other Favours which He hath been graciously pleased to bestow upon us, accompanying their Thanksgivings with fervent Prayers that, after they shall have sang the Praises of God, they may not forget his Works.

And all servile Labour is forbidden on the said Day.

But maybe Governor Hutchinson's motives weren't so noble--this province-wide celebration was set to take place just about the time a shipment of tea was expected in Boston harbor. The Boston Tea Party took place just weeks later, on December 16th. Hutchinson's plea to remind the colonists of their duty perhaps fell on deaf ears: to succeed His Majesty's Councils and Endeavours for Preserving Peace to the British Dominions.

Unpopular Hutchinson, a prominent loyalist, may have polarized the colonials and precipitated the Revolution. You'll notice a rectangular section of the broadside is missing at the top. Here is the missing piece--maybe some patriot objected to having the British symbol so prominently displayed?

British Seal- likely what is missing from our copy of the Proclamation.

T

he Longmeadow Historical Society Archives includes a diary belonging to Stephen Colton (1815-1893). Every November, he made a brief note about Thanksgiving in 1851 like this; "27th Thanksgiving day, sermon by Mr. Harding Psalms 16-6, took supper at T. C. Terrys." Thanksgiving was a Thursday that year, and included going to church, and having a meal with someone outside of his nuclear family (the Terrys were in-laws).

Excerpt from 1851 Diary in Longmeadow mentioning Thanksgiving

The movable timing of the holiday was eventually standardized by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, when the last Thursday of November was selected as the official date. Over the years, the fact that November occasionally has five Thursdays proved to be problematic. In 1942 Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law that Thanksgiving Day would always fall on the fourth Thursday. Some suggested that large retailers like Macy's pressured the change to give the public another week to do their Christmas shopping, since advertising Christmas before Thanksgiving Day was frowned upon! What would they think of us now with Christmas advertising starting in September?

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at the Longmeadow Historical Society!

Contributed by Betsy McKee, LHS Board Member

November 25, 2021

A Letter from Mary Lyon....

South Hadley, Aug 26.1847

My dear Miss Bliss, Won’t you be willing to go to Virginia to teach? It’s a place where Miss Moore taught this year. Can’t you go now? Won't you object to going .... Can you teach drawing? I have just written making further inquiries. I shan’t hear till I receive their letter whether I shall wish to recommend you. Please let me hear from you very soon. I may be away, but I have arrangements to have my letters forwarded.

Affectionately yours, Mary Lyon

Imagine being twenty years old and at home with your father, a deacon and a farmer, your mother and two much younger sisters and receiving this kind of letter - asking you if you would be willing to leave Massachusetts and head to Virginia to teach school. Such was the case for Miss Georgiana Bliss of Longmeadow in 1847. Miss Bliss had recently completed a three year course of study at Mary Lyon’s school, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (today Mount Holyoke College), and returned home waiting for whatever her next season of life would bring.

Attending Mount Holyoke was no small academic feat for young women like Georgiana Bliss. It was not a “finishing school” to train young women in the Domestic Arts, but a place for real academic scholarship. Entry to Mount Holyoke was not for the average student, and the curriculum was rigorous and demanding. A hallmark of Mary Lyon’s commitment to female education was her high standards for curriculum, which much more closely mirrored its all-male seminary peers like Amherst College, Yale, and Harvard. Students were expected to be a minimum of 16 years old and have a firm grasp of particular mathematics, grammar and geography textbooks. Per an 1847 course catalog for Mt. Holyoke on “Studies required for admission to the seminary”:

“A good knowledge of Wells’ English Grammar, with an ability to apply the principles in analyzing and parsing, and of Modern Geography, and a readiness in Mental Arithmetic, that is, an ability to give a correct answer to the questions as they are read by the teacher, and to give an account of all the steps of the mental process, – also a good knowledge of common Arithmetic, including all the more difficult rules. In the examination of Arithmetic, a list of questions taken from different authors is used. It is recommended that candidates for admission go through two or three different authors, so as to thus gain more mathematical discipline, and be better prepared for examination. A good knowledge of Mitchell’s Ancient Geography, of Andrews’ and Stoddard's Latin Grammar, and Andrews’ Latin Reader, of the History of the United States, and of Watts on the Mind, is also required.”

At Mount Holyoke students read Euclid and Milton’s Paradise Lost, studied Algebra, Botany, Philosophy of Natural History, Ecclesiastical History, Latin, Physiology, Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Rhetoric, Geology, Logic, Moral Philosophy, Composition, French, and Histories of Greece, Rome, England and France. They also made time for calisthenics, instruction in vocal music, and linear and perspective drawing. All of this came at a cost each year of $60 (exclusive of fuel and lights) for room and board, paid over two $30 installments. The year was divided into three terms, one of sixteen weeks and two of twelve weeks each.

All students were instructed to arrive with their own Bible, a dictionary, a modern atlas, Watts’ Psalms and Hymns, Village Hymns, and any other books they felt might be useful to their studies. As a Female Seminary, religion was at the core of all work. Upon examination by Mary Lyon, poet Emily Dickinson, a student at Mt. Holyoke in 1847, was infamously classified as a “No Hoper” on a scale of Saved - Hoper - No Hoper regarding the state of her soul. Dickinson left after only one year of study. Georgiana Bliss must have fared better since Mary Lyon sought her out to recommend her for a teaching position upon completing the entire course of study.

Per later alumni directories for Mount Holyoke, it would appear Georgiana Bliss did indeed take the position offered to her in this letter. From there, she taught in a few other locations before marrying a Union College graduate, Rev. George McQueen. What followed next was exactly the kind of experience an education at Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary prepared a woman for: to be the wife of a missionary. Rev. and Mrs. McQueen set off for missionary work in West Africa. After her young husband’s death in Africa in 1859, Georgiana returned to Longmeadow briefly to be with their young son, Charles, before returning to continue the work she believed in. Georgiana Bliss McQueen died in Longmeadow in 1901 and is buried in Longmeadow Cemetery under an obelisk shaped memorial also bearing her husband’s name and details of his work.

Sources

1. Archives, Longmeadow Historical Society

2. Catalogue of Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary, 1847-48

Contributed by Melissa Cybulski, LHS Board Member

Originally published November 21, 2021