America/United States
Peter Williamson aka “Indian Peter” of the 18th-Century
Peter Williamson, also known as “Indian Peter,” was a Scottish memoirist who was part showman, part entrepreneur and inventor. He was born to James Williamson in Hirnlay near Aboyne and he described his parents as “respectable” though not rich.
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Caps: Nightcaps, Monmouth Caps, Thinking Caps, Pudding Caps, and White Caps
There are all sorts of caps from history. For instance, there was the mythical fairy or ghost in English folklore known as the bluecap and the redcap was a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in Border folklore. A type of cap you wore on your head was the Liberty cap. It came to represent…
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The Beecher-Tilton Scandal of 1875: A Shocking Event
The Beecher-Tilton scandal involved Henry Ward Beecher and Elizabeth Tilton. Henry was a well-known and popular New York clergyman and Elizabeth was the wife Theodore Tilton. In addition, both the Tiltons were members of Henry’s Brooklyn congregation and in fact, Theodore and Henry were good friends. Theodore had served as Henry’s assistant from 1860 to…
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Tompkins Square Park Riot of 1874: The Workingmen’s Fight
The Tompkins Square Park riot of 1874 happened on 13 January when American working men gathered in protest over the loss of jobs. It all began with a depression that started in 1873 when railroad owner Jay Cooke issued millions of dollars of worthless stock, investors panicked, and banks closed resulting in an economic collapse.…
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Ferris Wheel: The 1800s Invention and Its Inventor
The Ferris wheel was invented because of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Prior to the Exposition, meetings were held throughout the country and attended by engineers and architects. It was asserted at one of these gatherings that American architects had glorified themselves by the magnificent buildings they had built but that civil engineers had contributed…
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Jobs for Horses: What Work They Did in the 1800s
Plenty of jobs for horses existed in the nineteenth century. For instance, because these animals were the primary means of transportation, “every pound of freight that traveled on the … railroad network required local delivery, and in most cases, horses provided the motive power.”[1] Because of such work requirements horses were plentiful in the 1800s…
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Josiah Henson and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
Josiah Henson was an author, abolitionist, and minister who escaped slavery in the United States with his story being supposedly utilized by Harriet Beecher Stowe when she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Henson was born on 15 June 1789 on a farm in Port Tobacco in Maryland that was owned by Francis Newman. Henson’s father was…
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Cats in the 1700s: Pleasant and Unpleasant Tales
There are many interesting tales about cats in the 1700s. For instance, the same year that Jane Austen was born, it was reported that a “melancholy accident happened” because of a crazed cat in Doctors-Commons, on St. Bennet’s Hill, in London. It began when the family of a Mr. Gardner shut a cat up in…
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Cane Contrivances: Unique Inventions for Users
In the 1700 and 1800s cane contrivances were created that showed “considerable ingenuity.” For instance, Parisians were known to have carried a sword cane for many years and leaden canes were trendy everywhere because they be used as a bludgeon. There were also the popular hollow affairs relied on by smugglers to sneak in expensive…
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Dolly Varden Fashions: A Late Nineteenth-Century Fad
The Dolly Varden fashions were a version of popular fashions worn originally in the 1770s and 1780s embraced by women such as Marie Antoinette, the Duchess Polignac, or the Princesse de Lamballe. Dolly Varden fashions later became popular in Great Britain and the United States between about 1869 and the 1880s with the fad peaking…
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