Riding to Atsion in 1773

[Jerseyman]

Folks:

During March 1773, Charles Read sold his interest in the Atsion Forge to Henry Drinker and Abel James. A reorganization completed two weeks later gave Drinker and James a half-interest with Lawrence Salter owning the remaining moiety in the forge. After consummating this transaction, Drinker took his wife and Josey James to visit Atsion. In preparation for our visit to Atsion on Sunday, let’s ride along with the Drinkers on that trip via Elizabeth Drinker’s diary (with all original spelling and punctuation retained; corrective text in brackets []):

1773, April the 11 First Day—After Dinner—Henry Drinker, Josey James, and myself, cross’d [the] Delaware, the wind pretty high at N W, did not sail—Elizabeth Drinker road [rode] on the Old Mare as far as Moores-Town, had not been on Horse back for 15 years past—drank tea, sup’d and lodg’d at Josh. Smiths—a good Deal shaken; Breakfasted there next Morning, then set of [off] in a Borrow’d Waggon, with our 2 Mares. For Ansiunc [Atsion] at the Iron-Works, Polly Smith with us; stop’d at Charles Reeds Iron Works 10 miles from Moorestown; then went on 10 miles further to Lawrence Salters, dined there late:—went in the afternoon to the Forge, saw them make Barr-Iron; Lodg’d there at Lawrence Salter’s.

13th. Went this Morning in Lawrence Salter’s Waggon, (Dolly Salter; her half Sister, Becky Gordon; Polly Smith and my self) to Goshen 3 miles from the Iron Works, to take dinner to Henry Drinker. Lawrence Salter. &c who have been the greatest part of this Day, surveying the Lands; we examined the saw Mill, then return’d to Atsiunk to a Late dinner, left the Men behind.

14 Went after dinner in Lawrence Salter’s Waggon, Henry Drinker. Lawrence Salter. Polly Smith and Elizabeth Drinker. To the Seader Swamp, sat in the Carriage while the men went out to examine the Swamp, Josey James with us—rained all the after-noon; call’d in our way back at Ephrime Clynes at Goashan; came back to Lawrence Salter’s to late tea;—I was very unwell this Evening.

15 stay’d within all day bad weather I was up 3 or 4 times in the night very much disordered in my Bowles, occasion’d by going last night to the Forage in the rain, and being out yesterday. [ ] unwell all Day.

The 16th, sixth day; after Breakfast left Atsiunc; Lawrence Salter—his, Wife and Sister, with us, made a short stop at C Reads, lefe Dolly and Becky there:—Lawrence Salter and Henry Drinker went elsewhere on Business; M Smith my self and Josey, continued our Journey, bated at Benjamin Thomas’s, then proceeded on, Henry Drinker overtook us near Moorestown, where we eat a late dinner; and about 4 left them; Henry Drinker and myself in the Chaise Josey James on Horseback, he led my Mare, I being too unwell to ride her—cross’d the ferry towards Evening very calm—came home after candle light, found all well—road [rode] 78 miles.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[kayakmac]

And today we bitch about lousy gas milage! People lived closer to the earth then, (there was no alternative). We forget sometimes the endurance and tenacity needed for everyday living back then. Great post.

 

[Piney Boy]

What strikes me with this, and many other 18th and 19th century documents, is the general citizenry's ability to adapt and change.The late 20 and 21st century sees the general person fall into a job and location and stay there for 30 plus years. Not so in earlier times. I write it off to the "jack of all trades" phenomena. Meaning people had a wider range of skills that they used to change jobs and locations on a much greater scale then most give them credit for. Today we are a highly skill specific world, were we learn one set of skills and use them in one, or a few, jobs the entirety of our working years. Our cultures emphasis on degrees and certificates, rightly needed in our world, narrows what we can do and were we can do it. The "jack of all trades" phenomena was an incredibly interesting wrinkle up into the early 20th century.
Great post

 

[Teegate]

Glad you posted it Jerseyman. I wonder where Lawrence Salters house was? He built the ditch near Goshen so he must have lived in that area. William Farr who you knew I am sure says the ditch has vanished, but it is still there.

Guy

 

[Jerseyman]

Glad you posted it Jerseyman. I wonder where Lawrence Salters house was? He built the ditch near Goshen so he must have lived in that area. William Farr who you knew I am sure says the ditch has vanished, but it is still there.

Guy

Guy:

Short of doing the deed research necessary to properly identify Salter’s house and property, I don’t think anyone could pinpoint that location today. Yes, he did build Salters Ditch, which is, indeed, still there.

Bill Farr was a great guy and very knowledgeable about toponyms, but, like the rest of us, he slipped up from time to time. When it came to “walking the ground,” he generally relied on different guides for different areas and deferred to that guide’s knowledge, although Bill always took his maps with him. Despite his best efforts, he sometimes became confused about a given area, but always did his best to state the facts—one of his many fine qualities.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Jerseyman]

What strikes me with this, and many other 18th and 19th century documents, is the general citizenry's ability to adapt and change.The late 20 and 21st century sees the general person fall into a job and location and stay there for 30 plus years. Not so in earlier times. I write it off to the "jack of all trades" phenomena. Meaning people had a wider range of skills that they used to change jobs and locations on a much greater scale then most give them credit for. Today we are a highly skill specific world, were we learn one set of skills and use them in one, or a few, jobs the entirety of our working years. Our cultures emphasis on degrees and certificates, rightly needed in our world, narrows what we can do and were we can do it. The "jack of all trades" phenomena was an incredibly interesting wrinkle up into the early 20th century.
Great post

Piney Boy:

Adaptation and developing a variety of skills primarily through “the school of hard knocks” (read “practical experience”) is a hallmark of our forefathers’ age. When I read a reactive text such as yours, I harken back to viewing the television series that takes place in England, when late-twentieth-century Britishers attempt to live like their Victorian-age ancestors. While those ancestors did not know any better and adapted to the circumstances at-hand—and likely reveled in their “modern” appliances—it was well beyond difficult for the modern folks to back-date their lives to that period, since they were so familiar with and used to all of our great conveniences.

Despite Henry Drinker’s relative wealth and status as a merchant, reading his wife’s diary reminds me of how incredibly hard life was during the eighteenth century, particularly comparative to today. A person’s health status and potentially ill-advised treatments for ailments absolutely dominate the pages contained in the three volumes of the published diary. Society from that time period was just so poorly equipped to deal with the panoply of diseases and general malaise that often gripped the populace.

Glad everyone enjoyed the posting!

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Teegate]

Rob and I were walking around the cemetery in Bridgeport last night on our bike ride visiting my ancestors graves, and it was so sad seeing all the children as recent as the early 1900's that never made it past their first birthday. Life is good today for most of us.


Guy

 

[bobpbx]

Despite Henry Drinker’s relative wealth and status as a merchant, reading his wife’s diary reminds me of how incredibly hard life was during the eighteenth century, particularly comparative to today. A person’s health status and potentially ill-advised treatments for ailments absolutely dominate the pages contained in the three volumes of the published diary. Society from that time period was just so poorly equipped to deal with the panoply of diseases and general malaise that often gripped the populace.Jerseyman

It was awful back then. I've been reading this Samuel Sewall diary. The people were dropping dead like flies all around him, or had numerous ills and fevers all the time.

http://books.google.com/books?id=qv...esult&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

[kayakmac]

And on top of that, they "helped" stay healthy by leeching / blood letting, taking coal oil / kerosene for "worming", drinking bad liquer and having bad food (summer fever)! Sometimes they used medicines with high doses of mercury and frequently drank from pewter vessels with high lead content. It's suprising anyone survived! Speaks well for thier constitution, though!

 

[Furball1]

Though I love the 18th century period, and enjoy reading the diaries, I would not of wanted to live back then. Many themes in George Washington's diaries speak of his illneses. He firmly believed he would die young like his father and grandfather before him. He did die relatively young (1732-1799) probably due to a virulent strain of diptheria or strep throat. It's amazing, during his lifetime bullets pierced his clothing and horses were shot out from under him, but in the end a microbe killed him. Thanks for a good read Jerseyman... David

 

[Furball1]

Oh, and it is interesting to note that while one physician essentially bled Washington to death, another advocated a new procedure he learned in England, a tracheosotomy, which probably would have saved the general's life by opening up his airway. This procedure was considered too radical by his personal physician so he was allowed to slowly die from the massive blood letting and suffocation.

 

[piker56]

Rob and I were walking around the cemetery in Bridgeport last night on our bike ride visiting my ancestors graves, and it was so sad seeing all the children as recent as the early 1900's that never made it past their first birthday. Life is good today for most of us.


Guy

Anytime I think about what it would have been like to live back then, my wife reminds me that had I lived in that era, I would have only lived until age 19. I guess that puts things in perspective for me.
Jerseyman, the diary entry was very interesting. Thanks for posting it.
Greg

 

[c1nj]

I often wonder what we are doing today in our daily lives that people 200 years from now will be commenting on. Maybe cell phones are making us sick and we don't even know it yet?

 

[MarkBNJ]

Rob and I were walking around the cemetery in Bridgeport last night on our bike ride visiting my ancestors graves, and it was so sad seeing all the children as recent as the early 1900's that never made it past their first birthday. Life is good today for most of us.


Guy

That's one of the reasons why they tended to have so many children. I've read somewhere that in the 18th and 19th centuries something like 1/3 of children died by the age of 7.

 

[Jerseyman]

That's one of the reasons why they tended to have so many children. I've read somewhere that in the 18th and 18th centuries something like 1/3 of children died by the age of 7.

Mark:

You are correct to a point—I think there was both a conscious and unconscious knowledge that many children did not reach their majority and men needed heirs to whom they could devise real property and bequeath personal property and particularly male offspring to carry on the familial name and lineage. However, that being said, and people needing to do “what comes naturally,” no real birth control formulas existed at that time for the average woman other than the so-called “rhythm method,” nor did any really effective prophylactics exist for men. Today, those who eschew modern birth control methods also have large families, such as television’s Duggar family.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[LARGO]

Excellent submission of writing as a primer for the day. Thank you.
The facts of the Atsion site are found written in many publications and shared by many here. I am confident more will be shared Sunday. I think though in seeing what remains or what has been reconstructed at Atsion, being privy to a visitor's private insights is more thought provoking. We can look around us and "feel" just a little more clearly one of the periods that defined the area and it's people. I am a little partial though when it comes to just hearing about a place from the thoughts of a person of interest. That one little account sure provoked a lot of pre trip dialogue regarding the harshness of the times. It should to me at least give pause to the stark contrast of the lavish mansion and it's inhabitants. Thanks again. See ya'll There.

g.

 

[MarkBNJ]

Mark:

You are correct to a point—I think there was both a conscious and unconscious knowledge that many children did not reach their majority and men needed heirs to whom they could devise real property and bequeath personal property and particularly male offspring to carry on the familial name and lineage. However, that being said, and people needing to do “what comes naturally,” no real birth control formulas existed at that time for the average woman other than the so-called “rhythm method,” nor did any really effective prophylactics exist for men. Today, those who eschew modern birth control methods also have large families, such as television’s Duggar family.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

That's a good point, and there were no doubt other factors as well. Off the top of my head I might conjecture that the lack of alternative entertainment, the early hour at which many people retired for the night, the higher per-capita consumption of alchoholic beverages, and the relative lack of other sources of erotic stimulation (at least in the rural setting, where I believe birth rates were always higher on average than urban environments) all had something to do with it.

 

[Jerseyman]

That's a good point, and there were no doubt other factors as well. Off the top of my head I might conjecture that the lack of alternative entertainment, the early hour at which many people retired for the night, the higher per-capita consumption of alchoholic beverages, and the relative lack of other sources of erotic stimulation (at least in the rural setting, where I believe birth rates were always higher on average than urban environments) all had something to do with it.

Mark:

All of the elements you list above can be construed as contributing factors, yet none of them are direct causalities of procreation. As you note, “all had something to do with it,” but all the proclivity and predisposition for alcoholism in a family can not lift the glass to one’s mouth.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[MarkBNJ]

I was thinking rather of the predisposition to procreation in the presence of alcohol, which I have noted myself on several occasions .

 

[Pine Baron]

This is a fabulous post, Jerseyman. Thank you for posting it. Really helps puts things in perspective.
I've always been intrigued by the way-stops on these old journeys.

On the 11th, they stopped for the night in "Moores-Town" at "Josh. Smiths" house. This may have been what is known now as the Smith-Cadbury mansion on High St., which was said to be the nicest home in town, at that time, and hosted many visitors.
The following day, Elizabeth writes that they "stop'd at Charles Reeds Iron Works". This was probably either Etna or Taunton, as they are both approx. 10/11 miles from Moorestown.
On the 14th, the entry mentions "Ephrime Clynes at Goashan." This is a little confusing, however, because he did not build his tavern/inn until the 1790's. Perhaps she was referring to the Cline hometead.

As stated in previous posts, diaries such as this really give you a feel for what life was like back then. It's also interesting to note the changes in spelling and grammar over the years. Thx agin for posting, Jm!