Maybe, like me, you have fond memories of visiting a historical settlement (like Fanshawe Pioneer Village or Kings Landing). Many details stand out to me: watching a blacksmith at work; being shown the parts of a printing press; hearing how children who misbehaved in the one-room schoolhouse were made to wear a dunce cap or kneel on hard beans; strolling through gardens of vegetables, herbs, and flowers; making gingerbread before Christmas; learning how wool is carded, spun, and woven into fabric.
Have you ever wondered about the people who work at these historical settlements, recreating the lives of pioneers so we can learn about them? Today I have a post by Kate Waller, who shares her love of historical reenactment and the research that goes into it.
Living History
My name is Kate Waller and I love participating in living history. What is living history, you might ask? It is part re-enacting, part experimental archaeology, part acting, with some demonstrations thrown in. In short, I choose a time period, create a persona and immerse myself into that role for the day or weekend. I have played the part of an ancient Roman matron, a Viking wife, a Renaissance musician, and Regency/War of 1812 era school teacher, but my favorite period is the 18th century.
I’ve been playing the part of an 18th century woman for about ten years now, and I am fascinated with the intricacies of their daily life. From churning butter, spinning wool, sewing clothing to dipping candles, there was a rhythm and cadence to their daily life, dictated by their position, class, and the seasons of the year as well as the point in time of their life. There is so much we can learn about these women from the past: their inner strength, their faith, their drive to survive, their skills and talents, their hopes and goals and dreams.
Lately, I have been studying the diary of a Loyalist woman named Sarah Frost, in order to portray her for library and school programmes. Sarah Frost was a married woman, wife to William Frost (known throughout her diary as Billy, “my affectionate Husband in whom I take delight”), the mother to two young children, and pregnant with her third. Originally from Stamford Connecticut, they were forced to flee to safety behind the British lines and spent much of the war in a Loyalist refugee camp on Lloyd’s Neck, Long Island. We are acquainted with her, due to the fact that she kept a diary while onboard ship and although her original diary was lost, her descendants had copied the diary and we have four of those copies still in existence today.
My admiration for this woman, wife, and mother knows no bounds. By reading her diary, we are allowed a glimpse into a slice of her life in which she fills her days with visiting, doing laundry on days when they were anchored near shore, playing cribbage with fellow passengers, interactions with her 9-year-old son Henry, the children’s bouts of seasickness and measles. She even hints of an argument with her husband over her wanting him to fetch her fresh peas to satisfy a pregnancy craving and her feeling of rebellion against Sylvanus Whitney’s (captain in charge of the refugees) refusal to allow the women to go on shore. What struck me most was her lack of complaints of losing her home, her neighbours and even the risk of her being alienated from her extended family (we know that her father and brother were both fighting for the rebel/patriot cause). Instead, any complaints were mild and had to do with the realities of life onboard a ship: crowding, children crying in the night, excessive heat, and her feeling unwell (most likely a combination of seasickness and/or third term pregnancy discomforts).
Although we know that Sarah Frost and her husband Billy went on to prosper, settling in Kingston, New Brunswick and raising ten children, the diary ends abruptly with the following passage:
“Sunday, June 29 This morning it is very pleasant. I am just going on shore with my children to see how I like it.
[Later] It is now afternoon and I have been on shore. It is I think the roughest land I ever saw. It beats “Short rocks” [in Stamford]. I think that is nothing to this; but this is to be our city they say…. We are to have our land sixty miles further up the river.
We are all ordered to land tomorrow, and not a shelter to go under.”
The burden for playing her character properly is a heavy one. How does one portray a woman, dead these long years, and bring her to “life” when there is still so much we do not know about her, so much that was left unsaid in her diary. Was she reserved or gregarious? Fearful or full of hope? A sympathetic listener or a woman that liked to chatter? A homebody or a woman who liked to socialize? At best, my creation of her persona will still be shallow interpretation of the real and authentic Sarah Frost whose personality and inner working of her mind are lost in time. However, with respect for those Loyalist women’s courage, steadfastness, skills and faith that helped to shape our province of New Brunswick, my endeavour is to keep alive their memories and deeds, and encourage today’s generation to recognize their contributions to our country. So if you see me at a historic fort, living history village, or period encampment, feel free to come up and visit for a bit and I will regale you with tales of “my” (her) voyage and adventures as a Loyalist.
Thank you, Kate!
Those who want to learn more about Sarah Frost can read a transcription of her diary here.
Featured image credit: Hoyt Wedding Productions