The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-01-24
Our GrandmOthers.


colonial timeswere many, so many that
when we write of cur great grand
mothers we can scarcely fail to dwell
on the grace with which they presided
| in their homes. 1t was a common
thing for mother to help her boys in
their studies, while with careful ear,
she watched over her daughter at the
harpsichord. If illustrations were
wanted many could be offered. Of a
successful merchant it may be said:
" He early formed, from the literary
habits of his family, a taste for intel
J lectual pursuits, and all his leisure
hours in his youth were devoted to the
Improvement of his mind: the feeling
being kept alive and strengthened by
the eloquent letters of his mother and
sisters"
Housewifely accomplishments were
as essential as grace and ease in society,
and the girl who could not spin as well
as embroider and paint on velvet was
thought to be wanting. To spin well
was as important as to dress well, and
delightful must have been the spinning
bees, when the girls industriously
twirled the wheel all the afternoon,
and the young men came in the even
ing to see the counting ofthe skeins and
do their part of the dancing. Can we
not picture ourselves q scene like this,
which dates from 1872
Last Wednesday thirty-seven young ladies
of this town made the Rev. DR.. Stiles lady a
visit. They sent their wheels and carried fax
enough for moderate days spinning, having
agreed to have no trial who should spin most,
but to spin good yarn, and as much as they
could without fatiguing themselves; and ac-
cordingly they spent the day in very agree
able and industrious manner, and at sunset
made Mrs. Stiles present of about one hun
bred fifteen knotted skeins of yarn, fine
enough for shirts for the best gentleman in
America.
So well are these qualities known to
have been in high repute that | need
not pause to speak of them. But there
was one talent that our great-grand-
mothers possessed which has rarely
been noticed-the ability to manage
their own affairs successfully when it
became necessary for them to do so.
For this they were trained, almost in
sensibly-not in the counting-room nor
at the desk. but at the fireside, where
they heard all matters of business dis
cussed with friends and neighbors, and
there they gained some knowledge of
trade, as carried on in other countries
the Windward Islands, Amsterdam,
the South of France, or the lands be-
yond the Cape of Good Hope. The in
formation acquired was solid, and the
possession of it in many instances saved
a widow suddenly left alone from desti-
tuition. The girls as well as the boys
were encouragedto send out adventures
-" ventures they are called-when-
ever a vessel put to sea, and all the
pin-money that could be spared was
laid out in goods marketable in some
distant port. Months sometimes
elapsed before there was any return;
but at length, when the vessel arrived,
Irish linen, which the Captain said be-
longed to Polly Hopkins, the proceeds
of her invoice of spermaceti candles.
Children, catching the spirit, asked
leave to cast their bread upon the
water, and the better class of house
hold servants expressed the same de-
sire. One wrote to her master in 1859:
"Inclos'd is a pair of Earrings Pleas ask
Captin Oliver to carry them a venter for me
If he Thinks they will fetch anything to the
Ndi1y VI Gutiu Gell ulu lie may Bring the Ell
fects in anything he thinks will answer best"
The time often came when the knowl-
edge thus acquired was of the greatest
value-when husband or father died,
leaving no male relative to manage his
affairs. To close up the business at
once would be disastrous, for there
were adventures on every sea, and un-
til the vessels returned there was no
way of settling an estate without seri-
Gus loss. And so the widow, to protect
her own and her children's interest,
resolutely carried on the business, tax
ing it up at point where her husband
laid it down. Many illustrations of
this aptitude might be given.
In the autumn of 1744 a gunpowder
accident killed or mortally wounded
nine persons in Newport, all of whom
were in business here, and three of
them were prominent merchants. They
had gone into store on wharf to ex-
anime the outfit of a privateer, and
there the explosion took place. Some
OF the wounded lived eight or nine
days, but not one of them ever spoke
again, and to this day it is not known
how the accident occurred. One of the
wounded was Sultan Grant, of the
Scotch house of Grant of Grant, who
had come to America in 1925 and set
tied in Newport. He married in this
country, and at the time of his death a
family was growing up around him.
Mrs. Grant, hearing of the accident,
went directly to the dock without wait
ing to put on shawl or hat. When she
reached the scene she saw all at a
glance, and taking off her Holland
apron (every matron wore one when
attending to her household duties), she
cut it into strips with the scissors that
hung from her side and bound up the
wounds of her dying husband.
At the time of his death Mr.. Grant
was actively engaged in business; he
was interestedin number of privateers,
had ventures on many seas, and in En-
gland and on the Continent he had bust
ness relations. Mrs. Grant took all
upon herself and carried it to success
full issue; her eldest son helping her
when he had grown little older, and
had acquired knowledge enough under
her training to be of assistance to her.
At the same time she looked carefully
after the education of her daughters.