The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-06-11
COLONIAL WoOING.
!, oe THE ODDITIES OF OLD TIME
SOM coURTSHlPS.

4 Men was
' "'',I,e, Attached to Sly wooins-wid'
''D nd widowers Had the Best of It,
ohief and only object of girl of
A N~ ',i,a !, was plainly 10 get married,
ronlS ',a ont that the steps that led her to
n e' p' were of much importance, She
rarTpsJl ought by prerept and few
va nd deplorable examples 10 dread ana
nlv ain ing an old maid The traveller,
l. % nouton. wrote IN 1914
l oln I'm truean old or superannuated maid
-, /. thought such curse as moth
y .c.n exceed IT, look On as d oisihai
gecacle ,, unmarried women were
M "tbornbacEs The state OF old
~ln .1., was reached at an early date.
hal" 'a,or wrote of an ancient maid of
hssSp, letters of Mary Doning, daughter
70 r,"onuel Doning, John Winthrop's
- IN. law. show how bitterly her par
''O''s ,,sc,ted her remaining unmarried
en n.to,t % wears of age And letters of
lnS Sa,Lcr show his modification at not
Du ,r motcbirg" his children The evi-
, '" If family records, of gravestones,
" cbrch lss, show that unmarried
women were IeW' -.
- If course, equally discouraged.
bachelors we're eyed askance ana with
mich suspicion. They were watched by
ministers, elders dcacons, magistrates,
saads Of families; the tithing man was
o,dered TO have "spetial eye out" on
,1Sm They were not permitted to live
Lana or TO choose their place of resi-
Sonce but had to go with whom and where
,he court assigned, and if they resented
mis- treatment were sold for term of sery-
Too In MANY of the colonies they had to
nav n tax if they remained unmarried after
. certain age.
All was not smooth sailing when the re-
stricted and watched bachelor decided to
marry and gain freedom. He could not
snake a motion of marriage" to any
voung woman in the community without
| attaining the consent of her parents,
guardians or near kinsfolk. The whip
ming post and cat o. nine tails awaited
him If he "inveaglcd the affections of any
maid or maidservant" by making love to
her without proper permission. l have
often wondered whether the marked at
fractions and charms of widows in colo
NAL days were not somewhat due to the
fact that man could court them without
being watched, or being given permission,
or rendering account.
Many laws restricting unlicensed love-
making can be found i'm court records of
colonial days, but the New Haven magis
trates severely specified the 'inveagling"
as "by speech, writing, message, company
keeping, unnecessary familiarity, disor-
Derby night meetings, sinful dalliance,
gifts or (as final blow to inventive low
ers) in any other way"
1t may plainly be seen that If u sly WOO
. er were hauled up for "inveagling" and
threatened with the whipping post and
stocks bold sweetheart had very simple
way of thwarting the magistrates. When
Goodman Tuttle of New Haven found that
Jacob Murlin had been kissing Sarah
Tuttle his daughter, without leave or
license, he angrily brought suit against
Jacob foI inyeigling Sarah's affections.
Affairs were looking dark for Jacob and
the lash of the whip seemed to tremble
near him in the air when the court asked
Sarah whether Jacob inveiglcd her, and
she demurcly answered "No." The magis
trate called her 'bould virgin" but he
couldn't make her say she was kissed
against her will, so Jacob went scot free,
to Goodman Tuttlo's i-c.
These laws as TO the restraint of lovers
were not wholly for the control of igno-
rant and poor folk, nor TO prevent the loss
oil bound servants, as some historians have
Imagined They applied to all classes in
the community and were taken advan-
tage of by fathers and guardians of all
ranks.
An engagement of marriage was seri-
Gus matter in those days. If the father
had given his consent, he could not reck-
lessly or unreasonably interfere to break
The contract. Colonial court records, os-
peclally those of Plymouth, prove that
lovers, in turn, could sue parents for in
@rmeddling in sanctioned lovemaking
ana breach of promise cases were brought
ny men against women.
IN some communities, in both Plymouth
ana boston, formal betrothal, called q
contraction" took place. This was not
neid TO have very favorable influence on
morals, as colonial records prove, and, as
iurthered long engagements, was not
Encouraged. Cotton Mather expressed him
@li with some force upon the subject.
a certain sordidness and meanness APP
pear IN many of the accounts of wooings
~ colonial times through the eagcrness Of
poth the father of the bride and the groom
" uriVe as Sharp a bargain over the mar
rage contract as possible. The tender pas
SION was reckoned in many cases in pounds,
sSnliiings and pence. The pages of Judge
Sewalls diary give ample proof of his
snreWd calculation i'm courtships, both his
oMn ana his childrens. And the pages also
now ~ mat he proved very good husband
"a spite of the sharpness of his bargaining.
q ilorrlage settlement was very impor-
~n' matter in those days. A girl could
e.. married, of course, without dowry,
"ul she could not expect to match with
~! one OF very high standing i'm the COM
mu,lity unless she brought money i'm her
ihcre was some sentiment i'm lovemak
t nsi alnelt OF II rather broadly outlined
, n,nu "A favorite method of expression
""s ny very energetic Glove at first sight
a nu speedy marriage am constrained to
NJ that the hero of this sort of romance
-, v'eh IN every case which have noted,
saW Mluower. No romantic bachelor has ever
. 90. IN love at sight of "a fair maid who
60 . milking her fathers COWS, proposed at
7. ana married her as soon as published.
A. mas always been "a widower who did