Post date: May 19, 2017 8:38:06 PM
We had a great experience time-traveling back to the 1800s. Here are a few photos...
We experienced education in a one-rooom schoolhouse with the very strict Miss Persnickety. When that morning bell rang, boys and girls had to be in two very quiet lines. There was no talking to friends or fooling around in her classroom!
We recited poetry for the teacher and received high marks!
We learned about the craft of blacksmithing. A blacksmith worked 10-20 hours a day. Boys as young as 10 were chosen to be the blacksmith's apprentice and left school and their families to live in the blacksmith shop for the next 8-10 years with no pay. Girls couldn't become blacksmiths unless they married one!
In the Print Shop, we learned that it took a week to put together a two-page newspaper back in those days -- 3 to set the type, 2 to print the papers, and 3 to clean up. Why do we call capital letters uppercase? Girls were not allowed to become printers and own a print shop, but they could work as a typesetter.
We visited an authentic log house that the first settlers in the area built after arriving in their covered wagons. We learned that children as young as 2 or 3 were put to work with daily chores -- everyone had to contribute. And six or seven people might live in this one room house for a couple of years. Children slept on a hard wooden floor.
Water was pumped by hand in order to keep the garden growing on hot, dry days. No hoses or sprinklers to make things easy.
The first settlers arrived in covered wagons. They couldn't fit much on their long journey, so they had to choose the most essential things they would need until town was established and a blacksmith set up shop to make the tools and utensils people required for their everyday use.
Traveling back in time is fun! We had a great time. Thanks to our chaperones who gave up their whole day to help. The weather didn't exactly cooperate, but this group is good at having fun everywhere!