The Muse: June 2006

And we just keep getting better--thanks to you! This year’s Annual Historic House Tour was an incredible success! Thanks to Frances Butler, Tour chairman, and all of this year’s volunteers--we made over $2000! Special thanks also to Judy Faris, the previous director who established the tour as an annual event, and to Mary Frances Olinger for laying the groundwork for this year’s tour. The homes, churches and the mill overflowed with hospitality, the flowers blossomed abundantly, and the weather cooperated to the fullest extent allowed by the season! Many, many thanks! We could not have done this without you!

Holly Mills, Director

Plans Underway: We plan to have a Treasures Assessment in August. Looking for an opportunity to find out more about some of those things you’ve hidden away in the attic? This is your chance! Stay tuned for more details.

Mark you calendar now for our Annual Membership Meeting on September 16. We will be visiting Virginia Lime Works, makers of traditional lime putty products. Jimmy Price runs this interesting business and will give talks about their work. It will be a fun day! Remember, this is a members only event. Encourage your interested friends to come join us!

(This year’s sale will be a traditional yard sale)

• Plants
• Baked Goods
• Kitchen Items
• Furniture
• Books
• Decorative Items
• Toys
• Linens
• Games
• No clothing, please!

Sale begins at 7 a.m. Donations can be dropped at the Museum any time before Saturday, June 3. Need to have a large item picked up? Call the Museum at 946-9068 for arrangements! Want to know how else you can help? Ask Holly at 946-9068.

• Marriages of Henrico County Virginia, 1680-1808, compiled and published by Joyce H. Lindsay, 1983.
• American Marriage Records Before 1699, compiled and edited by William Montgomery Clemens, latest reprint 2004.
• A Digital Inventory of the Cemetery at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Clifford, Virginia, March 2006. This CD includes photographs of the stones and markers as well as full inscriptions of the epitaphs.

We are all getting ready for the Jamestown Quadricentennial, or Jamestown 1607-2007, and you’ve already marked your calendar to come to the Florence Elston Conference Center at Sweet Briar on July 29. And you have also planned to read some of the book, The First Seventeen Years: Virginia, 1607-1624, by Charles E. Hatch, Jr., which is the focus of this event (see back page for details). Did you know that the Museum has this in its research library? And that this book is only one of a number published in 1957 for the Jamestown 350th Anniversary?

Here is a listing of other publications of the Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation:

• The Three Charters of the Virginia Company of London, with Seven Related Documents; 1606-1621, with an introduction by Samuel M. Bemiss
• Mother Earth: Land Grants in Virginia, 1607-1699, by W. Stitt Robinson, Jr.
• How Justice Grew: Virginia Counties; an Abstract of their Formation, by Martha W. Hiden
• Struggle Against Tyranny, and the Beginning of a New Era: Virginia, 1677-1699, by Richard L. Morton
• Virginia Architecture in the Seventeenth Century, by Henry Chandlee Forman
• Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, by Annie Lash Jester
• Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia, by Ben C. McCary

The Virginia 350th Anniversary’s publication committee was chaired by John M. Jennings, Director of the Virginia Historical Society, and the editor was E. G. Swem, Librarian Emeritus of the College of William and Mary. There were twenty-three publications in the series, and they had a price of fifty cents each!

Our Newsletters: We are proud that the Library of Virginia requested copies of our past newsletters.

It has been an interesting and enlightening month! When we mentioned in our last newsletter that we hoped to display souvenirs and memorabilia from previous Jamestown anniversaries, we received several calls and visits from members willing to share some of their favorites. In addition to programs, postcards, and preprinted envelopes, we heard about fans, napkin rings and bud vases. With this issue’s focus on weddings, the story of one wedding must be passed on for your enjoyment.

Although the wedding took place in Prince Edward County, the bride had strong ties to Amherst County. The year was 1907 and visiting Norfolk for the Virginia 400th anniversary was all the rage. After the ceremony the entire wedding party boarded the train for Norfolk for a trip to see the Jamestown anniversary sites. The couple lived in Lynchburg after the wedding and today their descendants still talk about the Jamestown honeymoon with the whole wedding party in attendance!

Historians tell us June became a favorite month for marriages because it was named for Juno, Roman Goddess of Love. However, many residents in early Amherst County may have found the month appropriate for weddings for a more practical reason. Crops planted in May would not be ready for harvest chores until later in the summer, allowing time in June for family celebrations between planting and harvest seasons. However, lists abstracted from Amherst’s marriage records show dates near Christmas were even more popular than those in June for weddings, since family house parties were rituals observed in the holiday season anyway.

A law enacted in Virginia in 1660, long before Amherst County’s birth in 1761, required marriage bonds to offer legal protection to persons who were underage or those who wanted to have their marriages confirmed by public records for other reasons. A bondsman, often called a surety, posted an amount required by the local county court to obtain the bond and stated the parties involved were free to marry. A license was prepared by the county clerk, signed by the bondsman, then presented to the minister who would be the celebrant at the wedding ceremony. The clergy, in turn, was to return the license to the courthouse for recording after the event.

A second option for proof of marriage did not require a marriage bond. A couple could be lawfully married by having banns proclaimed at three meetings of church members held within a specified interval of time. If no objections like bigamy or breach of promise to marry someone else came to light, wedding arrangements could proceed on schedule. The law required marriages of this kind to be noted only in parish registers.

Colonial Virginia was a church state governed by edicts of England’s king and doctrines of the Anglican faith. Clergymen were often circuit preachers who rode countless miles on horseback in all kinds of weather to reach the scattered flocks they tended. Since ministers were not obligated to submit records of marriages preceded by banns to civil authorities, difficulties with returning licenses and confusion of bonds with banns was understandable. In 1780, the laws were changed. Ministers were instructed to report all marriages to county courts, whether or not banns had been proclaimed.

The Statute for Religious Freedom enacted in 1786 separated church and state, allowing non-Anglican denominations equal rights and obligations, but churches without a tradition of ordained clergy, or where each male member was a minister, did not fit the rules for reporting marriages. In 1792, a more comprehensive law was enacted which allowed marriages to be reported by consenting parties, ordained ministers, lay ministers, church clerks, or any civil authorities who had been the officiates.

Above: A September 22, 1880, wedding invitation. Rosa White married Samuel F. Matthias on Wednesday morning at seven. Today such scheduling for a marriage ceremony would be considered highly unusual. Note the attachment of two calling cards--one each for the bride and groom--delicately tied together, an indication of a very physical allusion to "tying the knot."

No marriage records are available in the Amherst Courthouse for the years 1761 to 1763. However, marriage documents recorded from 1763 to the present time are there, unlike records in many counties, they were not burned during the Civil War. Roy Mayo, III, Amherst County Clerk of Courts, smiles when he says current marriage records are as recent as "right up until yesterday."

A Marriage Register Index for dates from 1763 to 1853 and a Marriage Register for the same time period lie on shelves in the corner of the reference room where the oldest records are kept. Eighty slim books of photocopies of the actual Marriage Bonds or Marriage Certificates are located in that area also. Marriage indexes and marriage records for the time period from 1854 to the present are available at the opposite end of the room.

Marriage records provide excellent resources for family historians. These documents often give, in addition to the date and name of the celebrant, the age of the bride and groom, full names of each of the parents, designations of persons and single or widowed, and the groom’s occupation.

Wedding announcements and accounts of wedding customs can be found also in newspaper clippings saved by family members or in collections housed in reference libraries. An example is a marriage announcement in the Ellis Family file at the Amherst County Museum for the wedding of John Ellis and Mary Loving. The bridal party included twenty attendants and six ushers with well-known local surnames. The accounts says, "Mary Loving was one of the most universally popular young ladies that Amherst County has ever known, a fact that was well attested to by the immense throng that attended the marriage."

Mary and her bridesmaids wore white organdie gowns. She carried a bouquet of roses and wore a diamond brooch given to her by the groom. The bridesmaids’ accessories included black velvet hats, black velvet stocks (ribbons) around their necks, and black waist belts. They carried goldenrod bouquets.

The marriage record filed in the Amherst County Courthouse says the couple obtained a license on October 9 and married on October 11, 1899. John was age 39, born in Craig County. Mary was age 26, born in Amherst County. He was the son of W. and Louisa Ellis. She was the daughter of Henry and Bettie Loving. John was a lumber dealer. Rev. J.L. Wiley was the wedding celebrant. While most Amherst County weddings were smaller than John and Mary’s, certain rules of etiquette prevailed for courtship and marriage. A copy of the Amherst Democrat for September 10, 1884, explores one in its "Ladies Department" under the heading:

It is understood that a gentleman who decides to marry wears a plain gold or chased ring upon the first finger of the left, or heart, hand. When he becomes engaged, the ring passes to the second finger. After marriage, it passes to the third finger. If, however, the gentleman desires his lady friends to understand that he is not "in the marriage market" and does not wish to marry at all, he wears the signet on his little finger. This will inform all the ladies that he is beyond reach. With the ladies, a plain or chased ring on the little finger of the left hand indicates "not engaged," or ready for an offer. When engaged, the ring passes to the third finger of the right hand. When married, the third finger of the left hand receives the ring. When a young lady desires to defy all suitors she places ring--one on the first and one on the fourth finger...

Other less demanding protocols to follow than wearings rings "significantly" were those for bridal veils, attendants, wedding cakes, bouquets, and garters--and ways to discourage boisterous guests who might attempt to stay with the newlyweds until the dawn of a new day. In old Amherst County, a number of customs needed to be considered when planning a wedding for one of those "perfect days" in June. --Rosemary Dunne

--From the Museum collection, The Amherst Democrat, September 10, 1884, donated by the Amherst County DAR.

To Miss Sallie--

Sallie is your name,

Single is your station,

Happy is the man,

That makes the alteration

--Written by your friend, GEV,

October 9th [18]97

--Found inscribed in Sallie Eubank’s autograph book.. Sallie later married Edward Parr. The book was donated to the Museum by Mrs. Wesley Butler.

• Mr. & Mrs. Rodney Lorence, Hampton, VA
• Ron Ritchie and family, Madison Heights, VA
• Charlie Price, Richmond, VA
• James Thomas, Holly Springs, MS

And thanks to...

• AREVA/Framatone
• Amherst County High School masonry classes
• Boxley Stone
• Lowes Home Improvement Store

... for their support and assistance with putting in our new brick walkway from the back parking lot to the back porch. Come by and see how wonderful it looks!

Our Annex fund continues to grow due to recent fundraising events and grants. We may still have a good ways to go, but thanks to you--our members--we have already come a long way! Thanks for your help!

At Nysalta, these cars are pointed towards the entrance, but this dog seems uncertain as to his welcome. This year’s house tour brought over two hundred visitors. Many thanks to the homeowners and cooperating churches and mill!

• Forest Hill--Mr. & Mrs. William Tucker
• Nysalta--Mr. & Mrs. Preston Tucker
• Hite Store & Academy--Mr. and Mrs. David Kenny
• Ivy Hill United Methodist Church
• Central Baptist Church
• Rockmill Manor Farm Manor House & Guest House--Mr. & Mrs. John Shimp
• Woodson’s Mill--Mr. & Mrs. Will Brockenbrough

The West of the Falls Chapter, National Society Colonial Dames, 17th Century, is sponsoring a gathering for passing on uncommon information--about people, places and things of those seventeen years--based upon the book by Charles Hatch, Jr., The First Seventeen Year--Virginia 1607-1624 which was published for the 350th celebration of the founding of Jamestown.

What’s the real story behind the wild turkey and Indian corn so long associated with Thanksgiving? Hear about the Jamestown colonists’ early services of thanksgiving, what their education was like, and why Lloyd’s of London insured a ham. How did the role of colonial women differ from women in England?

For answers to these and other questions, join us for a free program at the Florence Elston Lounge at Sweet Briar College on Saturday, July 29 from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Lunch is on your own from noon to 1:30 p.m.

In addition to supporting the Jamestown 2007 commemoration events, the Museum will also be exhibiting various souvenirs from previous Jamestown anniversaries. The exhibit, located in the front hall of the Museum, includes a broadside of photographs and short histories of historic homes in Amherst County that were shown for the 1957 Jamestown Festival Committee of Amherst County. A souvenir program from the 1957 Jamestown anniversary which was presented to Maryland Governor McKeldin from Virginia Governor Stanley is also on display, along with postcards from the 1907 anniversary. A 1907 Jamestown napkin ring and an undated fan from Jamestown are being shown as well. If you have an interesting item from earlier Jamestown anniversaries that you would like to loan for this occasion, please let the Museum know so that arrangements can be made. We’d love to fill this case with a wide variety of special artifacts for this special occasion!