Kids Step Into Colonial Life At The Matthew Curtiss House

By Tanjua Damon

Learning about what life was like more than 200 years ago did not surprise the elementary school students who attended the Colonial Life Workshop at the Matthew Curtiss House on Monday. But it did get them thinking about all the things they would not want to have to do if they had lived back then.

John Wood from the Connecticut Historical Society presented the workshop to almost 20 students on their day off from school. The students learned about what it would have been like if they were alive when there was no electricity, no stores, and more work than school.

“I, too, find this to be a wonderful place to be,” Mr Wood said. “Today we want to talk about what life was like when this house was made over 200 years ago. We thought of ourselves as English.”

Mr Wood explained to the students that most families lived on farms, which provided them with the things that they needed to survive. Farms provided food, clothing, and shelter. Everyone – fathers, mothers, and children – took part in doing the chores to keep the farm going.

“When this house was made, almost everyone made their own clothes,” he said. “Almost everyone lived on a farm with their family. Every little farm grew all kinds of things.”

 Mr Wood explained to the children that going to the mall was not an option for clothing, but rather families used wool from their sheep and made their own clothes. Since there was no electricity, windows, fireplaces, and candles were light sources back then. Families made their own candles, soap, butter, cheese, and leather.

“You would have to do almost anything you were big enough to do,” he said. “You would almost never go to school.”

Wool cards or cones were used to draw out the wool and make it straighter and cleaner, according to Mr Wood. Children would do this four or five hours a day. Once it was straight it would be spun into string to sew the clothing.

The girls in the group giggled when they were told that what boys wore for the first part of their lives.

“Boys didn’t wear pants until they were five years old,” Mr Wood said. “Everyone wears the same thing, dresses, until they are five years old. Boys wear pants after that, but girls never would.”

A school book was made from wood and cow’s horns. It was two sided. One side had numbers and the alphabet while the other side contained religious content for reading.

“They were all very religious,” Mr Wood said. “In fact, they were all Protestant.”

Life contained three things – work, church, and school. There was not much time for anything else. But if a spare moment could be found, children would make crafts or play simple games with the whirligig or the top.

“Connecticut has a very rich past,” Mr Wood said. “I would also say every generation is in danger of using it or losing it. The children find it fascinating and enjoyable.”

Enjoyable is right. The children were excited to participate and see what life was like some 200 years ago.

“It was pretty good. I wouldn’t like to live here,” Owen Evans said. “Your parents could get arrested if you don’t go to church. I liked the games and I’d like to milk the cows, too.”

Erin Glaberson found life to be pretty different and more challenging for children in the 1700s.

“I think [the workshop is] pretty fun. You always have to go to church on Sunday,” she said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to milk the cows. It seems pretty hard.”

Farm life intrigued many of the elementary school children.

“I liked when we were talking about the farm life,” Emily Kimball said. “You can make horn books out of horns from a cow. I wouldn’t want to have to carry the water.”

Mr Wood really enjoys teaching children about history. He loves to see the excitement children display when they learn about what it was like hundreds of years ago. Mr Wood is an adjunct professor at the University of Hartford where he teaches history.

The Newtown Historical Society has been offering the Colonial Life workshops to elementary and middle school students for four years.