I grew up on a farm in the 30s and 40s when the term was still commonly used.
The wagon bed is the wooden box of the wagon in which things are carried.
Madaline: It may be that the "waggon bed" referred to in the
inventory is the "bed" of the wagon, but ....
Charles
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-----Original Message-----
From: VA-ROOTS automatic digest system <[log in to unmask]>
To: VA-ROOTS <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Mon, Nov 19, 2012 12:05 am
Subject: VA-ROOTS Digest - 17 Nov 2012 to 18 Nov 2012 (#2012-146)
There are 4 messages totaling 250 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. inventory
2. About bedcovers... was inventory (3)
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Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2012 07:00:00 -0500
From: JW Shiner <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: inventory
Madaline: It may be that the "waggon bed" referred to in the
inventory is the "bed" of the wagon, but I think a better
interpretation is a bed that breaks down for transport by wagon. I
have such a bed that is family piece (also from Frederick Co.) that
was always called the "wagon bed".
Bill
On Nov 17, 2012, at 11:29 AM, Madaline Preston wrote:
> In a Frederick Co., VA inventory of 1827 there is listed: one wagon
> tent.
> Would this be an actual tent waggoners carried with them on long
> hauls to
> erect at night for personal use....or maybe a covering for the wagon?
> In the inventory there is a wagon at $75.00 and four horses at $30,
> $40,
> $40 and a sorrel mare with colt at $70. Later, way down the
> list...after
> listing of bedsteads, blankets and chests, there is a "waggon bed and
> bedding" at $5.00???? Do these items support the theory he was a
> "waggoner"?
> What is a wagon bed? (Interesting....there are 18 blankets and 7
> coverlids
> [coverlets] listed. Contents mention 4 bedsteads. That's a lot of
> blankets
> for 4 beds.)
> Also there is mention of a wagon saddle? Any info as to what this is?
> Would appreciate any comments.
> M. Preston
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the
> instructions at
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--
Bill Shiner
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Max Meadows, VA
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2012 10:11:02 -0500
From: Carolyn Bruce <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: About bedcovers... was inventory
Quantities of blankets, quilts, and coverlids (a.k.a. counterpanes or
"countypins") were necessary in homes in which there was no central
heat... and if the fire went out, no heat at all. Most homes were of
wood and had no insulating materials. In addition, kinfolks might come
to stay awhile, often around the holidays... maybe with numerous
children, which would require providing pallets or some form of bedding
to be able to sleep everyone comfortably. Straw or corn shucks would be
stuffed into "straw ticks" which made rudimentary mattresses that were
laid on the floor to accommodate visitors, especially young un's.
My mother told of growing up in a house with all her brothers and
sisters (there were ten) at home at one time, sharing beds among them,
two or three in a bed. There were two upstairs bedrooms, one for the
boys and one for the girls... but come fall of the year, teachers often
boarded at their house, and the boys were pushed out into an attic
space. Cold wouldn't even come close to describing the conditions. At
times it was truly freezing in the bedrooms and they would have to break
ice on top of the water in the wash bowl and ewer to wash their faces
when they arose.
In the time frame of your "wagoner", it was even colder than in the 20th
century, at least in the U.S. and Europe. Around 1700, it was so cold in
the area known as Alsace-Lorraine, it is said that birds froze in flight
and fell from the sky. Heavy snows fell in most of Europe, and canals
and streams froze. Remember Hans Brinker, the poor boy (and his sister)
who competed in the traditional speed-skating race from one town to the
next on the frozen canal? And all those snowy Currier and Ives prints
from that period? That was during a centuries-long dip in temperatures
that started in the early 1300s and ended about the mid-1800s... called
the "Little Ice Age". So your wagoner would have been most appreciative
of having a large stockpile of warm blankets and other bedcovers, as
would most of his neighbors.
Thank goodness for central heat.
Carolyn
--
Carolyn HALE BRUCE
Virginia Beach, VA
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2012 11:55:43 -0500
From: Madaline Preston <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: About bedcovers... was inventory
Carolyn, what a nice response. Many of my kin came to the Shenandoah
Valley in the 1730s. I can't imagine how tough the conditions were while
they tried to put up a cabin. I look at how spoiled I am (can't be too
warm or too cool) and wonder how, genetically, my line survived.
Your comments reminded me of a book I read ...Hollow Folk by Mandel Sherman
and Thomas R. Henry. It was written in 1933 and tells of life in the
hollows on the Blue Ridge Mountains. From the tone of your email....I
think you may enjoy it.
Regards,
Madaline
On Sun, Nov 18, 2012 at 10:11 AM, Carolyn Bruce <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Quantities of blankets, quilts, and coverlids (a.k.a. counterpanes or
> "countypins") were necessary in homes in which there was no central heat...
> and if the fire went out, no heat at all. Most homes were of wood and had
> no insulating materials. In addition, kinfolks might come to stay awhile,
> often around the holidays... maybe with numerous children, which would
> require providing pallets or some form of bedding to be able to sleep
> everyone comfortably. Straw or corn shucks would be stuffed into "straw
> ticks" which made rudimentary mattresses that were laid on the floor to
> accommodate visitors, especially young un's.
>
> My mother told of growing up in a house with all her brothers and sisters
> (there were ten) at home at one time, sharing beds among them, two or three
> in a bed. There were two upstairs bedrooms, one for the boys and one for
> the girls... but come fall of the year, teachers often boarded at their
> house, and the boys were pushed out into an attic space. Cold wouldn't even
> come close to describing the conditions. At times it was truly freezing in
> the bedrooms and they would have to break ice on top of the water in the
> wash bowl and ewer to wash their faces when they arose.
>
> In the time frame of your "wagoner", it was even colder than in the 20th
> century, at least in the U.S. and Europe. Around 1700, it was so cold in
> the area known as Alsace-Lorraine, it is said that birds froze in flight
> and fell from the sky. Heavy snows fell in most of Europe, and canals and
> streams froze. Remember Hans Brinker, the poor boy (and his sister) who
> competed in the traditional speed-skating race from one town to the next on
> the frozen canal? And all those snowy Currier and Ives prints from that
> period? That was during a centuries-long dip in temperatures that started
> in the early 1300s and ended about the mid-1800s... called the "Little Ice
> Age". So your wagoner would have been most appreciative of having a large
> stockpile of warm blankets and other bedcovers, as would most of his
> neighbors.
>
> Thank goodness for central heat.
>
> Carolyn
>
> --
> Carolyn HALE BRUCE
> Virginia Beach, VA
>
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
> at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/**archives/va-roots.html<http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html>
>
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2012 12:19:47 -0500
From: Tom Foster <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: About bedcovers... was inventory
Carolyn,
You probably heard the old joke where the comic says, "We were so poor, I
slept in the same bed with two of my brothers. When it got cold, my mother
would throw on another brother."
:)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Bruce" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 10:11 AM
Subject: About bedcovers... was inventory
> Quantities of blankets, quilts, and coverlids (a.k.a. counterpanes or
> "countypins") were necessary in homes in which there was no central
> heat... and if the fire went out, no heat at all. Most homes were of wood
> and had no insulating materials. In addition, kinfolks might come to stay
> awhile, often around the holidays... maybe with numerous children, which
> would require providing pallets or some form of bedding to be able to
> sleep everyone comfortably. Straw or corn shucks would be stuffed into
> "straw ticks" which made rudimentary mattresses that were laid on the
> floor to accommodate visitors, especially young un's.
>
> My mother told of growing up in a house with all her brothers and sisters
> (there were ten) at home at one time, sharing beds among them, two or
> three in a bed. There were two upstairs bedrooms, one for the boys and one
> for the girls... but come fall of the year, teachers often boarded at
> their house, and the boys were pushed out into an attic space. Cold
> wouldn't even come close to describing the conditions. At times it was
> truly freezing in the bedrooms and they would have to break ice on top of
> the water in the wash bowl and ewer to wash their faces when they arose.
>
> In the time frame of your "wagoner", it was even colder than in the 20th
> century, at least in the U.S. and Europe. Around 1700, it was so cold in
> the area known as Alsace-Lorraine, it is said that birds froze in flight
> and fell from the sky. Heavy snows fell in most of Europe, and canals and
> streams froze. Remember Hans Brinker, the poor boy (and his sister) who
> competed in the traditional speed-skating race from one town to the next
> on the frozen canal? And all those snowy Currier and Ives prints from that
> period? That was during a centuries-long dip in temperatures that started
> in the early 1300s and ended about the mid-1800s... called the "Little Ice
> Age". So your wagoner would have been most appreciative of having a large
> stockpile of warm blankets and other bedcovers, as would most of his
> neighbors.
>
> Thank goodness for central heat.
>
> Carolyn
>
> --
> Carolyn HALE BRUCE
> Virginia Beach, VA
>
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
> at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
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------------------------------
End of VA-ROOTS Digest - 17 Nov 2012 to 18 Nov 2012 (#2012-146)
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