Early School Rooms

Most of the schools of the Sierra Mountains in California in the 1800s were crude, inhospitable dwellings within mining camps and other small communities.  They were usually made of logs, or adobe, with earthen floors, plastered walls, and, in some cases, thatched roofs.  Many students sat upon wooden boxes, without desks, or a single desk would be shared by two pupils.  The older students helped teach the younger ones, and the classes were not clearly defined.  It was a rare school that had a piano or organ, so music was not always part of the curriculum.

All schools were cold in the winter, and the focal point of the room was the stove that sat in one corner.  Lunch boxes (usually made from old tobacco tins), coats, and other necessities were kept in a small area known as the anteroom.

Pupils came from two or three miles away and arrived by horse, cart, or on foot.  On cold days they wrapped their feet in sacks to provide warmth.  Chores were required of each child.  The boys fed and saddled the horses and kept the fire burning. The girls assisted the teacher and kept the classroom clean.  When the temperature was low, the boys ate lunch outside, or in the woodshed, while the girls ate inside the room.

There was no indoor plumbing, and drinking water was kept in a pail with a dipper.  If permission was needed to leave class, the child would raise his right arm, and only one child at a time was allowed to leave the room.  There were two outhouses, one for each sex.  They were freezing in the winter and foul-smelling in the summer.

Fortunately, schools were greatly improved in the later part of the century when school districts became organized.

Women of the Sierra by Ann Seagraves

The Adelphi Hotel, Saratoga Springs, Part I

I’ve written blogs about Saratoga Springs, New York before as one of the 19th century hot spots.  It was where the rich and famous spent thier time from mid-century on.  It wasn’t until fairly late in the period, the 1880’s and 90’s, before Newport RI became the place to go, and that for the most part was for the extremely wealthy New York City socialites.

At any rate, this was where my husband and I chose to go on our 25th anniversary.  We stayed at the Adelphi Hotel on Broadway, the main thoroughfare in Saratoga Springs.  The attraction is that the Adelphi is a “rare surviving Victorian Inn.”  Actually it was closed down and on the verge of being torn down, when it was bought,  and reopened in 1980.   It’s  furnished  with genuine antiques, although most are not from the original hotel (it is over a hundred years after all).    Of course I took plenty of pictures to share with fellow bloggers at Slip Into Something Victorian.  There are plenty more at the Adelphi Hotel website.

Stair way to rooms, from the lobby

 

 

This is the stairway.  There are 3 floors in the hotel.  The roof at the top of the stairway is glass, which lightens it all up considerably.  There are 3 floors of rooms.

 

 

 

 

 

The desk clerk told us that this is where the original desk was placed.  Probably between those two posts.  It’s a good distance into the lobby.

 

 

 

 

 

The desk clerk said that this is the original desk.  The mirror is also original, but he wasn’t sure where it was hanging.   I wish I’d gotten a better picture of the desk. 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the second floor parlor.  The furniture is beautiful.  I don’t know if hanging pictures with ribbons as they’ve done here was Victorian (I imagine so–everything else looks pretty authentic) but it’s pretty.

 

 

 

 

This is the piazza, on the second floor over looking Broadway.   Many of the hotels in Saratoga Springs had these, such as the Grand Union.  This was a HUGE hotel that overlooked Congress Springs Park.  There was also the United States, referred to as The States.

 

 

 

  This is a trunk that was placed in one of the hallways.  The hallways are lined with furniture and there are several trunks.  I saw this one and decided that it will appear in my current WIP Running Wild (formerly Stalking Star, for anyone who’s keeping track). 

I thought I’d end part one, with the trunk which moves nicely into Susan’s post on travel during the period.

Traveling in the mid-nineteenth century

The summer travel season has arrived, so I thought it would be fun to post a series of suggestions for 19th century travelers.

 

 

These are from handbooks written by John Murray, who wrote A Handbook for Travellers on the Continent (1853) and Hints to Railway Travellers.

In the first part of this series, I’ll be talking about luggage.

Murray writes, “On all occasions it is desirable to have as little baggage as possible.”

“Ladies should be cautioned not to encumber themselves with supernumerary cap and band boxes; even if they travel post in their own carriage, it will be less trouble and expense to buy such articles in the great towns, than to have to take an extra horse in consideration of the number of packages.”

He also suggests luggage should be clearly marked so a lady’s gentleman escort can easily retrieve it and any essential overnight articles should be kept separate. Instead of taking one heavy trunk, travelers are urged to distribute articles into small packages like portmanteaus or carpetbags.

Since carpetbags can get easily wet and one doesn’t want wet garments, handbook writer, Miss Leslie, urges ladies: “Let the bag be about half a quarter of a yard longer at the back than at the front; so as to leave a flap to turn over, and tie down, when all of the articles are in.”

Contrary to what other travel handbook writers urge about keeping luggage to a minimum a guide advising American travelers going to Europe or the East writes: “As regards to baggage, the author would say in opposition to most writers, who advise against it, don’t cramp yourself for lack of baggage; the few dollars charged for extra luggage will be more than compensated for by having every thing that you may want; and when your wardrobe has been pulled to pieces by custom-house officers, it will not require hours to repack before you can close your trunks.”

Hmmm. Sounds like those mid-19th century travelers had to deal with a lot of issues we still do today. In part two, I’ll talk about modes of 19th century travel.

For more on mid-19th century travel, visit this site:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/mncsptravel.html

From an article by Anna Worden: Travel in the mid-19th century: The Citizen’s Companion: June 2009. 

And there’s still plenty of time to enter my website contest to win a copy of my time travel romance, Erin’s Rebel.

Details here: www.susanmacatee.com/News.html

 

Victorian mistresses

Madam Pompadour, we all know her name, she’s the famous or infamous mistress of Louis XIV the Sun King. Royal mistresses were popular, nearly every monarch had one. They were installed in lavish apartments with every amenity of their time available. This phenomenon of mistresses treated as near queens was exclusive to the royals for a long time.

 And then the Victorian Era came about.

 By now, maintaining a mistress was no longer limited to royals or aristocrats. It’d trickled down to the middle class, becoming a more common occurrence for a gentleman to go home to his family in the afternoon and have an evening’s tryst with his mistress across town in a small, well maintained flat.

 Many things once reserved for the upper class became commonplace to the middle class, and even to some extent, the lower classes. While brothels and street walkers were always around, to many, having one woman as a mistress became more civilized.

 Whether they were mistresses of a gentleman with means, or lesser means, they did have their own household to maintain. Oftentimes, they had children to go with it. In many novels you  hear of illegitimate children being sent to the country, it was also quite common for the mistresses to be kept in the country as well—sent to pasture so to speak, or keeping her away from the wife, or even so they could raise their children.

 It was also common for them to be abandoned by the men in their lives, forcing them to seek out another protector. If they could not find another, they came to an awful end. However, less frequently, married their paramour if the wife passed—through real or induced means.

 It was very rare for a man to divorce his wife in favor of a mistress, but it did happen. And not just in romance novels! But the most common, long-term arrangements were where the man lived with his wife and maintained his mistress until he died.

 We romance readers (and writers!) don’t want to read about the hero having an affair. Still, it was a sad fact of the time; then and now.

On an aside, tomorrow Thursday, June 25 the last in my Druids series, Temptations and Treachery will be released! Lady Isadore Harrington finally gets her own story. Check out my blog for an excerpt.

Victorian Lady Color Analysis

It has been awhile since I blogged, and I’m deep into that finishing-school manual I’ve mentioned previously. That being so, I thought to share a little about how the Victorian young ladies handled the experience of such training.

When attending, they were in effect rather secretive, meeting at private homes around kitchen tables. Daily were the lessons, and not only did the young ladies learn the skills, but how to manufacture their own items of use, store them. Prior to dinner and the evening planned schedules and later elocutions.

There were many skills that were covered and similar to today, the young ladies were interested in their personal codes of color charts akin to what modern people call color-analysis. The Victorian lady, indeed, had a color analysis done, and kept it very close to the cuff. It was not a secret she gave away, that of her beauty enhancements. Mother Nature was the secret guide and flowers were pressed that resembled her skin and eyes and hair color coding. They were about as public knowledge as a familial cipher.

The other way the color analysis was handled was with colorful pins that were loaned to the person seeking to purchase in behalf of the young Victorian lady. The range of brightness and contrast of skin and hair and her special shade of red or pink hues were designed into a brooch or similar style. These permanent items were part of the Victorian lady’s beauty secrets and of her success, she felt, in her societies or Society, itself.

I’ll wish you all a lovely month ahead and I will look forward to blogging with you again next month on the third Thursday.

Win a copy of my time travel romance!

The countdown is on for the July 17th release of my first full-length romance novel from The Wild Rose Press, Erin’s Rebel, and I’m having a contest on my website all month long.

Starting Wednesday, June 17th, visit my website: http://susanmacatee.com/News.html to find out how you can have a chance to win one of three prizes.

#1 – An autographed print copy of my time travel romance, Erin’s Rebel.

#2 – A pdf download of the e-book.

#3 – A $10.00 gift certificate for The Wild Rose Press.

The contest will run until July 15th. All three winners will be announced July 16th.

Erin’s Rebel blurb: Philadelphia newspaper reporter, Erin Branigan, is engaged to marry an up-and-coming lawyer, but dreams of a man from the past change those plans and start her on a journey beyond time. After a car accident, Erin wakes to find herself living in the 1860s in a Confederate army camp.
Captain Will Montgomery, the man of her dreams, is now a flesh and blood Rebel soldier who sets her soul aflame. But the Irish beauty holds a secret he needs to unravel before he can place his trust in her. Can she correct a mistake made long ago that caused his death and denied her the love she was meant to have? Or is she doomed to live out her life with nothing but regret?

Excerpt:
The sound of her name on his lips made her skin tingle. She tore the paper off the package. At the sight of the brooch, her breath caught.

“Do you like it?” he asked anxiously. “I had it made just for you.”

Eyeing him, she had a hard time finding her voice. This was Erin O’Connell’s brooch, the very one that had sent her back in time. It shone in her hands, new and unworn from time and wear.

What did this mean? She must be following Erin O’Connell’s footsteps. As far as she knew her being here hadn’t changed anything. Will was still destined to die this year.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, Erin. If you don’t want the brooch–”

“No.” She clasped the pin against her chest as the meaning of his gift sank in. “It just means so much to me.”

His look of concern softened into a lopsided grin. “I’m happy you feel that way.”

“Thank you, Will.” She slipped the brooch into the pocket of her wrapper, then stood on her toes, lifting her arms to circle his neck. She kissed his cheek, inhaling his musky scent.

His mouth was on hers, hot and urgent. The softness of his moustache and chin beard tickled her lips. She opened to him, her tongue slipping inside to taste him thoroughly. He groaned, pressing the length of his body against her.

Erin’s Rebel, coming July 17th from The Wild Rose Press.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the winner is…

Thanks to everyone who left a comment here yesterday for Anna. And now, the winner of the pdf download of Salvation Bride is, Jean P!

Congratulations!!! Contact me at susanmacatee@aol.com to claim your prize!

Guest Blogger: Anna Kathryn Lanier

I’ve invited a guest to visit with us here today on Slip Into Something Victorian. I’ve recently read the novella length short story, Salvation Bride, a Wild Rose Press e-book, by Anna Kathryn Lanier. The story is set in 1873, so it fits into the Victorian era—a favorite time period of mine—but it particularly intrigued me because the heroine was a practicing physician—not a popular occupation for a woman in this time period—who was moving to the town of Salvation to be the mail order bride of the hero, a widower, who wanted his new wife to be a housekeeper and mother to his young daughter.

 

Without giving anything away, I can tell you this was a great read, full of excitement with an emotionally satisfying ending. And everyone who posts a comment today will be entered in a contest to win a free download of Salvation Bride. Winner will be announced here tomorrow.

 

So, now I’d like to welcome Anna.

 

Hi, Susan.  Thanks so much for having me today.  I enjoyed doing research for this story, because I sometimes think we forget that some women have always ‘lived outside the box’ society put them in. 
 
As Susan said above,  in my novella SALVATION BRIDE, the heroine is an apprentice trained doctor. During the 1800’s, one became a doctor by apprenticing him- or herself, attending medical school or simply purchasing a diploma and hanging out a shingle.  In BLEED, BLISTER AND PURGE: A History of Medicine on the American Frontier, Volney Steele, M.D. tells us that the  apprenticeship or “preceptorship was creatively American.” (14)  The apprentice would ride along with a  qualified doctor, assisting and observing for a set period of time.  Often, the apprenticeship was combined with a formal education and after both were adequately completed, a diploma was issued.

 

 Laura Ashton did not attend medical school. Her training was given under the tutelage of her uncle, a school trained doctor and Civil War veteran.    When the niece and uncle realize that he is dying, they know plans must be made for Laura’s future.  She is not safe in the town she lives in.  Uncle John suggests she reply to one of the many mail-order bride advertisements popular at the time.  He warns, however, that she keep her complete training to herself.  Very few men would appreciate a fully trained doctor as a wife. 

 

Following Uncle John’s advise, Laura tells her choice for a husband, Sheriff David Slade, that she is a midwife and he readily accepts her declaration.  Salvation, Texas is a small town.  Even a midwife would be welcomed.  Laura plans to tell David the truth before their marriage, but circumstances force them to marry the very day she arrives in Salvation. 

 

As an author, this situation sets up a lot of conflict.  Laura is trained to heal the sick and injured, but she’s afraid of how her husband and his town will react to her profession.  In BLEED, BLISTER AND PURGE, Steele says, “The restrictive rules of eastern society were bent, if not abandoned [in the west]. Nevertheless, the treatment of women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was far from equal, even in the west, and many woman had to struggle for acceptance in their communities.” However, Steele goes on to say, that the urgent need for doctors to fight such conditions as smallpox, whooping cough, scurvy and cholera hastened the acceptance of women as physicians. (204)

 

Laura knows she has to tell her husband of her profession.  Unfortunately, his reaction to the news is much as she expected it to be.

 

Unedited Excerpt:

 

Texas, 1873

 

      They ate in awkward silence for a few minutes. Laura glanced his way a few times, but seemed reluctant to speak. And who could blame her. He’d cut off her questions twice now.
      “You said you were a midwife. Have you delivered many babies?” he asked, not ready to discuss his life yet.
      She stared across the table, her fork halfway to her mouth. Biting her lower lip, she placed her fork on her plate, the mashed potatoes still on it. Her hands clenched into fists on the table.
      “Actually, Sheriff, I’m more than a midwife. My uncle was a university-trained doctor. He wanted an apprentice and when I came to live with him eight years ago, he decided to teach me the medical profession.”
      She stopped speaking and stared at him, a mixture of pride and apprehension in her eyes. He knitted his brows. What exactly was she saying?
      “That means I am not just a midwife who delivers babies. I am a fully trained medical doctor. I have set broken bones, stitched cuts and performed surgeries.”
      He knew of doctors from the war—the butchers who would just as soon cut off a man’s leg as try to save it. He was thankful that was one hell he’d never had to face.
      “Does Salvation have a doctor?” she asked.
      He shook off his thoughts. “No. We’ve never had a doctor that I recall.”
      A small smile tipped her lips. “I would very much like to practice medicine, Sheriff. If the town doesn’t already have a doctor, then it is in sore need of one, isn’t it?”
      Betrayal raced through him.
      She’d lied!  She hadn’t come to Salvation to be his wife or Ginny’s mother. No, she’d come to Salvation to be the town’s doctor. Damn it!  His daughter, his ranch, he himself wasn’t enough for her. She wanted more.
      “No.”
      She blinked slowly. “I beg your pardon?”
      “You came here to be my wife. You never said anything about practicing medicine. Do you think because I needed your dowry that I can’t provide for you? Do you think you need to work to put food on the table?”
      She shook her head. “Of course not. It’s doubtful I’d make enough out here to matter anyway. I just—”
      “You just what? Thought you could lie to me and I’d just ignore it?” He stood, his dinner unfinished. “No wife of mine is going to work and she certainly isn’t going to practice medicine. Most of the population is male. That’s why I had to look East for a wife.”
      “I never lied.”
      “No? Well, I suppose you didn’t. You just never told me the whole truth. You said you were a midwife and hoped I’d understand you wanted to continue with doing that. Fine, you can deliver babies, but doing medical things on a man is something else and I won’t allow it!”
      Ginny stared at him wide-eyed and he realized he’d raised his voice. Laura looked equally astonished, but she didn’t reply. Setting his mouth, he stalked to the door.
      “I’m going for a walk.”
      He stopped from slamming the door. Ginny already thought he’d gone mad. Lord, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten angry, let alone raised his voice. What was Laura doing to him?
      He crossed the yard to the grave. Glaring at it, he stalked past it, needing to burn off his anger before he returned to the house.
      What the hell had she been thinking by not telling him? He had enough to worry about without the snickering of the community added to it. If he’d known she hadn’t answer his advertisement just to be his wife, he’d have thought twice before proposing to her. Which was why she hadn’t told him.
      Blast it!
      What would his friends think of his wife practicing medicine? Of earning her own money? The only women who worked in Salvation either worked in their husband’s businesses or on their backs at the Red Door Saloon. He wasn’t a doctor and she wasn’t going to prostitute herself in front of the town. He didn’t need money that bad!
      She was being selfish, just as Angie had been throughout their marriage. He’d brought Laura here to be a mother to Ginny, to care for his house and to be the wife he’d never had.
      True, Salvation did need a doctor…. 
      But he and Ginny needed her, too. Couldn’t she see that?
     
My novella, SALVATION BRIDE has received a 5 book review from Long and Short of it Reviews.  Lilac said, “”Salvation Bride” is a wonderful story that I would definitely recommend!”

 

Read Lilac’s review here.
     
She rode into town for her own deliverance, but will Doctor Laura Ashton heal Sheriff David Slade’s pain before the dark secret in her past turns up to steal his SALVATION BRIDE?

SALVATION BRIDE is available from The Wild Rose Press and Fictionwise.

 

Learn more about my stories at http://aklanier.com and http://annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com/.

 

Thanks so much for having me here today, Susan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research

This blog is very very late, and I apologize for that. Today’s topic in a shortened version is research. Historical, contemporary, fantasy, futuristic, research must be done.

If I want to write a story that has espionage, chases, murder, and romance that happened today and in London, I’d better know what I’m talking about. Research is necessary for anything. Street in London aren’t as wide as those in Texas…actually streets anywhere aren’t as wide as those in Texas. Still, it’s more difficult to have a car chase in London than it is elsewhere. Those little things that make up London? You’d better know them, even if it’s from a Fodor’s guide to the city. Can’t just say whatever and expect people to know.

Historicals are different, for obvious reasons, and more difficult to research. Try finding a book, website, or mention of daily life in Austria during the Napoleonic War that doesn’t mention the Grande Armée, Napoleon, that stupid frozen winter in Russia, or the royalty. Go ahead…and if you DO find something, please be a doll and pass it along!

Futuristic/fantasy require their own research. You have to build a world, and populate it. And then remember it all! Can’t change tactics midpoint, someone will notice.

I’m currently reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which I find hysterical given how well I know the original story. But there’s a huge plot hole I just discovered that bodes well for the Lydia/Wickham half, but completely disregards the previous half. PLOT HOLE! A little research could’ve prevented that.

What to do with your research:

• Use Wikipedia for a quick and dirty find but always, always double check your sources. If you can’t verify that tidbit by at least 2 other .org, .mil, or .gov resources, skip it.
• Keep a running document of finds. You have her eye color as green? Better remember that! You had him covered in tattoos? Make a list of every single one and where they’re located.
• Trying to remember where you read about how long the British occupation of Washington, D.C. lasted during the War of 1812? Or the battles of the Crimean War? WRITE IT DOWN!
• You think you know the city. You’ve lived here all your life. You know the neighborhoods, the people, that cool bistro down the street. Huh…make notes. No matter how well you think you know a place, you need to make notes to remember for story purposes. Just because you think you know, doesn’t mean ¾ into the story you’ll remember what you had, what description you used. Don’t want long paragraphs of repeating yourself!
• What did you call that creepy alien from your scifi story? And where was that stupid accent located? Better have taken some notes.

The bottom line is that no matter what you’re writing, research is needed. It’s essenital to making the story work. If you can pick up the entire story and change it from LA to NY to DC and back again, what’s the use?

Eliza Cook, Nevada’s First Woman Doctor

In the 1890’s Dr. M. Cary Thomas requested permission to attend a class at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.  She dared to tread where no other woman had been allowed.  She was accepted only on the condition that she sit behind a screen.  Later, Dr. Thomas became president of Bryn Mawr College.

Dr. Eliza Cook also dared to walk the path of prejudice to enter a “man’s field.”  Eliza became Nevada’s first woman doctor in 1884, and she successfully practiced medicine in the Carson Valley for over 40 years.

Eliza Cook was born in Salt Lake City in 1856 and moved to Carson Valley with her mother and sister in 1870.  When her mother died, Eliza became a nurse to Dr. H. H. Smith of Genoa.  He was so impressed with the young woman’s skill and ability in the care of the ill that he encouraged her to study medicine.  Eliza became his assistant as well as his student, and, with the doctor’s help, she was accepted at the Cooper School of Medicine in San Francisco.  The college later became part of Stanford University.

In 1884, at the age of 28, Eliza received her medical degree.  She had completed the customary two years of study required at that time and returned home to practice.

Doctors were scarce in the 1800’s, especially in the large sprawling Carson Valley where freezing winter storms frequently pounded the Sierra.  The erect figure of Dr. Cook, and her black buggy, soon became a welcome sight throughout the area.  No matter how late the hour or how far she had to travel, the dedicated doctor answered the call to attend the needs of the ill and injured.  She traveled icy roads, fought blizzards, and crossed flooded rivers to complete her rounds and care for her patients.  Late at night, returning home cold and weary, Eliza could always tell the time by the lights shining in the windows of the various ranches in the valley.  She had traveled the area so many times that she knew the habits of each family.

Eliza was a tall, slender woman with dark hair pulled severely back from her intelligent, pretty face.  She wore long black coats and dresses with high-stemmed collars adorned by a simple brooch.  She called her patients by their first names and was considered a lady who “went along with the times.”  Eliza often frowned on girls wearing socks instead of stockings, but would shrug her shoulders and say “things change.”  She was always proper, and when dancing, she was careful to keep a “safe distance” from her partner.

Doctor Cook never married; however, she was considered a wonderful homemaker.  She had a deep love of nature and growing things.  Her home was surrounded by lovely flowers, and behind it there was a large apple orchard that she irrigated and cared for herself. 

As well as an expert physician, she was also a pharmacist.  Dr. Cook set broken limbs with splints she made herself and skillfully prepared prescriptions on a little apothecary scale.  It was kept on a table in her dining room where she measured the exact dose of medicinal powders .

Eliza practiced medicine for over 40 years in the Carson Valley.  In her last years of caring for patients, she put her horse and buggy away and started driving a Model T.  She retired in the late 1920’s.  She passed away quietly in 1947 at the age of 91 in her own bed.

Women of the Sierra by Anne Seagraves