Women's Labor in the 19th Century - The Frontier Workload and Settler Life
Women’s role in establishing Galesburg is often overlooked. They did not build the buildings they resided in, they did not establish the school, and they did not work in the government. However, their role is no less important. As a growing settlement, the citizens of Galesburg needed to work together in order to survive and the women worked just as hard as the men in their respective roles.
The term ‘housework’ simplifies the work women did. They cooked, they cleaned, they raised children, and they did this work every day. Life in a new settlement where many had not lived before was difficult and so the work women normally did was demanding. Because of the nature of establishing a settlement in a new area, the inhabitants were expected to all work together. Over and over, in a journal from an early Galesburg settler who lived in Log City, Jerusha Loomis Farnham mentions other citizens and working with them.1 They shared crops, they supported each other when sick, they kept their houses open to those who needed rest.2 The work every individual did was important and valued, regardless of what type of work. So, when someone, such as Jerusha Farnham, got sick, other members of the town shared food and worked together to help her.3
Dutch oven: a simple iron dutch oven, used primarily for baking bread. A loop is attached to two hoops on either side of the body of the pot. The lid is the same iron color as the body and has a small handle on the top center.
Copper kettle: A simple, metal kettle made of dark, black copper. There are two hoops on the rim so it can be hung over a fireplace/open flame.
Common household work included cooking, which was done over the fireplace built into the cabins. Kettles that could be hung over the fireplace, long-handled pans, and dutch ovens were all common tools used.4 As the town developed, these tools would have fallen out of use as stoves and ranges were put in place, but the early settlers of Galesburg would have used these objects often.
Cooper pot: A simple copper pot with an iron handle. The handle is long so someone can keep it over a fire while still being able to reach the handle and move the pot.
Hinged box: a simple, undecorated hinged wooden box that can be latched closed
Large chest of drawers: a large dark wood chest. There are four drawers. 3 are larger and 1 (at the top) is smaller. Each drawer has a lock mechanism at the center.
Washboard: A long, thin washboard attached to a small wooden peg as a handle at the bottom. The washboard has faded with age to a tan/grey color.
Another common task for women was spinning flax on a spinning wheel. Flax was spun into linen. Many houses also had a loom, though not every one.5 Because not every house had a loom, women with looms were often paid to make clothes for the ones without, adding to their workload. Clothes, which were homemade, were normally made of linen or wool, if sheep were kept.6 This list expanded into cloth, especially as the cotton industry grew larger and more accessible.
Flax spinning wheel: A black and white image of a simple flax spinning wheel. A large wheel with spokes (wooden poles at the center of the wheel) attaching it to the body of the spinning wheel. A small rope of some kind connects the wheel to a mechanism that spins the bobbin as the flax is pulled through the user’s fingers and shrunk down to thread. The whole thing is powered by a foot pedal.
Earthware jug: a ceramic jug with a tan coloring. The body is large, but shrinks to a small bottle-opening at the top. A curved handle is attached at the top.
Wooden Ladle: a dark wood ladle with a curved handle and a wide but shallow bowl
Ladle: a ladle made of an unknown metal with a shallow bowl
Shoes: Dark leather shoes with thick soles at the bottom made of either wood or cork. The leather of the shoe goes up to the ankle with holes for laces.
By Bea Hartman
1 Farnham, Jerusha Loomis, Samuel Holyoke, and Ernest Elmo Calkins. Log City Days: Two Narratives on the Settlement of Galesburg, Illinois. Knox College Centenary Publications, 1937.
2 Haines, James. “Social Life and Scenes in the Early Settlement of Central Illinois.” Illinois State Historical Society, 1905. http://www.museum.state.il.us/RiverWeb/landings/Ambot/Archives/transactions/1905/IL-social_20life.html.
3 Farnham, Jerusha Loomis, Samuel Holyoke, and Ernest Elmo Calkins. Log City Days: Two Narratives on the Settlement of Galesburg, Illinois. Knox College Centenary Publications, 1937.
4 Chapman, Chas C. History of Knox County, Illinois. Blakely, Brown, & Marsh Printers, 1878.
5 Chapman, Chas C. History of Knox County, Illinois. Blakely, Brown, & Marsh Printers, 1878.
6 Chapman, Chas C. History of Knox County, Illinois. Blakely, Brown, & Marsh Printers, 1878.
Earthenware jug, Whitewater, 1845-1867.. 1845-1867. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wda/id/1277 . (Accessed April 18, 2021.)
Shoes. 1800-1900. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.mpl.org/cdm/ref/collection/MHS/id/141 . (Accessed April 18, 2021.)
Ladle. 1800-1900. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.mpl.org/cdm/ref/collection/MHS/id/106 . (Accessed April 19, 2021.)
Chest of drawers said to have been made in Green Bay, ca. 1825.. 1825. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wda/id/2919 . (Accessed April 20, 2021.)
Hinged box. 1800-1900. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.mpl.org/cdm/ref/collection/MHS/id/4 . (Accessed April 20, 2021.)
Two hand-carved wooden ladles collected in Stoughton, probably mid-nineteenth century.. 1840-1880. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wda/id/2382 . (Accessed April 21, 2021.)
Washboard. 1800-1900. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.mpl.org/cdm/ref/collection/MHS/id/118 . (Accessed May 15, 2021.)
Copper pan. 1800-1900. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.mpl.org/cdm/ref/collection/MHS/id/110 . (Accessed May 15, 2021.)
Copper kettle. 1800-1900. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://content.mpl.org/cdm/ref/collection/MHS/id/155 . (Accessed May 15, 2021.)
Dutch oven. 1800-1850. Retrieved from the collections of The Henry Ford. https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/262722. (Accessed May 10, 2021).
Flax spinning wheel. 18th century. Retrieved from the National Museum of American History. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_640675. (Accessed April 25, 2021).