It seems we are all pre-occupied with the subject of groceries lately – how we’re going to get them, which store has what, which items are hard to find at the moment. The current shopping situation is an alien one to us in our modern world of on-line ordering and nearly instant delivery. The stress … Continue reading All That’s Fit to Buy: Shopping in the 18th Century
colonial merchant
Lecture – Credit and Coinage: The Economy in Colonial Virginia [Video]
On Tuesday, May 8, 2018, Cash Arehart, Site Supervisor of the Capitol Building at Colonial Williamsburg presented a lecture titled “Credit and Coinage: The Economy of Colonial Virginia.” Using Kenmore's Fielding Lewis as an example, he discussed currency, credit, the tobacco economy, and the Transatlantic trade and how they all converged to make Col. Lewis … Continue reading Lecture – Credit and Coinage: The Economy in Colonial Virginia [Video]
The Lewis Ships That Sailed the Atlantic World
George Washington’s Ferry Farm is located on a hill overlooking the Rappahannock River. That river connects to the Chesapeake Bay and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. When young George Washington lived at Ferry Farm, the Rappahannock was a gateway to the entire world. Fredericksburg was a port town on the river’s opposite bank from the farm … Continue reading The Lewis Ships That Sailed the Atlantic World
The Wine Bottle: Ubiquitous and Informative
Ah, the humble wine bottle. There are few historical archaeological sites without them and Ferry Farm is no exception. Our current mending project has produced about a dozen wine bottles from one Washington house cellar feature alone. Readily identifiable because their form has changed little in the past 250 years, these beauties are sometimes overlooked … Continue reading The Wine Bottle: Ubiquitous and Informative
The Atlantic World in Fielding Lewis’s Library
Ships and sea-faring were parts of daily life and culture in the Atlantic World port of Fredericksburg. This was especially the case for the Fielding Lewis family, who became wealthy through shipping, ship owning, and ship building. Wednesday's Lives & Legacies entry recounted a typical sea voyage around the Atlantic Ocean by the Stanton, a brig owned by John … Continue reading The Atlantic World in Fielding Lewis’s Library
The Voyage of the ‘Stanton’
In colonial times, ocean-going ships could sail up the Rappahannock River all the way to Fredericksburg. This made the tiny but growing town a bustling seaport. All types of goods were loaded onto ships to be sent to Europe while others were unloaded to be sold right here in the colonies. George Washington, Fielding Lewis, … Continue reading The Voyage of the ‘Stanton’
Lives & Legacies 