Clothing

A living historian demonstrates how to use a knitting machine.

NPS/Tim Ervin

The census of Hampton servants in the 1770’s contains an informal listing of clothing taken away from those workers, apparently when they arrived at the site. The idea seemed to have been to standardize attire for Hampton servants and the next document in that same collection is a listing of clothing and shoes given out to both white and black “servants.” The Ridgelys typically referred to enslaved persons as servants and in these early days the treatment of both groups was often similar in terms of assignment of tasks, food, lodgings, payment for “overtime” and punishments.

Provisions of indenture contracts included “meat, drink, apparel, washing and lodging.” Men at the furnace received one of each of the following per year: jacket, breeches, shirt, stockings, shoes, hat and blanket, plus one-half of a bed tick per person. Women received almost the same, although some records indicate different bedding allotments for women. The work of the furnace was very heavy physical labor that certainly took a toll on clothing and shoes were particularly vulnerable.

 

Jim Pratt holding wheelbarrow outside of Mansion

c. 1895, NPS

With a growing body of indentured servants and enslaved people, there was always a shoemaker present at Hampton/Northampton. In time, he came to make shoes for the whole community, with shoes for the ‘free people’ of the community significantly more costly than those of laborers. Shoes were an indicator of status: many indentured servants ordered fine shoes to be paid for out of their freedom dues as soon as their terms were over.

Wives of servants, enslaved people and paid labors did much of the sewing work to make clothing at the Furnace, typically receiving some form of payment for the work. Two types of material appear again and again in the accounts, osnaburg and ticklenberg, which were heavy linen cloths used for such work clothes or for sacks and bags. Some fabric was woven from locally grown flax.

 

Page listing “farm servants” in May 1842, from Eliza E. Ridgely’s Servants Clothing Book, 1835-1854.

Image courtesy Maryland Center for History and Culture

According to a page listing “ farm servants” in May 1842, from Eliza E. Ridgely’s Servants Clothing Book, 1835-1854:

“Farm Men” in winter 1835: 1 shirt, 1 pair trousers, 1 pair new stockings, 1 pair footed stockings & 1 jacket. A later record shows that they received a hat, shirt, trousers, stockings, and pantaloons. House servants might receive a higher quantity and quality of clothing, including hand-me-downs from the Ridgely family’s wardrobe. (c. 1895, NPS.)

“Farm Women” in winter 1835: 1 frock (dress), 2 handkerchiefs, 1 new pair of stockings, 1 pair of footed stockings, petticoats and jacket. Aprons, blankets, shawls, chemises, and shifts were also given in subsequent years. (c. 1895, NPS.)

Much of this information is taken from “Almost Chattel” The Lives of Indentured Servants at Hampton-Northampton, Baltimore County,” by Dr. R. Kent Lancaster

 

Learn More

• 

  Indentured Servants

  Indentured servants made up a significant portion of the Hampton labor force at one time. Read about their stories on the plantation.

• 

  Indentured Servants at Hampton

  Indentured servants were not willing laborers and the working conditions at Northampton Furnace was grueling.

• 

  Chattel Slavery at Hampton

  From the colonial period through 1864, the Ridgelys enslaved over 500 people. Enslaved people, from young children to the elderly

• 

  Enslaved People

  Hampton was the second largest plantation in Maryland. Learn about the struggle, hardships, and lives of the enslaved.

• 

  Revealing the Lives of the Enslaved

  A recent Ethnographic Study uncovered major information on the lives of those enslaved at Hampton and their descendants. Read about it here.

• 

  Who Lived Here Exhibit

  Learn about the people that made Hampton what it is today.