Published March 11, 2012
By Bridget Quinlivan
In the 19th century, the
ordinary folk worked. They worked in houses as domestics or they worked in the
fields as farmhands.
Both men and women worked in factories when they could, even
in Quincy. Working in a factory was dangerous, but a person, especially a
woman, could make more money there than working in domestic service. This meant
that many households used immigrants to carry out the household tasks. Work in
the house varied from kitchen and laundry duties to making soap and candles.
Women also wove textiles, made lace, and took care of the children of the
household.
In mid-19th century Quincy, more often than not, they worked
for John Wood. There were other founding families like the Brownings and the
Denmans, but Wood had a monopoly on young immigrant workers. According to the
German-American Historical Papers, most Germans at the time worked for Wood.
Records indicate that Wood knew how to speak German because of his parents,
making German immigrants a natural resource for Wood.
Men who worked for Wood carried out various tasks across the
property. Johann Wenzel broke stones. Gustav Feigenspan painted the interior of
the Greek Revival mansion, which now stands at 12th and State. Wilhelm
Gentemann worked as the flower gardener for Wood before opening up his own
greenhouse.
Not everyone who worked for the Woods came from Germany.
Census records show the Woods employed girls working as domestics or serving
girls who came from Ireland, Prussia, and elsewhere in Illinois. Two farm
laborers came from New York and Pennsylvania. Their ages ranged from 11 to
early 30s. Even more interesting is the fact that these workers were listed in
the census as being part of John Wood’s household. The women definitely lived
in the house. The men either stayed somewhere else on the property or had their
own homes in town.
One example from Quincy’s working class is William Kerksieck,
who worked as a stable boy for John Wood. According to a 1948 newspaper
interview, he lived in the coachman’s room of the Greek Revival mansion that
belonged to Wood’s son Daniel at the time. John Wood lived across the street in
his octagonal mansion. Kerksieck said that Wood would stand on the porch of his
house and pound a broomstick on the boards, causing Kerksieck to run out and
start his day. Kerksieck drove Wood in a low-slung buggy as Wood greeted
friends and checked on his workers. Kerksieck remembered seeing men cutting
grass in Woodland and others trimming hedges on the farm. Kerksieck also had to
bring ice from the ice house, fetch meat from the butcher, and drive the cows
to and from the farm.
In one area Kerksieck’s experience is different from the
norm. He ate his evening meal with Wood and his second wife, Mary, in their
octagonal home. All other meals were eaten with Daniel in the Greek Revival
mansion. Traditionally, the staff did not dine with their employers. Eventually
Kerksieck became a woodworker with Menke and Grimm. Then he worked at Gardner
Governor, which became Gardner Denver. Kerksieck lived to be 90.
A
personal account from Viola Ellis gives us a peek into what domestic work was
like. While working on a farm for a family in Fall Creek, she wrote
letters back and forth with her friend Emily Mills who lived in Hannibal, Mo.
At the time of these letters, Ellis was 18.
She wrote to her friend about making gowns for one of the
girls of the family and then ironing their clothes. “Dock,” the head of the
household brought her supplies so that she could make herself a dress, bringing
her total to three day dresses and a wrap. Three day dresses would have been
the average wardrobe for a working class girl. Another girl working for the
family, Sadie, bought her a ready-made dress, and Ellis described it as being
her “stepping off garment.” Ellis probably would consider this ready-made dress
fancier than something she made by hand, thus making it appropriate to wear out
on the town.
Ellis also explained in her letters how she had to take the
train into Hannibal in order to buy medicine. She could not visit her friend
because the train schedule did not allow for such leisure time. Today it takes
15 minutes to get from Fall Creek to Hannibal, hardly worthy of buying a train
ticket, but a train ride severely shortened the trip that someone like
Ellis would have had to make by buggy.
Ellis married Enoch Middaugh, who worked as a farmhand for
the same family. Eighteen people attended the ceremony, for which Middaugh
bought a new suit from Quincy. Viola and Enoch moved into their own home, which
Viola managed. She took care of the cats, chickens, a young hog, and in one day
she canned nine quarts of corn. Enoch continued to work on the farm for Dock.
He also helped his other neighbors with their tasks like hauling a load of
melons to Quincy.
Enoch bought Viola a used sewing machine for $10.75. In a
real bargain he bought nine plates, five cups, and four saucers for 30 cents.
Enoch competed in a shooting competition at the neighbors’ in which Viola hoped
he would snag a turkey for Thanksgiving. When Viola and Enoch expected their
first child, Viola’s cousin came to stay with them. Viola crocheted a hood for the
baby while Enoch went out to do some plowing and shooting. Viola often wrote
these letters at night because she was always the last one to go to sleep.
This is not to say that the working class did not enjoy activities
like dances or other get-togethers as well. Viola Ellis even wrote about a
church revival that took place down the road from her house. Life for the
working class could be hard but it also included a fair share of variety.
Bridget Quinlivan is a history graduate from Quincy
University and Western Illinois University. She is a volunteer and seasonal
employee at the Historical Society and an English/ writing Specialist for
Student Support Services at John Wood Community College.
Sources
1850, 1860, 1870 Census Records. File MS 920 John Wood, Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County.
Bornmann, Heinrich. J. Bornmann’s Sketches of Early Germans of Quincy and Adams County. Trans. Lester Holtschlag and Lenore Kimbraugh from The German-American Historical Papers. Great River Genealogical Society, 1999.
Ellis, Viola. Letters in File MS Adams County Social Life, Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County.
LaCour-Gayet, Robert. Everyday Life in the U.S. before the Civil War 1830-1860. Trans. Mary Ilford. New York: Fred Ungar Publishing Co, 1969.
Kerksieck, William 1948 Interview. Quincy Herald-Whig. File MS 920 William Kerksieck, Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County.
Seymour, John. Forgotten Household Crafts: A Portrait of the Way We Once Lived. New York: Knopf, 1987.
