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| Lesson 2: Refinement in Deerfield: The River Gods
2 class period (85 minutes each)
In the early 1700s "River Gods" or "Mansion People" were names given to the wealthy families who lived in villages and towns along the Connecticut River Valley. The same seven names appear repeatedly in these communities: Ashley, Dwight, Partridge, Porter, Pynchon, Stoddard, Williams. The River Gods emphasis was on kinship, group cohesion, and cultural leadership. These families set the tone and indicated by their lifestyles what was fashionable and refined. Because of their location and the sources of their relatively limited income, the River Gods lacked some of the more obvious methods of displaying their wealth. Farming kept them close to the soil. They did build houses with elaborate Connecticut Valley double doors with surrounds that resembled stone, or they added these doorways to existing houses. One of their architectural signatures was an elaborate announcement of power above their front doorway, the flowing broken-scroll pediment. One of the River God families, the Williams, provides a model for describing activity often seen at the national level. The family initially immigrated from England to Roxbury, Massachusetts. Subsequent generations moved inland to varied locations such as Hatfield, Stockbridge, Deerfield, and Wethersfield, Connecticut. The kinship connection provided means of exchange of ideas, goods, and eventually markets. In one example, grafts from fruit trees in Roxbury were used to improve the variety of the orchards in Deerfield. New agricultural innovations began in Deerfield
during this time. Improvements in agriculture such as manuring the
fields and cradling grain created surpluses that could be marketed
throughout the colony, often using the Connecticut River for transportation.
Stall-fed oxen provided a lucrative source of income. The cattle
were pastured in the hill towns during the summer, allowing the
rich fields of the valley to be cultivated with valuable farm products.
In the fall, the cattle were returned, fattened in the barns for
market and then driven there by drovers. This new commercial activity
opened up new markets and contacts beyond the small communities.
The resulting wealth provided demands for domestic goods that in
turn provided opportunities for local craftsmen, storekeepers, and
taverns. Deerfield was maturing.
Understandings
Skills
Read Teacher Background Essay: The Age of Refinement Further Background Reading Bushman, Richard. Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities. New York: Knopf, 1992. Garrett, Elizabeth Donaghy. At Home: The American Family 1750-1870. New York: Abrams, 1989. Sweeney, Kevin. "From Wilderness to Arcadian Vale: Material Life in the Connecticut River Valley, 1635-1760."The Great River: Art & Society of the Connecticut Valley, 1635-1820." Hartford: The Wadsworth Antheneum, 1985. Pp. 17-27. Sweeney, Kevin. "River Gods in the Making: the Williamses of Western MA." Dublin Seminar Series: Bay and the River. Boston, Boston University, 1981. Sweeney, Kevin. "Mansion People: Kinship, Class, and Architecture in Western Massachusetts in the Mid Eighteenth Century." Winterthur Portfolio (Winter 1984). Zea, Philip. Pursuing Refinement in Rural New England. Deerfield, Massachusetts: Historic Deerfield, 1997.
Primary and Secondary Sources:
Results and presentation of River God research on the American Centuries website and the written letter to a child. |
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