J.J. Wheeling7 days ago2 minLes "Couteaux de Chasse Pistolets" and Other Legendary Dumonthier InnovationsI’ve mentioned, in earlier blogs, my joy when I stumble upon a new idea or inspiration befitting my story’s time period of which I was ig...
J.J. WheelingAug 204 minTudor Ice - Establishing the Ice TradeI’ve written some pretty heavy blogs of late so I thought it might be refreshing for all of us to explore a lighter subject, one that gav...
J.J. WheelingJun 234 minAnother Visit : Lowell MillsOne benefit about having our children go to college out-of-state was the opportunity to visit them when they had a break and didn’t want ...
J.J. WheelingJun 56 minPolk’s Presidential Campaign and Personal MotivationsComparing the 44th American President with James K. Polk, the 11th , makes for an interesting study. Both share enormous ambition, dedica...
J.J. WheelingMay 263 minMissing Friends – An early form of "Find My Phone"I will likely never know what it is like to go somewhere without an understanding of what I am going to do once I arrive. Technology help...
J.J. WheelingApr 176 minEliza Farnham and the California Association of American WomenSocial reformers are not, by nature, passive nor necessarily polite. They have a vision, a calling, to right wrongs and at the cost of so...
J.J. WheelingApr 63 minThe Cholera Epidemic of 1849As has been the case for so much of my story’s time period, another event is coinciding with the current coronavirus outbreak. Cholera, a...
J.J. WheelingMar 93 minNothing Like a VisitIt’s amazing to me that I can do so much research from the comfort of my home but there comes a time when a visit has to happen. I’ve don...
J.J. WheelingJan 282 minMid -Nineteenth Century American Nativism had nothing to do with Native AmericansOur current headlines are full of the immigration debate. As I did my research, I learned that this topic isn’t new. Nor are political pa...
J.J. WheelingJan 102 minThe Free Black Community in Boston – A freedman was free…until he wasn’t.By 1790, there is no federal census record of buying and selling of slaves in Massachusetts. But, if someone came to the state with a sla...
J.J. WheelingDec 14, 20192 minWhite SlaveryWhen Charles Sumner addressed the Boston Mercantile Library Association in February, 1847, he gave an oration on the chattel slavery of C...
J.J. WheelingNov 29, 20193 minScotch-Irish vs. Shanty Irish or Protestant vs. Catholic My story forced me to understand Irish immigration in 1849, into Boston specifically. Here’s what I learned. The first wave of Irish immi...
J.J. WheelingNov 26, 20192 minEuropean Indentured Servant vs. African SlaveAs a woman of the western United States, the concept of servants and slaves has no specific ancestral significance to me. But, in 1849, u...
J.J. WheelingOct 9, 20194 minWomen in the SaddleAs a twentieth-century girl, seeing a woman astraddle on horseback is a common sight. But, in 1849, when horseback travel was reserved mo...
J.J. WheelingSep 26, 20192 minThe Cult of True Womanhood – seriously, it was a thing.It is hard to imagine in our world today, that there was actually such a thing as The Cult of True Womanhood. This article, by Barbara We...
J.J. WheelingSep 20, 20193 minWas coverture a woman’s refuge or a grand swindle?In our modern time, coverture isn’t an everyday word. Its implications do still affect us but not nearly like they did in the 17th, 18th,...
J.J. WheelingAug 22, 20194 minBanking, the Economy and the Value of Money in 1849In most of our lifetimes, we have had the benefit of the Federal Reserve System, created in 1913, to provide the United States with a mor...
J.J. WheelingAug 14, 20192 minThe Mormon Migration Keeping in the theme of the mid-1800s western migration, there’s another migration that gets little attention now, although it was, at th...
J.J. WheelingAug 1, 20194 minWho can resist the temptation of “free” land? As a land steward, I understand the feeling that comes with knowing that the land you derive your living from is personally owned. No one...
