Our latest trip to Colonial Williamsburg began with one of our favorites: a tour of the Peyton Randolph House.
Peyton Randolph House Tour
Many say had he lived, he would have been the first president of our country…and in a way, he was.
Unanimously elected president of the First Continental Congress by his peers from the several colonies in September 1774, he died a year later.
In the dining room slaves overhead Peyton Randolph discuss political matters of the day, with other important citizens.
After England’s blockade on Boston after the 1773 Tea Party, the Virginia Burgesses initiated the Committees of Correspondence.
Concerned with the growing tyranny from England, especially the punishment of innocent women and children in Boston to the point of starvation, the burgesses took action.
Royal Governor Dunmore, learning of the disgruntlement, dissolved the House of Burgesses on May 26, 1774.
The next day 89 burgesses assembled at Raleigh Tavern, which led to the Committee of Correspondence to call a Continental Congress.
A few days later, 25 burgesses met at Peyton Randolph’s house to discuss boycotting England.
Slaves, overhearing these discussions, received an excellent education.
They were often more informed of the politics of the day than slaves of other households.
The personal attendant to Peyton Randolph worked so closely to him, going into town with him on business, that he received an indirect education in Latin and Greek.
Later he successfully ran away to Philadelphia!
As a mulatto, with red hair and fair skin, he passed as a white man, using the education he had received merely by being around Peyton Randolph.
Politics and Punchbowl Tour at the Raleigh Tavern
After this we went to Raleigh Tavern, for the Politics and the Punchbowl tour which used primary source documents, to analyze how far a day’s wages would go in the 18th century tavern.
After touring many of the rooms, we entered the Apollo Room where the 89 burgesses assembled after the angry royal governor closed the capital doors.
Of those 89 burgesses, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, were in attendance.
Then the interpreter asked if anyone was a Latin scholar.
My kids tentatively raised their hands. (They were thinking, “um…define scholar.)
The guide asked if any of them could read the saying over the fireplace.
I said my daughter could…and she did!
Dinner at the King’s Arms Tavern
Then we had dinner at the King’s Arms Tavern.
Jumping the Broom Evening Program
After dinner, we attended an interesting evening program called Jumping the Broom.
After the couple jumped the broom, we celebrated with dancing!
The men played the drums while the guests split into men and women.
Facing each other we danced while the men were led by the groom and the women were led by the bride.
The women danced in unison towards the men, then just as we neared, we danced backwards to our original positions.
The men did the same, dancing in unison towards the women with their special moves, and then danced back.
We took turns doing this, each time with different moves.
It was a contest to see who was best.
We were all laughing, and the women won!
We had the best moves, no instruction needed, since we merely followed the bride (she was really good), and we followed the rules.
The men, on the other hand, needed word pictures from the groom to do their dances, and didn’t follow the rules! It was a blast!
Cabinetmaker Shop
The next morning we visited the Cabinetmaker shop.
Playing the Harpsichord
Tuning the harpsichord, the cabinet maker started chatting with us about 18th century techniques for that process.
Completing his task, the interpreter turned his attention to some queries about the other furniture.
Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to play the harpsichord…which guests are encouraged to do as long as they play period accurate music.
I saw a doo-dad that I thought would hold the sheetmusic, but I couldn’t figure out how it worked.
So I just held music sheets in my left hand, while I played the melody with my right hand.
Later, the cabinet maker set up the doo-dad so I could play with both hands!
Then my daughter took a turn to play.
Telling the cabinetmaker it had a very different feel from our piano, he showed me why.
Since the piano strikes the strings whereas the harpsichord plucks the strings, a different sound and feel are created.
Using models from his desk, he showed me exactly how this works.
The plucking part comes from the quill, as in the end of the feather you can write with.
Part of the mechanism is made with boar bristle, like hair from a type of pig.
Working extremely well, it also endures well.
In our modern era of thinking we have everything figured out with advanced technology, it’s amazing what people ably and often better created hundreds of years ago.
The cabinet maker shop makes these harpsichords to sell to the general public.
Scrollwork Renderings
As we were getting ready to leave, I noticed another cabinet maker working on these renderings.
He showed us some of the work, which he said is from a trip to Mount Vernon where he and his team studied the scroll work on the mantel.
Since this is a developing project, it’s exciting that we can actually come back more often than once every several years to see the progress.
Colonial Games at the Powell House
Then the kids played colonial games with the junior interpreters at the Powell House.
Meanwhile my daughter and I played with a game of lettered dice that we tumbled onto the table.
On our slates we created as many words as possible from the shown letters on the dice.
While my son played jackstraw (like pick up sticks) and tops, my daughter and I played checkers.
Finally, my daughter said she felt cornered like Cornwallis at Yorktown! That must make me George Washington!
Next, we went to our favorite lunch spot, under the trees, on Botetourt Street.
That weekend we made friends with one of the coachmen and the horses he drives, Brigadier and General.
General Washington Stops By
Then General Washington came by.
At one point, his horse came towards us.
Well, we couldn’t resist that!
Colonial Williamsburg Chefs in the Garden
I wanted to enjoy some of the gardens, so we walked down some of the side roads off the Duke of Gloucester Street to find the experimental garden that I had read about.
Easily found, we met some chefs from one of the CW restaurants, gathering produce.
The chefs talked to us about how they were going to prepare the food with the assembled fresh historic produce.
Helping in the Colonial Garden and Nursery
Then we went to the Colonial Garden and Nursery where one of the gardeners put my kids, and other to work watering the plants 18th century style.
They took turns drawing water from a well and wore a yoke to carry the water to the garden.
The gardener hooked a bucket to one side of the yoke my son carried, while my daughter hooked a bucket to the other side of the yoke.
