1600s – Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories

Posted on January 4, 2019January 14, 2022 by TracyC

The Princess in the Pigpen

The Princess in the Pigpen by Jane Resh Thomas, 1989.

Elizabeth is the nine-year-old daughter of a nobleman in London in the year 1600, and she’s very sick. However, while she’s lying in her bed with a terrible fever, she suddenly finds herself in a pigpen in 20^thcentury Iowa with no idea how she got there. At first, she doesn’t even know where she is, and when she is found by the McCormick family, the family who owns the farm, they have no idea who she is or where she came from. That she is very ill is obvious, so they take Elizabeth to the local doctor, who says that she has scarlet fever (what strep throat turns into when it’s neglected, it’s serious and life-threatening) and gives her penicillin, which helps her to recover.

However, there is still the question of how Elizabeth ended up on the McCormick farm in Iowa in the first place. Elizabeth tells them that she is from London and insists that the year is 1600. Ann, the McCormicks’ daughter, who is about the same age as Elizabeth, doesn’t believe that Elizabeth is really from the past. The current year is 1988, and Ann thinks that Elizabeth is probably crazy, but obviously in need of some help. The McCormicks tell the local sheriff about Elizabeth, and he begins looking through reports of missing persons to find one that fits her.

Still, it’s hard to explain Elizabeth’s strange clothing (Ann is sure that Elizabeth must be rich because her dress is obviously very fancy) or the antique toys that were found with her (a doll and a music box). When Ann goes to school, Elizabeth stays at home with her mother, Kathy, and asks her about all the strange things that she’s been seeing around her, like cars and electric lights. Kathy assumes that Elizabeth is merely confused and that her memory has been affected by her illness.

By coincidence, Kathy is a historian, teaching at a nearby university, and has studied English history. She is aware of Elizabeth’s family, including her father, Michael the Duke of Umberland. When Elizabeth asks her if she knows what happened to her mother, who was also ill when she last saw her, Kathy says that she was still alive in 1605, which means that she must have survived her illness. Kathy quizzes Elizabeth in English history, and Elizabeth knows the correct answers because they are all current events to her. Kathy thinks that someone must have taught Elizabeth history but notices that Elizabeth really seems to believe everything she says and knows a surprising amount of detail.

Further research into history and Elizabeth’s family tells Elizabeth the years when her parents and other people she cares about will die, which is distressing to her. Ann begins to believe Elizabeth about her life when Elizabeth describes her home to her, and the description matches one in a book. In the same book,there is also a portrait of Elizabeth’s family from 1605. In the portrait, Elizabeth is a little older than she is now, and her mother has had another baby. Elizabeth’s doll and music box are also in the painting. The book also contains an account of the fire that later destroyed the manor house. According to the book, Elizabeth managed to save the lives of her family by alerting them to the fire and also managed to salvage a couple of valuable books.

Now that Ann is convinced that Elizabeth is really from the past, they must find a way to help Elizabeth to return home so that she can save the lives of her family!

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

There were a couple of things that I liked about the time travel in this story. One is that it seems that it was fated to happen. Elizabeth is meant to survive her illness and to save the rest of her family. She was only able to do that because she had been to the future and learned about the dangers they would be facing. When she returns to her own time, she doesn’t change the past but makes sure that things turn out the way they were supposed to.

I also found it interesting that Elizabeth’s family has no living descendants in the late 20th century. Her family continued beyond Elizabeth’s time, but the family line apparently ended before the time period of the modern characters in the story, so we don’t have one of those moments that sometimes occurs in time travel stories where the modern characters meet a descendant of the past characters. That can be a fun moment in some stories, but I appreciate the variety.

At one point in the book, Ann makes a reference to the book A Wrinkle in Time, about other children who get “lost in space and time.”

Posted on July 2, 2018December 20, 2018 by TracyC

Pocahontas

Pocahontas by Jan Gleiter and Kathleen Thompson, 1985.

The story about the life of the young Native American woman known as Pocahontas (“Pocahontas” was really a nickname, which the book mentions, although it doesn’t say that her original name was Matoaka) has been told many times in many forms, but this particular book is somewhat sentimental for me because it was the first one I ever read about her when I was a kid. It’s part of a series about famous and legendary figures in history and myth. Pocahontas was a real, historical person, but aspects of her life have taken on the characteristics of legend (as well as providing material for a Disney movie, although the Disney movie takes liberties with the real life of Matoaka/Pocahontas and the movie was not based on this particular rendition of her story).

When this particular book begins, Pocahontas is a grown, married woman going by the name of Lady Rebecca Rolfe. While living in England, she reflects back on her life and youth, remembering when she first met Europeans.

PocahontasEngland

When she was ten years old, she heard her father, Powhatan (who was the chief of their tribe) and other men talking about the white men. Although Pocahontas hears that the white people had betrayed her people’s trust and even killed some of them, she is curious to get a look at them.

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She ends up meeting with a group of boys from Jamestown and playing with them. She begins making friends with people in Jamestown and visiting them from time to time. A man named John Smith becomes curious about the girl and her people and gets Pocahontas to teach him some of her language. (The book is more accurate than the Disney version here, showing that there is a significant age difference between Pocahontas and John Smith, with Pocahontas being a child at their first meeting.)

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Then, one day, there is a feast in Pocahontas’s village, and some of the men of the tribe bring a white man who was caught trespassing in their territory. Pocahontas recognizes the white man as John Smith and, upon realizing that he is about to be executed, intervenes to save his life. (This is one of the most famous parts of the story of Pocahontas’s life, although the exact circumstances surrounding the real-life incident are a little confusing and may have actually been part of a more complex ritual that John Smith didn’t fully understand at the time, not an actual attempt at execution, if the event actually happened at all. This book offers a simplified version of the incident, supposing that John Smith’s life was in real danger, as he described it in his account of what happened.)

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In the end, the settlers at Jamestown kidnap Pocahontas in the hope that Powhatan would end hostilities with them, using her as a bargaining chip. (The book says that her father wasn’t too worried because he knew that the settlers were her friends and would treat her well, but I find this part of the book pretty worrying myself, reading it as an adult. I’m pretty sure that is not how a parent would react to a missing child in real life. I guess that the book is trying to keep the tone light for children, but it just sounds weird.) Pocahontas remains among the settlers, living according to their lifestyle and taking the name Rebecca. Eventually, she meets a man named John Rolfe and marries him. The two of them have a son together. With her new family, she travels to England and tries to help the people there to understand her people. (The book says this in a very optimistic way, calling her visit a “success”, although in real life, this visit was largely a propaganda move on the part of the Virginia Company of London. On the other hand, she was, evidently, very well-received in England, if something of a social curiosity.)

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The story in the book ends here, with her still in England, thinking back on her life and her reasons for being there. Part of me wishes that it had explained a little more about Pocahontas’s earlier life and some other facts behind her story. Sadly, part of the reason why they might have been reluctant to tell the rest of the story to children was that the real Pocahontas didn’t live very long after the point where the story ends. As she was preparing to return to Virginia from England, she became very ill and died. Her exact age at the time of her death is unknown, but she was probably about 21 years old. Her son, Thomas Rolfe, was very young at the time she died, but they do still have living descendants today.

Overall, I’d say that this is one of those stories that becomes more interesting when you’re older and realize the full depth of it. This picture book is a very simplified version of the story, meant for kids, but when I was young, it did inspire me to learn more about Pocahontas. There any many missing details of Matoaka/Pocahontas/Rebecca Rolfe’s life because of the limited records of it, but what is known is fascinating. It’s sad because she died so young, but that the story of her life lived on in so many imaginations after her death is profound. Different people, both when she was alive and after her death, tried to use her for their own purposes, but her legend still continues, out-living them all. I’ve never seen the Disney Pocahontas movies, and I don’t really want to. I already know how the story ends.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on November 23, 2017November 25, 2021 by TracyC · 1 Comment

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks by Kate Waters, 2001.

This book describes the feast of 1621 that we think of as “the first Thanksgiving” from the point of view of two boys: Resolved White (a six-year-old English colonist) and Dancing Moccasins (a fourteen-year-old Wampanoag). The book explains that the reality of this feast is somewhat different from the way many people think of it. For one thing, the exact date is unknown, and it wasn’t really a single meal but a kind of harvest celebration that took place over several days. The events of that celebration were re-created using reenactors from the Plimoth Plantation living history museum.

In the beginning of the book, Dancing Moccasins explains that his family has been harvesting their crops and preparing to move to the place where they live in the winter. Wampanoag lived in different places depending on the time of year, moving between them when the seasons changed. At their winter home, they would continue hunting and fishing, returning to the place where they planted their crops at the end of winter.

Similarly, Resolved’s family has finished harvesting their crops and have stored up food for the winter. Now that most of the hard work is over, they have time to relax and celebrate. The community is planning a feast. Resolved and his friend, Bartle, follow some of the men, who are going out hunting and target-shooting.

The colonists meet up with some of the Wampanoag, which is how Dancing Moccasins and Resolved first see each other. Dancing Moccasins returns home and tells his father what he has seen. Then, a messenger arrives from their chief, Massasoit, saying that he will be visiting the colonists soon, and Dancing Moccasins’s father is invited to come.

Just as Dancing Moccasins is wondering about the purpose of this visit, Resolved is wondering the same thing because word has reached the colonists that they will soon be visited by the chief and representatives of the tribe. (The book explains in the back that the exact reasons for the Wampanoag visit to the colonists are unknown today, only that it happened at the same time that the colonists were planning their harvest feast.) The two boys meet again when Dancing Moccasins accompanies his father on the visit to the colonists’ village.

When the Wampanoag arrive at the village, they are treated as honored guests, and some of the Wampanoag go deer-hunting to provide a present for their hosts. The chief dines with the governor of the colonists. The Wampanoag build shelters for themselves, where they will stay during their visit.

Eventually, Dancing Moccassins invites Resolved to play a game with him and some other Wampanoag boys when he sees him watching them. Some of the Wampanoag men also join in the games that the English men play, like competing to see who can throw a log the farthest.

At the end of the day, Dancing Moccassins and Resolved each eat with their own families, but there is plenty for everyone.

There is a section in the back with historical information about the harvest feast, traditions about giving thanks among both the colonists and the Wampanoag, and how Thanksgiving eventually became a national holiday in the United States. There is also information about food and clothing in the time of the story and a recipe for samp (a kind of corn pottage eaten by the Wampanoag and later adopted by the English colonists). The book also has some information about the Plimoth Plantation living history museum and the reeanctors. It is part of a series of books by the same author about the lives of children in Colonial America.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on November 22, 2017December 18, 2018 by TracyC

Samuel Eaton’s Day

Samuel Eaton's Day

Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy by Kate Waters, 1993.

This is the story of a boy who traveled to America from England on the Mayflower and whose family lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The book focuses particularly on how a boy like Samuel would have helped with a harvest during the year 1627. The role of Samuel in the book is played by a boy who is one of the reenactors at the Plimoth Plantation living history museum.

Samuel’s mother died when he was a baby, but his father remarried, and he now has a stepmother (whom he calls “Mam”) and a younger half-sister, Rachel. Now that Samuel is seven years old, he is considered old enough to help the men bring in the rye harvest. Samuel is eager to help because he wants to prove that he is no longer just a little boy and that he is capable of doing a man’s work.

The book begins with Samuel waking up and getting dressed in the morning. He has a few routine chores to perform, such as getting water, gathering firewood, and checking a snare that he has set for catching wild game, before he and his father go to the fields to help with the harvest. After breakfast, Samuel and his father meet up with a neighbor, Robert Bartlett, and go to the fields with the other men.

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Robert Bartlett tells Samuel that it will take a few days for them to complete the harvest. Samuel isn’t considered old enough to wield a sickle by himself, so he is given the task of gathering up the rye that his father and Bartlett cut and binding it into sheaves. It’s hard work, and at times, Samuel wonders if he’s really up to the task. When his Mam comes with lunch, she gives Samuel the chance to come home with her, if he is too tired, but Samuel is determined to stay and finish out the day.

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At the end of the day, Samuel is very tired and has blisters, but he is proud of the work he has done, and the men congratulate him.

The end of the book has a section that explains a little about the real Samuel Eaton, who eventually had his own farm when he grew up, and the boy who reenacted his life, Roger Burns. There is also information about the clothing of the period, the Wampanoag people (seen briefly when Samuel is helping to gather mussels for the family’s dinner), the rye harvest, and the Plimoth Plantation living history museum. The book also provides the lyrics to the song that Samuel and the others sing to entertain themselves while they’re working in the fields, The Marriage of the Frog and the Mouse.

Sarah Morton, a girl who was featured in an earlier book in the series, also appears briefly in this book.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

SamuelEatonSarah

Posted on November 20, 2017November 26, 2021 by TracyC

Tapenum’s Day

Tapenum’s Day by Kate Waters, 1996.

This is about a day in the life of a Wampanoag boy living in the area around Plymouth, Massachusetts during the 1620s. His life is reenacted by Issac Hendricks, who was a participant in the Wampanoag Indian Program at the Plimoth Plantation living history museum.

In the beginning, Tapenum introduces himself, explaining a little about his people and the strangers who have only recently come to their land, the English colonists, whom the Wampanoag call wautaconuoag (meaning “coat-men”). Tapenum has just learned that he was not among those young men chosen to train as pniesog, a special kind of warrior among the Wampanoag who also possessed spiritual powers and acted as advisors and diplomats for their chief. It has come as a great disappointment to him that he was not chosen for training. To improve his chances of being chosen later, Tapenum has decided to train himself to improve his strength and hunting abilities.

Tapenum goes out hunting early in the morning, while his mother and sister are still asleep. He starts before eating anything because he says that being hungry “makes the hunter more serious.” Eventually, he catches a rabbit and a squirrel. His mother is pleased with his catch, although his father has done even better by bringing home a wild turkey, which is even more difficult.

Later, Tapenum meets up with a friend, Nootimis. The two of them go fishing in a canoe. Nootimis knows that Tapenum is disappointed about not being chosen, but Tapenum says that at least he can still spend time with him before (hopefully) going away for training next year.

After fishing, Tapenum goes for a run as part of his training, and he sees smoke. When he investigates, he finds an old wise man named Waban making a canoe. Waban was a pniese himself when he was younger, and Tapenum offers him the fish he caught, hoping that Waban can tell him some things that will help him to be chosen for training.

Tapenum ends up spending the rest of the day with the older man, learning and perfecting his skill at fletching arrows. Waban also explains to him the importance of patience. Tapenum is in too much of a hurry to grow up and begin serious training, but growing up takes time and so does developing the kind of strength and wisdom that he will need as warrior.

There is a section in the back of the book that explains more about the Wampanoag people, the the Wampanoag Indian Program, the Plimoth Plantation living history museum (now called Plimoth Patuxet), and the boy reenacting Tapenum’s life.

This is part of a series of books focusing on the lives of children in Colonial American history. It is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on November 21, 2016November 24, 2021 by TracyC · 1 Comment

Sarah Morton’s Day

Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters, 1989.

This book is part of a series of historical picture books. It features a young girl who was an historical interpreter at Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum, playing the part of a real pilgrim girl who lived in 17th century Plymouth. The pilgrim girl’s name was Sarah Morton, and she was nine years old in 1627, the year that Plimoth Plantation reenacts.

As Sarah Morton, the girl takes readers through a typical day in her life. She demonstrates the chores that a pilgrim girl would have to perform. She explains the clothes that a pilgrim girl would wear and what people ate. There is a recipe for 17th Century Indian Corn Bread, a simple recipe that readers can make at home, but it warns that modern people wouldn’t think that it tastes very good. It’s basically just water and cornmeal grits.

sarahmortonpic1 Although much of Sarah Morton’s day is taken up with chores, she also discusses her relationship with her mother and her new stepfather. The death of a parent was something that pilgrim children often experienced. After her father’s death, Sarah’s mother remarried, and Sarah is concerned about whether her new father likes her.

However, her stepfather is a good man who cares about her. He gives her lessons in reading and writing, something that not every pilgrim girl would have. He also gives her a special toy: a knicker box, which is a wooden box with arches for rolling marbles through as a game. She gets to play with her friend, Elizabeth.

The two girls are also excited about a ship that has been sighted out at sea. Soon, new people will be coming to their colony, and they wonder if the ship is also carrying letters from England or special goods that they would like, like a new bolt of cloth.

In the back of the book, there are sections explaining a little about the Plimoth Plantation living history museum, the real Sarah Morton, and the girl portraying Sarah Morton, Amelia Poole. The Plimoth Plantation site has more information about the real Sarah’s Morton’s life, including what happened to her when she grew up. If you’re curious about what Amelia Poole is doing today, she is a fiber artist and lives in Maine.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

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