William Harris Homestead - Ellie's 5th grade field trip

  

  

 This may be the best field trip I've ever chaperoned. We went to a historical site and saw a day in the life of a family that lived back in the Civil War days; 150 years ago. I can't believe how far we've come in a century and a half. I would have never survived back then. It's one thing to read about it in a history book, but quite another thing to see it. One woman showed us how they made their clothing. 1st they would have to grow the cotton, to make the thread, to make the cloth, to make a garment. She walked us through the whole process. It would take about 4 months to make one shirt. Back then, it was pretty normal for people to have around 10-12 children. Each person had about 2 pairs of clothing; one they wore, and the other one hung on the bed post. The homes had no need for closets. 

The settlers here were farmers and completely lived off the land. If they wanted to eat, they would have to plant or kill their food. There were no refrigerators, only cellars to keep their food cold. They canned and dried much of their food. They would homeschool their children at night by candle light (they had to make the candles 1st though). Most people only lived to be about 40. They were expected to know how to run their own household by the age of 16. They were usually married between the ages of 14 and 16. Back then, if you were sick, there were no doctors, your herb garden was your medicine cabinet. It was a hard life! We toured all the property on a hayride. The kids loved it and asked tons of questions all day long. It was fascinating!

Keith's grandmother, Nana, is turning 95 this week! I wish I lived closer to her and could ask her a million questions about her childhood and her life and write it all down for my children, and their children, and their children's children... If we think about it, we are all living the history that future generations will read about in their history books. Even from my generation to my children's, there has been so much change. My kids can't remember a time that microwaves, cell phones, computers, dvd's, cd's... didn't exist. My 2 youngest girls don't know what record players, 8 tracks, or cassettes are! There is so much wisdom to gain from previous generations, if we would just slow down enough to ask and listen.