Background Information
Benjamin Chew (1722 - 1810) was a prominent figure in Philadelphia Society in the second half of the 18th century. Born at his father's plantation, Maidstone, in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland, Benjamin took an interest in the law from an early age. Much has been written about his legal training in DE and PA before going to London for his formal law training at Middle Temple. While there he began the process of adopting certain aspects of English refinement expected of gentlemen--something he continued after returning to colonies. Chew was raised in a Quaker family but broke with Quaker tradition in 1741 when he agreed with his father who had instructed a grand jury in New Castle on the lawfulness of resistance to an armed force. In 1747 he also went against Quaker tradition when he took the Oath of Attorney in Pennsylvania.
Chew married Mary Galloway (1729 - 1755), his mother's niece on June 13,1747 at West River Maryland. They had 5 daughters: Mary (1748-1788), Anna Marie (1749-1812), Elizabeth (1751-1815), Sarah (1753-1810), and Henrietta (1755-1756). The Chew family resided on Front Street in Philadelphia starting in 1754.
On September 12,1757 Chew married Elizabeth Oswald (1732-1819), daughter of James and Mary (Turner) Oswald. Elizabeth was the niece and heir to the estate of Captain Joseph Turner. Seven more daughters and two sons were born into the Chew family: Benjamin Jr. (1758-1844), Margaret (aka Peggy 1760-1824), Joseph (1763-1764), Juliana (1765-1845), Henrietta (1767-1848), Sophia (1769-1841), Maria (1771-1840), Harriet (1775-1861) and Catherine (1779-1831)
In 1758, Chew left the Quakers permanently and joined Christ Church (Anglican) and later St. Peter's Church when they moved out to Germantown. Chew greatly increased both wealth and property holdings when he married Elizabeth Oswald and they numerous slaves to care for the properties and cultivate the commodity crops of the plantations in DE and MD.
In 1771, Benjamin Chew bought the large 4 story town home on Third Street adjacent to the Samuel Powel residence. The home was purchased from John Penn who had returned to London to settle the estate of his recently deceased father. Benjamin Chew handled all of the legal representation of the Penn family at the time.
One could say that the Chew family lived quite an extravagant lifestyle by modern standards. Even before moving to the Third Street residence.
Orders from England: Chew ordered "66 oz. of plate (silver)" from Thomas How & Co., London, in 1755. HSP, Chew Papers, Box 6. In an April 5, 1760, letter to John Allen, Chew ordered "40 yards of striped gauze formosquito curtains," a 12-foot wide by 14-foot long carpet, and a "white flowered counterpane." The letter also included a request for 18 English yards of "superfine black velvet for women's wear, a similar amount of scarlet padusoy [peau de soie], flowered, or damask the color of the enclosed pattern [for dresses], 1 piece flowered silk for children's wear not high priced, 1 Doz. of women's white silk stockings, and ½ doz. Mens ditto."
HSP, Chew Papers, Box 4.
Chew's
daughters would marry into the Wilcocks and Nicklin families of Pennsylvania,
the Philips family of England and later New York, and the Tilghman, Galloway,
Howard, and Carroll families of Maryland. His son Benjamin would marry another
Marylander, Katherine Banning of Chestertown.
The children would all be educated well. Benjamin Jr. would attend Latin school and would be educated at what would become the University of Pennsylvania. The girls would begin their instruction at home after which they would attend Matthew Maguire's School for Young Ladies at Letitia Court. Maguire's ad for his school outlines the curriculum:
As I have discovered sundry inconveniences to result from teaching Youth of both sexes, and have been frequently solicited by several respectable families, in the city, to establish a SCHOOL, for the instruction of YOUNG LADIES only, in READING, WRITING, ARITHMETIC and ACCOMPTS; I shall on Monday the Eight of October inst. open a school for said purpose, in Laetitia Court, Contiguous to Front, Second and Market-streets. As the utility of such an undertaking (properly conducted) is undeniably evident, I hope for the encouragement of the Public, which I shall endeavour to deserve, by an unceasing assiduity to promote the improvement of my PUPILS, in the aforesaid branches, as also in having the strictest regard to their morals. Such (Misses) as are obliged to attend other Schools I shall take for half days. MATTHEW MAGUIRE
There are records of the girls also having dance and music instruction. Records also indicate that Peggy studied French grammar.
According to various accounts, no expense was spared outfitting the Chew women. Between 1773 and 1776, Chew paid the firm of LiBlank & Wagner, barbers who dressed the hair of "Mrs. Chew and the ladies" between £10 and £18 a year. There also are several expenditures for "powder" but it is unclear whether this refers to face powder or powder for dressing wigs.
The Chews were known for entertaining the important people of Philadelphia:
The best known gathering, in the pre-Revolutionary period, occurred during the first Continental Congress when John Adams, George Washington and the members of the Virginia delegation, and a number of prominent Philadelphians dined with Chew at his town house. Adams' diary entry lists some of the delicacies served and suggests the level of hospitality provided: Turtle, and every other thing, flummery, jellies, sweetmeats of twenty sorts, trifles, whipped sillabub, floating island, fools etc. and then a dessert of fruits, rasins, almonds, pears, peaches, Wines most excellent and admirable. I drank Madeira at a great rate....(john Adams Oct. 22, 1774 Diary and Autobiography)
Benjamin Chew served as the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania (1774-1777) and Register-General of Wills (1761-1777)
As many of the wealthy in Philadelphia did--the Chew family socialized with a group that was largely Anglican and Tory during the British occupation. Benjamin Chew and Governor John Penn were arrested on suspicion of being loyalists yet they were able to serve their time on house arrest at Mrs. Chew's property in Union Forge New Jersey.
August 13, 1777 Pennsylvania Gazette
Benjamin was not a loyalist but he was a pacifist and many Quaker men were also arrested for the same reason. There could be no neutrals!
Much of the Philadelphia elite attempted to walk the line of neutrality during the occupation, many of them having not taken either the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth or to the king.
The Chew's summer estate, Cliveden, at Germantown, sustained considerable damage during the Battle of Germantown. Benjamin Jr. surveyed the damaged and was advised to sell the property by his father.
There are references to many social events attended by the Chew family during Benjamin's incarceration along with others of the wealthy Philadelphia elite, both Whigs and Tories. The Meschianza, a well documented extravaganza that served as a farewell party for the British officers was attended by Peggy Chew.
Records for money spent to costume the women are incomplete, possibly because Mrs. Chew paid for some of the purchases from her own accounts. Young Chew's enumeration of the cash paid during his father's incarceration lists purchases of fabric, gloves, handkerchiefs, stays, shoes, buckles, and combs. It also includes three separate payments to a seamstress for fashioning dresses for the ladies, a modest 15 shillings spent for making a gown for Juliana after the birth of her first child, and an extravagant £12.5.0 expended for a robe à la français for Nancy Chew, the eldest daughter then at home. (The City Home of Benjamin Chew Sr. and His Family, A Case Study in the Textures of Life: Cliveden of the National Trust, Inc. 1996)
Benjamin Chew was released in May 1778 as there were no grounds for his arrest. He returned home and continued to serve as legal representative for the Penn family. He was sensitive to the new government however and decided to maintain a low profile, moving his family to Whitehall, the estate in Kent County, Delaware.
In the meantime, the Third Street townhouse was rented to several different individuals. .
George and Martha Washington subsequently rented the town house from late
November 1781 to late March 1782 before moving to larger quarters at 190 High
Street.125 With their departure, the house stood vacant until the Chews
returned to the city after the war where Benjamin was appointed as Judge and President of the High Court of Errors and Appeals (1791-1808).
The Chew's social life seemed to return to normal.
On Friday evening last, I went with [son] Charles to the drawing-room, being my first appearance in public. The room became full before I left it, and the circle very brilliant. How could it be otherwise, when the dazzling Mrs. Bingham and her beautiful sisters were there; the Misses Allen, and Misses Chew; in short, a constellation of beauties? I am serious when I say so, for I really think them what I describe them. Mrs. Bingham certainly has given laws to the ladies here, in fashion and elegance; their manners and appearance are superior to what I have seen.
Letter from Abigail Adams (Bush Hill) to Mrs. Smith, dated December 26, 1790, shortly after her arrival in Philadelphia.
George Washington was a guest at Peggy Chew's marriage to John Eager Howard in May of 1787. According to his diary:
dined at Mr Chew's with the wedding guests (Colo. Howard of Baltimore having married his daughter Peggy) [and] drank tea there in a very large circle of ladies.
The Chew family's social circle seemed to grow to include Quakers as well as Anglicans. Records show business and social dealings with the Shippens, the Franks, the John Lawrences, Alexander Hamilton, Phineas Bond (British Counsul General to Philadelphia), the Duc de la Rochfoucauld Liancourt, and the Henry Drinkers.
The Chew women continued to be dressed in high fashion, with Benjamin Jr. going on purchasing trips to London for textiles and household goods.
I do not know what to say about the Memorandum sent me by my Father in the very vague and indefinite manner in which it is left. Knowing however that you may without much difficulty dispose of the articles you may not want, I have purchased and sent a great variety which, tho' purchased at the lowest rates I could procure them either by my own endeavor or those of my friends, some of whom have been busily employed for me, amount in the whole to a considerable sum. The Book Muslin Handkerchiefs are just now so immoderately dear that I have been advised not to purchase them & have of course omitted them. The silks are quite new and the very liveliest even for young persons that are now worn[.] dark colors and quite plain are chiefly used but I thought they would be too bad for the Girls. I wished to have got a very small pattern instead of the pink but [none] was had to please. I have therefore sent that which you may perhaps change if you meet with what you like better. I should have supposed those articles might have been lower with you from the great glut sent out to you but I observe your reason and have completed your list. All I believe is well chosen. You gave me no directions in the quantity of silk for each and have purchase too great or more than was necessary. They are each intended for a full dress gown and petticoat which are only work with Hoop of course. The trimming of the sapphire biass [sic] or plain blue must be a narrow black velvet quite plain down the sides with a [design] thus "vvvvv" around the trail which now is not to be tremendously long. The trimming I have sent [is] for the blue with white stripe or the pink as you think best. But the trimming is not to be too full rather plain. ....The Muslins are s[ai]d to be cheap, but I fear the amount of the Millinery Bill. As U before observed what is not wanted may be well disposed of. From the Latitude you left me, I thought it best to send the Quantity I have....
Incomplete draft of a letter from Benjamin Chew, Jr., (London) to his mother (Philadelphia), undated but probably late October or early November, 1784. HSP, Chew Papers, Box 45.
Mrs. Chew also shopped with local merchants. There are bills
for hats, gauze kerchiefs, ribbon, lace, gloves and mitts, stockings, shoes,
combs, and fans.
The records make it clear that Chew, again, allocated a major portion of his
income to assure that he and his family were fashionably attired. This included
engaging Vincent Ducomb, a French emigre barber
and hairdresser, to see that he and Mrs. Chew were properly coiffed. Ducomb
provided this service
from 1788 to at least 1797.
In their later years, Benjamin and Elizabeth Chew began to attend to health issues "taking to the waters" and traveling to the sulphur springs at York, Pennsylvania; Hagerstown, Maryland and Berkley Springs, Virginia (now WV).
The rest of the Chew Family were all well provided for upon Benjamin's death in 1810. Elizabeth Chew continued to live in the Third Street town house and all of the children were given allowances for the rest of their lives. The profit from the eventual sale of the town house for development was divided among the heirs.
Dressing Mrs. Chew
My conclusion was that Elizabeth Chew would've been a fashionable woman even during the British occupation. Life for the wealthy elite in Philadelphia seemed to go on as usual. Records show that her husband was extremely concerned that his family show their social status. As a woman in her late 40's for whom fashion is a priority, I see her wearing a mid 1770s English gown in silk, probably close breasted, with sleeve ruffles and more simple trim for day wear.I chose to use a gown I had already: A copper shot silk day gown based on this mid 1770s example from the Colonial Williamsburg Collection with added sleeve ruffles with pinked/scalloped trim. I also chose to wear the gown skirt down.
I already had a silk gauze dormeuse cap which I placed a yellow 4 loop bow on to match the yellow ribbon for my gown bows.
Last was a hat. References were made to much money being spent on millinery so I chose to copy this fashion plate both for my hair and my hat,
The last new thing I made was a burgundy ribbed silk petticoat with a pleated ruffle that was pinked/scalloped. The gown silk is shot with burgundy (warp) and yellow (weft) threads which informed my choices of yellow and burgundy to compliment the gown. I prefer shot silks for simple gowns and plain silks for highly trimmed gowns. I find the shot silk alone makes the gown appear higher quality yet detracts from trimming thus the reason for this gown being fairly simple.
Remaining accessories: embroidered silk gauze apron, "gold" chatelaine with timepiece and keys (one for the tea chest), pearl choker with a slight drop and largish pearl earrings. I made white leather mitts lined with yellow silk but found it too warm to wear them and I carried a fan, of course.
Mrs. Chew received guests for tea outside the Museum and she served only the finest Congou tea from China with freshly harvested grapes, various sweetmeats, confits, and Mrs. Washington's mackroons and caraway cakes.
Pouring tea (photo by Jason Wickersty, Museum of the American Revolution):
One of the Chew family's house servants, Fan, tending to Mrs. Reynolds (photo by Jason Wickersty, Museum of the American Revolution):
Mrs. Sarah Norris, a well to do Quaker, stops to visit on her way to nursing an injured soldier.
Mrs. Chew receiving guests:
This impression provided a number of interpretation opportunities. The tea table was a draw and many visitors approached to ask about that. I introduced myself as Mrs. Benjamin Chew ("Perhaps you're acquainted with my husband?") and talked about Benjamin's incarceration and political beliefs. I like using soft first person interpretation so that I can answer visitors' questions in ways I wouldn't be able to using only first person. People seemed genuinely curious about the how the wealthy of Philadelphia attempted to maintain neutrality. Many were interested in the attire, having noticed the stark contrast to that of those running the market. Of course I spoke about the Battle of Germantown and invited visitors to view the exhibit in the museum which included information on that. Other topics discussed were how a lady of such station would have spent her day, the education of the children, the material culture and how the occupation affected the availability of everyday items. We also talked about the little social circle on Third Street which included the Powel, Shippen and Willing families and the many social functions which included both loyalists and patriots (including the Meschianza). We were also asked about how most of the wealthy in Philadelphia attained their wealth. While many were merchants for generations, the Chew and Oswald families had plantations in Maryland and Delaware. They relied on enslaved persons to farm their commodity crops and attained their wealth both through the crops and through the trading of land. Benjamin Chew also speculated in real estate in the Philadelphia area.
Andy Beck portrayed Fan, one of the Chew family's house servants. Andy memorized all of the names of the servants (there were about 16) and she talked about the salaries of each and the duties. She also spoke about how her salary with room/board and clothing compared to that of a typical working woman in Philadelphia. She also explained how her attire was different than those at the market as she was a servant who waited on the Chew family and their guests. As someone who was visible in the household, she had to be clean and well dressed. On the 2nd day of the event, Ruth Verbunt joined us at the tea table as Mrs. Sarah Norris, a wealthy Quaker woman. Visitors had a number of questions about the stark contrast between her attire and mine which prompted a discussion of Quaker beliefs and material culture of a wealthy Quaker family.
The items on our tea table were also chosen for their interpretive details: 18th century tea bowls/saucers and spoons that are quite different than modern tea ware; baked goods flavored with rosewater and caraway --as vanilla had not yet been introduced to the colonies--were also chosen. Confits are a period item that most people have not heard of. We also chose one seasonal fruit and candied ginger / dried fruit. All of these items provided talking points about food preparation and availability.
I have always found it easier to do this type of interpretation by attaching myself to a "real" person so that I can research the details of their life in order to handle the many questions that may come my way. I feel that all walks of life need to be included in such events and felt that the little social circle at the tea table helped to provide a window into the life of another segment of Philadelphia society. I enjoyed "becoming" Elizabeth Chew and hope to make a few trips to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to delve further into the Chew family papers so I can continue to develop this impression.
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