Women & Gardens in colonial South Carolina (1663–1776)

 

1. “The climate is favorable to oranges, figs, and peaches… Our garden at Charles Towne yields both medicines and delight.” — Letter from Eliza Lucas Pinckney to Miss Bartlett, March 16, 1742. Eliza Lucas Pinckney Papers, South Carolina Historical Society.

2. “Many of the planters here cultivate physic gardens, in — Journal of John Lawson, 1709, A New Voyage to Carolina.

3. “In our garden I did grow rhubarb from seed, brought by my husband. It is a bitter root but strong in fever.”   — Diary of Sarah Gibbes, 1756. Gibbes Family Papers, University of South Carolina.

4. “At the Ashley River plantation, we grow an abundance of kitchen greens — mustard, cress, and kale. I prepare vinegar tinctures for winter.” — Account of Amarinthia Elliott, Charleston, 1763. Elliott Family Correspondence.

5. “The governor’s garden is laid out with order, having both physic herbs and ornamental beds.”  — Report by Peter Kalm, Swedish botanist, 1750. Travels into North America.

6. “Our enslaved women keep gardens behind their cabins, growing garlic, calamus, and peppergrass — much used in the night fevers.”  — Plantation account, St. Paul’s Parish, 1770. Extracted from the Grimké Family Plantation Records.

7. “Mistress Brewton prepares remedies from her garden, especially rosemary wine for palsy and fennel syrup for the throat.”  — Charleston Medical Letter, 1768. Quoted in Medical Practices of Colonial Carolina, ed. Harriot Thomas, 1982.

8. “Indigo thrives well in our soil… I have experimented with several varieties, and find the French seed best. My dye house is kept busy.”  — Eliza Lucas Pinckney, Letter to her Father, July 1743. Eliza Lucas Pinckney Papers.

9. “It is common here for gentlewomen to trade in seeds and roots, and many send dried herbs to neighbors inland.”  — Letter from Rev. Francis LeJau, 1712. SPG Correspondence, Lambeth Palace Library.

10. “The gardens of Charleston are fragrant in spring with jasmine and honeysuckle, but useful also, for they grow rue, tansy, and horehound.”  — Travel Diary of Anne Grant, 1771. Grant Family Papers.

Dutch & British Women & Gardens in colonial New York

 

1640 – "Each house lot within the walls of New Amsterdam hath behind it a garden plot, fenced and planted with kitchen herbs and salad plants such as lettuce, radishes, cabbages, and onions." — Van der Donck, Adriaen. *Description of New Netherland*, trans. Diederik Willem Goedhuys. Syracuse University Press, 2008.

1647 – "The Governor’s garden at Fort Amsterdam contains beds of artichokes, endive, sorrel, and saffron. Indian beans and pumpkins are also raised, and there are roses and gooseberries." — Letter from Cornelis van Tienhoven to the Directors of the Dutch West India Company, *Documents Relative to the Colonial History of New York*, Vol. 1.

1652 – "Mistress Tryntje, a baker’s wife, grows dill, parsley, and horehound in her yard behind the shop. She dries herbs for sale and shares seed with other women of the village." — Court Records of New Amsterdam, 1652, in Fernow, Berthold. *Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674*, Vol. 1.

1660 – "All gardens of the village are enclosed and well planted, the women managing both kitchen plots and physic herbs. The Governor himself grows medicinal plants for the garrison." — Labadist Visitor’s Journal, 1660, in Jameson, J. Franklin, ed. *Narratives of New Netherland, 1609–1664*. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909.

1669 – "In the English part of the town, there are gardens with neat borders, where peas, carrots, and sage are grown. The Dutch keep to wider beds and plant pumpkins and onions thickly." — Journal of John Winthrop the Younger, 1669, New York Historical Society Collections.

1680 – "The gardens in Albany are of good size and fenced with split rails. Each family hath its share of beans, turnips, herbs, and squashes. The women are diligent in preserving pickles and roots." — Dankers and Sluyter, *Journal of a Voyage to New York and the Jerseys*, 1679–1680, trans. Henry C. Murphy. Long Island Historical Society Memoirs, Vol. 1.

1704 – "Madame Van Cortlandt is known for her fine kitchen gardens and the skill with which she directs her enslaved gardeners. She grows rosemary, thyme, and lettuces out of season." — Letter from Elizabeth Nicolls to her cousin in London, 1704, Van Cortlandt Family Papers, New-York Historical Society.

1715 – "At Rensselaerswyck, the lady of the manor oversees hop yards and a kitchen garden that supplies herbs for her family and for the tenants’ physic. There are neat beds of marjoram, balm, and comfrey." — Excerpt from travel diary of Reverend Johannes Ritzema, 1715, Albany County Archives.

1743 – "There is in the town of New York a widow, Mistress Brewster, who sells seeds of cucumber, purslane, and endive. Her advertisement in the Gazette speaks of her long experience in garden work." — *The New-York Gazette*, March 7, 1743.

1750 – "In the Bowery district, women tend market gardens that supply the town. Greens, radishes, and medicinal roots are brought to the square each Wednesday. The Dutch women are most diligent." — Journal of William Smith Jr., 1750, New-York Historical Society Manuscript Collection.

1765 – "Mrs. Judith Pell has built a physic garden behind her house in Westchester County. I saw comfrey, tansy, foxglove, and a whole row of mint beds, which she uses in teas and syrups for the poor." — Journal of Samuel Seabury, 1765, quoted in Tiedemann, Joseph S. *Patriots by Default: Queens County, New York, and the American Revolution*. Fordham University Press, 1992.

1773 – "Gardens here are kept with great care. The Dutch women keep not only vegetables but medicinal simples such as rue, balm, and horehound. The English prefer ornamental flowers but do not disdain fennel or sage." — Letter from Rebecca Brinckerhoff to her sister, 1773, Brinckerhoff Family Papers, New York State Library.

Women & Gardens in colonial Delaware

 

1675 – “Our garden at New Castle provides the kitchen with turnips, skirrets, and coleworts. Mistress Anna tends it daily.” — Letter from Jan van Gezel to the Dutch West India Company, New Netherland Correspondence, Delaware Archives.

1702 – “Elizabeth Bosman has made a thriving physic garden by the creek. She supplies many neighbors with pennyroyal, balm, and horehound.” — Court Records of the Town of Lewes, Sussex County Historical Society.

\1723 – “A Dutch widow near Appoquinimink grows quantities of sorrel, endive, and parsley, which she dries in her loft for winter use.” — Extract from travel journal of Rev. Thomas Lambert, Colonial Manuscript Collection, University of Delaware.

1745 – “In Wilmington I saw several gardens growing sallet herbs and onions. One woman offered me her recipe for pickled nasturtiums.” — Diary of Capt. Jonathan Warner, Warner Family Papers, Delaware Historical Society.

1762 – “At Christiana Bridge, old Mrs. Kemble cultivates a plot of physic herbs, including vervain, rue, and tansy. The townspeople speak of her skill.” — Local account, The Delaware Gazette, May 6, 1762.

1774 – “Miss Deborah Willis advertised parsley and cabbage seeds for sale along with elderflower water and candied angelica.” — The Delaware Journal, March 2, 1774.

Women & Gardens in colonial Connecticut

 

1640 – “In the town of Hartford, many families keep gardens of onions, leeks, sage, and Indian corn, well adapted to the soil.” — Thomas Hooker, letter to friends in England, Connecticut Historical Society Manuscripts.

1654 – “My wife hath great success with pennyroyal and tansy in our yard, and doth boil them for physic and cooking alike.” — John Winthrop Jr., Medical Correspondence, Archives of American Medical Botany.

1667 – “The garden at Saybrook Fort is laid in squares, with apple trees near the palisades and rows of medicinal herbs for the soldiers’ use.” — Samuel Green, Colonial Gazette, New London Printing.

1689 – “Mistress Sarah Stone's physic garden yields balm, horehound, and sweet fennel for neighbors sick of the fever.” — New England Parish Records, Connecticut Society of Genealogy.

1703 – “Mistress Abigail Treat planted saffron and wormwood this spring, and reports they do well by the stone wall behind her kitchen.” — Diary of Rev. Stephen Mix, First Congregational Church of Wethersfield.

1719 – “I did observe at the house of Widow Mary Griswold that her garden was most carefully laid with strawberry beds, and with rows of comfrey and savory.” — Visit Notes of Rev. Samuel Mather, Connecticut Pastoral Journals.

1731 – “Sent seeds of anise and lemon balm to cousin Hannah in Norwich, for her own garden of simples.” — Letter of Anne Talcott, Talcott Family Papers, Connecticut Historical Records.

1744 – “Dr. Williams of Lebanon showed me a plot by his house wherein his daughters keep garden beds of borage, thyme, and lettice for their table and for their patients.” — Diary of Cotton Mather Jr., New England Clerical Writings.

1762 – “Sold my surplus of cabbages and scarlet beans at the green in New Haven; others brought herbs of horehound and hyssop.” — Connecticut Courant, October 3, 1762.

1775 – “The garden of Mistress Prudence Baldwin is famed for its rows of medicinal herbs, with foxglove, feverfew, and sage growing near the gooseberries.” — Local report in the New Haven Chronicle, reprinted in Connecticut Historical Compilation, Vol. 2.

Women & Gardens in British Colonial Rhode Island

 

1639 – “At Portsmouth, we growe pumpkins, Indian maize, and pot-herbs for physic and food alike. Mistress Anne Hutchinson hath begun her garden with rosemary and plantain, and the soil yields them kindly.” — Diary of a Settler at Aquidneck, in Early Narragansett Writings, ed. Trumbull, 1896.

1644 – “The gardens near Providence do flourish in this season. Master Roger Williams commendeth the squash and beans which the natives have taught us to sow in the same hill.” — Letter from William Dyre to John Winthrop, Massachusetts Archives, Series 33.

1675 – “Though many houses are burned by the Indian enemy, yet the gardens of rootes and herbs are yet spared in some measure, which provideth some comfort in this evil time.” — John Easton, A Relacion of the Indian Warre, Rhode Island Historical Tracts, Vol. IV.

1702 – “Mistress Mary Sheffield of Newport tends a physic garden of lavender, southernwood, sage, and balm, which she doth commend for disorders of the stomach and the spirit.” — Newport Gazette, April 7, 1702.

1716 – “A garden plot behind the Quaker Meeting House containeth both useful simples and pleasant herbs, including camomile, rue, and horehound.” — Journal of Joseph Wanton, Rhode Island Historical Society Collections.

1739 – “On Conanicut Island are fine gardens of lettuce, onions, and strawberries, and sundry plants for physic. Some women make tinctures and sell them at market day in Newport.” — Journal of an English Visitor, printed in Travels in the Colonies, 1751.

1748 – “Sarah Borden hath enclosed a fine plot wherein she cultivates wormwood, thyme, and tansy, and shares her remedies with the poorer folk.” — Providence Town Records, Vol. 3, Manuscript Division.

1763 – “The Governor's House in Newport is adorned with geometrical gardens, and a glass frame wherein oranges and citrons grow in pots.” — Letter from Ezra Stiles to Samuel Johnson, Ezra Stiles Papers, Yale University Library.

1772 – “I did receive from Mistress Patience Greene of Warwick a small bag of seed of the fennel and coriander she did raise in her own garden.” — Letter of Elisha Reynolds, Rhode Island Colonial Correspondence, Vol. II.