Stock buckle

We were snowed in after a blizzard in Virginia.  My dad finds an old box from somewhere and we dig in to find family treasures galore.

What in the world is this? (Next to the pen.)

We had no clue.  Good thing it was inside a labeled envelope. 

"Silver stock buckle.  This stock buckle was made from Mexican silver dollars and worn by Jonathan Pearson, father of Isaac, therefore great-great grandfather of the Webber Quartette."

My grandpa Roger Pearson Webber was the eldest of the Webber Quartette.

Family member name: Jonathan Pearson 
Lifetime: 1766-1841
Tree branch: Pearson
Relation: My 4x great grandfather

Now we know who, but still, what is a stock buckle?  It's a buckle for a stock.  Duh.  When looking at paintings of men from the 1700s and early 1800s, it's common for them to be wearing a wrapped, folded white linen cloth around their necks.  It's the predecessor to the neck tie, and it's called a stock.  It was the most formal of neckwear.  The stock was wrapped around the neck and had tabs like buttonholes in the back where the stock was secured with a stock buckle.  A stock buckle was often silver and sometimes embellished with gems.  It was jewelry for men.

We don't know what Jonathan Pearson looked like, but here is a photograph of his son, Isaac, wearing a stock.  I like to think he's wearing his father's stock buckle.  I realize how rare it is to possess something that belonged to a great great great great grandfather.  I'm grateful.

Now, the question remains, where did a family in the early 1800s from Maine procure Mexican silver dollars in order to make this stock buckle?  The plot thickens.

Dowry or trousseau?

A 4x6 piece of 200-year-old paper outlines some "money and other things" belonging to my great great great grandmother.  It was found in an envelope labeled by her granddaughter "doubtless the dowry of Miriam Harris".

Family member name: Miriam Hall Harris Pearson 
Lifetime: 1807-1878
Tree branch: Pearson
Relation: 3x great grandmother

dow·ry

ˈdou(ə)rē/

noun

1. property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage.

Dowries are not used much today. In India, dowries were officially outlawed in 1961, but sadly are still used as income for the groom's family. Obviously, they have the negative connotation that a woman is only worth the money she brings into a marriage.

trous·seau

ˌtro͞oˈsō,ˈtro͞oˌsō/

noun

1. the clothes, household linen, and other belongings collected by a bride for her marriage

Over time, the tradition of the dowry in the US first evolved into a trousseau or hope chest.  Sometimes a mom or grandma wanted to pass along some family heirlooms for use when her daughter is married, or the single maiden collects or sews handmade housewares for her future married self.  Those articles were added to the hope chest.   Today that tradition has evolved again into online bridal registries.

Miriam Hall Harris was born in 1807 in North Yarmouth, Maine, not far north of Portland.  She married my great great great grandpa Isaac Pearson, a young widower, in 1837. Since she was almost 30, she would have been considered an old maid by that time.  Research suggests that dowries were still in limited use in New England in the mid-1800s.

Dowry or trousseau?  Decide for yourself. (A transcribed version follows the pictures in case the handwriting is difficult to read.)

Memorandum of money and other things for Miriam Harris: Viz (definition: as follows)
Cash one hundred and twenty one dollars. $121.00
2 packed (?) Bed Quilts  16.00
2 Coverleads  9.00 (perhaps coverlet, meaning bedspread)
2 Bed Quilts  9.00
1 Bed Quilt 3.50
1 Bed Quilt 2.33
1 Counterpin 1.50 (definition: bedspread)
2 Bed puffs 3.00
4 pairs of bed blankets 20.50
2 table cloths 3.00
6 table cloths 8.64
2 table cloths 1.00
2 table cloths 2.25
2 Bowler (?) towels 1.20
6 hand towels 2 hand cloths 2.63
6 hand towels 1.50
6 hand towels 1.00
207.05

Memorandum for Miriam Harris continued
Cash Fifteen Dollars 15.00
1 Dineing table 5.00
1 Breakfast table 4.00
1 Light Stand 1.50
1 Bed Stid 5.00 (perhaps a bedstead, meaning a bed frame)
One Silver waist bukel 1.50 (perhaps a belt buckle?)
32.00
Brought over 207.05
$239.05

The only reason I would lean towards this indeed being a dowry is the fact that cash is included in the assets.  A trousseau would not have included cash.  Calculating for inflation, the $136 in 1830 would  be worth $3,515.00 as of 2018.  Not too shabby.  Go Miriam!  No wonder she held out and nabbed a hottie who later became a lawyer.

Here is my great great great grandma later in life.