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Secure the items needed to diaper and dress the babe
Be apprentices to the midwife
Serve in the various duties needed in a delivery
Re-establish child rearing traditions from the settlements that will be necessary to raise the young successfully on the frontier, for after all, we are birthing not only a baby, we are birthing Kentucky.
12:30 Lunch Break (Fort Boonesborough Foundation will supply a boxed lunch to all registered participants)
2:00 p.m. Manning the Fort (behind the fort)
Defending ourselves, our families, our fort and our homes. Although not always acknowledged in the pages of history, women had to be as capable with a flintlock as did their menfolk. Often left alone for long periods of time, who brought in the meat and who fended off Indian attacks?
Join in as Kristi Heasley will teach us about firearms – the different types: smoothbore and
rifled, and what each of those mean. She will explain how a flintlock works and proper
safe handling and bullet making.. She will show us how to load, and let you fire using only blackpowder* (no live rounds). There is much documented about the women loading firearms for their men and running ball during the heat of battle. Some women were fine shots and took up arms alongside their men. There are even accounts of women winning shooting contests against their male counterparts. We will also include some known facts about the women during the Siege including the fact that they donned men’s hats and garments to make the fort look like there were more active “men” at arms. Being able to shoot was a critical skill for everyone on the frontier as it
often meant the difference in life or death – whether from a protection standpoint or in hunting for meat.
*Ongoing all day: As your time permits, make a stop in the charcoal cabin to learn more about blackpowder making. Most people have heard of the enslaved Monk Estill and how he learned upon a visit to his wife at Boonesborough, that the fort was out of this necessary article - black powder. He is remembered as one of the few people on the frontier who knew how to make blackpowder, a dangerous job!
Mary Patton was a frontier woman who also made black powder. She actually made 50# of black powder for the Over Mountain men in Tennessee. Her actions helped change the course of history. Mary Patton, powder maker will be visiting the fort this weekend. A visit is surely to enlighten and impress!
Here’s more about her: Mary Patton was from England and her father was from Scotland. He taught her to make blackpowder. He brought his family to the colonies when she was a teenager. John Patton was from Ulster Ireland. He stowed away on a ship and came to the colonies along at the age of 16. He ended up in Carlisle, Pa where the Patton family had settled. He and Mary were married and eventually moved to the Watauga settlement where they built a new powder mill. They were lucky where they found themselves as there were caves near by. Her powder was so good that it brought $1.00 a pound. She broke the molds when it came to what people expected from women.
4:00 p.m. “Dolly’s Tears”
Stories are told by tongue, and tears. Even more Cloaked in the Shadows are the secrets kept by Dolly and her people. The stories of the enslaved people on the frontier are only now coming to light.These stories remain entombed in her mind, are agony to her breast, and weigh heavy anchor to her spirit.
We will fear not the Shadows and make a visit with her.
We will Cast away the enshrouding Cloak, untie the kerchief covering the heart, loosen the tongue, and, free the soul, as we share… In “Dolly’s Tears.”
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