Back in 1888

I'm now putting the final polish on my second historical mystery. Quaker midwife Rose Carroll is once again trying to track down a murderer in an 1888 Massachusetts mill town. This time the subplots have to do with continuing prejudice against former slaves, a baby's eyes becoming infected from his mother's gonorrhea, and the conflict that arises between sweethearts of two different faiths and social classes.

The research continues. The former slave in the story, Akwasi, who has become a Quaker and has a successful furniture-making business, is brought in for questioning for the murder, and so I had to understand police procedure from the time. I checked around, and, voila! I found a book from 1890 called The Massachusetts Peace Officer: a Manual for Sheriffs, Constables, Police, and Other Civil Officers. And it's perfect. It states the laws, illustrates with various cases, and more. An invaluable resource.

Gonorrhea was next. I looked up symptoms in men and women, and I knew there wasn't a real cure until antibiotics came along a few decades later. But was there any treatment? Why, yes. I found a long paper describing using balsam (basically sap) of the Copaiba tree from South America, right down to the dosage. The extract didn't always succeed in reducing the inflammation, but occasionally did. Also sometimes effective were Cubebs, a kind of pepper from Indonesia.

And then there's language. Yes, gonorrhea was called "the clap" as of the 1580s. "Maitre d'" isn't attested until 1890, however, so my character can't use that. "Blowhard" was attested as of the 1850s, as was, "Don't cross the bridge 'till you come to it" - the latter from the poet Longfellow. "Paycheck" wasn't used until 1894, but "great minds think alike" was written in the early part of the nineteenth century.

You never know where research will take you!

Readers, anybody have an interesting tidbit from the Victorian days? Writers, what has your research uncovered?

Oh, and check out this fabulous review of Delivering the Truth from historian and award-winning short story author, KB Inglee!

"As a midwife, Rose Carroll gets to go into houses all over town. Not just the houses but the bedrooms, and the private lives. It’s a perfect set up for a detective. As a Quaker she has a strong sense of justice.

I love books in which real historical people appear as secondary characters. John Greenleaf Whittier is the kindly mentor and the voice of conscience.

I love books with a strong sense of place. Edith has done her research on the town renowned for the manufacture of fine carriages.

I love strong women protagonists who still seem a part of the time in which the author has set them. Rose is one of my favorites."

Doing My Research

Edith here, working on bringing 1888 to life.

In 1888, if you wanted to get somewhere closer than fifty miles away, you generally traveled in a conveyance pulled by horses. There were buggies, carriages, phaetons, wagons, surreys, carts, and plenty of other varieties. Some had two wheels, some had four. They were pulled by one, two, four, or even eight horses.

I've now written two books (one is still a draft, thank goodness) featuring vaguely worded

carriages and buggies. The Quaker Midwife Mysteries are set in Amesbury, which was called the Carriage Capital of the World, shipping graceful, sturdy vehicles shipped all over the US and internationally. I'm a member of the Amesbury Carriage Museum and have seen plenty of antique carriages around, even sat in a couple as they sat unhitched to a steed.

But I'd never ridden in one. So last week I hied myself fifteen minutes north to The Carriage Barn in Kensington, New Hampshire. They provide equine therapy, carriage driving lessons, and much more. The generous director, Ann

Ann Miles, director and guru of the Carriage Barn

Miles, knows more about riding, equine therapy, AND historic carriages than her brain has a right to.

Ann showed me a couple of dozen carriages - no, there was a buggy, a runabout, a couple of sleighs, a governess's cart, a phaeton, a sailor's wagon, a wagonette, and more.

I think this is a runabout.

Governess cart

We talked about the history of the time. She lent me two volumes of the Carriage Journal. She handed me a helmet - because I was about to go riding! One of the people who come and take riding lessons, Sue, had agreed to have her lesson with me aboard.

Sue (behind), Ann, and Emily (in pink) hitching up Casey.

Sue and delightful barn employee Emily brushed and cleaned and harnessed up the patient, calm, strong Casey. Sue and Ann brought a replica carriage out and they all worked together to hitch Casey to it.

I learned that the driver's seat was always on the right, not the left, and the driver mounts first. I'd worn my homemade earlier-century long linen skirt and ankle boots to get the feel of climbing up into the carriage, and yeah, I had to keep the skirt out of the way.

Getting ready to head out in a wagonette.

We walked a few laps, and then trotted quite a few over the grassy field. Wow. The carriage lists from side to side. There's nothing much to hang onto.

Sue, who is a couple of inches shorter than I, was remarkable in holding the whip at the ready but only touching Casey gently with it when she gave him a command (and not letting the whip sag and touch him inadvertently). Casey was voice trained - who knew?

I thanked them all, and Casey, after we finished. It was a hugely useful couple of hours. I know I'll be back.




Readers: What kind of detail do you look for in an historical novel? Or even in a contemporary? Have you ever stopped reading because you found an error in fact? Writers: what do you do for research?