Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Housewife |
Catalog Number |
0985.06.00101, a-b |
Date |
1861-1865 |
Description |
The roll-up style housewife is black oilcloth with a sturdy rectangular bin in the center. Half of this bin contains a brown velvet pin cushion while the other half is a niche for thread, buttons, and needles. The housewife is lined with a variety of patterned silks and includes a pair of mending scissors (.101c) and a button punch (.101d). Previously stored inside are: a piece of greenish-black woven fabric tape (.101a), possibly a shoelace; and a newspaper clipping (.101b), believed wartime, containing lyrics to "Maryland! My Maryland!". |
Dimensions |
W-4 L-10 inches |
Owned |
Alfred Hughes |
Made |
Alfed Hughes M.D., Camp Chase, Ohio, USA J. P. Coats / Andrew Coats Agen |
Provenance |
Dr. Alfred Hughes made this housewife while a POW at Camp Chase, Ohio. A physician and resident of Wheeling (West) Virginia, he was held on a charge of disloyalty (for writing seditious letters against Lincoln's administration as correspondent for the Baltimore Exchange) for eight months during 1862. Hughes was specially exchanged on December 25, 1862 and went to Richmond, Virginia, where he became a member of the Virginia legislature and served in that capacity until Richmond fell in April 1865. Hughes was also the personal physician to General Robert E. Lee and his family during and after the war. |
People |
Hughes, Alfred |
Search Terms |
Camp Chase, Ohio |
Subjects |
Sewing Needlework POW's Prisoners of war Prison facilities Political prisoners |