Published Articles
Surveying Carlyle House’s Past Our New Compass and Chain - February 2006
Patience finally paid off for Friends Board Member Emeritus and former president, Oscar Fitzgerald, who is responsible for Carlyle House’s newest addition, an 18th century Surveyor’s compass and chain. After searching for ten years, Dr. Fitzgerald located these ideal pieces for the collection from a dealer in Ohio. While they do not have Carlyle family provenance, his probate inventory from November 13, 1780 indicates that John Carlyle owned “1 Surveyors Compass & Chain,” and Dr. Fitzgerald felt they should be part of the collection.
Forged in the Past - March 2006
There has long been debate between academic historians and the museum profession about the importance of individual objects in the teaching of history. To academic historians, history is the clear alignment of evidence found in written documents. Museums, on the other hand, believe that written documents, no matter how important they are, cannot substitute for authentic objects and the lessons they teach. This study of objects, called material culture, becomes the driving force behind a good museum’s curatorial and educational functions. Objects offer seemingly limitless interpretation. Does the object reveal its use? Can we determine its maker or method or place of manufacture? Is the object representative of aesthetic, cultural, or technological trends or innovations? Each new discovery opens more windows of exploration for a museum’s staff.
Sir William Johnson: Noteworthy Carlyle House Visitor - April 2006
James Munson’s biography of John Carlyle lists “Indian Agent Col. William Johnson from New York” as one of the participants in the “Grandest Congress” held at the Carlyle House in April 1755. A recent book, White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America, by Fintan O’Toole, provides a vehicle for learning about one of the more intriguing visitors to the Carlyle House.
Carlyle Redecorates This Spring - May 2006
As the Millennium approached, the staff was preparing for several important milestones – the 25th anniversary of the creation of the museum (2001), the 250th anniversary of the construction of the house (2003) and for AAM re-accreditation in (2004). It became obvious during this period that it was time to re-open the investigation of several important categories of research completed over twenty years before. One of these was paint analysis.
The Gallant Young Carlyle, from Alexandria - June 2006
George William Carlyle was born on May 27, 1766, the third child of Colonel John Carlyle and his second wife, Sibyl West. George William’s half sisters from his father’s first marriage to Sarah Fairfax were Sarah (nicknamed Sally) and Ann (called Nancy). At the time of their brother’s birth, “Sally” was 9 and “Nancy” was 4 years of age. George William’s mother, Sibyl, died in childbirth before his third birthday. Because of the demands placed on his father’s time from his various business ventures and political dealings, we can presume that servants and his sisters raised the boy for a period. However, both of George William’s sisters were married in 1775 when he was only 9, leaving the lad alone in their father’s home with presumably little companionship.
Peter Scott Desk Discovered in Museum Collection - July 2006
Ron Hurst, Vice-President of Collections at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and member of the Board of the Friends of Carlyle House, recently informed us that the desk in Carlyle’s study has a definitive attribution to important colonial cabinet maker, Peter Scott of Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg has been investigating Scott pieces and became interested in learning more about our desk last year. A team of curators and conservators from CWF came to the Carlyle House and carefully measured, examined and photographed our piece.
An Abbreviated Youth: the Early Years of Sarah Carlyle Herbert - August 2006
On December 31, 1747, John Carlyle wed Sarah Fairfax, a member of the prominent Fairfax family of Virginia. Surviving accounts of the marriage express John Carlyle’s fond wish that his life with Sarah in Virginia would be prosperous and that their marriage would be blessed with a family: “I Shall be […] Thorrowly Settled With My Dr Partner,” he wrote to his beloved brother George of Carlisle, England. As John and Sarah Carlyle worked towards establishing a home and family in Alexandria, many obstacles met them, particularly the inability to sustain their children through their earliest years of life. By the tenth year of their marriage, the couple had experienced the loss of all four of their children, each within their first months of life. Young Sarah Fairfax Carlyle was born January 4, 1757 and proved to be the exception to this trend. In a letter written in August of 1757 to brother George, John wrote of his new daughter who was by this point well into her first year of life: "My Losses is in Sum Measure made Up In A Little Girel too Who is Very healthy, We Luckily gott A Very healthy Young Nurse & Am In hopes She may be Spared to Us-"
Filling in the Bay of Seaside Alexandria: 1750-1798 - September 2006
Many of us have wondered how this and other nearby lots were extended to create the city’s present shore line. Dr. Steven J. Shephard, Assistant City Archaeologist, in an article published in The Alexandria Chronicle, Spring 2006, explains what we know about the process. The article: A Plan of Alexandria, now Belhaven, G. Washington, 1749. is summarized below and expanded to include the interests of John Carlyle.
New Evidence Reveals Where George Carlyle Attended Medical School - October 2006
It has been assumed that John’s older brother George received his training as a physician in Scotland. Located within a 230 mile radius of George’s home of Carlisle situated near the northwest border between England and Scotland, are the distinguished and ancient universities at Aberdeen, Glasgow, St. Andrews, and Edinburgh. By the end of the 18th-century, Scotland had established a reputation for possessing the finest medical schools in Great Britain, as well as on the Continent. Therefore, it had been accepted that George Carlyle traveled north to receive his medical education in Scotland, most likely at the prestigious University of Edinburgh, but the historic record indicates otherwise. New evidence reveals that George attended university in the city of Leiden, located in The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in present day South Holland, The Netherlands, over 600 miles by carriage and sail from Carlisle.
Carlisle, England and Alexandria, Virginia: An 18th-Century Racing Connection - November 2006
Horse racing was in John Carlyle’s blood. Not only was Carlyle among the first Virginians to import quality Thoroughbreds to the colony, he also raced them. Horse racing was a popular pursuit among Virginia’s gentry: even the burgeoning town of Alexandria boasted a race track. According to historian T. Michael Miller, Alexandria’s early 18th-century track was located close to where Telegraph Road currently intersects with Interstate 95 (Cameron Run), where the former village of Cameron once stood at the head of Hunting Creek.
‘The triumph of Hope over experience’: Second Marriage in Colonial Virginia - December 2006
The family of the 18th century was in a state of flux. Coming out of a century of low life expectancy, a slowly-stabilizing economy and the beginning of the American experiment, society began to see pronounced shifts in traditional marriage patterns. Advancements in agriculture, economy, and politics satisfied people that the hopes and visions for the New World were indeed coming to fruition. The nuclear family began to accept the weight of being the foundation for the growing nation. Disruptions in the nuclear family became social disruptions, forcing widows and widowers to skillfully balance their personal, familial, and societal obligations.
