Women's Work

DAILY CHORES

Food preparation for family and workers

Housekeeping – sweeping, cleaning dishes, bringing in water

Tracking food stores – flour, salt, vegetables, meat

 

WEEKLY CHORES

Housekeeping – scrubbing floors, dusting

Making candles and soap

Washing and ironing clothes

Airing the rooms

 

SEASONAL CHORES

Churning butter

Making pickles, sausages, jellies, and jams

Airing mattresses or replacing the stuffing

Planting and caring for the kitchen garden

Preserving herbs

 

ON-GOING CHORES

Making cloth

Making clothing for family and servants

Making bed linens, towels, draperies, and pillow covers

 

WOMEN ALSO TOOK CARE OF THE CHILDREN AND THE SICK

 

(Information taken from Mistress of Riversdale: The Plantation Letters of Rosalie Stier Calvert, 1795-1821 by Margaret Law Callcott)