Page:Southern Antiques - Burroughs - 1931.djvu/30

6  sixteen hundreds, was ordering such and other goods of quality by the first ship from home, as he proceeded to set himself up. Carpenters and joiners, so varied were the uses to which they were put, were always in demand, and with the joinery of the first simple furniture corresponding to that of the house, we must believe that the work of furniture building was largely in their hands, as the cabinetmaker slowly emerged.

So excellent was the work that some of the Southern craftsmen eventually performed, that in 1768 we find Abraham Pearce, a cabinetmaker and carver from London, declaring in the South Carolina Gazette, that he "executes every Article . . . in the most elegant and workmanlike Manner," and announcing that, "Orders from the Country or any of the Northern provinces will be punctually complied with."

Landing, as the pioneers did, on barren shores, with the necessity for home-building ahead, the activities and resources of every one of them was called into play, and in every group there was some one or two, at least, who must assume the rôle of carpenter, if not, in fact, already chosen directly with reference to that trade. Shiploads, coming from time to time, provided them more and more, as the colonies pushed inward to meet further emergency. Plantation heads in need of extra help often secured such assistance, though it was necessary on the larger plantations for a cabinetmaker of ability to be numbered among the retainers, with need to be supplied both in the manor house and at the quarters as well.

As time wore on, and cabinetmaking progressed, various types asserted themselves. There were men putting out pieces of high merit, who worked independently, maintained fine shops, and were in the market for skilled craftsmen and apprentices as well, furnishing themselves with the best woods, and in time importing mahogany from the West Indies. Journeymen cabinetmakers went from place to place, supplied private needs, often on the plantation, or in shops and with other cabinetmakers, performed the task set for them, and moved on to other fields as the call arose. Considering the calls made for them in the newspapers, whether "taylors," weavers, or barbers or not, these journeymen laborers were in much demand. "Journeymen Cabinet Makers who understand their Business will meet with good encouragement by applying to Edmund Dickenson," we read, for example, in the Virginia Gazette, of Williamsburg, just following the Revolution, "Two journeymen chair makers" are listed as wanted by James Shackelford at Hanovertown, Virginia.

Apprentices were often bound. "Joseph Fontaine of Charles City County binds himself as an apprentice to George Donald, Cabinet Maker of Richmond for six years to learn the trade of cabinet maker," is set forth in the Gazette, and again, to the same man, we read at another time that "John Scott, guardian of Joseph Scott binds sd. Joseph as apprentice to learn the trade of cabinet maker." As advertised in connection with the vendue of an estate in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, among the salable articles we find a "White male servant versed in making chairs, tables and desks." The indentured, as well as the slaves, were often called to the bench; and