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Visit to Somerset Place North Carolina Historic Site ~ A Photo Essay

December 6, 2018
Post by Contributing Author, Susan Holmes Jackson

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On December 2, I had the privilege of attending the annual Christmas Open House at Somerset Historic Site in Creswell, North Carolina.  Somerset was built by the Collins family and named for their home of ancestral birth in Somerset, England. The Lake Company, as the proprietors of the land was known at first,  began using slaves and indentured servants before the 1800’s to dig canals, and clear and farm the land. Read more history of how the land was acquired, and the years of it being one of the largest plantations in the upper South from the North Carolina Historic Sites website.

There was beautiful Christmas music provided by local musician Bob Waters on hammered dulcimer, as well as old carols performed by three wonderful young ladies from the local Columbia High School chorus (I digress, they were my youngest daughter and two of her best friends), and a tribute was made to a former docent, Alecia Rodgers, who worked and volunteered at Somerset for twelve years, who passed away earlier in 2018.  Blackeyed peas cooked outside over a woodfire in a cast iron pot, delicious old-fashioned cornbread cooked on the fire inside the original kitchen/laundry house, and hot spiced tea were the highlight of the day! Dorothy Spruill Redford, author of Somerset Homecoming, former director of Somerset Place and descendant of Elsy LIttlejohn, one of the enslaved people at Somerset, made an appearance as well.  Decorations were likely more fanciful than when the Collins family lived there before the Civil War, but they were made by the staff and volunteers, so the house felt festive and warm–but that was because it was a 75-degree day! Got to love Christmastime in eastern North Carolina!  

Come with me as I enjoyed the sights, smells and sounds of Christmastime at Somerset Place!

This is the Josiah Collins III Home;  it is 6,809 square feet, is two and a half stories, contains fourteen rooms, and double porches on the front, as well as on both sides of the back.  The front of the house faces a canal, dug by slaves to connect to the Scuppernong River, and was one reason the plantation survived. The canal brought tragedy as well:  in different incidences, three of the Collins’ sons, as well as two sons of slaves, drowned in the canal.

The rear of the Collins house, which is just as pretty in back as it is the front.

Lovely natural decor fancied up the “Colony House,” as it became known.  It is the original plantation family home and became the place where the Collins children got their education, and housed their tutors and the area’s ministers. It serves as the Welcome Center, gift shop for the site today.

The front parlor.

Copies of original plantation documents are displayed on an antique desk.  I cannot imagine writing out financial records and information for human beings I “owned,” and the Collins owned, over time, almost 800 slaves, as well as white indentured servants.

This isn’t the original dining table, but it is groaning with foods and decor that would’ve been served when the Collinses had guests.

The gardens are kept up by volunteers, but were never a huge focus of the mistress of the house, Mary Collins.  Read more about her and her life at Somerset here from Southern Garden History (opens in pdf format).

View from the rear of the house looking south towards Lake Phelps, which was originally named Scuppernong by the Native people there, meaning “place of the sweet bay tree.”

The overseer’s house sits overlooking the enslaved living quarters, which was done purposely as a reminder of the overseer’s job in relation to the slaves’ position.

The interior of original kitchen rations building, complete with drying herbs and plants.

The Sucky Davis House, reconstructed on uncovered foundations and named for one of the original Somerset slaves from Africa who, with “…18 members of her family, from three generations, lived in three rooms. Five members of an unrelated family lived in the fourth room. Sucky was purchased in 1786 for £75.” (from the NC Historic Sites website)

One side of the one-room first floor of the Sucky Davis House. There are three other beds in this room in each corner, and baskets underneath, which surely was where mothers kept their babies.

Interior of the one-room first floor of just one of the twenty three 16×16’ slaves’ quarters, reconstructed in the 1990’s.  This is the Lewis and Judy House, and the original was home for “…Judy, her husband Lewis, five teens, one adult child, a daughter-in-law, and a grandchild.”

I don’t know what this large wooden bowl was used for, but my grandmother had a much smaller version to make biscuits in.

The path that leads to the slave quarters veers to the North, and the large building here is the reconstructed hospital.  Many other building foundations have been found in a line from the hospital towards the overseer’s house, including a chapel.  

One of the site managers, dressed in period costume, cooks just as the slaves did in the kitchen, over a very hot fire, and December 2, 2018 was not a cool day here in northeastern North Carolina!  She had the “fast flip” down to a science, so she could back away and keep cool! I can’t imagine what it was like to cook here on a July day in the 18th century. The fried cornbread/fritters were delicious.  I just needed some molasses to make mine better!

As much as the main house and grounds are beautiful, you get a real sense of what at least the basic living conditions was like for the slaves at Somerset Plantation.  They were people who stood their ground, and according to Dorothy Redford, once tried to poison an overseer! I love knowing that they fought back as best as they could.  Those slaves were punished by being sold almost immediately.  Many descendants of the Somerset slaves still live in the area.

I wish I had been able to take more photos, but that just gives you a reason to venture off NC highway 64 on the way to the Outer Banks, and visit Somerset Place yourself. The site is open April through October, on Mondays through Saturdays, between 9 AM and 5 PM, and on Sundays from 1 PM until 5 PM. November through March hours are, Mondays through Saturday, 10 AM until 4 PM, and on Sundays, between 1 PM and 4 PM. If you need additional information, call 252-797-4500.   If you’d like to learn more of the history and how Dorothy Spruill Redford helped make the historic site what it is today, read Somerset Homecoming, which is probably available through the site gift shop as well, so give them a call, and support this important place of North Carolina history.

Have you ever visited Somerset Place? Tell us about your visit in the comments.

Susan Jackson is a mother of four who lives in coastal North Carolina, and is an avid Outlander fan.  Besides reading, she loves cooking and baking, and music.  She is a thyroid cancer survivor and has worked in education most of her life. She hopes to one day blog about her thyroid cancer journey. She is a contributing author for Outlander North Carolina and, among other articles, has previously written about the infamous Stede Bonnet in Will The Real Stephen Bonnet Please Stand Up? 

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Do No Harm – Outlander Episode 402

November 14, 2018
Post by Contributing Author, Susan Jackson

Whew. I was relieved when Outlander episode 402 was over. I felt heavy-hearted, and had to sit quietly for a while after it was over. One thing I can say is that this show has never been one to keep the awful harshness of 18th century life stuff out of front and center, but that’s what I love about this series. So, let’s dive in to my recap as well as a few thoughts of Do No Harm.

Listening to Jamie and Claire discuss Bonnet and his crew’s robbery is bringing back the “old” Jamie for me–he wants to protect all who are in his care, as he was brought up to do. I had thought he’d be a bit more beat-up looking, but realized that most of his abuse was taking in those amazing rock-hard abs–oh, wait–I can’t get those My Peak Challenge work-out Instagram pics that Sam posts so often out of my mind sometimes–sorry for the digression! But even though Jamie is feeling like letting Bonnet go is his “cross to bear,” it helps us see that Jamie is still a laird in his heart and mind.

Watching the scene of the boat floating upriver and into view of River Run almost took my breath–it was a beautiful sight! It was almost as how I’d pictured it, minus the Spanish moss dripping from the trees, but I was amazed at how “Southern” the house and land looked! Living in North Carolina and near a historic plantation site, I was afraid that they wouldn’t get this right, but this was one location I approve of.

Jamie seemed a little boy as he greeted his aunt, and then had to remember he had a wife to introduce, which I thought was adorable. Jocasta, played by Maria Doyle Kennedy, was much warmer than I remember from the books, and let on early enough that her eyesight had failed over the years. TV Jocasta is very proud of her plantation, almost to the point of bragging, as we hear during the scene when she is overseeing Claire’s fitting.

This is where I get disheartened by the portrayal of Claire so far. I feel like the producers/writers/directors are really trying to make the audience aware that Claire is opposed to slavery, and she speaks out every chance she gets, but in a bossy, pushy way, even to Jocasta, who is their hostess. Yes, Claire is outspoken and a woman of her time, but she knows when to be that 20th century woman while living in the 18th, as well as when not to be. I feel like it’s being overdone. I just haven’t felt any of Claire’s warmth or sense of humor so far–and I know it’s only the second episode of the season, but still.

During the fitting scene, where Phaedre (Natalie Simpson) is making sure Jocasta’s dress fits Claire perfectly, I was thrown by Phaedre’s accent. Trivial, I know, but I was surprised she was speaking with a slight Scots accent. Someone later reminded me that Phaedre was born at River Run, and Jocasta took her in for a house slave (a matter to be discussed later, I’m sure), was reared in the house, and so, learned to speak like Jocasta and Hector. Ulysses’ lack of any accent at all surprised me as well, and again I was reminded that Ulysses was born free, but sold into slavery after the death of his mother. He was bought by a schoolmaster, who educated him, and at the age of twenty, was bought by Hector Cameron, and brought to River Run. Colin McFarlane makes an absolutely amazing Ulysses–I can’t wait to see more of him!

The big news at the dinner party was Jocasta’s decision to make Jamie her heir, and that she is making him her representative for all things River Run. We are soon introduced to Farquard Campbell, the local justice of the peace who schools Jamie on what would happen to freed slaves, if Jamie chose to do so as the new master of River Run, and how it has to be done lawfully. Jamie soon lets Claire know that he’s ready to ditch the plantation, take Governor Tryon up on his offer and head for the hills, where they can live as they please, without slaves. (Like Governor Tryon, Farquard Campbell was an actual figure in North Carolina’s history, and you can read a little about him here.

And then we come to the incident at Jocasta’s sawmill in the woods, where Jocasta’s slaves are working under the watchful eye of her overseer, Byrnes. Rufus had been hit with Byrnes’ lash, and Rufus retaliated by cutting off the overseer’s ear with an ax. By the time Jamie, Claire and Campbell arrive at the mill, Rufus is being hoisted in the air by a sawmill hook, as Byrnes decided to take the matter of the law in his own hands. It was enough of a shock to read this part of Drums of Autumn, and even more so to see it on screen. Jamie forces Byrnes at gunpoint to let Rufus down so Claire can see to his wounds. She, in her typical emotion-driven way, runs to Rufus’ aid almost immediately. Rufus is brought back to the main house, a place he’s never been, and Claire removes the hook, sutures the wound, and offers comfort to him by asking him about his family, (reminiscent of the boar-hunting scene with Geordie in season 1).

Claire receives a stern talking-to from Ulysses that she may not have done the right thing by saving Rufus, and may be risking the well-being all of the slaves at River Run. She definitely needed this jolt into the ways of Colonial laws and slave-owning culture, but she wasn’t convinced. Jamie’s action of handling the situation as he did angers other overseers and slave owners in the area, and the angry mob shows up at River Run, demanding Rufus be released to them so they may hang him, as is the law according to the law of bloodshed. Jocasta, in true blood-is-thicker-than-water fashion, blames Claire’s “foolish ways.” Jamie suggests that Claire ease Rufus’ suffering by giving him something before he has to be released to the mob. Jamie’s prayer by Rufus’ bedside was so moving–I have missed Jamie’s faith in the television series. In the books, it’s part of what makes Jamie Fraser Jamie Fraser to me. Hopefully they’ll pull more of that aspect of him into the show as time goes on.

Eventually, Jamie bravely carries a dead Rufus to the steps of the plantation house, a noose is placed around his neck, and the delirious mob drags him to the nearest tree, and hangs him there, for all of those at River Run to see.

In spite of the necessary plot changes, and what I can only describe as Claire’s haughtiness in this episode, I liked it–I can’t say that I “enjoyed” it. It was expertly acted–Jerome Holder, the actor who portrayed Rufus, was absolutely amazing, and moved me to tears as he spoke of fishing in the river at night, and dreaming of seeing his sister once more. The sets, the costumes–everything–is so well thought out, just like Diana Gabaldon’s research and writing. I am almost never not in awe of what I see on screen.

Thankfully, we have the comic relief in this episode of Rollo’s meeting with a skunk and meeting John Quincy Myers (Kyle Rees)–hernia-free, apparently. 🙂 His character, in book and on the show, reminds me of Mr. Edwards in the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder–a bit of a wild man, unmarried, and making a living in the frontier that is Colonial North Carolina. I hope we see a lot more of him–he makes me miss Angus and Rupert even more!

As darkly as the first two episodes have ended, I can only hope we will be able to see some happiness in episode three. The Frasers have been through so much already, and so have the viewers–I’m ready for some good times to come to them in North Carolina.Susan Jackson is a mother of four who lives in coastal North Carolina, and is an avid Outlander fan.  Besides reading, she loves cooking and baking, and music.  She is a thyroid cancer survivor and has worked in education most of her life. She hopes to one day blog about her thyroid cancer journey. She is a contributing author for Outlander North Carolina and, among other articles, has previously written about the infamous Stede Bonnet in Will The Real Stephen Bonnet Please Stand Up?