Pearl-Brown Room at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

We toured the Boston Museum of Fine Art’s new “Museum of the Americas” wing shortly after it opened this past fall. While there, we made a point of visiting the “Brown Pearl Hall”, which is a gallery in the lower level of the new wing. Below is a photo of part of the gallery, which is furnished with examples of colonial craftsmanship from the late 1600’s and early 1700’s.

For more information on this room’s history and connection with the family, go to this earlier posting: The Brown-Pearl Hall on Display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Partial View of the "Pearl Brown Hall" at the Boston MFA

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,600 times in 2010. That’s about 4 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 4 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 22 posts. There were 2 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 5mb.

The busiest day of the year was January 7th with 73 views. The most popular post that day was Ideas for Increasing Family Participation.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were en.search.wordpress.com, en.wordpress.com, mail.yahoo.com, delicious.com, and webmail.frontier.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for pearlfamilyreunion, 1938 hurricane, toni pullman mfa, jean marsh, and mfa boston pearl house.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Ideas for Increasing Family Participation July 2009
6 comments

The Brown-Pearl Hall at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston October 2009
1 comment

Welcome to the Pearls of Hampton (Connecticut) Site May 2009

THE RESTLESS PEARLS September 2010
3 comments

Pearl Settlement in the West February 2010

The Brown-Pearl Hall on Display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

In 1925 the Brown-Pearl House was acquired by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and dismantled. The living area was reconstructed as an exhibit hall – an example of colonial architecture and early domestic life. It was taken down and stored 10 or 11 years ago when the museum began construction of the new Art of the Americas Wing.

On Nov. 20th, 2010, the new wing was opened to the public and the Brown–Pearl Hall is again on display as a gallery in the lowest level of the new wing.

A little bit of history as excerpted from Norton Lee Bretz’ “Family Tree of John Pearl” (with additional comments in italics):

“John’s son Richard (the youngest of John Pearl’s sons) purchased the house, barn, and land from Cornelius Brown in 1737. (Our ancestor, Timothy Pearl, had left Boxford and moved to what is now Hampton, CT roughly 30 years earlier.) Mention was made in the deed of 175 acres of this land previously purchased by Richard. Mr. Brown was allowed to live in the house until May 20 of that year. It was on a narrow winding road near West Boxford. Near the time of its purchase, Richard built a grist mill in the rear of the house, the first in the parish. Major additions were put on the house in 1725 and in 1843 when an abandoned parish church was patched onto the building. In 1925, the house was bought by the MFA. It had been abandoned as a dwelling for some years and was rapidly deteriorating. The structure was made of massive hewn, red oak beams, 12 by 14 inches, hand-fit at the supports. The fireplace was over seven feet wide with a lintel made of oak. The architecture was typical of the seventeenth century and one of the best remaining examples of colonial craftsmanship. The living room, which the family knew as the foreroom, is what is now on display at the museum. The original room was 19×19 feet and has an 8 foot ceiling.”

We also have this information from the “History of the Pearl Family” by Marian Arlene Pearl:

“John and his wife Elizabeth Pearl undoubtedly spent the remainder of their life on the Pearl Homestead at Boxford as the youngest son, Richard, was said to have been brought there in a bread trough when an infant. This house stood on a 200 (acre) tract of land laid out originally to John Sandys in 1667. The acreage passed into the hands of Joseph Dowding a Boston merchant who sold it Sept. 10, 1703 to Cornelius Brown of Reading for seventy pounds. Mr. Brown built the house of solid hewn oak timber and it stood true and plumb throughout the years. Alice Heath Fairbank Dow in her Pearl history of Richard’s line states that ‘one of the timbers measures 18 inches and between the inside and outside finish are bricks, larger than modern bricks, solidly laid in mortar and there are two or three wooden latches with the latch string in the house and the one on the south door is very large’ There were no highways when this home was erected and it faced south fronting a field., The road when eventually constructed was laid out at the rear of the house. The Browns lived there many years, the wife Susannah died in 1734 at age 74. The Pearl family occupied one side of it, and during this period it was known as the Brown-Pearl house.”

The house was built around 1704 and in this room the home’s occupants cooked, ate and slept, illustrating New England domestic life in the first years of the 1700’s. Furnishings in the room as now displayed in the Museum are from other early homes and illustrate the multipurpose nature of a 17th and early 18th century hall.

– Dorothy Vander Meulen, Pearl Family Historian (with additional material and comments by Allen Vander Meulen III)

THE RESTLESS PEARLS

We recently heard from a distant cousin, Robert Brand, who found our Pearl Website and has communicated with us by email. He is descended from Ebenezer Pearl, born ca. 1778. Ebenezer was the son of James Pearl (1739-1831). One of James Pearl’s other sons, and brother to Ebenezer, was Jerome Pearl born in 1775. Jerome is our family’s direct ancestor.

The migration patterns of various lines of the Pearl family are fascinating., Some moved to Nova Scotia, at least one moved back to England, many moved west to New York State, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and eventually on to the west coast before the 20th century dawned. Ebenezer Pearl migrated from Connecticut to New York State.

Below is a brief history and interesting story from Robert Brand’s family, which he shared with us.

“After moving from Connecticut to New York, Ebenezer Pearl married Lucy Cole, born 1786 in Sterling, CT. She had come with her parents to NY when she was about 6 years old. Ebenezer married her in Fairfield, NY. They had 8 children, one of whom was Ebenezer A. Pearl born 1811 in NY. Ebenezer A. served in the Civil War and was pensioned out early in the war with $8.00 per month, Invalid Pension. In the 1860 and 1870 censuses he is listed as a peddler. He created and sold ‘Ebenezer A. Pearl’s Tincture of Life’*. He married Harriet M. ?? and had 8 children, one of whom was Aurilla Pearl, born 1852 in NY. Aurilla married William Brand, but unfortunately he died young after falling off a ladder, breaking his neck. He was only 29 years of age. He left Aurilla with 4 children (one of whom was Robert Brand’s grandfather) and an insurance policy. The insurance money attracted a scoundrel named Charles Wesley Delrymple who married Aurilla on Jan. 1, 1891. Unfortunately he already had three wives. Aurilla’s sisters filed charges against him to protect the children whom they said were being abused by him. Delrymple was arrested, tried and sent packing. Aurilla then married an English farmer named George Happs and found peace.”
…….Robert Brand, Sept. 2010.

*According to an article found on the web, from the ANTIQUE BOTTLE AND GLASS COLLECTOR MAGAZINE, Antique Medicine Bottles Dr. Cannon’s Medicine Chest: “Ebenezer A. Pearl’s Tincture of Life came in an aqua, rectangular, 7 3/4 inch tall bottle. The product was advertised for coughs, colds, sore throats, etc. in the Boonville Herald, NY Feb 16, 1888.” A fair number of these bottles have been found for sale on the web over the years.

71st Pearl Family Reunion

The Pearl Family Reunion, July 25, 2010 — The Pearl Clan in front of the "Little River Grange" built by Austin Eugene Pearl and Arthur Eugene Pearl

This year the Pearl family held its reunion at site of the former Little River Grange Hall, now the Hampton Community Center in Hampton, CT. It was a day of celebration of family, and of remembering the two Pearl men who constructed this building over 100 years ago. Austin Eugene Pearl and his son, Arthur Eugene Pearl, built this hall which served the Little River Grange # 36 until recently, when dwindling membership forced its closing and the building was taken over and then renovated by the town of Hampton for a community center. As a Grange Hall and now as a community center, this building continues to serve its town well.

Some 55 ‘cousins’ attended this year. The ages of those present ranged from 5 1/2 months to 91 years. Some traveled from as far as Florida and Illinois to be here with us.

With plates full of good, filling and delicious food, most of our family enjoyed the pot luck lunch outside under the big trees surrounding the Hall while a few stayed inside to eat and visit in the quieter environs of the renovated dining room. There was much visiting and sharing of family news and enjoying each others company, renewing friendships and getting to know each other better. A brief business meeting followed the dinner. There it was voted to hold next year’s reunion in the same place.

Family Recipe

Feel free to share other Pearl family recipes by sending them to me for publication here. Dot Vander Meulen

The following recipe comes from Evelyn (Pearl) Estabrooks and was given to me many years ago. You will need to adapt it to modern measurement terms.

Cottage Pudding (this is a simple and delicious cake served with a sauce):

1 cup sugar
butter the size of a medium egg
1 egg thrown in
1 cup milk
2 cups sifted flour
1 heaping Tablespoon baking powder ( this measurement translates to 1 tsp. double acting baking powder)
dash vanilla (1 tsp.)
Mix, pour into a greased 9 inch square pan and bake in a 350 deg. oven for 40 to 45 minutes.
Serve warm with either whipped cream or lemon sauce (my recipe for lemon sauce follows.)

Lemon Sauce – (1 1/3 cup sauce… I usually double this recipe):

1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
dash salt
dash nutmeg
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons margarine or butter
1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Mix the first 4 ingredients then gradually stir in the water. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until thick and clear. Add the margarine and lemon juice. Blend thoroughly.

Dot Vander Meulen

Pearl Settlement in the West

I am fortunate to have recently been loaned the Pearl genealogy/history written by Marian Arlene Pearl. It has been generously shared with me by Marion Emmons who is now in possession of this history of our family. In the process of copying this record I have come across many interesting tales, learned more about the history of our family from the time of John the immigrant,and I have been blessed with more insight into the lives and times of our ancestors. One of the insights I have come to appreciate is the story of the journey of Laura Shellenbarger’s family from Connecticut to the wilds of Ohio. This courageous act typifies the determination and toughness of those who choose to undertake such a dangerous journey.

Laura contacted me after discovering our blog. Her family is descended from Capt. Timothy Pearl, a son of Timothy from whom our Hampton Pearls are descended, and a half brother of James Pearl, our direct ancestor.

Linda Shellenbarger’s great-great-great grandpa, Oliver Pearl, born in Willington, CT in 1788, left Connecticut to pursue opportunities in the west. He had married Mary Sexton in 1811. Oliver was a farmer and he and Mary lived in Ellington, CT for 8 years after their marriage before “trading his farm for 100 acres of heavily timbered land in what is now Berlin Township, Erie County, Ohio. He also acquired 40 acres at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, now a part of Cleveland. With true pioneer courage, this family now consisting of a wife and 4 small children, piled their household furniture and farm equipment into wagons, leaving Connecticut in 1819 for weeks of hazardous traveling. When they reached the pioneer farm at Cuyahoga River, malarial conditions forced them to continue on to their tract of land in Berlin. This was through a wilderness so dense that Mr. Pearl had to cut a road through to enable the teams to haul the wagons. According to history they passed through a Huron Indian village, now the site of the city of Milan, some 8 miles from his homestead. Fortunately, the Indians were friendly at that time to white settlers. Mr. Pearl first erected a cabin of round logs, later replacing it with a more spacious home of hewn logs. This couple was known for their kindness and good works. They helped to organize a Methodist church and were regular in attendance. Ten children were born to this union.”

Some of the information that Marian Arlene Pearl found was in Hewson L. Peeke’s “A Standard History of Erie Co. in 2 vols published in 1916., and The Firelands Historical Soc. Norwalk, Ohio Vol. 111 pg 26 Fireland Pioneers. and Huron Co. D.A.R. records Vol. 2 1812-1939 and Pearl/ History from E. Eldridge, Pearl family Bible.

The Fire Lands resource interested me. In looking up what this referred to, I found the following. The Firelands tract was located at the western end of the Connecticut Western Reserve in what is now the state of Ohio. This land was set aside for people who lived in those Connecticut towns who had lost their homes when the British had burned them during the Revolutionary War. The towns affected were Danbury, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, New London, New Haven, Norwalk and Ridgefield. Eventually about 30 towns were established in the Firelands on the southern shore area of Lake Erie. But, apparently not too many people from the above Connecticut towns took advantage of this opportunity, probably because of Indian hostilities around the War of 1812 and the thickly forested land, that was hard to clear for farming. A number of members of Oliver Pearl’s family did move from northeastern Connecticut to this area of Ohio.

Dorothy Vander Meulen, Pearl Family Historian

A Poem: Something to Think About

If you could see your ancesters,

All standing in a row,

Would you be proud of them, or not,

Or don’t you really know?

Some strange discoveries are made

In climbing Family Trees

And some of them, you know, do not

Particularly please.

If you could see your ancesters

All standing in a row

There might be some of them perhaps,

You wouldn’t care to know.

But there’s another question, which

Requires a different view:

If you could meet your ancesters

Would they be proud of you?

…Anonymous. Taken from Marian Arlene Pearl’s “Genealogy of John Pearl and His Descendants in America”

The Brown-Pearl Hall at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

In the November/December 2009 issue of their magazine “Preview”, the Museum of Fine Arts has a short article and photograph on page 16 announcing the reinstallation of “Brown-Pearl Hall” which was the main living space from the old Pearl Family Homestead in West Boxford, MA, built in about 1704 (a few years before Timothy Pearl moved to Hampton, CT). The museum acquired the room in 1925.

The hall will be one of nine galleries in the MFA’s new “American Wing” period rooms . The article says that the “Brown-Pearl Hall will replicate the cooking, dining and sleeping space of an Essex County family of the period.”

It was discovered during renstallation that the room, when on display in its original location in the nuseum (from 1928-2003) had been assembled backwards, and notes that “when the wing opens in [late fall] 2010, visitors will see for the first time Brown-Pearl Hall as it was originally constructed 300 years ago.'”

A search of the MFA website turned up the following photographs of the hall, apparently taken at various points in time during the 75 years prior to its dissassembly in 2003 (in preparation for the construction of the new wing):

http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=38237

Pearls of Hampton family prayer

Before each meal, William and Elizabeth Pearl would recite the following grace. Their children and grandchildren continued the tradition saying this prayer whenever they gathered for a meal. It bound us together and defined us as family as we proclaimed our gratitude for our blessings.

The Family Prayer is as follows:

We thank thee, Father, wise and good, for home and friends and daily food. Bless to our use this food we take, and save us all for Jesus’ sake. Amen