Resources for the 18th Century Reenactor

 

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A resource of Internet information for Living History of 18th Century America

This is a collection of websites that will assist the 18th Century Reenactor research this period in history and assist in creating a living history persona. Information will assist both the military and civilian reenactor.


DOCUMENTS

18th Century Authors
Biographies and works of British Authors
http://www.oocities.org/sschaeff/

18th Century Diary
http://www.popenoe.com/Diary/Seely%20Diary%203.htm

18th Century Source Documents
https://www.edline.net/pages/Catholic_Central_High_School/Classes/03842501/library/colonistslib.html

American Journeys
Eyewitness accounts of early American exploration
http://www.americanjourneys.org/index.asp

American Memory
Extensive resources of historical documents - search the collections
http://memory.loc.gov/

Avalon Project
Massive resource of documents
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm

Camps and Firesides of the American Revolution
E-text Book reprint - Eyewitness accounts
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/HarCamp.html

George Washington Papers
Complete original papers of George Washington (actual images)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html

Journal of an Officer in the 3rd NY Continental Line
http://www.iment.com/maida/familytree/henry/writing/prose/revdiary.htm

Martha Ballard's Diary
Diary starting in 1785
http://dohistory.org/diary/index.html

Papers of John Adams
Diary, Autobiography and more
http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/aea/

Proceedings of the Old Bailey - London
Criminal Court Proceedings in London 1674-1834
http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/

Project Gutenberg
Source Page for Etexts of many books
http://promo.net/pg/

Rev War 1775
Articles & First Person Accounts, plus indexed listings of Orderly Books
http://revwar75.com/

Simcoe's Journal
Journal of a British Ranger 1777
http://home.golden.net/~marg/bansite/src/simcoesjournal1.html

Virginia Runaways
Accounts of slave runaways - good source of descriptions of clothing, etc.
http://people.uvawise.edu/runaways/

Walpole Library
Collection of digitized prints
http://lwlimages.library.yale.edu/walpoleweb/

Writings of George Washington
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/washington/fitzpatrick/index.html

Writings of Mercy Otis Warren
3 Vols. on the American Revolution plus Plays, etc.
http://www.samizdat.com/warren/

More Writings of George Washington
Collection of letters, etc.
http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/collection/index.html

D. Petre Medicinals
Medicinal recipes for healing
http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/diaries/doro/medicine/055.html

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NEWSPAPERS

Maryland Gazette
18th century newspaper - pdf scans of the original issues
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/stagser/s1259/121/5912/html/0000.html

Past Portals
Archive of the Virginia Gazette - 18th Century Newspaper
http://www.pastportal.com/browse/vg/

Rivington Gazetteer
18th Century newspaper from NY (Excellent for reproduction)
http://www.pulaskilegion.org/scottpapers.htm
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TEXTS

E-books on the American Revolution
Texts and contemporary writings
http://www.digitalbookindex.com/_search/search010hstusrevolutionayperioda.asp

18th Century Texts
Scanned texts - from 15th century and on
http://dewey.library.upenn.edu/sceti/flash.cfm?CFID=488808&CFTOKEN=88326045

Colonial Classics
Essays and Articles about Colonial Life
http://www.dinsdoc.com/colonial-1.htm

Women of the Revolution
Texts and Anecdotal Reports on women
http://www.americanrevolution.org/women.html

Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the American Revolution
1850 authorative text on the American Revolution in Two Volumes.
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/Contents.html

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CLOTHING

Ladies Clothing
Museum examples of Ladies Garments
http://www.antique-lace.com/categories/Museum_Date_1.htm

Making Women's Clothing
Articles and patterns on making women's 18th Century clothing
http://www.marariley.net/index.htm

Making Gowns
Several articles on making gowns -  articles are in English (website is not)
http://www.my-drewscostumes.dk/indexindhold.htm

Making an AnglaisGown
A reenactor's construction of a gown
http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/18thc/phillygown.html

Dressing the 18th Century Lady
What a woman wears.
http://www.oocities.org/staymaker/dressing

Making a Lady's Shift
Instructions and Pattern
http://www.marariley.net/shift/shift.htm

Making Covered Buttons
Instructions and Illustrations
http://www.vertetsable.com/demos_buttons.htm

Hand-sewn Eyelets
Instructions
http://www.vertetsable.com/demos_eyeletholes.htm

Connecticut Historical Society Costume and Textile Collection
Photos and descriptions of men's and women's clothing
http://www.chs.org/textiles/default.htm

Half Gaiters
Pattern and Instructions
halfgaiters.pdf

Men's Civilian Clothes
Description
menscivclothes.pdf

Spatterdashers
Pattern and Instructions
spatterdashers.pdf

Runaway Clothing
Examples and excerpts from a definative thesis
http://members.tripod.com/~colonies/runaways/vaindex.htm

Visual Dictionary of Early American Clothing
Images, photos, and descriptions of men's, women's, and children's clothing
http://web.bryant.edu/~history/h364proj/sprg_98/powderly/powd_menu.htm


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PERSONA

Developing a Persona and other good stuff
http://www.users.voicenet.com/~frstprsn/index.htm

Ladies of Reenacting
Includes the Colonial Period - Persona, Dress, Etc.
http://www.ladiesofreenacting.com

Beginning Living History
A lot of good information for getting started
http://blh.homestead.com/home.html

Trekking
Many resources may be found on the various pages
http://oldetoolshop.com/trekking/learning.html

Ned Hector - Portrayal of a Free Black Artillaryman
A reenactor's portrayal - good information on how it is done
http://www.nedhector.com/

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PASTIMES

Dancing
Resource on 18th C. dance
http://www.earthlydelights.com.au/english.htm

Dance Manuals including 18th Century
http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/dihome.html

18th Century Games
Games for the Rev War Reenactor
http://www.oocities.org/revwargames

Broadside Ballads at the Bodelien Library
18th Century culture through Broadside ballads
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ballads/ballads.htm

18th Century Gentlemen
A collection for the gentry
http://www.triafata.org/18c_gentleman/welcome.html

I8th Century Prints
A collection of prints - view social situations and manner of clothing
http://www.lclark.edu/~jhart/home.html#home

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MONEY

Currency, Coinage and the Cost of Living in the 18th C.
http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/history/london-life/coinage.html

How much was that Worth?
Money converter for 18th Century British Currency to modern
http://www.eh.net/ehresources/howmuch/poundq.php

Colonial Currency
Images of colonial currency
http://www.nd.edu/~rarebook/coins/ColCurrency/index.html

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WRITING

Fonts
Print with your computer in 18th Century typeface with long s and ligatures
http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/typograf.html

Letter Writing in the 18th Century
http://v5o5jotqkgfu3btr91t7w5fhzedjaoaz8igl.unbsj.ca/~s6vai/Mail/letters.htm

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COOKING

Cookbook
http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/collections/diaries/kidder/

Cookbook 1705
http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/collections/diaries/doro/recipes/

Camp Cooking
http://www.ladiesofreenacting.com/campcooking.html

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OTHER RESOURCES

Colonial Williamsburg
Extensive research material here if you search around this site
http://www.history.org

American Loyalists
Resource material about Loyalists during the Revolution
http://www.royalprovincial.com/

Long Island History
Newsday series on the history of LI including the Colonial Period and the Rev War
http:// www.lihistory.com/  

New York in the Revolution
http://independence.nyhistory.org/

Servants and Slaves in Revolutionary Virginia
Descriptions of clothing, etc.
http://members.tripod.com/~colonies/runaways/1775.htm

Living History Links
An extensive collection of links for the 18th Century Reenactor
http://www.oocities.org/babettelinks/

FopFest
Assortment of interesting links
http://www.triafata.org/fopfest/

The Battle of Petersburg
April 1781
http://www.petersburg-va.org/revwar/

Johnson Exhibition at Oxford
Engravings and Trade Cards
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/johnson/exhibition/

Archiving Early America
Source material for 18th Century America
http://earlyamerica.com/

Colonial Hall
Biographies of the Founders
http://www.colonialhall.com/

Maps of the Revolutionary War Era
Extensive collection of maps of Colonial America and the Rev War
http://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/revamer.html

Liberty
Website for the PBS Documentary on the Rev War with resource materials
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/index.html

Colonial America Resources for Students K - 12
Resources for teachers - and the rest of us, too.
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/colonial.htm

Trades
18th Century Trades and Tradesmen
http://www.history.org/History/teaching/blksmith.cfm

Cleaning a Brown Bess
How one reenactor keeps his Bess looking and working like new.
Brown Bess

The Manual Exercise - 1764
How to Drill, Load, and Fire on Command
http://www.cvco.org/sigs/reg64/1764.html

About the Brown Bess
Information about this firelock
http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~oddharry/dsfmc/bbess.html

American Revolution Resources
Links on the American Revolution and the 18th Century
http://www.americanrevolution.org/home.html

Museum of London
Collections pages have 18th century artifacts
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/

PIRATES OF THE 18th Century
Pirate Resources and Reenacting the Pirate of the 17th and 18th Century
http://www.gentlemenoffortune.com/

Living-History.net
Site for all reenactors
www.living-history.net
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ASSOCIATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Assoc. of Living History Museums
Interesting site with relevant resource material
http://www.alhfam.org/welcome.html

Brigade of the American Revolution
Organization for Revolutionary War Reenactors
http://www.brigade.org

NorthWest Territory Alliance
Archives with a lot of good and relevant articles
http://www.nwta.com/courier.html

The Continental Line
Organization for Revolutionary War Units
http://continentalline.org/

Burning of the Valleys
Organization that represents units from Upper NY
http://www.bvma.org/

The British Brigade
Organization for British Revolutionary War Units
http://www.britishbrigade.org/

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EMAIL AND INTERNET GROUPS

The following groups are open to anyone to join. There are groups that are only open to members of a specific organization or unit. Check with your organization or unit to find out if they have a members-only email group.

Revlist
Yahoo Group
Revlist

Beginning Living History
Yahoo Group
BeginningLivingHistory

RevWarCostume
Yahoo Group
RevWarCostume

RevWarMilitia
Yahoo Group
revwarmilitia

18CenturyWoman
Yahoo Group
18cWoman

Muzzleloaders
Yahoo Group
Muzzleloaders

18th Century Gentlemen
Yahoo Group
18cgentleman

18th Century Clothing
Yahoo Group
18cClothing

North-East Reenactors - 18th Century
Yahoo Group
North-EastRenenactors

RevWarProgressive
Yahoo Group
RWProgressive

West Virginia 18th Century Reenactors
Yahoo Group
WVRenenactors

QuentisentiallyEnglish
Yahoo Group for Civilian Reenactors
QuentisentiallyEnglish

Physick 18C
Yahoo Group for Reenactors of the Medical Arts and Trades
Physick18C

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SUTLERS - Where to buy it!

RevList
Extensive listing of sutlers and vendors on the Merchants Page
http://www.liming.org/revlist/

LUCET
Cord Making Tool makes lacing, drawstrings, and decorative cords - Authentic Reproduction
http://www.freewebs.com/popgoestheneedle/needleworktools.htm

Tennessee Valley Muzzleloaders
Black powder Rifles, Fowlers, etc.
http://www.avsia.com/tvm/

Avalon Forge
On-line Catalog.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/avalonforge/

William Booth, Draper
Linen, Wool, Patterns, etc.
http://wmboothdraper.com/

Almost Everything Muzzleloading and Buckskinning
Black powder, accessories, round balls, guns, etc.
http://www.coon-n-crockett.org/linklist.htm#BLACK%20POWDER%20MANUFACTURERS/SUPPLIERS

Badger's Den
18th Century Camp Supplies and Gifts
www.hometown.aol.com/avery83

Continental Consulting
Publications
http://hometown.aol.com/conconsul

Walnut Dye
Source for natural walnut powder dye, as well as basket supplies and hoops.
http://www.basketpatterns.com

Greenwood Press
Where a Man Can Go, Major General William Phillips, British Royal Artillery 1731-1781
http://www.greenwood.com/books/BookDetail.asp?dept_id=1&sku=GM1020

Soft Wind Speaking
Redware, Socks, Gloves, Household items  (Email for info)
SoftWindSpeaking@aol.com

Frenchie's Traditional Ironwork
Blacksmith work
www.frenchiestraditionalironwork.com

Pied Potter Hamelin
Pottery - redware, slipware and sgraffito traditions
www.piedpotterhamelin.com

Conde Trading
Finger-woven goods and  other sundry items for the reenactor
www.condetrading.com

Historic Angling Enterprises
Fishing in the 18th Century - period correct lures, etc.
http://www.historicanglingenterprises.com

Otter Creek Frontier Arts
Hornwork and moccasins, wallets and other 18th Century accoutrements
www.ottercreekfrontierarts.com 

Indian Trade Silver
18th Century silverwork
www.indiantradesilver.com

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EVENTS - These events occur annually.

The Battle of the Hook, Glouchester, VA.
www.battleofthehook.com
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UNITS

 


New websites are added as they are found - please, check back often.


EMAIL

Webmaster
 Robert Ambrose
Colonial Reenactor
Member of the BAR and the Ancient and Honorable Huntington Militia

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