This past week our homeschool co-op went on one of the best field trips. I have visited many historical sites in the state of North Carolina ! This one is in my top 5.
Our church host a co-op for 8 kids in our church ! All the kids except for my youngest, this is their first year of homeschool.
Our age group runs from middle school thru their senior year of High School!
This has been an exciting journey and a learning experience for all of us!
Each kid has been working on a history project.
Each child chose a decade and will be doing a presentation in May on their decade. the kids requested that we take some field trips to help them see and understand their period better!
This 1776 Michael Braun two story Pennsylvanian style home was simply beautiful on the outside and inside ! This home was built before America was a state ship. The home was acquired by purchasing it through a Lord of England and he sent some of his business men to present the bill of sale !
the family hung pictures of the king and queen of England om the wall !it would have been removed to show their rebellion later in history!
copy of the bill of sale and deed from England
The home was decorated in perfect historical period! The parlor was simple and eloquent for the time! They did not have much during this time period they lived so simply!
The downstairs bedroom was simple but so my taste! I love the touch of simplicity and homespun beauty ! The bed room was complete with a rope bed ! Have you ever here the say good night sleep tight? Well that saying started years ago ! The ropes would have become loose after awhile! So you would have taken what was called a key and tightened them !
What the kids found even more interesting was the mattress was made out of... the blue ticking would have been filled with hay and bugs yikes ! Hence the say don't let the bed bugs bite. Then the top mattress would have been filled with goose feathers !
Young babies would have shared their room with their parents! So cradles would have been kept in the master bedroom! Other children would have slept upstairs on pallets not beds.
The bedroom had a fire place and a chester drawers and shelves above it with blankets on it!
a oil lamp hung from the mantle.
The upstairs was just as fascinating ! It held a weaving loom that is original to the home ! It was built in the spot it was standing in! It was fascinating to see something so old still in working order !
it was filled with spinning wheels, flax and so many other amazing things ! They had another small room that would have been an area kids would have slept in ! but now it has a case of things that have been found on the property !
there was another large room upstairs that would have most likely been used for children who would have just gotten married and trying to get on their feet ! we were told a story about a dress on display! A peddler had passed through she wanted cloth for a new dress! Her husband told her she didn't need a new dress, the dress she had was in fine condition! However he did allow her to purchase new wooden buttons ! She replaced the old buttons and hand painted them to match the pattern of her dress! It was one of the daughters of Michael Braun ! It has lasted all the years and was donated to the museum !
My favorite room of the house was the kitchen though... I am fascinated of how they cooked and lived so simply. The hearth cooking, candle making, making butter, and the baking in a oven outside!
We had such an amazing time!
Here are some wonderful pictures of the kitchen!
This was actually the slave quarters
outside oven
We finished our day out at the Rowan County Museum!
They have a spectacular civil war display !
I seen things I have only read about in books ! Like the slave collars and the bill of sale. these things broke my heart... It also made us thankful for how far we have come!
They had a wagon on display! I made the idea of traveling in one for many miles not look so wonderful after all ! It truly showed the reality of how little of a space they actually had! What they must have left behind!
Cheerwine, was founded and is still made in NC! The company is celebrating 100 yrs! the kids enjoyed ending our trip checking out this display and having group pictures !
When our journey began I never knew it would end up here... God is so good and I am so blessed to have the pleasure of working with them!
