Audio Transcript Auto-generated
- 00:01 - 00:01
Hi.
- 00:01 - 00:04
Uh I'm Ad, this is my midterm.
- 00:04 - 00:06
I could not figure out how to not make myself the background.
- 00:06 - 00:07
So that's what we're doing.
- 00:08 - 00:12
Um So my comparative research question is what differences
- 00:12 - 00:14
are there between probates from different time periods?
- 00:14 - 00:15
But at the same location
- 00:16 - 00:18
and you will understand shortly
- 00:18 - 00:20
uh why it's color coded?
- 00:20 - 00:25
So blue is uh Doctor Scott Williams transcribed record from Prince William County,
- 00:25 - 00:29
Virginia and green is Miss Anne who's transcribed
- 00:29 - 00:30
record record from the same location.
- 00:31 - 00:36
Um And just for some context, this is the location and some pictures.
- 00:36 - 00:37
So you
- 00:37 - 00:38
uh
- 00:38 - 00:41
have a little insight on the history of
- 00:41 - 00:43
uh Virginia.
- 00:43 - 00:43
Um
- 00:44 - 00:49
So this is how I organized my data. It's kind of similar to how I read it.
- 00:49 - 00:52
It is a receipt but color coded and
- 00:52 - 00:55
um sectioned off between
- 00:56 - 00:57
uh
- 00:57 - 00:58
which item
- 00:58 - 01:00
I think would go where?
- 01:00 - 01:04
So starting off with um on the left side is kitchen appliances
- 01:04 - 01:07
and Miss Anne had a lot more
- 01:07 - 01:09
um kitchen appliances as you can see,
- 01:09 - 01:14
but a similarity I noticed is both of them have quite a few
- 01:14 - 01:17
um tea related items.
- 01:18 - 01:21
Um And next off, we have furniture and bedding
- 01:22 - 01:23
um
- 01:23 - 01:25
they both had a lot uh but
- 01:26 - 01:29
uh Doctor William definitely had some more.
- 01:29 - 01:30
Um
- 01:30 - 01:34
This is Miss Anne's and this is Doctor Williams
- 01:34 - 01:37
and then next up we have livestock.
- 01:37 - 01:41
Uh Mr William had or Doctor William sorry had way more
- 01:42 - 01:44
obviously because Miss Anne had none
- 01:45 - 01:48
um and personal accessories, they both had some
- 01:49 - 01:50
but
- 01:50 - 01:53
definitely not a lot compared to all of the other things that they were buying
- 01:54 - 01:55
and
- 01:55 - 01:58
great to get started is my percentages
- 01:59 - 02:01
of everything that they bought
- 02:01 - 02:03
down to
- 02:03 - 02:04
the second dust mo
- 02:05 - 02:06
um
- 02:07 - 02:09
So this is my compare and contrast.
- 02:09 - 02:12
Uh Mrs Anne and Doctor Scott.
- 02:13 - 02:15
Sorry, Doctor William
- 02:15 - 02:18
Williams probates inventory show both similarities and
- 02:18 - 02:21
difference with differences between their homes.
- 02:21 - 02:28
Mrs whose inventory has 11.9% of personal accessories, whereas Doctor Williams
- 02:28 - 02:30
contains 8.8%.
- 02:31 - 02:33
This shows that while both valued personal belongings,
- 02:33 - 02:36
Mrs Hu's household puts slightly higher value on them.
- 02:37 - 02:39
Uh However, the households differs
- 02:39 - 02:42
significantly in other areas.
- 02:42 - 02:46
Mrs H's inventory includes 62.9% kitchen
- 02:46 - 02:48
appliances indicating that the kitchen plays a
- 02:48 - 02:53
significant role in her home most likely for cooking or and everyday meals
- 02:53 - 02:55
in comparison.
- 02:55 - 02:56
Um kitchen products,
- 02:58 - 03:03
kitchen products account for only 13.33% of Doctor Williams inventory
- 03:03 - 03:05
indicating a smaller kitchen or
- 03:05 - 03:07
different ways of life.
- 03:07 - 03:13
Uh furniture embedding make up 44.44% of Doctor Williams inventory.
- 03:13 - 03:16
Uh compared to 26.19 in
- 03:17 - 03:22
Mrs who's indicating Doctor Williams options for a comfortable living or a larger,
- 03:22 - 03:23
more complete home.
- 03:24 - 03:24
Uh
- 03:24 - 03:27
Doctor Williams inventory consists of
- 03:27 - 03:34
33.3% of animals, but Mrs Hughes does not at all implying that Doctor William is
- 03:34 - 03:39
active in farming as opposed to Mrs Hu's potentially more urban lifestyle.
- 03:39 - 03:39
Ok.
- 03:41 - 03:42
Um
- 03:42 - 03:45
So my conclusion in all of that was
- 03:45 - 03:47
the contrast of Mrs Ann
- 03:47 - 03:53
Mrs Hughes and Doctor Williams probates goods through being based on two f
- 03:53 - 03:58
only two families. This provides a fascinating look in onto
- 03:58 - 04:00
into how people lived in
- 04:01 - 04:03
18th and 19th century Virginia.
- 04:03 - 04:06
As I went further into these inventories,
- 04:06 - 04:09
I began to notice the personal experiences and lives
- 04:09 - 04:11
they show despite the restricted amount of information.
- 04:13 - 04:16
Um Next is the inventories of Mr
- 04:16 - 04:19
of Mrs Hu and Doctor William reveal
- 04:19 - 04:21
distinct differences in their household priorities,
- 04:21 - 04:24
reflecting their lifestyles and socio anomic status.
- 04:24 - 04:27
Mrs hu focuses on kitchen appliances
- 04:27 - 04:32
suggests that domestic activities particularly cooking were central to her life.
- 04:33 - 04:35
Um likely indicating an urban setting.
- 04:35 - 04:36
In contrast,
- 04:36 - 04:39
Doctor Williams household has a smaller focus on the
- 04:39 - 04:42
kitchen items but includes significant furniture bedding and livestock,
- 04:42 - 04:44
pointing to a rural lifestyle
- 04:44 - 04:47
with an emphasis on comfort in
- 04:47 - 04:51
agriculture, possibly indicating higher wealth.
- 04:52 - 04:53
Um
- 04:54 - 04:56
So my inference is
- 04:56 - 05:01
Mrs Hu's life likely centered around domestic tests in urban environment.
- 05:01 - 05:05
While Doctor Williams household was more rural and wealthier
- 05:05 - 05:08
focused on agriculture and comfort reasoning.
- 05:08 - 05:09
Um Sorry,
- 05:09 - 05:12
the types of portions
- 05:12 - 05:16
of possessions and suggest their different lifestyles and
- 05:16 - 05:20
priorities shaped by location and social status.
- 05:20 - 05:22
Some uh open questions I have were what
- 05:22 - 05:26
economic activities was Mrs Hu's household involved in?
- 05:26 - 05:30
How did community context influence uh material culture?
- 05:30 - 05:33
And some further research I have is examine
- 05:33 - 05:37
more probate inventories to compare across regions,
- 05:37 - 05:42
explore historical records for more context on daily life and possessions.
- 05:43 - 05:49
And next is the end. Thank you for listening. This is a really cool assignment.
- 05:49 - 05:51
I had fun organizing all of that.
- 05:51 - 05:52
Um
- 05:53 - 05:55
And here are my citations.