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Community Corner

Guests Feast on History at Stanley-Whitman Reenactment

Tavern dinner provides window into colonial political discussion still relevant today.

The host conveyed his partisan politics with passion, eloquence and persistence.

None of the 12 dinner guests dared offer debate. His wife chuckled apologetically for his oratory as the maid served up a sumptuous feast.

Sound like a contemporary Farmington social affair? It could have been, but the politics under scrutiny were not of the liberal-vs.-conservative nature. They centered on growing concern that the British regulars would soon be landing under orders from detested King George III.

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The year was 1774, the fare was roast chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, home-baked bread with butter and water flavored by ginger, mint and honey, and no Tory would be welcome to the Friday’s Colonial Tavern Dinner staged by innkeepers Solomon and Martha Cowles at the Stanley-Whitman House.

Colonial history stirred to life through the efforts of executive director Lisa Johnson and three re-enactors, who proved as historically knowledgeable as they were theatrically talented.

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Steven Deming, whose family dates back to Farmington’s early days, played the bombastic but charming Solomon Cowles. Virginia Wolf was his wife Martha. Jane Dalal not only played their servant Mary, but had a hand in preparing dinner and provided guests with an informative tour of the museum, which represents the period from 1720 to 1772.

“Different people absorb history in different ways and there are people who just love historical food,” Johnson said. “The palate is the way to communicate history to people. We have a particular and unique crowd that comes to these dinners.”

Mrs. Cowles warned guests to park their politics at the door. As Solomon carved the chicken, his cuts deepened as he spoke of the carcass as a facsimile of King George.

“Farmington is for the most part very much patriot,” Martha said, in the dialect of the day. “There are those that are Tory sympathizers and they are keeping quiet. They are not very popular, and we are finding that sentiment is spreading.

“We get a lot of news with the turnpike [between Boston and New Amsterdam, later New York City] coming through town. We hear lots of talk and we do hear that the tide is turning.”

The Revolution for American Independence was, of course, two years away. She said that her sons were among those mustering on the town green in anticipation of conflict with the mother country.

Solomon’s bitterness propagated as a result of an incident the previous winter where Martha provided a chilled traveler with tea, a commodity that was in short supply due to the British blockade of Boston Harbor. He continued to hack away at the chicken he visualized as the British monarch as his voice escalated and his words sharpened.

“Tory sympathies do not run deeply in this household,” he said with emphasis.

He later said with equal conviction in one of several toasts, “I drink a toast to the ladies of the court in London, hoping they may keep their men at home and otherwise occupied.” It met with several “huzzahs” from him and his wife.

They answered every historical inquiry from the guests, who became more enthralled with each passing moment.

“This is my weak point in history,” Wolf said as she briefly parted from her role. “I play [condemned Farmington witch] Mary Barnes so I’ve got the 17th century down and I work at the Mark Twain House so I have Sam Clemens’ life down. I ask my husband a few things along the way. He’s better versed on the families who lived here.”

After dinner, Dalal passionately explained why she, the docents [volunteer historical interpreters] and the museum staff feel that reviving history is so important. She pointed out that the basis of 18th century issues still reverberate in our times.

“We talk about the rights of man and democracy and it is still playing out on the streets of Egypt and Yemen every day,” she said. “We talk about the role of government. Is the government too powerful? These things were going on in 1774.”

And thanks to her and her colleagues, the events of 1774 are still going on in 2011.

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