Hello whitewater8-ga,
As you may know already, typing "chair people" or "chairpeople" into
Google will give you references to heads of corporations and other
organizations. But I finally determined that these were people who
carried "sedan chairs", and once I learned that, I was able to find
that the people were called "chairmen", or perhaps "chair bearers"
(though that term is associated more with places outside America and
Europe).
Here is one reference to chairmen. Oddly enough, it comes from a
coloring book, but the information seems useful:
"Both these CHAIRMEN wear heavy surtouts with capes made to button up
and cover the wearer's face up to the eyes in bad weather. The man on
the right wears a Scotch bonnet and offers his companion a pinch of
snuff from his horn. The man on the left wears a linen stock or
neckpiece, buckled at the back. Sedan chairs were the taxicabs of
eighteenth-century cities of Europe and America."
"American Colonial Dress: Text -- from Coloring Book by Peter F.
Copeland
["Everyday Dress of the American Colonial Period"] [under #20]
The Thirteen Colonies [by Paul J. Wigowsky]
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/2827/dresstext.html
Another reference, relating to colonial New Jersey, states:
"In the towns ... wealthy people rode in sedan chairs carried by
servants, but this mode of travelling was not suitable for long
distances."
"Chapter VI. The First Millburn Settler and How They Lived" (from "A
History of Millburn Township" [eBook], by Marian Meisner) [scroll
about 2/5 down the page]
Millburn Free Public Library
http://www.millburn.lib.nj.us/ebook/VI.htm
Benjamin Franklin was carried to the Constitutional Convention in a
sedan chair by prisoners from the local jail. There are several
references to this on the Web, including:
"Some Observations on Government by the People", by Richard C. Van
Dusen (September 29, 1987) [page 4, middle of right column]
Citizens Research Council of Michigan
http://www.crcmich.org/PUBLICAT/1980s/1987/RVDSpeech.pdf
It is possible that some chairmen were licensed, and therefore paid
for hire, in Colonial America. However, all or nearly all of the
references I have found on this practice relate to Europe. The only
reference I have seen that mentions colonial America may describe the
situation in London, not America:
"The Development of Transportation in Colonial New Jersey and New
York"
[second heading on page entitled: "John and Joshua Mersereau: The
Transportation Entrepreneurs: 1732-1820 and 1728-1804"]
The Roll Family Windmill
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~windmill/html/blazing%20star.html
I hope that this information is helpful.
- justaskscott-ga
I used the following search terms on Google, in various combinations:
"chair carriers"
"colonial america"
"colonial american"
"american colonies"
"american colonial"
"sedan chair"
"sedan chairs"
chairmen
chairman
"chair bearer"
"chair bearers"
taxicab
taxicabs
taxi
taxis
cab
cabs
hackney
"benjamin franklin"
"ben franklin" |
