It is known as "The town Sherman refused to burn", as it was spared during General Sherman's march to the sea during the Civil War. While many believe that he spared the town because it was too beautiful to burn, the actual fact is that Madison was home to pro-Union Senator Joshua Hill. Hill had ties with General Sherman's brother at West Point, so his sparing the town was more political than appreciation of its beauty. Currently, Madison has the second largest historic district in the state of Georgia (next to Macon), and tourists from all over the world come to marvel at the antebellum architecture of the homes.
That is why we went there. It's only about 30 minutes from Athens, so off we went. There were two main things we wanted to see while we were there. One, there is a driving/walking tour of the antebellum homes. They are sublime. Second, the historical society runs two home tours, one the home of a prominent doctor, the other of a woman who rose from slavery to build a small home for herself and her two children. Dad took lots of pictures too, but hasn’t downloaded and emailed them to me yet. When he does I’ll post some of his, as I’m sure he got better photos than I did. And, here are the photos:
This is the home of a doctor in Madison during the Civil War. The house was actually moved about 150 feet from its original location and turned to face a different direction. Most of the windows had name etchings on them. When women got engaged, they would scratch their name on the window with the diamond to ensure that the rock was real. HA! Southern homes always have rockers on the porch.
A chandelier in one of the bedrooms.
These are the servants' stairs. There is a small entryway at the bottom that allowed them to turn into the doctor's office, the front sitting room, or to go out the servant door to the summer kitchen. The kitchen was in a small building not attached to the main home, so the heat wouldn't build in the hot months, and in case of fire, the whole house wouldn't be lost. The servants were never allowed to use the main staircase, and this one was long and steep.
The man who owned the home was a doctor. He had completed one full year of medical school, which apparently was enough. He practiced in the town of Madison and was called out to help during the Civil War. This is a wheelchair from the time period.
This is the type of basin they would use to sanitize their hands and instruments. There would be water in each of the basins, nothing else. Not very sanitary, is it?
Two of the amputation kits the doctor used when treating Civil War soldiers. Horrifying, really.
This is a prescription in the doctor's own hand. It was a remedy for hemorrhoids.
Chair with detailed stitching.
This is a "crazy quilt" The women were always working on a project, and these were common. They used small pieces of fabric and practiced different types of stitches. This particular quilt has a different stitch between each and every type of fabric. There were also a couple of small figures stitched, one of them being a cat.
This was a learning experience for me. This is a photo of what is now called Victorian Hair Art. When a person died, they would take the hair from their hair brushes and make pieces to decorate the home with. I think it's macabre. My dad said that there was a watch chain in the Swenson family that was made out of hair of one of our ancestors. He doesn't know what happened to it.
Table setting in the dining room. The china was often purchased in plain white and they would pay someone to paint the design and glaze it.
Sewing Box
Children's shoes
A pair of women's shoes. Notice how they have straight soles. At the time, they didn't take into account the curve of the foot at the arch. They looked painful to walk in. And they were TINY.
Two examples of women's clothing. They were intricately stitched, and made of beautiful fabrics.
This is the home of a former slave. She worked hard for everything she owned, and raised a son and daughter in the home.
This is the only known existing photo of her.
This small cabinet is where the sugar was kept. It was extremely expensive, and was kept in a small cabinet with the hope that the humidity wouldn't ruin it.
A close up view of the needlework on a chair.
These corner chairs were made to accommodate the swords that the men wore. With this chair, they could sit comfortably without the sword poking their side.
The support for the thin mattress was just rope pulled taut. If you had money, you had board slats that supported the mattress. One home on the walking tour claims to have a ghost that will life these boards if she isn't invited to the social functions held at the home.
The bathtub, in the corner of the bedroom. People back then were much shorter than my hubby . . .
Children's toys
The bed in the children's room.
Portrait of Daughter and Son
Turtle shells in the children's room. They used them as toys.
This is the original wallpaper. We're talking about from the 1880s. Seriously.
Crochet work. Look how small those stitches are!!
The Christmas tree. It was fun to see the balls of cotton as decorations. They all still had the seeds attached.
Examples of Antebellum Architecture
Town Hall
The one picture I got of Dad
