Childhood at Sotterley

Childhood at Sotterley. . , All of Sotterley's families, whether aristocrats, servants, tenant farmers or enslaved, were large by today's standards. Elizabeth and George Plater III had five children. Emeline and Walter Briscoe had 13. Hilry Cane, an enslaved man, had 18 children with his first and second wives, Mariah Cane and Alice Elsa Cane. The sound of childrens' voices echoed at Sotterley during all the years of family ownership., What were children's lives like at Sotterley? That depended on their parents' circumstances. Compulsory education for children did not become law in Maryland until 1902. Until that time, how much and what kind of education a child received was left to the discretion and resources of the parents, and was also influenced by the educational offerings of the communities in which they lived., At Sotterley, the owners' children would have been educated at home in the 18th century. George Plater III's five children would have learned reading, writing, arithmetic and geography from a tutor. The Plater boys would have continued their education at boarding schools and then college, a number of which were founded in the 17th century to educate young men from the colonies' elite. Their sisters would have turned their attention to learning domestic responsibilities and sills that included managing household slaves. , ,br> During the 19th century, Walter Briscoe operated a school for girls at Sotterley with a young teacher, Mary Blades, in charge. Miss Blades later married and in 1885, she and her husband donated land for the startup of St. Mary's Academy in nearby Leonardtown. A Briscoe daughter and granddaughter became principals at St. Mary's Female Seminary, forerunner of St. Mary's College of Maryland., The children of servants and slaves led much different lives. Boys and girls as young as 8 worked on the plantation; older children might be apprenticed to an adult with a trade. They had little time for play and almost no possibility of formal learning. If their parents were literate, they may have learned to read and write. Few ever saw the inside of a classroom unless it was to care for it., During whatever playtime they had, children at Sotterley called on their imaginations to devise games, toys and activities. A plantation owner's children would have had dolls, tea sets and books. Children working on the plantation would make contests out of their chores, such as who could do them fastest. And anyone could play tag, hide-and-seek or run a race!, Childhood ended early for colonial and federal-era girls, who often married between the ages of 13 and 16 to men as much as twice their age and older (Elizabeth Rousby was just 13 when she married George Plater III in 1764.) Parents tried to make the most profitable alliances for their children to increase wealth and social connections. Inheritance customs favored males, but females could and did inherit at Sotterley. Inheritance was more meager for the children of tenant farmers, who rented land, but did not own it. Enslaved families had even less in the way of material goods to pass on to their children. But even the less advantaged families had culture to share that was passed down to later generations: storytelling, song, religion, foodways, and community., Part of rearing children was training them to have good manners. Lacking good manners could cause financial and social failure. Elizabeth Rousby Plater was 13 when she married. Her training began as soon as she could walk and talk.,

"13th Kill no Vermin as Fleas, lice ticks and c in the Sight of Others. If you See any filth or thick Spittle put your foot Dexteriously upon it if it be upon the Cloths of your Companions, Put it off privately, and if it be upon your own Clothes return Thanks to him who puts it off.", "24th Do not laugh too loud or too much at any Publick Spectacle.", "28th If any one come to Speak to you while you are Sitting Stand up tho he be your Inferiour, and when you Present Seats let it be everyone according to his Degree.", "35th Let your Discourse with Men of Business be Short and Comprehensive.", "38th In visiting the Sick, do not Presently play the Physicion if you be not Knowing therein.", "49th Use no Reproachfull Language against any one neither Curse nor Revile.", "74th When Another Speaks be attentive your Self and disturb not the Audience if any hesitate in his Words help him not nor Prompt him without desired, Interrupt him not, nor Answer him till his Speech be ended."