Common Expressions in the "Country Correspondent" Columns

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                                                             "Gone to Housekeeping"
 

     Around the 1870s newspaper editors learned that people liked seeing their names and those of their neighbors in the newspaper, reporting on ordinary things like who was in town shopping, who bought a new buggy, and who plowed his cornfield. They were items that weren't newsworthy in terms of a whole article, but quick vignettes in a column -- the Facebook posting of its day. Country correspondents sent in the information about their neighbors, and thank goodness they did, as this is invaluable for the family history researcher. 
     There were common expressions that I either had to figure out the meaning of -- what did inst. and ult. mean? -- and just common expressions of speech. Do you use any of the following?

1. Inst. and ult - These are Latin abbreviations used after dates. "Ult" means the date took place the previous month, and "Inst." means it took place this month. So if you saw an article in August that said, "The couple was married on the 3rd ult," you might think they married August 3rd. But they were married July 3rd. Otherwise, you might see, "They were married on the 3rd inst."

2. Gone to housekeeping - This was the expression used when a couple married and set up living on their own. "Claude Cloverdale, the mayor's youngest son, has gone to housekeeping at 1108 Elm Street, where the newly-wedded couple will be home to friends." On the census, most women's occupation was listed as "keeping house."

3. On the sick list - This was a phrase used for decades, as in "J.M. Bell is on the sick list."

4. Some better - You were beginning to recover from illness; maybe you'd be off the sick list soon. "Miss Lottie Rosser has been very sick but is some better at this writing."

5. Very low -- You were seriously ill and probably not going to make it. "Mr. David Davies has been rapidly failing. Saturday his sister, Mrs. Hollingsworth, received a telegraph that he was very low and requesting her presence immediately. She took the train..."

6. Mesdames and Messrs. - This was in wide use from the 1870s to the 1920s, to describe the young teens and young adults.

7. Mrs. Dr. and Mrs. Rev. - These titles were to let everyone know who was a doctor's or minister's wife.  I also saw "Mrs. Captain" once, for the wife of the chief of police, and Mrs. Gov. As for a woman who was married and a doctor herself -- what to do? In 1883 I saw Doctress Mrs. Muma of Cawker City, Kansas. In 1890, a newspaper called her Mrs. Dr. Muma. She moved to California where in 1895 she was simply Dr. Lydia A. Muma. But was Mr. Muma around at that time? I don't know. Often, women's first names were not used unless their husband was dead.

8. Royally entertained - This was constantly used, with variations. "Miss Daisy Woolsey royally entertained friends in a Leap Year's party."  "Mr. and Mrs. Barbour are royal entertainers."  "A royal good time was had by all." 

9. The finny tribe - Writers like to use different words for a second reference, such as coffee and "cup of Joe," or "the bitter brew." Maybe that explains the use of this reference to fish. "Dr. Hall caught six of the finny tribe at the Normal School picnic."

10. Hied - The Grammarist website says the verb "hie" has been obsolete for centuries, and its use "is almost exclusively an archaic affectation, usually used humorously to create an old-fashioned tone." (It means to move quickly.) There is a Mormon hymn, "Hie thee to Kolob." The Coffeyville, Kansas newspaper editor certainly liked to use it. "Mesdames Scurr, Slosson, Isa and Pellet hied to the shady nooks of the Verdigris yesterday, where they angled for the finny tribe." (24 July 1890 News Broad-Ax)
"Two of our highly esteemed young friends hied themselves away yesterday to Independence and procured a marriage license."

Copyright Andrea Auclair © 2023

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