The places Eddy worked correspond to the location of this group of chairs.ĭescended in the Bradford and Hedge families Researchers identified a craftsman named John Eddy (1595-1684) who came to Plymouth from Kent in 1630 and soon moved to Watertown, west of Boston. Then they match the woodworkers and where they lived to the chairs and where they were found. Researchers examine documents, including probate inventories, to see who was a woodworker. As chairs are seldom signed, researchers have to make an educated guess as to who made them. The Brewster Chair and the Bradford Chair are related to other turned chairs with board seats found in Boston and Charlestown. We know the Brewster chair was made here rather than in England because the species of ash is native to America. While the inventory does not describe the most expensive chair, the value of 4 shillings is comparable to the value of the two "great wooden chairs" mentioned in William Bradford’s inventory, worth an average of 4 shillings.Īlong with the very similar Bradford chair, this chair is one of the earliest chairs made in America. It is believed to have belonged to William Brewster (c1566-1643), who was the spiritual leader of the colony and one of its most educated members.Īt the time of his death, Elder Brewster had one chair worth 4 shillings, and another worth 1 shilling. Pilgrim Hall has had this chair since the early 1830s when it was donated by the Brewster family of Duxbury. Material: Fraxinus Americana (American white ash) The chair is related to other chairs made by craftsman Ephraim Tinkham (1649-1713), who worked in Plymouth and Middleboro.īack to Biographical Information, Wills, Inventories They differ from Brewster Chairs, which have spindles under the seat and arms as well.
The name of Plymouth’s first governor, however, has been firmly attached to this type of Early American chair chairs with turned spindles in the back only are known generically today as "Carver chairs." Governor Carver died in the spring of 1621, and it is not probable that people in the fledgling colony had time to build such a chair during that first devastating winter when half the Pilgrims died. American white ash does not grow in England.
Although the chair was long thought to have been brought on the Mayflower by Carver, a recent wood analysis determined that the chair was actually made in America.
It is highly unlikely that this chair actually belonged to John Carver, the first Governor of Plymouth Colony. Ownership attributed (at one time) to John Carver Material: Fraxinus Americana (American white ash) and maple Home > Collections & Exhibitions > Furniture: Chairs Pilgrim Hall Museum - Collections - Furniture
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