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“Economy Rules the Day:”
The Civil War Sacrifices of Judith Walker McGuire
by Tim Sheehan

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Domestic Economy

Economic necessity began to thwart patriotic contributions. From 9 October 1862 and continuing throughout the remainder of the war, any participation in sewing for soldiers is not reported in the Diary. Instead, McGuire needed to attempt to meet the clothing needs of her own family. Because purchasing clothing from merchants would cipher out the already depleted family income, McGuire resorted “to homespun,” regretting she “did not learn to spin and weave” earlier in life. McGuire and her daughters not only knitted socks and stockings, but also repaired the family’s wardrobe to look like new. McGuire could not afford new materials, such as muslin dress ($6-$8 per yard) and calico ($1.75 per yard), so clothes were recycled. Each woman of the Ashland household had a basket “filled with clothes to be repaired.” Working with dyes was the most difficult to master, for they had “not learned the art of setting the wood colours.” Yet, in the Diary, McGuire boasted about the economy she and her daughters practiced, mentioning the complements she received on the “genteel” appearance of her clothes.(56)

Like McGuire, many recycled old clothing. Others put up with the scarcity and wore rags. The wealthy could afford smuggled Northern imports, provided by blockade-runners, those who made it through the Unions naval blockade of Southern ports. McGuire used such means to obtain items such as black gloves and a black calico dress, which “improved my wardrobe.” Smuggling Northern goods also occurred when women crossed Federal lines with goods placed in hidden pockets. Such acts were not only an economic necessity, but also considered patriotic. These acts, according to Judith McGuire, were small victories against “the eagle eyes of Federal watchers.”(57)

McGuire could not make everything the family needed. She attempted to use home manufacturing to supplement her husband’s income. The women of the Ashland household produced soap. Income from this undertaking bought “things which seem essential to our wardrobes.” In the entry for 9 April 1863, McGuire listed purchases “absolutely necessary for our comfort.” She obtained cotton and toweling by paying prices she once remembered as thirty times lower. “Nothing reconciled me to this extravagance but that I had sold my soap for $1 per pound! !”(58) McGuire praised other women for their clever labors, which produced various items, ranging from pickles and ketchup to straw plaited hats. McGuire noted, in particular, a Mrs. Primrose’s manufacture of gooseberry wine, “which sparkles like champagne, and is the best domestic wine I ever drank.” Judith McGuire took pride in the ingenuity she and other women practiced in their attempts to obtain income. However, later entries of the Diary do not report on soap production, probably because such activity did not provide enough income to match the high rates of wartime inflation.(59)

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This page last updated 1 January 2012