8 As a second generation Lunenburg German, Casper Wollenhaupt rose to become one of the most successful businessmen and merchants in the town and province, leaving behind a vast and complex estate which must have been an inventory taker's nightmare. Casper was the only child of Conrad and Gertrude Wollenhaupt. His mother, a widow prior to her marriage to Conrad, was widowed again when Casper was seven years old. She soon remarried and had two other sons.

9 From July 18 through July 20, and again on 5 January 1810, Frank and John Rudolph, and John Bolman, went to the residence, shop and warehouse to inventory the worldly possessions of Casper Wollenhaupt and make an accurate account of his personal estate to satisfy the court, his creditors and debtors, and family. In his will Casper left everything divided equally between his wife Mary, daughter Mary Gertrude, and son Henry.11

10 This paper concentrates on one portion of the probate record — namely the domestic furnishings and accessories of the Wollenhaupt residence where the three inventory takers were most meticulous in their duties, listing the objects room by room and in some detail. The complete inventory of the estate is included as an appendix to this article.

11 For organizational purposes, this article will begin with the nomenclature used by the inventory takers to identify each room. This will aid in establishing some ideas about the exterior style and interior configuration of the dwelling. From this perspective the discussion will move to the types of furnishings and accessories (looking glasses, tables), their number and location in the house, and possible style. Finally, design and cabinetmaking sources will be considered. Although the library holdings will not be discussed separately, their importance and richness is evident from the listing of books and is the topic for a future paper.

12 The inventory takers started their task "in the hall upstairs," and then moved "in the garret." Since there is no evidence to suggest otherwise, it is assumed that the garret was a half-storey attic reached from the upstairs.12 Remaining on the second floor, they moved "in the library," then "in the bedroom."

13 It is at this point that the intention and direction of the three men is unclear in terms of the room by room route they were following. The next room listed in the inventory is "in the drawing room below stairs" followed by "in the front up parlour." Because of the addition of the terms "up" and "below" in identifying the location of these rooms, they have been placed on their respective floors when considering the interior configuration of the house.

14 But exactly why they left the second floor to go downstairs to the drawing room, then back upstairs to the front parlour, is not evident. The numbers, however, listing each item individually in the inventory, are consecutive from the drawing room to the parlour, suggesting their actions were premeditated. Perhaps the front room was occupied by the family while the three men went about their task, forcing them to continue their work on the first floor before finishing their labour upstairs.

15 While in the front parlour they also recorded the objects "in the closet in the front parlour" which was either a small room or a large cupboard. They then continued downstairs listing objects "in the hall," completing their task "in the kitchen." The inventory takers followed the room by room record of the contents of the Wollenhaupt house with a title by title list of all the books in the library, which numbered 252 volumes.

16 Table 1 summarizes the interior room configuration according to floor, and notes with an asterisk those rooms which probably contained fireplaces based on the presence of fireside equipment such as irons and tongs.

17 Based on the information provided by the probate record and names assigned to identify each room, the most plausible exterior style and interior configuration of the Wollenhaupt residence is a two and one-half storey, central chimney house built on a hall/parlour plan. This arrangement suggests the house was entered through the front door into a hall large enough to hold "an eight day clock," "3 Windsor chairs," and "a glass lamp" which no doubt sat on the "mahogany table" placed there. On one side of this hall was the kitchen with hearth, and on the other side the drawing room with fireplace.

18 The stairs to the second floor were either located leading up from the front hall, or at the rear of the chimney block; both styles are found in existing pre-1800 hall/parlour houses in Lunenburg County.13 On the upper floor the plan repeats itself with a hall containing "a desk," "2 chairs," and "a black birch table." This hall is flanked by the parlour with fireplace, the library, and the bedroom. It is obvious that one of the upstairs chambers was divided into two rooms. Since the parlour was identified by the inventory takers as being in the front of the house, it is likely that this chamber was subdivided into two separate spaces.

19 Room function is easily identified from the nomenclature used by the three inventory takers, and from the objects listed for each room. The Wollenhaupt house was well organized with each living area being used for a specific function or series of functions. All three upstairs rooms were used for sleeping as they contained bed and bedding.

20 The library with its numerous books, desk, table, chair, and dressing glass, contained a camp bedstead. These furnishings suggest that the library was a small private space probably used by Casper himself.

21 The parlour contained the only fireplace on the second floor ("a fire tongs, shovel, poker, brush, bellows"), along with another desk, an easy chair, looking glass, a mahogany and pine table, and six chairs. The "closet" in this room was used for the storage of the many items of china and silver owned by the Wollenhaupts for entertaining guests in their drawing room. The bedroom was the final room on the upstairs floor and was used strictly for sleeping.

22 Food and entertaining were very important to Casper and his family. As a merchant of considerable influence he seemingly enjoyed his social position and wealth. When one contemplates the vast number of cooking utensils and accessories listed in the inventory of the parlour closet, the drawing room, and the kitchen, the variety and number of objects connected with the preparation, serving and consumption of food is astounding. Although not all of these will be discussed in detail, a few are worth noting.

23 For example, the kitchen contained several "specialized" items including "a chaffing dish," "a copper cake pan," "20 tin patty pans," "a coffee mill," "2 dripping pans," "2 soup tureens," "3 pudding dishes," "2 fish strainers," and "8 pewter water plates." The sheer number of food-related utensils and accessories is evident under entries 546 and 547 which included "4 large dishes" and "19 smaller ditto," "39 plates," "6 pitchers," "9 pair cups and saucers," "8 bowls," "18 chase plates."14 The kitchen inventory also lists as entry 548 "2 servants beds" valued at five pounds. This is a very revealing notation as it suggests the wealth and status of the Wollenhaupt household and helps explain their ability to prepare and host elaborate dinner parties. It also informs us that the servants slept in the kitchen, no doubt using the tables, benches, and chairs for eating and working. Whatever their task, their labour would have been illuminated by one or all (depending on the occasion) of the 15 brass candlesticks also included in the kitchen inventory.

24 But it is not until one examines closely the objects in the drawing room that a full appreciation of the richness of the Wollenhaupt tablesetting becomes possible. The contents of this room point to the extensive use of this space for dining and entertaining, and as an important centre of social interaction and control where Wollenhaupt and his family could display their affluence to friends and relatives. The richness of this setting, and the formal nature of the dining experience, is evident in the elaborate accessories decorating this room. Not one, but two, looking glasses hung from the walls along with eleven pictures. The fireplace was fully equipped with both firescreen and fender and the floor was carpeted. At night the room was illuminated with four plated candlesticks, whose flames could be extinguished by using a pair of silver snuffers. The mahogany dining table was placed in the centre of the room when entertaining, and set at the table and throughout the room were the ten mahogany chairs. Only one other item of furniture is listed and that is a "tea table," again suggesting the social function of this domestic setting. Almost all the other objects listed relate to eating.

25 The extravagant nature of the Wollenhaupt family is evident in the over 250 ounces of silver table "furniture" used as dining accessories, including nutmeg graters and apple corers. Other objects of silver included a silver mustard pot, four silver salts, a set of silver castors, and a pepper box.

26 The Wollenhaupt family had the means to entertain guests in a grand manner, and set their table with rich and elaborate accessories for eating and drinking. The dinner table was the centre of formalized behaviour for family and guests, and the objects listed in the drawing room emphasize the refinement and specialization of the social activity carried out in this domestic environment, which communicated the established social values of the merchant class.

27 The type, number, and placement of the furniture used in the Wollenhaupt residence offers us further insight into the nature of this interior. Although no specific example of any item of furniture belonging to the Wollenhaupt estate has been identified to date, there are enough clues given by the inventory takers to suggest something about the form and style of the furnishings.

28 The Wollenhaupt household contained four looking glasses, one each in the upstairs bedroom and front parlour, and a pair in the downstairs drawing room. The library contained a dressing glass.15 The pair in the drawing room must have been highly prized as they were evaluated at £10/0/0, while the glasses in the second front parlour and bedroom are appraised at £2/0/0 and £1/0/0 respectively. The dressing glass in Casper's library was valued at only £0/7/6.

29 It seems likely, based on similar period examples found in Lunenburg County, the evaluation assigned by the inventory takers, and their domestic location, that the pair of looking glasses in the drawing room must have been most impressive Sheraton style gilt mirrors with glass panels, or wooden panels with applied relief.16 Their importance was obvious even to the inventory takers, who by appraising the pair of mirrors at ten pounds, assigned a value equalled by the eight-day clock, the complete bed and bedstead in the bedroom and front parlour, and surpassed only by the 254 ½ ounces of silver furniture.

30 The appraised values of the other two looking glasses suggest they were of a more familiar style, probably in the Chippendale manner. This type of glass, imported from the United States or Great Britain, is commonly listed in late eighteenth- through early nineteenth-century inventories throughout Nova Scotia at between £1/0/0 and £3/0/0, with many examples surviving to this day.17

31 As would be expected, tables serve many purposes and were found in every room in the house. The tables listed in the inventory, and their evaluations, suggest a strong relationship between tables used for general purposes, and those with more specialized functions.

32 For example, the table in the library is just called that and valued at £0/17/6, but the table in the upstairs hall is identified as a black birch table (probably stained dark to resemble mahogany) at £0/15/0, and that in the downstairs hall as a mahogany table also at £0/15/0, This table is one of three identified as being in mahogany including a small table in the front parlour appraised at £0/17/6, and the dining table in the drawing room evaluated at £8/0/0 accompanied by a set(?) often mahogany chairs worth £0/17/6 each for a total of £8/15/0. Such a large number of chairs suggests the size of this dining table, perhaps a swing leg drop leaf; it is impossible to know the style, although mahogany would imply it was made in or near a large urban centre, perhaps in a late Chippendale manner. As a merchant, Wollenhaupt would have had the opportunity to purchase goods from both the Eastern United States and Great Britain.18

33 The tea table in the drawing room is identified by function, and only one table in the front parlour is identified as being in pine. Its value at £0/5/0, and the low value of the two kitchen tables at £0/10/0 and £0/5/0 respectively, suggest they were probably also in pine. Their kitchen location indicates their function as work tables and for the servants' use at meal time.

34 Other than ten mahogany dining chairs, most other forms of seating listed in the inventory have no identifying notations. For example, there are six chairs listed for both the bedroom and front parlour (part of the same set ?), valued at £0/10/0 each or £3/0/0 for each set of six. The only exceptions are the mention of "an easy chair" also in the parlour valued at £3/10/0, suggesting it was a highly prized piece of furniture, and "3 Windsor chairs" in the downstairs hall at five shillings each.

35 The easy chair, "...characterized by a fully upholstered back, wings, and arms that end in one or two scrolls, plus a cushion seat..."19 appears occasionally in the probate records in Lunenburg County mostly among the merchant class. One fine example of a Hepplewhite form found in Windsor, Nova Scotia is typical of those found along the south shore of the province with wide flaring wings with serpentine crest, descending arms with well-shaped tapered front legs and H-stretcher.20

36 The mention of three Windsor chairs by the inventory takers is noteworthy as Windsor chairs were being made in Halifax as early as 1780, and chairmakers in this city continued to produce this specific chair form well into die nineteenth century.21 For example, the estate of John Oxner, a merchant in LaHave located about 20 miles from Lunenburg, whose inventory was taken on 25 March 1825, lists six Windsor chairs in his parlour.22

37 The only other noteworthy form of seating mentioned by the inventory takers are the two benches listed in the kitchen. Benches are very common in Lunenburg German inventories with late eighteenth- through late nineteenth-century examples still being found today in attic and basement storage areas of many of the homes in Lunenburg German domestic interiors, particularly in the kitchen or hearth rooms of eighteenth-century households.23

38 The Wollenhaupt house contained little case furniture. There are only four items listed including the clock placed in the downstairs hall valued at £10/0/0, and three desks all located on the second floor. The lowest appraisal is for the desk in the upstairs hall at £2/10/0. The desk in the library was evaluated at £3/0/0, with the mahogany desk in the front parlour given the highest value at £7/0/0.

39 The eight-day clock was one of the four highest appraised objects of furniture in the inventory including the pair of looking glasses in the drawing room, and the complete bed and bedstead in the bedroom and front parlour, all valued at ten pounds. This evaluation suggests it was a tall case clock, an object of wealth and prestige, which reflected, along with beds, traditional Germanic values.24

40 As there are no chests of drawers listed in the Wollenhaupt inventory, it is presumed that the three desks acted as case pieces for the storage of clothing and other personal items. The desk located in the library was probably used by Casper himself. With a value similar to that of the one in the upstairs hall, both of these desks probably had four drawers and a slant-front lid with maple or birch as the primary wood.25

41 With their usual facility, the inventory takers noted the remaining desk as being in mahogany giving it the fifth highest furniture evaluation at seven pounds even. Along with the complete bed, the easy chair, the small mahogany table, six chairs, a looking glass, eight pictures, a pair of brass sconces, and three flower glasses, the front parlour must have been a most inviting room. In many respects, this room was as well appointed for personal family use as a "closed" space as the drawing room was as an "open" space for entertaining guests.

42 Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the exact style of this mahogany desk, but again it probably had four drawers with a slant-front lid, a form commonly found in Nova Scotia, in birch, maple and mahogany with both outside bracket and Hepplewhite style bases.26

43 The merchants were the agents of change in Lunenburg during the first 75 years of settlement. Men such as Casper Wollenhaupt, and John Oxner, of LaHave, were purveyors of fashion, not only within their homes, but in their shops by making available the latest in their consumer products for their clientele. They not only brought the basic goods such as food, clothing and hardware to their communities, but were able to purchase and/or order for themselves and others, the latest in furniture styles, textiles, and reading matter.27

44 It is therefore possible that Casper Wollenhaupt was able to purchase his furnishings from not only urban centres such as Halifax and Saint John, but from as far as Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and London. He is a man that seems to have kept up with current events and fashion, judging from the books in his library and furnishings in his home. Some of the objects he chose as decorations probably exhibited the latest styles while others may have been family pieces reflecting earlier and more traditional values.

45 When Casper died in 1808, the world was in a state of transition. As one of the most influential and wealthy second generation Lunenburg Germans of his day, Casper left behind an impressive legacy of prosperity and lifestyle. Had he lived longer, he no doubt would have remained abreast of the events of the day taking advantage of the opportunities offered by a new century.