French Revolution authentic reenactors/social historians?

[Becky Morgan]

An acquaintance is working on a novel set during the French Revolution and is having a hard time locating any solid information on life among the working class in rural France at the time. While I realize this is not a Civil War topic, if anyone here has any favorite resources for her time period, would you please PM me? Everything she has located seems to deal with Paris, and wealthy Parisians at that. We were trying to figure out whether a working-class woman would be wearing gloves, for one thing. (Or whether, in those hard times, she would have gloves at all.)

Thank you in advance from both of us.

[90thOHCoG]

Re: French Revolution authentic reenactors/social historians?

Your friend might look into the "French Five Hundred." This is a history of early French settlers in Gallipolis and the surrounding area of Gallia County, Ohio. These settlers (largely middle class people who weren't exactly prepared for life in the Ohio wilderness) came to Ohio to escape the revolutionary upheavals in France. You can find the 1933 book by William G. Sibley (or modern reprints) online at Amazon, among other places.

Here's another source: "Gallipolis: Being an Account of the French Five Hundred and the Town They Established on La Belle Riviere." This was apparently a WPA project about the settling of Gallipolis. It may not say much about the French lifestyle. You can also find it online

You might also contact the Our House Museum in Gallipolis, Ohio. Here's a general link about the museum, and a link to the Ohio Historical Society's Our House page, and a link to an article about French settlers in Ohio.

[Becky Morgan]

Re: French Revolution authentic reenactors/social historians?

Thank you. I don't know why I didn't think of them to begin with (Dad's folks lived in Pomeroy for ages.) I forwarded the message and links to Jo.