One of the artifacts found by archaeologists during excavations in the front yard of Hammond-Harwood House this summer was the head of a doll – immediately identified as a “Frozen Charlotte” doll. This doll, popular from about 1850 to about 1920, was made from china bisque. All in one piece, naked and white, they could be dressed or wrapped like babies in scraps of cloth. The dolls were produced in a variety of sizes from an inch to 18 inches. The one discovered at Hammond-Harwood House is tiny. The small ones were also known as penny dolls and could be had for the coin contents of a young girl’s pocket.
The internet gives us some background about how the dolls get the name “Frozen Charlotte.” There are some YouTube videos of New England folksingers and a transcription of 19th century lyrics to a ballad. Some researchers point to its origin in a poem, others note the ballad. At any rate, the ballad’s tale involves a beautiful young woman who lived far from town. She dresses in her finest for a winter’s ball but refuses to bundle up for the long sleigh ride into town. She freezes to death – the moral being that it’s wise to follow your parent’s guidance. Especially as colder weather breaks the spell of a lovely autumn.
Who played with this Frozen Charlotte doll in front of Hammond-Harwood House? Was the doll broken before or after being lost in the yard? Hester Ann Loockerman (b. 1807), Matilda Chase Loockerman (b. 1812), or Catherine Chase Loockerman (b. 1822) – these daughters of Frances and Richard Loockerman, possibly? Or perhaps even one of Hester Ann’s own daughters, Frances Chase Harwood (b. 1837), Luch Harwood (b. 1844), or Hester Ann Harwood (b. 1851)?
