"Pleasing the Parish; or, The Minister's Wife", and its sequel, "Intervention", appeared in the January and July, 1852, issues of Godey's Lady's Book, probably the most prominent women's magazine of mid-19th century America. The author remained anonymous, offering only a list of their previously published stories.
The first story is the sad tale of the overwhelming demands made upon Mrs. Stone, the wife of a theologian who accepts a position as rector of a large parish in New York City. Her inability to fulfill all the demands on a rector's wife and her refusal to yield in all areas to the leading female parishioners makes her increasingly unpopular and, as a result, miserable. In the second story, she has the temerity to attend a gathering of friends rather than the organizational meeting. Both the gathering and its consequences offer brief insights into the practice and perception of dance in mid-nineteenth-century America.
At the party, Mrs. Stone played music for a group of dancers:
Dancing was proposed at the close of the evening; but neither Mrs. Howell nor Miss Lovel played quadrilles, and none of the young ladies could be spared from their partners. Mrs. Stone could play at sight; would she be so very good?" begged Jeannie Howell, the doctor's sister. Before her marriage, Mrs. Stone had been in general request at all their little gatherings as musician, the marked and excellent time which distinguished her style being so well suited to the lively measures. Certainly; Mrs. Stone would be very happy to oblige them. She rose at once, and, going to the piano, commenced a favorite set from recollection, every note recalling the pleasant days of her girlhood, and the associations which had brightened it. Then Jeannie Howell placed a new polka before her, and some of the young ladies were soon circling in the lively dance. A Schottish followed by Jeannie and her brother; none of the others had learned the then new figure. Mrs. Stone played this also, still reading at sight, and was warmly thanked for her good nature.
Of interest here:
- this is the kind of impromptu dance that arises in a society where people were used to making their own entertainment
- Mrs. Stone can play a quadrille set from memory as well as sight-read other pieces, and her musical accomplishments are admired
- one reading of the description of the polka is that the young ladies were dancing with each other, though one can't be entirely certain, since the description of the readiness for the quadrille hints that they each had a partner, presumably male, they did not wish to separate from
- the schottische was, by 1852, established enough that the author finds it necessary to explain that it was then new; given that the schottische appeared in the late 1840s, that suggests that it became widely popular very quickly
Inevitably, given the nature of the parish ladies, Mrs. Stone's attendance at the party causes nasty gossip focused on the possibility that the rector's wife had danced, as a gossipy parishioner repeats to her:
"I shouldn't have minded that so much, only Miss Little always has something to say, when you name's mentioned, about your finding no time to do good, and going to parties, and dancing, and all that. As to the dancing, I always said I didn't believe you did; not that I see any hurt in it; but, you know, it would make talk, and I think it's best to avoid even the appearance of evil."
The gossip and her fellow parishioners are not portrayed in a positive light, so it's not entirely clear whether it would have been scandalous (evil?) if a rector's wife had danced, and the gossip is unfair only because she didn't actually do it, or whether the prejudice against dancing was further evidence of the unreasonableness of the ladies of the parish and their predisposition to disapprove of whatever Mrs. Stone did, no matter how innocent.
The gossip escalated to imply an improper relationship, of which dancing a polka together is evidence, with a young man:
"But I supposed you knew people said you danced the polka with Sidney Howell, and that he was at your house quite too often!"
I'm torn between amusement (a polka??) and horror here. Excess interaction with a younger man would have been suspicious for any married woman, let alone a rector's wife, who (as Mrs. Stone is repeatedly reminded) was expected to set a good example for the parish. But would it have been scandalous for any married woman to dance a polka with a young man? Was it a problem only because of her position? Or was it entirely the increasing malice of the parishioners that put such a negative interpretation on a totally imaginary incident? Mrs. Stone was shocked both at the mention of the young man and at the notion that she had danced, lending some credence to the idea that it was not solely the conservatism of the parish:
"Sidney Howell! I dance! Why, Mrs. Campbell, I do not understand this!"
For the full tale of Mrs. Stone and her husband's experience in the parish, the complete stories may be found online as follows:
- "Pleasing the Parish; or, The Minister's Wife" in Godey's Lady's Book, January 1852, pp. 24-30.
- "Intervention" in Godey's Lady's Book, July 1852, pp. 37-42.
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