The second floor of the house is the bedchamber.  This area was added by Abraham Hall in his early nineteenth century renovation of the structure.  In our interpretation, all of the Hall children would have shared this sleeping chamber. Click on the bedstead to learn more about sleeping arrangements; click on the clothing hanging on the peg board to learn more about the multiple uses of the sleeping chamber. This room has three types of sleeping arrangements.  The bedstead is a rope bedstead, similar in construction to the bedstead in the keeping room.  On the floor next to the bedstead is a "tick", which is a mattress cover stuffed with corn cobs or feathers.  On the other side of the bedstead is a cradle.  

Since there were no closets, clothing was hung on pegs for storage. Clothing was made from fibers spun by Mistress Hall. Since making clothing was so labor intensive, clothes were handed down through the children and used until they (the clothes, not the children) wore out. Each child had a limited number of outfits, one being reserved for "good". The bedchamber also served as the bathroom. Our chamber contains a washstand with a bowl and pitcher for washing up. The chamber chair, or commode chair, in the picture to the left, would have been a luxury in rural farm houses, but was much appreciated on cold nights when going to the outhouse was uncomfortable, to say the least.

The Keeping Room is the original house. You'll notice that the room is set up for a number of different family activities - cooking, eating, spinning and sleeping. Immediately ahead as you walk into the room, you'll notice a rope bed. The rope "base" serves the same purpose as a modern day box spring. To keep the bed from sagging, the rope had to be tightened periodically using an instrument called a "bed key". Hence the phrase, "sleep tight". Although the one room house originally had a sleeping loft, beds were placed where they were needed. Privacy was not an issue. The mattress, called a "tick" is nothing more than a fabric bag filled with corn husks, straw, feathers or bits of wool. Click on the doorway to enter Mr. Hall's shoemaker's shop.

If you stand by the bed and look toward the front of the house, you'll notice the cupboard and a spinning wheel. The spinning wheel is next to the window for light. The Halls most likely grew flax and raised sheep on the farm. The flax and wool would be harvested and Mrs. Hall would have the job of spinning the wool into thread which would be used for weaving and eventually for making the family's clothing. The cupboard houses the Museums' collection of early to mid nineteenth century china.

The table is set for dinner, using some of the Museums' transferwear china. On the table is an original copy of the Newark Daily Advertiser. Mr. Hall most likely would not have read this particular publication. Newark and city life were very far removed from rural farm life in Readington. After dinner, Mr. Hall might have read passages from the family bible to his family. The family bible was not only a source of religious training and thought, but it also served to chronicle family events such as births, deaths and marriages.

During the remodeling (adding more rooms and a second floor), Mr. Hall removed the fireplace and replaced it with a much more modern wood stove. Ours is a "ten plate" stove, made in this country in the mid nineteenth century. The stove has an oven on the side, making it a precursor to modern cooking appliances. The fireplace or stove would have provided both cooking facilities for the family and heat for the house. Click on the staircase to go upstairs to the bedchamber.

The southernmost room in the house serves as a spinning area for Mistress Hall. Though much of the cotton cloth used during this era would have been purchased, wool and linen would still have been spun at home, often by local widows who spun for bartering purposes.