~ The Red Coat ~

by Richard Barons

Recently American textile expert, Lynne Bassett, visited our costume storage area to get us ready for a major revitalization and conservation of our clothing and bedding collections.

Red Coat - Front Click to enlarge

In her report she acknowledges that our collection: "includes some rare and wonderful items, including an important gentleman’s eighteenth century red coat and a number of early examples of women’s and children’s clothing." In all, the textiles number well over one thousand objects ranging from quilts to corsets to Red Cross uniforms.

Our consultant went on to say that, "An important – and major – goal for the near future should be the building of an extension to the present large object storage building or a separate facility for climate-controlled storage of this important educational collection.”

She will be spending a week with us, early this spring, to help us move our textiles to a temporary storage area until plans can be drawn for new construction. Each item will be cleaned, wrapped in acid-free tissue, organized, labeled, photographed and either stored in acid-free boxes or hung, which ever is best for their preservation.

The item that certainly caused the most excitement was the gentlemen’s red wool coat. And there is a story here.

PROVENANCE

Tradition, which is what historical societies are about, has had it that the coat was military and belonged to East Hampton’s first Mulford resident, John who was born in 1606 and died in 1686. There is no question that this red coat is very old and rare. The question is how old and what is it?

Red Coat - Side Click to enlarge

The wool, itself, is the key to its age. Over the years some consultants have seen the coat as a costume from our country’s centennial period (1876). Another local historian assumed it was the Revolutionary War uniform of Col. David Mulford (1722-1778), though that Mulford was not known to be a Loyalist.

Ms. Bassett is positive that the wool is eighteenth century. That fact tosses-out the original ownership of the coat to John Mulford. The coat is not seventeenth century. And since the coat is not a uniform, it seems unlikely it would be tied to Col. David Mulford. This coat has always been associated with the Mulford family (it was a gift to us from James H. Mulford), so the most likely male would seem be Samuel Mulford (1644-1725), indeed the most famous member of the whole East Hampton clan.

FISHHOOK

Samuel Mulford is locally known by a nickname, "Fishhook".

And here is that story. Samuel was the son of John Mulford. John settled first in the port town of Salem, Massachusetts, and came to Southampton, LI, about 1643. When the Connecticut governor acquired the lands east of Southampton Town (in 1648), Mulford sold his belongings and moved to Maidstone (East Hampton). John Mulford was an active participant in local politics and was commissioned a judge by the ruling Connecticut Council.

Red Coat - Cuff Detail Click to enlarge

His son Samuel was born in 1644 and was four years old when the family settled at what we now know as East Hampton Village. It was Samuel who bought the Hobart house, built about 1680, and known as the Mulford House since that 1712 purchase. It is not known if he ever lived in the house; it may have been one of his many investments. Samuel Mulford was a Captain, both as a whaler and as a member of the Colonial Militia. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly of New York from 1705 until he was expelled twice for his unflattering remarks about Royal Governors thereby finally ending that career in 1720. His life brought him wealth and social standing. Far beyond his Town houses and Village acres, he owned other properties that included his warehouse and pier at Northwest Harbor.

THE PESKY WHALE OIL TAX!

In "Mulford House: An Historic Structure Report” printed in 1989, the authors’ describe Samuel Mulford as, "by nature vehement, hasty tempered, positive, a Republican by sentiment and a traditional puritan.” He did battle with the colonial Governors Cornbury and Hunter. Mulford was highly opposed to the annexation of the Town from Connecticut to New York. One of the most obnoxious governmental decrees was the new taxes. The one Mulford was most apposed to was the governor’s tax on whale oil. This tax would require that all Southampton and East Hampton whalers would need to take out licenses with the government demanding 50% of all the oil and bones.

YANKEE TRICKSTER

At the age of 71(after his second and last expulsion from the Assembly) he sailed to London to protest the Governor’s tax on whale oil. His idea was to lay his grievances before the Parliament. One of the first things he did in London was to purchase clothes in the newest style. He needed to impress the Capitol and the government in any way he could. Our rare early 18th century dress red jacket may be part of his shopping spree. History records a little incident that occurred soon after this dandification. It is said that he began loosing his pocket handkerchief. He realized that they were probably being swiped by London’s infamous pick-pockets. He set about a plan to catch the next thief who dared try to slip a hand into this jacket pocket. He pinned his silk hanky to his pocket lining and on the next stroll caught a culprit (hanky-handed) and had him arrested.

News traveled quickly about this "Yankee trick" and soon the King gave Mulford an audience.

FACT OR FANTASY?

The King had the tax removed and Samuel Mulford returned home triumphant. Folklore has since embroidered the event. Roy S. Durstine, in his undated and privately printed "The Tale of ‘Fishhook Mulford’ has written, "Sometimes the bright colors of fact have been blended with the pastels of fantasy. In the telling and retelling through the generations, the details may be changed…. But some of these tales about East Hampton are lovely legends and, apocryphal as they may be, they are part of the heritage of a lovely village." So time may have added the "fishhooks" to the pocket and enlarged the relationship between the "event” and Mulford’s audience with the King.

But is our red coat really Samuel Mulfords’? Certainly more research must be done. Photos will be emailed to major British museums with costume curators and the garment must be examined very closely so it can reveal its almost mythic past. It is now up to the red coat to illuminate the story that its treads and stylish cut has silently contained while hanging in storage. History is always mysterious.